432 " HISTORY OF PASADENA. 



in 1889 [now the I,os Angeles Terminal] seemed to fulfill that idea for 

 awhile — though in two or three years the need of some more direct, more 

 frequent and more center-reaching line of street car service was felt, and 

 plans for its accomplishment were talked up, resulting at last in the present 

 electric line, 



THE LOS ANGELES TERMINAL RAILROAD. 



I wrote to the officers of this company, enclosing a suitable blank, ask- 

 ing for data that would enable me to write a historical sketch of the road. 

 No answer was ever made, nor any facilities afforded me for getting any in- 

 formation from official sources. This explanation is due to myself because 

 of the meagerness of details from which I was obliged to prepare this sketch. 

 The "Terminal" as it now exists is a combination successor of the wrecks 

 of several rapid transit, narrow-gauge and dummy lines that sprung up like 

 mushrooms during our "boom" period. Of these, the Pasadena Improve- 

 ment Company's standard-gauge road from Raymond station to Altadena, 

 seven miles, comes first ; and the first step which led to the building of this 

 road was a "boom" land deal that is mentioned in the Pasadena Union 

 of October 2, 1886, as follows : 



"The purchase comprises the ranches of Woodbury Brothers, Col. J. 

 Banbury and P. Gano, embracing in all nearly 1,300 acres of the most finely 

 improved, best situated and best watered land in this valley. The pur- 

 chasers are E. C. Webster & Co., the Investment Bankers, Woodbury Bros, 

 and other capitalists of this city, who form a syndicate of energy, foresight 

 and enterprise. With the land bought are included the ver}^ valuable water 

 right to 3,000 shares of the Rubio canyon water, 120 shares of the Las Flores 

 water and one-third *of the Millard canyon waters. The first step in the line 

 of development will be the subdivision of this entire property into lots of five 

 and ten acres. One very important enterprise already projected is the con- 

 struction of a cable or electric railroad from some point near the Raymond 

 to the base of the mountains at the head of the lands purchased." 



The "lands purchased" were laid out as the town of Altadena, and 

 was one of the high mark and very brilliant " boom " enterprises in its day. 

 As lots were sold and buildings undertaken, the demand for better transpor- 

 tation facilities became imperative, and a regular standard-gauge steam 

 motor line called the Altadena Railroad was built from Raymond station 

 up through Pasadena to Devil's Gate, and thence eastward through Alta- 

 dena to North L,ake Avenue. Of course when the "boom" collapsed this 

 was a losing enterprise, yet the company was obliged to keep trains running 

 every day to hold their franchise. 



The village of Garvanza was another ' ' boom ' ' enterprise or land spec- 

 ulation in 1885-6 ; and a narrow-gauge dummy street-car railroad was built 

 from Los Angeles to Garvanza, and thence to Eagle Rock valley. This 

 project became bankrupt ; and the railroad with all its property and fran- 

 chises were bought by Capt Cross. He secured right-of-way through South 



