This branch was built north from the SP 'Sunset' main line in Alhambra, crossed two different Pacific Electric lines, and had sidings at Raymond and Pasadena. It passed through South Pasadena but evidently did not have a siding or station there.
The area is fully developed (and has been for many decades). The branch headed north parallel to Raymond Ave. {see photo below left} It crossed the PE Temple City line at Main St. in Alhambra, then continued parallel to Raymond Ave. as far as the South Pasadena city line. This Alhambra segment remained in place to the 1980s; the track north of there was taken up earlier.
Through Alhambra and South Pasadena the right of way is used as by a power company for a pole line. The second PE crossing was at Huntington Drive in South Pasadena, where the PE line to Arcadia, Monrovia and Glendora ran in the median {see photo lower right}. The SP branch right of way is easily located, but much of it is fenced off as private property. It can be walked where it forms the western boundary of Garfield Park in South Pasadena.
Thanks to James Stimson for much of the following: the final segment where the SP entered the city of Pasadena is difficult to locate. It ran in a gully parallel to Marengo Blvd. (where Blair High School, built in the 1960s, now stands) and entered Arroyo Parkway (Ca. 110) at the intersection with Glenarm St. The line continued north in the median of Arroyo Parkway, then shifted to the east side of Arroyo Pkwy. near the Colorado Blvd. intersection, where a lumber yard was at the "end of the line" up until the 1950s. As of 2004 the Arroyo Parkway is still paved in large cement sections, with some cut-outs that appear to be where the rail lines were removed and paved over.
This was how the abandoned SP Alhambra station appeared in April 1984. The interior had been set on fire in the recent past; note the smoke damage around the windows and doors. The station was torn down soon after.
This station had been a stop for Amtrak's Sunset Limited until the main line was lowered into a trench in the 1970s.
A remnant of the branch to Pasadena is visible in the photo. It climbed out of the trench on the 'track side' of the station, then used a switchback to proceed past the 'street side' of the station. It crossed Mission Road at the crossbuck (far left in photo).
Courtesy Mike Palmer.
R-o-w with paved-over rails, facing N at Grand Ave in Alhambra. Photo from July 2003, courtesy Mike Palmer.
The pole line in the center distance follows the right of way of the SP Pasadena branch. This view is facing northwest in South Pasadena, where Marengo Av. crosses Huntington Dr. The Pacific Electric once ran a line in the median of Huntington Drive through this area.
Photo from July 2003 courtesy Mike Palmer.
