A Wigwag is an older form of railroad grade crossing protection. It was also known as a Magnetic Flagman. Think of it as a mechanical version of a person waving a railroad lantern to help “protect” a train crossing a roadway. These are now extremely rare to see as they don’t have gates in addition to the flashing lights.
I’ve either found or learned of only a few in Southern California. In the Los Angeles area, there is only one left – on 49th St between Pacific Blvd and Santa Fe Ave in Vernon along the BNSF Railway.
Full assembly with crossbucks on a separate pole.Built by the Magnetic Signal Company of Los Angeles, California.Control box with milepost information.
After serving the traveling public faithfully since 1941, the North Burbank Underpass on San Fernando Blvd in Burbank will close permanently on May 20, 2014. It is one of the more significant structures on old US 99 in the San Fernando Valley. Somewhat ironically, the structure will be replaced with a new interchange at Empire Ave. San Fernando Blvd will be rerouted back to its pre-1941 alignment, this time without a grade crossing. So, get out there and take your pictures while you can. Do the same for any other sections of old highway. You never really know how long they will last.
In the Hollywood Hills off of Coldwater Canyon Road, there is an unusual street. First turning off of Coldwater Canyon as Cherokee Lane in Los Angeles, it looks like a pretty standard road. However, reaching further up, the road passes the Beverly Hills city limits. Well, only half of it does. So, now the left half is in Los Angeles and the right half is in Beverly Hills. The blocks are also now slightly different, with the LA side in the 9400 block and the Beverly Hills side in the 9300 block.
First sign at the Beverly Hills City Limits. So far, same road name.
The road follows the city limits until it reaches Bowmont Drive. Bearing to the right at the intersection, things get very unusual. Instead of just different cities, now the same roadway has different names. The left side is now the 9300 block of Cherokee Ln in Los Angeles. The right side is now the 2000 block of Loma Vista Dr in Beverly Hills. This oddity continues until the entire roadway crosses into Beverly Hills a short ways up the canyon. Sometimes cities work together, sometimes they work apart. This is the most unusual mix I’ve ever seen.
Reaching Bowmont, the street changes names.Just in case you missed the city limits, there is another.
In the early 1930’s, Los Angeles County began construction of an additional roadway over the San Gabriel Mountains via the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. The road, then known as the Camp Bonita – Prairie Fork Road, was about half complete with with four larger bridges and a tunnel, by early 1938. Work had progressed as far as “The Narrows” by 1938. However, the March 2-3, 1938 storms caused much of the roadway to be washed out. The project was then abandoned, leaving a large arch bridge stranded many miles upriver. The tunnel still exists as well, just north of the “Bridge to Nowhere”, though it has been sealed at both ends.
1936 arch bridge – The Bridge to Nowhere
1936 stamp on the arch bridge.
Looking over the arch bridge to the tunnel site.
Abandoned and partly destroyed bridge over the river.
Bridge over Cattle Canyon on the East Fork Road. This is similar to what the removed bridges north of here would have looked like.
1934 USGS Camp Bonita map showing the roadway completed to about 1 mile south of the “Bridge to Nowhere” site.
1940 USGS Camp Bonita map showing the now stranded bridge location.
In the 1955, a new road building project commenced in the canyon, first known as East Fork Road, then Shoemaker Canyon Road. This new alignment would stay high above the canyon floor until it got nearer to the “Bridge to Nowhere”, allowing that earlier work to come to some use. Progress on this roadway was slow, mostly due to poor funding. Convict labor was used for most of the project, similar to many other road building efforts at the time in Los Angeles County. Two tunnels were constructed as well. These still exist and are mostly intact. This project too was cancelled in 1976 , leaving another large scar in the canyon. This road is presently known as Shoemaker Canyon Road.
Stone railing along Shoemaker Canyon Road.
Looking toward the higher peaks of the San Gabriels along Shoemaker Canyon Road.
End of the pavement and open section of Shoemaker Canyon Road.
1961 and 1964 tunnels in view.
Partly graded roadway and tunnel along the “Road to Nowhere”.
Date stamp on the first tunnel.
Inside the longest tunnel, from 1961.
Grading along the “Road to Nowhere”.
Northern tunnel from 1964.
1966 USGS Glendora map showing the “Shoemaker Canyon” roadway under construction.
Today, the canyon is protected from future development through the Sheep Mountain Wilderness Area. Even without this protection, the geology of the canyon makes for a very expensive project. Maintenance would also be costly, as seen with State 39 through San Gabriel Canyon and above Crystal Lake. In time, all these structures and cuts will wash away, leaving the canyon with only bits of concrete and asphalt to show what was once here.
A M5.1 earthquake occurred at 9:09PM on March 28, 2014, located 1 mile easy of La Habra, CA, or 4 miles north of Fullerton, CA. The event was felt widely throughout Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. It was preceded by two foreshocks, the larger of M3.6 at 8:03pm. The demonstration earthquake early warning system provided 4 second warning in Pasadena.
There have been 23 aftershocks as of 10:00PM on March 28, the largest of which was a M3.6 at 9:30PM, and was felt locally near the epicenter. The aftershock sequence may continue for several days to weeks, but will likely decay in frequency and magnitude as time goes by.
The maximum observed instrumental intensity was VII, recorded in the LA Habra and Brea areas, although the ShakeMap shows a wide area of maximum intensity of VI. The maximum reported intensity for the Did You Feel It? map was reported at VI in the epicentral area.
This sequence could be associated with the Puente Hills thrust (PHT). The PHT is a blind thrust fault that extends from this region to the north and west towards the City of Los Angeles. It caused the M5.9 1987 Oct. 1 Whittier Narrows earthquake.
Previously, the M5.4 2008 Chino Hills earthquake occurred in this region. It caused somewhat stronger shaking in Orange County and across the Los Angeles Basin.
The moment tensor shows oblique faulting, with a north dipping plane that approximately aligns with the Puente Hills thrust.
The demonstration earthquake early warning system provided 4 second warning in Pasadena.
