In 1968, work was underway to build the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) through Pasadena and Arcadia (necessitating the removal of the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's depot in Santa Anita, now preserved at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden). Construction of this freeway prompted the realignment and relocation of the railroad's mainline to the freeway's center median, with a portion of the former mainline becoming an industrial spur accessed via an underpass below the freeway's eastbound lanes.
Thus, we see a westbound Santa Fe piggyback train heading for Los Angeles, but almost looking as if it is taking advantage of the I-210's light traffic this afternoon. ATSF SD45s 5598 and 5597, plus SD45-2 5659, are powering this train, along with towing Amtrak F40PHR 237.
Today, the freeway's center median has double track, along with catenary, as it is now part of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's "A Line" (formerly their "Gold Line"), with trolleys (well, light rail vehicles) traveling between Long Beach and Azusa … for now, as new trackage continuing east of Azusa to Pomona is currently in the testing phase. And the Santa Fe's successor, BNSF Railway, has only one way into Los Angeles, via Riverside and Fullerton, rather than the two routes that Santa Fe employed. (Pasadena, California – October 3, 1981)
