Other Stories From the Glendale and Montrose Railway

Many stories, some amusing and some sad, have been passed down about the short-lived trolley line that brought passengers and freight to the new town of Montrose from 1913 to 1930.

Initially passenger traffic was light, so the trolley line employed very small trolley cars the locals called “The Dinky.” These small cars were supported by a single truck in the center. The two wheeled axles beneath the cars were just a couple of feet apart, located under the very center of the trolley car. This made for a rolling, rocking motion as the car went down the track, like a small boat in ocean waves.

Since there was no high school in CV, the kids had to ride The Dinky down to Glendale High. On the way to school, the bad boys would get on the very back of the trolley. As it rocked, they would jump up and down, accentuating the rocking motion, until finally the trolley would derail. That delayed the start of school with a perfect excuse.

The trolley barn was right behind the old Montrose Theater, and at night when the trolleys went into the barn, the theater shook as though in an earthquake.

The low-budget trolley line bought well-used trolleys and the conductor had to occasionally walk through the car with a screwdriver, resetting the screws working their way out. One of these older Montrose cars was bought for a movie, “The Hazards of Helen.” and was destroyed on film in a head-on collision.

One of the saddest stories is the story of the Burton family. Montrose developer Robert Walton had a sister Ellen who was married to a railway man – John Burton – who had built railroads in the Midwest. Naturally when it came time to run the Glendale and Montrose rail line up from Glendale to the new town of Montrose in 1913, Walton enticed John and Ellen to move to California to help him.

The Burtons brought their two teenaged daughters with them and built a beautiful Craftsman house right on the rail line. It was one of the first houses in Montrose located on the curve of Montrose Avenue, just above Honolulu.

The two Burton girls were inseparable and much loved in the community. They rode the G&M trolley down to Glendale High each day. The older girl – Zelma – had graduated in 1916. She was a member of Glendale Presbyterian Church and active in their social clubs. The younger of the two – Ellen Lee – was the class treasurer and organized school trolley excursions to Montrose for her classmates.

In December 1916, the Burton family was returning by car from Christmas shopping in Los Angeles. As they were approaching Glendale, they had to weave between two boxcars parked on the tracks in the street. As they emerged, their car was hit broadside by a trolley car running at full speed. The two girls were killed instantly while John and Ellen were gravely injured.

The funeral for the two girls was a huge event. The tragedy brought the community together in an outpouring of grief. The girls’ classmates sang beautiful songs and the boys of the class served as pallbearers. The two sisters, close in life, were buried together in one coffin, facing each other, their arms intertwined. 

John and Ellen were in the hospital for weeks and missed the funeral of their only daughters. John finally died of his injuries. Ellen, in her pain and grief, never bought a headstone for her daughters and their grave at Forest Lawn remains unmarked to this day.

Ellen Burton lived on alone for several decades in the house they had built on Montrose Avenue. When she died the house was sold to another family who valued the old Craftsman house. A few years ago, they made sure to sell the house to a young couple who seemed to want to restore the home and raise a family in what was the oldest house in Montrose. 

But it was apparently a ruse. Within a year, the house had been bulldozed and an apartment sprang up in its place, the end to a sad chapter in Montrose history.