The Glendale and Montrose Railway, an electrified trolley line, connected Montrose and the rest of the valley to the larger world of Glendale and Los Angeles during the big growth years of 1913 to 1930. The tiny rail line was always cash-strapped and the Depression finished it off. Some of the trolley’s infrastructure was repurposed and, despite the passing of a hundred years, still remains today. Last week we covered the buildings that are relics of the trolley line. Today, let’s talk about the “railroad right-of-ways” that still exist. (Those are the narrow strips of land the tracks were on.) 

We had previously talked about the streets that were built specifically for the railway. Montrose Avenue was built especially wide to have tracks down the center. North Verdugo Road was also built for the trolley and still has the center median where the trolley ran, now occupied by mature trees and grass.

The Glendale and Montrose Railway had designs on running its tracks to the growing community of La Cañada Flintridge. They established a short right-of-way coming off the main line on Montrose Avenue, just above Honolulu Avenue. The proposed tracks would have curved off Montrose Avenue headed east, then climbed the hill above what was then Indian Springs Resort (now Vons and CVS Pharmacy). That right-of-way was sold off after the trolley line folded but it still retains the shape of a curving track bed.

Here’s where it lies: At 2047 Montrose Ave. we see the offices of Interscape Construction Company. The long narrow building, first built as the Montrose Motel, follows the curve of the right-of-way. East of Interscape is a paved alley built on the curve, now used for storage. That comes out on Park Place. The right-of-way land continues at 3836 Park Place, behind Marshalls. Many years ago, someone bought this oddly shaped, long curving strip of land and built a very narrow, but very long, six-unit apartment on it. It’s appearance is striking. It appears to be single rooms stacked end-to-end to fit onto this oddly shaped lot. One can clearly see this right-of-way on Google Maps.

The other right-of-way still visible is at the other extreme end of the line. In 1920, the Glendale and Montrose Railway wanted to extend its line to the edge of Los Angeles. It cut a deal with Union Pacific to use its freight tracks for a trolley line that would run down Glendale Avenue, past Forest Lawn and alongside San Fernando Road to its intersection with South Verdugo Road (today near the 2/5 Interchange). There passengers could get off the Glendale and Montrose trolley and board the Los Angeles Railway trolley to continue to downtown LA. An especially popular stop was Forest Lawn Glendale, which then had its main entrance not on Glendale Avenue but further east, right on the trolley line. 

The tracks reverted back to Union Pacific solely when the trolley went bankrupt in 1930. Union Pacific continued to use that right-of-way delivering freight to Glendale up until 1956. In 1990, Union Pacific sold off that right-of-way, a long narrow strip of land that extended from Forest Lawn all the way to that San Fernando/Verdugo intersection. The various businesses that adjoined the right-of-way bought the land and today it’s largely a series of long thin parking lots. Pater Noster High School at the intersection of San Fernando and the 2 Freeway acquired the right-of-way for parking. (As an aside, Pater Noster became Ribet Academy, visible off the 2 Freeway. I think it’s become another school in the last couple of years. The iconic five-story building was constructed in 1923 as the Theme Hosiery Company. It manufactured silk stockings until the late 1940s when nylon stockings put it out of business.)

Forest Lawn Glendale purchased its right-of-way for a maintenance yard. Just like Anawalt Lumber in Montrose, it paved asphalt over the tracks. And just like Anawalt, the tracks are visible and have even broken through. It’s here in this maintenance yard that you can actually touch the “holy steel rail” that a century ago carried Glendale and Montrose trolley riders from LA to Montrose.