Rail fan, San Gabriel Valley native and train historian Bob Davis fills us in on a little history on the currently-unused tracks that are reserved for the Foothill Extension. Speaking of the Foothill Extension, can anyone dispute the notion that it isn’t “shovel ready” after looking at this picture? That’s him right there – ready to put the shovels into the ground the moment Metro decides to commit the Foothill Extension into the Long Range Transportation Plan.

Here’s one of the photos my wife took last month near the end of present track in Arcadia, to point up the “shovel ready” aspect of the Foothill Extension. The gravel platform is left over from the 1990’s, when Metrolink ran trains to this location for the Rose Parade, with buses filling the gap between here and Pasadena.  Of course, nowadays, parade-goers ride electric trains to the big show. Behind where I’m standing was the spot where the Pacific Electric Monrovia-Glendora Line crossed the Santa Fe until Sept. 1951.

Bob Davis
San Gabriel Valley native