Editing Pasadena, California (section)

====Trains====
[[File:Detroit Photographic Company (0051) - Pasadena Station and horse wagons.jpg|thumb|[[Santa Fe Depot (Pasadena)|Santa Fe Depot]] {{Circa|1900}}]]
Pasadena was served by the [[Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad]], which was acquired by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] in 1906, at a [[Santa Fe Depot (Pasadena)|Santa Fe Depot]] in downtown when the Second District was opened in 1887.<ref name="train" /> In 1925, the historical and traditionally styled station in Pasadena was opened.<ref name="train"/> Originally, the Second District was an invaluable line; it served manufacturing and agricultural businesses throughout the entire San Gabriel Valley. But longer trains had great difficulty climbing the precipitous 2.2% grade at [[Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County)|Arroyo Seco]], between Pasadena and Los Angeles, requiring the costly addition of extra locomotives. The still-used Third District opened in 1888, just a year after the Second District, and rapidly took over most of the longer freight trains.<ref name="train"/>

The Second District and the Pasadena Depot became well known; up to 26 passenger trains went through Pasadena every day. To avoid the media in Los Angeles, many celebrities chose to use Pasadena as their main train station, bringing it an association with old Hollywood.<ref name="train"/><ref name="La times"/>

[[Amtrak]] took over passenger rail operations in 1971, serving Pasadena with trains such as the ''[[Southwest Chief]]'', ''[[Las Vegas Limited]]'', and ''[[Desert Wind]]''. On January 15, 1994, the final ''[[Southwest Chief]]'' train arrived in Pasadena.<ref name="La times">{{cite news |title=Final Boarding Call Nostalgia |author=Bob Pool |date=January 15, 1994 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=Los Angeles }}</ref> ATSF sold the line between Los Angeles and San Bernardino via Pasadena (known as the "second division") following the [[1994 Northridge earthquake]] which damaged a bridge in [[Arcadia, California|Arcadia]] used by the line.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trainweb.org/chris/Goldline.html |title=Los Angeles to Pasadena Metro Gold Line - Gold Line Grand Opening 7/26/2003 }}</ref> (Now the ''Southwest Chief'' operates over the [[Southern Transcon|transcon]] via Fullerton.) The LACMTA A Line uses the [[right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]] after rebuilding the route to accommodate light rail in 2003. The old depot is still visible at the [[Del Mar (LACMTA station)|Del Mar station]], though it has since been converted into a restaurant. Electrified Light Rail was the preferred alternative to Metrolink or similar style rail service due to the city of Pasadena voting against any further diesel locomotives traversing through the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barber |first=Mary |date=May 1, 1986 |title=Goodby, Pasadena : Desert Wind Whistles Into Railroad History |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-01-ga-2962-story.html |access-date=June 15, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=June 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615235513/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-01-ga-2962-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The construction of the Gold Line also allowed the closure of the former railroad crossing along Colorado Boulevard which meant that motorists and the Rose Parade would no longer be hindered by trains.