Empty cable reels picked up in Chatsworth

What gets made in Chatsworth

Chatsworth sits where the valley floor meets the Santa Susana hills, with the 118 along its north side and the Metrolink and Amtrak line through the middle. Its industrial area lies mainly south of the railroad and north of Nordhoff Street, around Prairie Street, Plummer Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard, with dozens of light-industrial buildings built for electronics and aerospace work from the 1960s on.

Those firms make things that are wired inside: instruments, medical devices, components and assemblies. Their reels are mostly small, plywood or nailed, holding control and data cable rather than heavy feeders. Building upgrades and new lines add 36 to 48 inch reels.

Chatsworth is inside the City of Los Angeles, at the far edge of LADWP territory, and utility reels do turn up from cable replacement work on its streets. But the typical Chatsworth stop is a business park tenant with a pallet of 24 to 30 inch spools and a dock door, which is ideal: small plywood spools in good shape are among the easiest reels to resell, to makers and to people building tables.

Where Chatsworth's empty reels come from

Electronics and medical-device makers

Control and data cable on 24 to 30 inch plywood and nailed spools.

Aerospace suppliers

Wire harness and component makers empty small reels steadily.

Building upgrades

Electrical contractors rewiring business-park buildings leave 36 to 48 inch reels.

How the San Fernando Valley, 5 and 118 run reaches Chatsworth

Chatsworth is the far west end of the valley run, reached along the 118 to Topanga Canyon Boulevard or De Soto Avenue. Because it is at the end of the lane, a small stack here usually waits for a run that already has a larger stop in the west valley, often a matter of days. Business-park docks make loading quick.

Other stops on the San Fernando Valley, 5 and 118 lane: Sun Valley, Pacoima, Van Nuys, Canoga Park. Reels from Chatsworth can share a deck with any of them.