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The Kite Shaped Route of The Southern California Railway

Rare early map and promotional brochure for Southern California, published by the Santa Fe Railroad.

The map extends from Mexico to the High Desert of Mojave and Barstow, covering Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Orange Counties.

The map was issued following completion of the Kite Shaped Track in 1892 and creation of Riverside County in 1893.  The Southern California Railroad now reached to Escondido and San Diego/National City.

Includes many ephemeral town names, including Morena, Selwyn, Oneonta, Soledad, Atkinson, Ysidora (San Diego County), Forster, San Juan By the Sea, De Luz, Ranchita Guahonga, Potero, Ahuanga Oak Grove, Modjeska, Box Springs, Arlington,= (Orange / Riverside Counties),   Mound City, Casa Blanca, Asylum San Gorgonia, Rochester, Harper, Hinckley, Waterman, Point of Rocks, Oro Grande, Huntington, Victor and Kraemer (San Bernardino County) Spadra, Gloster, Yucca, Alpne, Lang, Soledad City, Florence, Northam, Lamanda Park, Lordsburg and Andrews (Los Angeles County).

Ballona Harbor appears prominently between Santa Monica and Redondo Beach.

Kite Shaped Track or Kite Loop

In 1885, the Santa Fe Railroad (California Southern Railway) first reached the Inland Empire.

Prominent men in Redlands immediately began to plan a branch line around the east part of the valley. They raised $42,750 to purchase rights of way and depot grounds, and in February 1888 a railroad line was built from San Bernardino to Redlands. In a short time it was extended to Mentone.

Local railroad officials wanted to continue the line from Mentone back to San Bernardino by way of Highland, making a loop of the valley.  By 1892, the famous "loop" of the Kite Shaped Track was finally finished. Together the tracks made a 158 mile long figure eight from the Santa Fe's yards in Los Angeles east to Mentone and back, providing passenger and freight services.

Santa Fe’s “Kite-Shaped Track Excursion” operated from 1892 to around 1917.  The railroad promoted the line with memorable advertising slogans like “No scene Twice Seen” and “Done in a Day.”  The “kite” name came from the popular figure-eight shaped horse racing tracks of the era known as “kite-shaped tracks.” Passengers could board the train in Los Angeles at 8:30 am, and begin their excursion through the orchards and foothills of the San Gabriel, Pomona, and San Bernardino valleys.

The apex of the figure-eight was at San Bernardino, and smaller “Eastern Loop” wrapped around the San Bernardino Valley. Extended stops in the towns of Pasadena, Redlands and Riverside allowed passengers to disembark and tour the orange groves and see the mansions of the wealthy easterners who had built their summer homes in the burgeoning new communities. The return route ran southwest through Riverside, Corona, the Santa Ana River Canyon and into Orange County. Looping west and north through Fullerton and Los Nietos, the full excursion was completed back in Los Angeles at 6:10 p.m.

Rarity

This is apparently a unique survival.  We cannot locate another example.