07-02-2010, 12:44 PM
Vernon was historically the "meat packers" district in Los Angeles, just as the area to the northwest between Vernon and Los Angeles Union Station around Olympic Blvd is the "produce district." Railroad operations in the produce district were done primarily by the S.P. while I think the operations in Vernon were done by the Santa Fe or the LAJ. The LAJ operates completely within the neighboring cities of Vernon and City of Commerce. I think the entire LAJ is contained within an area of about 10 miles by 10 miles. Most of the meat packers are gone now. I think Farmer John is the only packing house continuing to butcher live stock in the area. Most of the other meat packers that are still in business have moved farther out into the country. I think some meat packers receive sides of beef, dressed hogs, or chicken and either cut it up and package it for distribution or process the meat into hot dogs or sausage. Most of those companies use trucks instead of trains for both receiving dressed meat and shipping out the finished products for distribution.
By the way, their used to be a lot of warehousing in Vernon, but the city is so old that most of the warehouses are small by modern standards. Their used to be a number of grocery chains that had warehouses in Vernon, but most of them are either gone, bought out by larger companies, or have moved out to the areas like Fontana, and Riverside where their is space to build the "monster" warehouse complexes that they need. Recently, Vernon has been attracting various importers, and especially electronics wholesaler's.
By the way, their used to be a lot of warehousing in Vernon, but the city is so old that most of the warehouses are small by modern standards. Their used to be a number of grocery chains that had warehouses in Vernon, but most of them are either gone, bought out by larger companies, or have moved out to the areas like Fontana, and Riverside where their is space to build the "monster" warehouse complexes that they need. Recently, Vernon has been attracting various importers, and especially electronics wholesaler's.