There will soon be a new gateway along Veterans Parkway in Manhattan Beach highlighting the history of the pedestrian trail that once carried passenger and freight trains.
The Leadership Manhattan Beach class of 2026 held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week for its project “Iron Rails to Green Trails,” a public sign detailing the transformation of Veterans Parkway from part of the Santa Fe rail line that spanned the Southwest United States and ended at the Greenbelt in Manhattan Beach.
The nine-month leadership program, which brings together local stakeholders each year, teaches participants about the city’s inner workings through mock council meetings and other sessions, and has each class complete a project with that knowledge — to build future community leaders.
Former Manhattan Beach Mayor Russ Lesser speaks as the Leadership Manhattan Beach Class of 2026 unveils its project, “Iron Rails to Green Trails,” at a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, May 13, 2026 across from the Joslyn Community Center.The public sign will bring the story of Veterans Parkway, also known as the Greenbelt, to life along with a mobile-friendly digital hub. The project highlights the rich history of the Santa Fe rail line, the running boom of the 1980s, and the transformation of the corridor into one of Manhattan Beach’s most treasured green spaces. (Photo by Tyler Shaun Evains, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
The Leadership Manhattan Beach Class of 2026 unveiled its project, “Iron Rails to Green Trails,” at a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, May 13, 2026 across from the Joslyn Community Center.The public sign will bring the story of Veterans Parkway, also known as the Greenbelt, to life along with a mobile-friendly digital hub. The project highlights the rich history of the Santa Fe rail line, the running boom of the 1980s, and the transformation of the corridor into one of Manhattan Beach’s most treasured green spaces. (Photo by Tyler Shaun Evains, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
The Leadership Manhattan Beach Class of 2026 unveiled its project, “Iron Rails to Green Trails,” at a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, May 13, 2026 across from the Joslyn Community Center.The public sign will bring the story of Veterans Parkway, also known as the Greenbelt, to life along with a mobile-friendly digital hub. The project highlights the rich history of the Santa Fe rail line, the running boom of the 1980s, and the transformation of the corridor into one of Manhattan Beach’s most treasured green spaces. (Photo by Tyler Shaun Evains, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
The Leadership Manhattan Beach Class of 2026 unveiled its project, “Iron Rails to Green Trails,” at a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, May 13, 2026 across from the Joslyn Community Center.The public sign will bring the story of Veterans Parkway, also known as the Greenbelt, to life along with a mobile-friendly digital hub. The project highlights the rich history of the Santa Fe rail line, the running boom of the 1980s, and the transformation of the corridor into one of Manhattan Beach’s most treasured green spaces. (Photo by Tyler Shaun Evains, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
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Former Manhattan Beach Mayor Russ Lesser speaks as the Leadership Manhattan Beach Class of 2026 unveils its project, “Iron Rails to Green Trails,” at a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, May 13, 2026 across from the Joslyn Community Center.The public sign will bring the story of Veterans Parkway, also known as the Greenbelt, to life along with a mobile-friendly digital hub. The project highlights the rich history of the Santa Fe rail line, the running boom of the 1980s, and the transformation of the corridor into one of Manhattan Beach’s most treasured green spaces. (Photo by Tyler Shaun Evains, Daily Breeze/SCNG)
But the class of 2026 project is not in place quite yet. The unveiling on Wednesday, May 13, featured a temporary cardboard sign in the future spot, across the street from the Joslyn Community Center on Valley Drive.
The permanent one, made of steel, is still being manufactured, project lead Scott Anderson said at the Wednesday ceremony.
Class members, however, wanted to celebrate the project before they graduated from the program on Thursday, Anderson added.
“Iron Rails to Green Trails” should be ready to go in about two months, he added, and the official piece will be installed this summer. Another unveiling may take place once it’s in.
The public sign is meant to educate residents and visitors about the shift of the former Santa Fe railway from an active industrial corridor to a recreational open green space, while honoring the collective community effort that made preserving the landmark possible.
“I moved to Manhattan Beach because of the weather and the beach,” Anderson said. “I knew about those (things), and when when I got here, I had no idea this strip of green existed; I might be here more than I am on the sand.”
Anderson came up with the idea for the history project, he said, because he wanted to fill a gap in local knowledge. He’d heard rumors that the Red Car Trolley used to run on the Greenbelt, when that actually traveled on The Strand.
“This is our gift to the city to remember that there were freight trains,” Anderson said.
Also known as the Greenbelt, Veterans Parkway used to be part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It ran through the Manhattan Beach corridor from 1888 to 1983, connecting Los Angeles and Redondo Beach, according to Leadership MB’s research.
The rail line stopped passenger service in 1918, and continued operating freight trains until a gradual stop in 1983.
As freight train service in town declined over time, the global 1970s jogging craze and 1980s running boom made an impact on what the piece of land could be next. The inaugural Manhattan Beach 10K race in 1978 was so successful that afterward, the event’s volunteer committee built a jogging path alongside the decommissioned train tracks.
In 1986, the idle tracks were removed, and the Santa Fe railway gave 2.2 miles of the railroad right-of-way to Manhattan Beach. Since then, it has been maintained as a public trail within the green landscape between Ardmore Avenue and Valley Drive.
The final sign will also include a link to a digital version of the history of the Santa Fe rail line, information about the 1980s running boom that helped reimagine the corridor, and document the advocacy and vision that led to the creation of Veterans Parkway.
Russ Lesser, a former Manhattan Beach mayor, said Wednesday that he remembers playing near the tracks when the train still ran.
“I go back quite a ways with these railroad tracks,” Lesser said. “When I was 6 years old and the city hadn’t developed sewers, all the water from the hill section ran onto Ardmore and there was a big drain pipe under the tracks; we would crawl into the drain pipe when the trains went by and it would all shake and we’d get scared — it was really fun.”
Decades later, as a city official, he saw a running path get built next to the train tracks, and “when we took the tracks out, we were able to build the (pedestrian) track as you see it today.”
The land, he added, is dedicated as permanent open space and can only be changed by Manhattan Beach voters.
After the ceremony, attendees picked out free Leadership MB Class of 2026 hats and dog handkerchiefs in the Joslyn Center.
Down along the Greenbelt is another Leadership MB project, a time capsule installed by the class of 2000, which members dug up last summer.