into a new company, The Los Angeles-Pacific Railroad. Later, the Los Angeles and Pacific Railway would be acquired by Henry Huntington and Isaias W. Hellman’s group of investors and become part of the Pacific Electric system. Controversy arose over some of Sherman's methods. The San Francisco Call ran a series of vitriolic articles during November and December, 1898, which claimed Sherman’s efforts to secure financing for his electric railways led to the failure of two San Francisco banks. Sherman was soon vindicated, as the failures were actually the result of poor bank investments during the boom of the late 1880s, and of possible losses associated with the bonds of Los Angeles’ cable railway system. Sherman and Clark now built lines covering the west side of the Los Angeles basin, and down the coast, from Los Angeles to Hollywood, Sawtelle, Westgate, Santa Monica, Ocean Park and Venice, and to Playa del Rey, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach. In some cases rights of way were donated and in other cases bonuses were paid by property owners so the lines would pass through their property. For example, Hobart J. Whitley and other investors paid $15,000 to add a line through Hollywood. Santa Monica property owners Senator John P. Jones and Robert Symington Baker provided 225 acres of land near what would become Sawtelle. Sherman and Clark sold this property to Jones and R.C. Gillis to raise funds for the new railway. At its peak the Los Angeles Pacific had 180 miles of track in the western portions of Los Angeles County, from Los Angeles to the beaches along Santa Monica bay, then running down the coast to Redondo Beach. In March, 1906, Sherman and Clark sold a controlling interest in the railway to E. H. Harriman, of the Southern Pacific for a reported $6 million. A new Los Angeles Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated on April 4, 1907, with ambitious plans to standard gauge the system, add new lines, create a subway from downtown to Vineyard, and more. In 1910, Sherman and Clark sold the remaining interest in their Los Angeles Pacific Railroad to the Southern Pacific, which, in September, 1911, combined their lines with Huntington’s original Pacific Electric Railway and several other companies into a new Pacific Electric Railway. Sherman remained on the board of the Pacific Electric Railway. Early Real Estate Development Activities in Los Angeles Sherman was adept