Glendale–Burbank Line facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Glendale–Burbank
A Downtown Los Angeles-bound Red Car near the intersection of Fletcher Drive and Riverside Drive.
Overview
Locale	Southern California
Termini	Subway Terminal Burbank
Stations	21
Service
Type	Interurban
System	Pacific Electric
Operator(s)	Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (1904–1908) Pacific Electric (1908–1953) Metropolitan Coach Lines (1953–1955)
Rolling stock	PE 5000 Class PCC cars (last used)
History
Opened	April 6, 1904 (April 6, 1904)
Closed	June 19, 1955 (1955-06-19)
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	600 V DC Overhead lines

Glendale–Burbank is a defunct Pacific Electric railway line that was operational from 1902 to 1955 in Southern California, running from Downtown Los Angeles to Burbank via Glendale. Short lines terminated Downtown and in North Glendale, including the popular Edendale Local.

Route

Brand Street in Glendale – a Glendale Line train stops to pick-up and drop off passengers in 1915.

The route started at the Subway Terminal Building. Once out of the Hollywood Subway, dual tracks traversed the Toluca yard, crossed under the Beverly Boulevard Viaduct into the center of Glendale Boulevard where they ran northerly across Temple Street, and in the 1950s under the Hollywood Freeway. Following in the pavement of Glendale Boulevard, the tracks ran directly to the west of Park Junction at intersection Park Avenue (one block south of Sunset Boulevard). There was a connection up Park Avenue to the Hollywood Line on Sunset Boulevard.

The Glendale Line, crossed under the Sunset Boulevard Bridge where it entered a three-track private way which allowed passing of the Glendale and Edendale cars. The three-track private way extended north, in the center of Glendale Boulevard, past Montana Street, Alvarado Street, and Berkeley Street as far as Effie Street.

Double-track street operation was then resumed and ran to Allesandro Street. Here, the dual tracks left Glendale Boulevard to enter a private way through the Ivanhoe Hills, past Lakeview Avenue and India Street to eventually run parallel to Riverside Drive. A high wooden trestle and steel deck girder bridge carried the dual tracks over Fletcher Drive with a clearance of 40 feet (12 m). The line continued northwesterly, still along the edge of the Hills, to Monte Santo, (Glendale Boulevard and Riverside Drive).

From Monte Santo, a series of three bridges carried the tracks northeasterly over Riverside Drive and Los Angeles River. The line then traversed the Atwater district in a private right of way in the center of Glendale Boulevard to the Glendale city limit where the line crossed Southern Pacific's Coast Line at-grade (where Glendale Boulevard becomes Brand Boulevard).

The dual rails then crossed San Fernando Road where the private way ended and the line continued northerly in the pavement of Brand Boulevard, crossing Los Feliz Boulevard, Chevy Chase Boulevard, Colorado Boulevard, Broadway and Lexington Drive. The main line continued north to Verdugo Wash where the line became a single track.

At Arden Junction at Glenoaks Boulevard, the line branched. The old main line continued north in the pavement of Brand Boulevard to a terminus in North Glendale at Mountain Avenue. The Burbank Line diverged westerly as a single-track line on private way in the center of Glenoaks Boulevard, then continued westerly past Central, Pacific, Highland, western, and Alameda Avenues to a terminus in Burbank at Cypress Avenue. From 1925 to 1940 the Burbank Line continued west, following Glenoaks Boulevard, on private way to Ben Mar Hills (Eton Drive).

List of major stations

History

A Glendale Line train crosses Broadway on 6th Street in the 1920s. Increased congestion downtown at this time led the California Railroad Commission to force Pacific Electric to construct a subway tunnel to bypass surface streets.

The line was built by the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad. Construction of the Brand Boulevard segment was begun by the Glendale and Montrose Railway (G&M) in 1903, but the new company sold the rights to the line by the following spring. The line opened on April 6, 1904, terminating at Mountain Street.

Los Angeles Interurban went on to be leased then acquired by the Pacific Electric, with the latter assuming service in July 1908. Initially originating at Main Street, service to Burbank began on September 6, 1911. The branch to East Glendale (shared with the Glendale and Montrose Railway) began service on May 1, 1914.

Pacific Electric briefly established a joint-service with the Glendale and Montrose Railway between 1916 and 1917 — cars ran from the Pacific Electric Building to Glendale Avenue on the East Glendale branch and turned north on the G&M tracks to La Crescenta. The route and partnership were discontinued in less than a year due to low ridership. The extension to Eton Drive, subsidized by local real estate developers, started carrying passengers July 20, 1925. Beginning on December 1 that same year, trains were routed through the Belmont Tunnel ("Hollywood Subway") between the Subway Terminal Building and Glendale Boulevard in Westlake.

Many trips were replaced with buses starting in 1936, but community feedback from Burbank and Glendale was so great that the California State Railroad Commission pressured the railway to re-expand the service. A full rail schedule was restored in 1940 along with discontinuation of the Eton Drive extension.

The last car on the Broadway section ran on Christmas Eve 1946. On October 1, 1953, the route came under the purview of Metropolitan Coach Lines, who proceeded a series of service reductions. Rail service to North Glendale was discontinued on June 18, 1955, with Burbank service also ending at the end of the service day. The route was converted to bus operation.

All tracks along the route had been removed by 1981.

Rolling stock

To expand service after 1936, Pacific Electric purchased unique double-ended PCC streetcars to run on the line. Cars were formed into trains up to three long. These cars were retired in 1955 along with the service.

Edendale Local

An Edendale Local on 6th Street, c. 1900–1920

Local services also operated over the line, starting at Whitmore Avenue in Edendale and running south — bypassing the Hollywood Subway on surface tracks to terminate at the Southern Pacific Railroad's Arcade Depot (later Central Station). These trips were extended north to Monte Sano in 1936. With the opening of Union Station, tracks were removed leading to the former Southern Pacific depot and Locals were rerouted into the Hollywood Subway starting in September 1940. By that November, Glendale–Burbank trains took over most local duties, with Edendale Local runs relegated to rush hours and going as far as Richardson. The Line saw a resurgence in World War II, but dedicated service was gradually withdrawn. Metropolitan Coach Lines finally dropped the last vestiges of the Edendale Local in June 1955.