The Last Trolley Ride – Dec. 31, 1929

Private trolley lines in Los Angeles were created largely to sell land. The business plan, pre-automobile anyway, was to buy cheap land in an outlying area, develop it into lots and run a trolley line to it. The big money was made selling the lots to people who would use the trolley to get to and from work. The trolleys themselves were not profitable. 

Sometimes the developers would sell the trolley line to another entity. That was the case with the Glendale and Montrose Railway. After establishing the G&M Railway in 1913, the developers of Montrose sold the line to the Riverside Portland Cement Company. I suppose they thought that continuing the railway would bring homebuilders to the valley and they would in turn buy cement for construction. And during the boom years of the 1920s, that was somewhat true.

But when the market crashed in 1929, building stopped. Portland Cement, struggling to stay alive, bailed out of the trolley business, which was already operating at a deficit. The notice was issued that the Glendale and Montrose Railway would cease to operate on Dec. 31, 1929.

A special “last ride” was arranged for the evening of Dec. 31. At 10:40 p.m., a G&M trolley loaded passengers at the end of the line at Pennsylvania and Montrose avenues. The car was filled, all seats taken, all mourning the end of the trolley line in the Crescenta Valley. Motorman “Pops” Nagel was at the controls as he had been since 1913. The conductor and he compared times on their watches and gave the “highball” hand signal, indicating the track was clear ahead. Pops turned on the single headlamp on the front of the car and eased on the power.

The full car trundled east down the center of wide Montrose Avenue. It passed Bonetto’s Feed and Fuel at La Crescenta Avenue and slowed for the curve just above Montrose. It passed Honolulu Avenue and the trolley barn, where Anawalt Lumber is today. The trolley picked up speed as it rolled down the center of Verdugo, slowing again for the curve at the Oakmont Country Club, then onto the long straightaway to Verdugo Park.

The car entered downtown Glendale down the center of Glendale Avenue, continued all the way to the border of Los Angeles for the final time and then came back for a short last ride to Eagle Rock. 

The car pulled up in front of the G&M station at 135 N. Glendale Ave. where today the City of Glendale has its various civic buildings. The riders piled out in the darkness and entered the station for a dinner party, a “wake” in reality, commemorating the end of the G&M. It was a solemn celebration, attended by both rail-fans and all the conductors and managers of the now defunct Glendale and Montrose Railway. Even as the New Year rang in, there were sad faces.

After the tolling of the New Year, Pops Nagel again took his station at the controls for a last journey in the dark, back up the Verdugo Canyon, and past Sparr Heights. He slowed to make the tight curve into the Montrose trolley barn. He eased the big trolley car through the arched doorways to the interior of the barn. Pops Nagel set the brakes and pulled down the trolley pole that connected the car to the electrical wires above. He stepped down from the car for the last time. 

In the cold, quiet darkness of the valley, Pops walked diagonally across the intersection of Verdugo and Honolulu to the generator house that was humming away. He threw the switch turning off the generator. The generators slowed then stopped and all was quiet.

The next day several buses took up the route of the old G&M. Some of the G&M trolley cars were scrapped at the Pacific Electric shops in Torrance while others were sold to other trolley lines that were still operating. The tracks were pulled up for scrap value and the ties for firewood. 

It was the end of a historic era for the Crescenta Valley.