Empty cable reels picked up in Anaheim

What gets made in Anaheim

Most visitors know Anaheim for the resort district on its west side, but the city's working land is to the east. The Anaheim Canyon business district covers 2,645 acres along the 91 east of the 57, a long strip of manufacturers, electronics and medical-device firms, distribution buildings and the service businesses that support them. More industry follows the Santa Ana River and the railroad south toward Angel Stadium and the Honda Center, in the area the city calls the Platinum Triangle.

Anaheim is one of the few Orange County cities with its own electric utility. Anaheim Public Utilities owns and maintains the city's distribution system and has spent years moving overhead lines underground, street by street. That work, and the substations behind it, use medium-voltage cable on big bolted reels.

Then there are the venues. Theme parks, an arena, a ballpark and the convention center draw a great deal of power and rebuild their electrical systems constantly as attractions open, close and change. The contractors who do that work keep yards in and around the city.

Put together, Anaheim produces almost every kind of reel we handle: small plywood spools from electronics makers in the canyon, nailed 36 to 48 inch reels from building and venue work, and utility reels of 60 inches and up from undergrounding. That spread is why the north county run nearly always has an Anaheim stop.

Where Anaheim's empty reels come from

Anaheim Canyon manufacturers

Electronics, medical-device and aerospace suppliers empty 24 to 36 inch spools of control and data cable.

City utility undergrounding

Anaheim Public Utilities' conversion of overhead lines to underground leaves 60 to 72 inch bolted reels.

Venue and resort contractors

Electrical contractors rebuilding attractions and venues empty nailed 36 to 48 inch reels.

How the North Orange County, 91 and 57 run reaches Anaheim

The north Orange County run comes along the 91 from Buena Park and Fullerton, takes Anaheim Canyon stops off Kraemer Boulevard, Tustin Avenue or Lakeview Avenue, and then drops south on the 57 to the stadium area before Orange. Canyon business parks have docks and forklifts; contractor yards near the river are usually gravel and gated.

Other stops on the North Orange County, 91 and 57 lane: Buena Park, Fullerton, Orange. Reels from Anaheim can share a deck with any of them.