Editing Redlands, California (section)

===Railroads===
The Redlands Street Railway Company was incorporated on March 22, 1888, acquiring on June 5 a franchise from the San Bernardino County Supervisors dating to December 1887, conveying the right to construct, operate and maintain for a term of 50 years a line of [[Tram|street railways]] in Redlands, Terracina and vicinity.<ref>Swett, Ira L., "Tractions of the Orange Empire", Interurbans Special Number Forty-One, Interurbans Magazine, Los Angeles, California, August 1967, Chapter 7, ''The Horse Cars of Redlands'', page 34.</ref> The initial operations began in June 1889 with a single-track line operating two-mule-team cars, the first street railway company of several to provide service to the community. Electrification and new rails replaced mules in 1899,<ref>Swett, Ira L., "Tractions of the Orange Empire", Interurbans Special Number Forty-One, Interurbans Magazine, Los Angeles, California, August 1967, Chapter 7, ''Official Corporate (PE) Histories – The Redlands Street Railway Company'', page 35.</ref> with electrical operation beginning in December.<ref name="Staff 1943, page 12">Staff, "Historic Redlands Lighting System Today 50 Years Old - Street Illumination Proved Feasibility Of World's First Long Transmission Line", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Friday August 6, 1943, Volume 49, page 12.</ref> Most Redlands street railways would pass to the San Bernardino Valley Traction Company in a consolidation on June 3, 1903,<ref>Swett, Ira L., "Tractions of the Orange Empire", Interurbans Special Number Forty-One, Interurbans Magazine, Los Angeles, California, August 1967, Chapter 7, ''The Redlands Street Railway Company'', page 54.</ref> and thence to the [[Pacific Electric]] in the "Great Merger" of Huntington properties under new ownership by the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company]] on February 8, 1911.<ref>Swett, Ira L., "Tractions of the Orange Empire", Interurbans Special Number Forty-One, Interurbans Magazine, Los Angeles, California, August 1967, Chapter 21, ''Pacific Electric Waxes and Wanes'', page 235.</ref> [[Henry E. Huntington]], nephew of late [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] president [[Collis P. Huntington]], had gained control of the {{convert|4|mi|km|adj=mid|spell=in|-long}} streetcar line of the [[Redlands Trolley Barn|Redlands Central Railway Company]] in 1908.<ref>Crump, Spencer, "Ride the Big Red Cars – The Pacific Electric Story", Trans-Anglo Books, a division of [[Interurban Press]], Glendale, California, 1983, Seventh Edition – Summer 1988, {{LCCN|7772017}}, {{ISBN|0-87046-047-1}}, page 65.</ref>

The [[Pacific Electric Railway]] (PE) completed an [[Interurban|interurban connection]] between Los Angeles and [[San Bernardino]] in 1914, providing a convenient, speedy connection to the fast-growing city of Los Angeles and its new port at [[San Pedro, California|San Pedro]], bringing greater prosperity to the town and a new role as a vacation destination for wealthy [[Angelenos]]. Redlands was the eastern terminus of the "Big Red Car" system. At its peak, PE operated five local routes in Redlands, with streetcars running to Smiley Heights and on Orange, Olive, and Citrus Avenues.<ref>Crump, Spencer, "Ride the Big Red Cars – The Pacific Electric Story", Trans-Anglo Books, a division of [[Interurban Press]], Glendale, California, 1983, Seventh Edition – Summer 1988, {{LCCN|7772017}}, {{ISBN|0-87046-047-1}}, page 95.</ref> Pacific Electric's interurban service to Redlands was abandoned on July 20, 1936, with {{convert|2.07|mi|km}} of track into the city lifted,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pacific Electric San Bernardino Line |url=http://www.erha.org/pensb.htm |website=www.erha.org}}</ref> although PE and [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] (parent company of PE) provided freight service as far as the [[Sunkist Growers, Incorporated|Sunkist]] packing plant at Redlands Heights on San Bernardino Avenue<ref>Swett, Ira L., "Tractions of the Orange Empire", Interurbans Special Number Forty-One, Interurbans Magazine, Los Angeles, California, August 1967, Chapter 7, ''The Redlands Interurban Line'', page 85.</ref> into at least the 1970s. The Smiley Heights line was abandoned at this time, as well. Bus service operated by the Motor Transit Company, a subsidiary of Pacific Electric, began on July 20.<ref>Staff, "Rail Service On Interurban Lines Dropped - Abandonment Effective Monday Of Car Service; Busses To Be Substituted", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Sunday July 19, 1936, pages 13, 23.</ref> This also affected mail delivery in Redlands as "Approximately 80 percent of our mail from all directions arrives on the 5 a.m. electric car," explained Postmaster James B. Stone. "This dispatch is sorted and morning deliveries started by 8:30 a.m. on most routes. The post office department has temporarily arranged for this mail to be brought in by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad|Santa Fe]] train at 6:05 a.m. As this arrival is an hour later, our service will be one hour later."<ref>Staff, "Late Mail To Result From P.E. Stoppage", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Sunday July 19, 1936, page 15.</ref> The abandoned Pacific Electric La Quinta [[Trestle bridge|trestle]] over the [[Santa Ana River]] stood immediately south of [[San Bernardino International Airport]] into the 2010s but was removed when an [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] facility was built adjacent to the site.

{{wide image|Redlands, California 1908.jpg|800px|align-cap=center|Redlands, 1908}}