Countywide : Rail Line From Stanton to Paramount for Sale

Southern Pacific Transportation Co. on Tuesday announced its intention to sell a rail line from Stanton into Los Angeles County, plus two other Southern California lines, either to local governments for use in mass transit or to private developers.

The railroad company declined to reveal how much it would ask for the rail lines, saying that would be negotiated.

Offered for sale are:

* A 12.5-mile line connecting the communities of Stanton and Paramount.

* A 14-mile line that runs from the area of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to Santa Monica.

* A 50-mile line from Baldwin Park east, past downtown San Bernardino. Part of that line would be a right of way shared with a freight line serving a brewery in Irwindale.

The decision to offer the lines for sale was made after a study determined that freight traffic is light along those lines. The study of Southern Pacific operations was made by Rio Grande Industries of Denver, which bought the railroad company in August, 1988.

If governments don’t bid enough for the lines, they will be offered to private developers, Southern Pacific spokesman Royce Green said.

Orange County transportation officials have eyed the Southern Pacific line for potential use as a rail transit line linking Orange and Los Angeles counties.