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Revision as of 02:01, 21 March 2018

Goat Canyon Trestle
Trestle as seen from the southeast in 2016
Coordinates32°43′45″N 116°11′00″W / 32.72917°N 116.18333°W / 32.72917; -116.18333
CrossesGoat Canyon[1]
LocaleAnza-Borrego Desert State Park[1][2]
OwnerSan Diego Metropolitan Transit System[2][3]
Characteristics
MaterialRedwood[1]
Total length597[4]–750[1][5] ft (182–229 m)
Height186[2][4]–200[1][6][7] ft (57–61 m)
History
Construction start1932[6]
Construction end1933[4]
ReplacesTunnel number 15[4]
Location
Map

Goat Canyon Trestle is the world's largest curved wooden trestle.[1] In 1919, the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway called the "impossible railroad" was completed.[8] It ran through Baja California, through eastern San Diego County, before being ending in Imperial Valley.[9] In 1932 one of the many tunnels through the Carrizo Gorge collapsed leading to the construction of the trestle.[4][5]

The trestle became part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway when it was completed in 1933.[6] It was made of wood, rather than metal due to temperature fluctuations in the Carrizo Gorge.[4] By 2008, it stopped being utilized for rail traffic.[10]

Background

Under the direction of John D. Spreckels, construction of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railroad began in 1907.[3] It was backed by Edward Henry Harriman at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt.[9][11] Engineers called the route impossible as it crossed the desert and through mountains.[8] In 1919, the railroad was completed, connecting San Diego with the Imperial Valley, by way of Mexico.[2] Before the construction of the railroad, the only rail connection to San Diego was from the north, via Los Angeles, which was only completed in the late 19th century.[12] The new railway provided a connection to the Southern Pacific Railway, instead of going north on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.[13] At the opening of the railway, and prior to the construction of the Goat Canyon Trestle, the most significant bridge on the route was the Campo Creek Viaduct, which is 600 feet (180 m) long and 200 feet (61 m) in height.[11][14]

North end of collapsed Tunnel 15.

The San Diego and Arizona Railway experienced a series of difficulties which led to the periodic closure of the railroad, including collapsed tunnels and rock slides.[2] One of these was the collapse of Tunnel Number 15 in March 1932;[4][5] it was due to a earthquake.[7][15] The remnants of collapsed tunnel 15 remain until the present day.[16]

History

In response to the collapse of tunnel 15, the trestle was constructed.[17] Construction began in 1932[6][18] and was done in sections, with sections being constructed at the bottom of the canyon, then lifted into position. It was completed by 1933, leading to a realignment of the railroad route.[4] It was constructed using redwood timber,[1] the same type of timber used for railroad ties along the rest of the route.[19] Wood was utilized because the large temperature fluctuations would have led to metal fatigue in a steel bridge.[4] It was built with a 14° curve.[6][20]

Panoramic photograph of the area just north of, and of, the Goat Canyon Trestle

In 1951, scheduled passenger service over the trestle ended, with intermittent freight traffic continuing (when the railroad was not closed due to damage).[11] In 1976, Hurricane Kathleen damaged the trestle, as well as the rest of the line; repairs were not completed until 1981.[10][21] The usage of the railroad ended again in 1983, due to collapsed tunnels, with restoration of the railroad not resuming until 2003.[22] In 1999, Huell Howser visited the trestle.[23] During the 2003 Cedar Fire, crews working on repairs of the railway conducted firefighting operations due to acts of arson near the railroad tracks.[24]

After repairs to the line were completed in 2004, rail usage resumed by Carrizo Gorge Railway.[11] Pacific Southwest Railway Museum provided trips on the railroad from Campo.[11] In 2008, the Desert line, which includes track north of Mexico including Carrizo Gorge closed indefinitely for repairs, ending revenue rail usage of the trestle.[25] In early 2017, tunnel number 6 near the trestle collapsed, and the route was obstructed.[26] As of January 2018, Baja California Railroad was assessing the line before it could repair it to operation.[27] The trestle remains a popular destination for hiking.[2][4][7][28]

Surrounding environment

Since at least the 1970s, there has been a population of bighorn sheep, an endangered species, living near the trestle.[2][29] Another endangered species in the area of the trestle is the Bell's vireo.[30]

Replicas

A HO scale replica of the trestle can be seen in use in the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.[31] The replica is six feet (1.8 m) off the floor;[32] it is 10 feet (3.0 m) tall in total.[33] It is older than the museum itself, having been built in 1941.[34] At the same museum is a N scale replica of the trestle, based on a 1855 surveyed route.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cowan, Ernie (May 2, 2004). "World's largest wooden trestle is in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park". North County Times. San Diego County. Archived from the original on May 1, 2004. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Japenga, Ann (March 30, 2004). "Rail renegades". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Stewart, Joshua (June 9, 2016). "Border rail line to connect U.S., Mexico". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j The Canyoneers (July 19, 2017). "Get close but not too close to Carrizo Gorge trestle". San Diego Reader. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Rangel, Alexis (August 12, 2013). "San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway, the 'Impossible Railroad,'". Imperial Valley Press. El Centro, California: El Centro Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e Bell, Diane (April 19, 2017). "Science Channel spotlights marvel in San Diego's back yard". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Baran, Robert (May 29, 2010). "Goat Canyon Trestle Trek". San Diego Reader. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Jack Scheffler Innis (2004). San Diego Legends: The Events, People, and Places that Made History. Sunbelt Publications, Inc. pp. 233–236. ISBN 978-0-932653-64-2.
  9. ^ a b Dodge, Richard V. (June 29, 1956). "San Diego's 'Impossible Railroad'". Dispatcher. Railway Historical Society of San Diego. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Jerry Schad; Scott Turner (February 20, 2017). Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: 282 Spectacular Outings Along the Coast, Foothills, Mountains, and Desert. Wilderness Press. p. 1020. ISBN 978-0-89997-802-4.
  11. ^ a b c d e Beck, Darrell (December 1, 2011). "On Memory's Back Trail: The Impossible Railroad". Ramona Home Journal. Ramona, California. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  12. ^ Carrico, Richard L. (January 23, 2011). "Book Review: Book on 'impossible railroad' well done". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
    Price, James N. (April 1988). Scharf, Thomas L. (ed.). "The Railroad Stations of San Diego County". The Journal of San Diego History. 34 (2): 123–135. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
    Eddy, Lucinda (Summer 1995). "Visions of Paradise". San Diego Historical Society Quarterly. 41 (3). Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  13. ^ Joseph P. Schwieterman (2004). When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment. Truman State Univ Press. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-1-931112-14-7.
  14. ^ The Station Agent: Official Publication of the Order of Railroad Station Agents. Order of Railroad Station Agents. 1920. p. 9.
    McGrew, Clarence Alan (1922). City of San Diego and San Diego County: The Birthplace of California. American Historical Society. p. 172.
    Earth Mover and Road Builder ... Traffic Service Corporation. 1920. p. 6.
    Randall, Laura (June 30, 2016). "In Campo, California's Old West roots remain". Stars And Stripes. Washington Post. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  15. ^ "Goat Canyon Trestle Viewpoint Via Mortero Palms". Anza Borrego Foundation. Goat Canyon trestle was built in 1932 after an earthquake collapsed one of the tunnels of the Carrizo Gorge section of the San Diego and Arizona Railway.
    Key, Kevin. "The Massive Goat Canyon Trestle – Brilliantly Illuminated by a Nearly Full Moon". Getty Images. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  16. ^ Farquharson, Phillip T.; Bloom, David M.; Ziegler, Carole L. (2006). Geology and History of Southeastern San Diego County, California: San Diego Association of Geologists for 2005 and 2006. San Diego Association of Geologists. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-916251-78-9.
  17. ^ Angel, Milton (July 30, 2001). "240 Years of Ranching: Historical Research, Field Surveys, Oral Interviews, Significance Criteria, and Management Recommendations for Ranching Districts and Sites in the San Diego Region" (PDF) (Interview). Interviewed by Heather Thomson. San Diego: Save our Heritage Organization. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
    O'Herin, Charles M. (2006). Prototypes for Modelers: Vol. 1, San Diego & Arizona Railway. Link Pen Publishing. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-9776279-0-5.
    "SDAG Meeting Announcement" (PDF). San Diego Association of Geologists. January 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  18. ^ Robbins, Christine (January 2016). "The Bridges of San Diego County: The Art of Civil Engineering" (PDF). The Journal of San Diego History. 62 (1): 5–36. ISSN 0022-4383. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  19. ^ Deutsch, Reena (2011). San Diego and Arizona Railway: The Impossible Railroad. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 22 178. ISBN 978-1-4396-4047-0.
  20. ^ Meet the Most Dangerous Wooden Railroad. Mysteries of the Abandoned. 2017. Science Channel. {{cite serial}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |transcripturl= and |transcript= (help)
  21. ^ LunarLight (2010). "San Diego & Arizona Eastern's Carrizo Gorge". Trainorders.com. Todd Clark. Retrieved February 15, 2018. Goat Canyon Trestle itself was sagging in its center span, having had the lower tier of its tallest bent knocked away by a boulder that was sluiced down the canyon by the flood.
    Pacific Rail News. Interurbans Publications. 1995. p. 44.
  22. ^ Ristine, Jeff (December 7, 2003). "Lakeside company hopes to move first freight by end of January". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
    Lowell Lindsay; Diana Lindsay (October 10, 2017). Anza Borrego Desert Region: Your Complete Guide to the State Park and Adjacent Areas of the Western Colorado Desert. Wilderness Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-0-89997-780-5.
  23. ^ "Trestle- California's Gold (1006)". Huell Howser Archives. Chapman University. January 8, 1999. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  24. ^ "The 'Impossible' Goat Canyon Trestle". Roadtrip America. Flattop Productions, Inc. November 2003. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  25. ^ Dibble, Sandra (February 11, 2013). "Rebuilding historic U.S.-Mexico rail link". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved March 16, 2018. The last operator, Lakeside-based Carrizo Gorge Railway, was able to re-establish limited service in 2004. Those operations stopped in 2008 after the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, which owns the Desert Line, raised concerns about its safety and demanded repairs that Carrizo Gorge could not afford.
  26. ^ Hangrove, Dorian (February 3, 2017). "MTS responds to Baja Rail charges". San Diego Reader. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  27. ^ Smith, Joshua Emerson (January 15, 2018). "Will century-old Impossible Railroad finally thrive, delivering billions in economic activity?". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  28. ^ Huegel, Tony (2006). California Desert Byways: 68 of California's Best Backcountry Drives. Wilderness Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-89997-413-2.
    Lindsay, Lowell; Lindsay, Diana (2017). Anza Borrego Desert Region: Your Complete Guide to the State Park and Adjacent Areas of the Western Colorado Desert. Wilderness Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-89997-780-5.
    "Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge via Carrizo Gorge Road". Alltrails.com. September 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  29. ^ Raftery, Miriam (March 17, 2014). "Experts Voice Alarm Over Survival of Local Bighorn Sheep". East County Magazine. La Mesa, California: Heartland Coalition. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  30. ^ "Eastern San Diego County Resource Management Plan and Record of Decision" (PDF). El Centro Field Office. Bureau of Land Management. October 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  31. ^ Griswold, P. R. (1992). Railroads of California: Seeing the State by Rail. American Traveler Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-55838-121-6.
  32. ^ "Americana". Americana Magazine. 1990. p. 57.
  33. ^ "All Aboard San Diego's Railroad Museum". Coronado Lifestyles. Coronado Lifestyle Magazine. September 7, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2018. There's even a 10-foot-high model of the Goat Canyon Trestle that crosses over the Carrizo Gorge.
    Radcliff, Chris (May 28, 2007). "Geeky Places To Take Your Kids: San Diego". Wired. Condé Nast Publications. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  34. ^ Voss, Paul; Schaumberg, William C. (March 2001). "20 years of the San Diego Model R.R. Museum". Railroad Model Craftsman. White River Productions. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  35. ^ "Pacific Desert Line". San Diego Society of N Scale. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018. Parts of our layouts coincide, and as a result, the museum now has two versions of the Goat Canyon Trestle.
    Crevoshay, Fay (2003). A Parent's Guide to San Diego and Baja California. Mars Publishing, Incorporated. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-931199-28-5.

Further reading

  • Dodge, Roger V (1960). Rails of the Silver Gate: The Spreckels San Diego Empire. Golden West Books. ISBN 0870950193.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goat_Canyon_Trestle&diff=831534046&oldid=831517637

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