Category Archives: Los Angeles County

Disaster, Los Angeles County, Santa Clarita, Updates, Website News, Wildfire

Power, Fire, and Rails

It has certainly been interesting in southern California lately. Between fires breaking out on a near daily basis, sometimes hourly, it has been a bit difficult to keep up with things. One of the fires, the Tick Fire, burned very close to where I used to live in Santa Clarita. My father still lives there and did have to evacuate. It was quite tense for a while as the fire was still out-of-control and heading directly for that area. Thankfully, there was no damage there, though some houses nearby did burn. The hills I used to hike as a kid where I studied the spectacular outcrops of the Mint Canyon Formation also burned. Seeing the images on the news and trying to figure out where exactly they were was truly a little too close to home.

The Saddleridge Fire burned the area around the Newhall Pass, closing it for a considerable amount of time. Fires still flare up in the burn area, keeping the crews busy. I haven’t had a chance to go up to the area to assess what burned and if any of the historic roadways in the area were affected. My twitter account has been a bit active lately regarding news about the fires and agencies to contact or follow for more information.

Power outages, resultant from a decision by the utilities to shut down the power in areas of high fire danger, known as Public Safety Power Shutdown, has also negatively affected our region. Really, our whole state. Sadly, many of the major fires seem to have been still caused by power lines. These outages have directly impacted hundreds of thousands in California. Hopefully, either through an agreement between the powers-that-be and the utility companies or something else, these outages can be dealt with in a far better manner. Check with you local power company for details if you may be affected.

Some good news though. Despite all else that has gone on, the Metro A Line (formerly the Metro Blue Line) is now back up and running. It has been mostly shut down over the last year to rehabilitate the track and do some other upgrades. So far the results are mixed, but things do indeed look better. I look forward to riding it soon and seeing what the changes looks like first hand. Construction also continues on the many other rail lines in Los Angeles with live testing finally underway on the new Crenshaw Line.

On a personal front, I’ve been a bit disabled of sorts lately. It would seem I have a sciatica problem which has been quite painful at times. As a result, I haven’t been able to be as mobile as usual, so trips to Los Angeles have been a bit delayed. I will recover and be back at it soon enough. I very much look forward to my next LA trip, as they are usually a lot of fun. So much to see, so much to do.

I also have a backlog of photos to post, including a lot of photos of the fault rupture and some building damage from the Mw7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake. Those and more will be posted soon.

Thank you all for reading, following, and supporting this site.

History, Image, Los Angeles County, Railroads, Rivers, Santa Clara River, Santa Clarita, Southern Pacific

Featured Image – 8/20/2019

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On September 5, 1876, the golden spike was driven near Lang, California on the Southern Pacific Railroad line connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. That line would bring the sleepy town of Los Angeles into a spotlight that persists to this day. A small train station was built near the site, which served as an access to local mines and ranching. For a time, it also served as a transfer point for a small railroad that ran up nearby Tick Canyon that served a borax mine. By the late 1960’s, the railroads were eliminating many smaller stations as technology was making them obsolete. Lang Station was torn down and the debris was unceremoniously pushed into the river bed of the Santa Clara River. Bits of the station can still be seen today. This photo shows the station and surrounding buildings in 1967. Lang Station was located just east of Santa Clarita near the Antelope Valley Freeway (SR-14) and Soledad Canyon Road interchange.

Lang Station area in 1967. Courtesy – Caltrans
Geology, Los Angeles County, San Gabriel Mountains

Mt Wilson Observatory Geology Talk

Lectures

On Saturday, June 16, at 5:30 pm Mount Wilson Observatory will be hosting a talk by Dr. Tanya Atwater, professor emeritus of geology at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Atwater played a major role in piecing together the plate tectonic history of our part of the planet. She will talk about how the motions of the Earth’s crust created the current topography of southern California (including the perfect site for astronomers to explore the Universe). The talk will be followed by a rare chance to look look through Mount Wilson Observatory’s 60-inch Telescope, which revolutionized telescope design and allowed astronomer Harlow Shapley to find our place in the Milky Way Galaxy. Tickets are only $20 and proceeds will all go to the maintain the Observatory.

California, Dam, Event, History, Image, Los Angeles Aqueduct, Los Angeles County, Santa Clarita, Southern California, St Francis Dam

Featured Image – March 12 and 13, 2018

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Photo of the St. Francis Dam just before it collapsed.

Side view of the dam. Note the lack of any real spillways in the dam. Water was about one foot below the rim of the dam the day of the collapse.

This featured image covers two dates for a reason. The St. Francis Dam, a former dam in San Francisquito Canyon above Santa Clarita, California, collapsed at 11:57:30 pm on March 12, 1928. The ensuing flood caused a great deal of damage along the canyon and the Santa Clara River Valley. Over 500 lives were lost that night in, even in 2018, the second largest disaster by loss of life in California. The even had repercussions throughout the world. Following that event, dams, as well as other large projects, no longer were approved by engineers. Geologists had the final say, not engineers. Both geologists and engineers also had to be certified by their state government to work as professionals.

The head engineer on the project, William Mulholland, was a great engineer. He oversaw and helped design the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which was the largest and longest project of its time. It is still an engineering marvel today, more than 100 years later. The disaster ruined his career and during the investigation, he not only took full responsibility for the event, but also was said to have “envied the dead”. The collapse took a big toll on the “Chief” and he died a few years later.

This post is in memory of both those that died that fateful night in 1928 and to William Mulholland. A man that went from the “Savior of the City” to a pariah in just a few years.

California, Image, Los Angeles County, San Gabriel Mountains, Southern California

Image of the Week – 8/27/2017

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Looking toward Timber Mountain with Mt San Antonio and Cattle Canyon to the left.