From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Glendale and Montrose Railway Company
(G&M) was an
interurban
electrified
railway
in
Southern California
, in the United States. It was unique among the Los Angeles local railways, as it was among the area's only interurban line never absorbed into the expansive
Pacific Electric
system.
History
[
edit
]
The railway began service from
Glendale
to
Eagle Rock
on March 13, 1909, as the
Glendale and Eagle Rock Railway
.
[1]
Real estate developers in
Montrose
acquired the company in 1913 with the intent of extending the line to their newly constructed community. Cars first ran to Montrose on April 26, 1913 and then as far as
La Crescenta
later that year.
[2]
[3]
[4]
The name was changed to the Glendale and Montrose Railway in 1914.
[2]
The tracks were widened to
standard gauge
in 1915, allowing interchanges with other railroads.
[2]
A joint service was briefly established with the
Pacific Electric
, allowing cars originating in La Crescenta to run to the
Pacific Electric Building
via the
Glendale?Burbank Line
and interchange with the larger railroad's network. The service lasted less than a year, from October 1916 to the following September.
[5]
In February 1924 the Glendale and Montrose
trolleys
traversed newly electrified
Union Pacific
(UP) tracks to reach
Los Angeles
. The city of Glendale contributed funding for the electrification to reduce the impact of steam trains through the town.
[4]
The population along the route in the early 1900s was too low to support frequent passenger service.
[5]
[4]
The railway ceased operation at the end of 1930,
[4]
and the Union Pacific took over the remaining tracks in 1931. A few years later, UP converted the ex-G&M trackage from electric to
diesel
.
[6]
Tracks were connected to the
Southern Pacific
Coast Line
in 1938 and freight trains continued to use the line, known as the Glendale branch, until November 1986.
[4]
The Glendale Avenue segment was abandoned in 1956. Union Pacific abandoned the last remaining section of the railroad after 1991, and the right-of-way was subdivided and sold off.
[4]
Rolling stock
[
edit
]
The company acquired three single-truck
Birney
cars in 1918. Initially sporting a red
livery
, the cars were given white accents in 1927 to differentiate them from Pacific Electric's Red Cars.
[2]
Preserved equipment
[
edit
]
One of the
electric locomotives
of the Glendale & Montrose has been preserved in the collection of the
Southern California Railway Museum
. G&M No. 22, a 1923
Baldwin
-
Westinghouse
boxcab
locomotive, became UP No. E100 after Union Pacific acquired the G&M. In 1942, after UP ceased electric operation on the former G&M tracks, No. E100 was sold to a Union Pacific subsidiary in
Washington
, the
Yakima Valley Transportation Company
(YVT).
[6]
[7]
It became YVT No. 297 and continued in use in Yakima for many years. When retired, in 1985, the locomotive was donated to the
Orange Empire Railway Museum
.
[7]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"One-man line cars ready for schedule"
.
The Los Angeles Times
. March 12, 1909. p. 17
. Retrieved
December 16,
2022
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Newcombe, Robert (2013).
Montrose
. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 8, 9, 21?24.
ISBN
9780738596341
.
- ^
Hilton, George W.; Due, John F. (2000) [1960].
The Electric Interurban Railways in America
.
Stanford, California
:
Stanford University Press
. p. 413.
ISBN
0-8047-4014-3
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Sneiderman, Phil (April 25, 1991).
"Removing a Bit of History : Transit: Plans to pull up Union Pacific's Glendale tracks bring back memories of a once-thriving electric trolley"
. LA Times
. Retrieved
January 22,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Veysey, Laurence R. (June 1958).
A History Of The Rail Passenger Service Operated By The Pacific Electric Railway Company Since 1911 And By Its Successors Since 1953
(PDF)
.
LACMTA
(Report).
Los Angeles, California
:
Interurbans
. p. 17.
ASIN
B0007F8D84
.
OCLC
6565577
.
- ^
a
b
Johnsen, Kenneth G. (2010).
Yakima Valley Transportation Company
.
Arcadia Publishing
. pp. 8?9, 111.
ISBN
978-0-7385-8103-3
. Retrieved
September 18,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Johnsen, Kenneth G. (February 1986).
"Yakima Finale: UP Turns YVT Over To City"
.
Pacific RailNews
. pp. 13?14. Archived from
the original
on March 3, 2016
. Retrieved
September 18,
2012
.
External links
[
edit
]