Pasadena Historic Preservation Commission to Weigh Relocation of Whistle Stop Trains Neon Sign to Glendale Museum

For nearly four decades, a 12-foot neon sign topped by a black-and-white locomotive graphic has projected from the building at 2490 E. Colorado Blvd., its animated tubing simulating a train in motion. On Tuesday, Pasadena’s Historic Preservation Commission is scheduled to consider whether the 75-year-old Original Whistle Stop Trains sign can be removed and donated to the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale.

The sign’s owner, Fred Hill, recently vacated the Pasadena storefront and relocated his model railroad business to 23 N. Altadena Drive. But he lacks the funds and the property owner’s permission to bring the sign with him. To ensure it is protected and preserved in full operation, Hill is proposing to donate it to the nonprofit Museum of Neon Art, known as MONA, at 216 S. Brand Boulevard.

Originally erected in 1951 at 3745 E. Colorado Boulevard in what was then unincorporated Los Angeles County territory, the sign was moved to its current Pasadena location when the business relocated in 1988. Because the sign did not comply with the city’s zoning code, the applicant was required to designate it as a Historic Sign, which was completed on March 31, 1988, and a Sign Exception was granted two months later. The sign — an extruded metal cabinet painted green in a roughly L-shape with a canted upper portion — features grey lettering reading “Original Whistle Stop Trains” on the lower portion and neon tubing on both faces that accentuates the painted lettering and train graphic. It has been maintained in excellent condition, according to the staff report.

Staff is recommending approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness, the formal authorization required for relocating a designated historic resource. The staff report, prepared by Principal Planner Kevin Johnson, reviewed by Planning Manager Luis Rocha, and signed by Acting Planning and Community Development Director Jason Mikaelian, finds the project categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under Class 31, which covers preservation and rehabilitation of historic resources. Approval would carry one condition: that the applicant submit a narrative relocation plan — including the methodology for removal, transport and installation, along with drawings depicting its installation and rehabilitation at the museum — for staff review before the sign is removed.

Staff analysis notes that the sign’s historical significance derives from its design qualities — its materials, historic means of illumination and craftsmanship of the period — rather than its association with the building at 2490 E. Colorado, and concludes that the relocation would not cause a significant adverse effect because the sign’s character-defining features would be retained.

MONA Executive Director Corrie Siegel told staff the museum works with a local sign contractor, Signmakers, which has extensive experience relocating historic neon signs and donates its time and equipment for such projects. The relocation would involve removing neon lighting from one face of the sign and using a crane to lift it from the building for transport. MONA, founded in 1981 and housed at its permanent Glendale location since 2016, already holds one other Pasadena-origin sign — from the former Monty’s Steakhouse. Siegel is working with the City of Glendale, which owns the museum property, to determine whether the sign can be installed on the building’s exterior to retain a public-facing presentation, or displayed indoors. If placed inside, minor alterations would be required to support the sign while retaining its original form, character, graphics and lighting, according to the staff report. In either case, the removed neon from one sign face would be restored to working order to match the existing condition.

The commission will tour the sign at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday at 2490 E. Colorado Blvd., followed by the special public meeting at 6 p.m. in the Grand Conference Room S038 in the basement of City Hall, 100 N. Garfield Avenue. For more information call (626) 744-7135 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/historic-preservation-commission/.