Everyone loves the LA River Bicycle Path. I think most would agree that before the bicycle path, people didn’t even know how lush and green sections of the LA River were - let alone that the river even existed. But while the bicycle path has reconnected Angelenos to the river, the path only constitutes the west bank. The east bank of the river, on the other hand, hasn’t seen the same amount of development and activity. Always an interest to me, the ruins of Taylor Yard lie directly across from Frogtown on a huge section of the east bank. I’ve been itching for a new adventure, so seasoned explorer Ding Kong took me and our bikes to do some field studies.
Taylor Yard is a 247-acre former Southern Pacific railroad switching yard just north of Downtown LA. Built in the 1923, the yard was one of the largest in LA until it closed in 1985. Since then, most of the rail and maintenance buildings have been demolished and the above ground tracks removed. However, the foundations and ruins of the switching stations and carousels are still there. A portion of the lot has been newly developed with the Rio de Los Angeles State Park and the Sonia Sotomayor High School. Other than that, the rest of Taylor Yard constitutes the largest and longest undeveloped site along the entire length of the Los Angeles River.
The ruins of the railway turntables, where trains would go on top of and be rotated to their correct tracks.
Brine Shrimp!
The service ditches. Train would go on top of these ditches, where servicemen would be able to maintain the bottom of the cars.
Rio de Los Angeles State Park.
