California’s Abandoned Chicago Metra Train

[Music] deep in jacoba Springs California near the border of Mexico is an abandoned Bridge surrounded by Rusty graffiti covered derailed trains despite the abundance of vandalism here you can clearly see that some of these trains are from the Chicago Metro Company featuring a paint Scheme not seen in decades the thing is these trains Were Meant to operate over 2 000 miles away in a completely different climate and now they're fading away on Obsolete tracks in the middle of the desert how they ended up here is a mystery that we will uncover today we discover California's abandoned Chicago Metro trains I'm your host Ryan silkash and you're watching it's history [Music] to understand how a Chicago Metra train ended up in the Californian desert we first have to understand why tracks were needed here in the first place the focal point is goat Canyon where a Trestle Bridge runs through the mountains goat Canyon Trestle revolutionized travel through San Diego County by connecting the surrounding valleys Trestle bridges are a unique and beautiful structures made from the support of many horizontal frames typically trestles feature tripod supports made from the support of many horizontal frames typically trestles feature tripod supports and are made of iron however the gulp Canyon Trestle on the other hand is uniquely made entirely of wood to accommodate the Region's weather patterns the constant change in heat would make a metal structure unreliable and unpredictable whereas wood wouldn't however using wood has made the bridge prone to fires in the San Diego heat there's also stress that comes from wind hence to prevent wind damage the bridge has a 14 degree curve measuring between 595 to 7 150 feet at that size this is the world's largest all wood Trestle goat Canyon Trestle is all part of a larger system this is only a featured selection of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway that runs from San Diego to El Centro California and passes through northern Mexico with one of the most notable operators being the cariso George Railway which has since become defunct well parts of the railroad remain active today the surrounding tracks are filled with various abandoned train cars from canceled projects in the valley how these train cars ended up rotting here is the result of a series of many unfortunate events in late 1906 San Diego entrepreneur John D Spreckels created the San Diego and Arizona Railway finally establishing a Short Line train traveling directly from San Diego to El Centro this connection was in high demand as for the 60 years prior fire San Diego locals urged the creation of a direct line for the city's growth so although forty thousand dollars had been previously raised Spreckels took it upon himself to fund the entire project the funds were returned and spreckel's Company spreckel's interest began construction gaining the legal rights to build the railroad went smoothly they collaborated with powerful railroad executive Edward H Harriman who had both experience and control over many large nearby Railways such as the Union Pacific Railroad construction began on September the 7th 1907 on the San Diego side and proved to be an extreme Challenge funding was stifled as the United States economy entered a depression but this was resolved when Spreckels decided in 1908 to make the route pass through Baja California and Mexico permission from The Mexican government and the relevant contracts were soon obtained unfortunately Harriman passed away way less than a year later in September of 1909 and naturally his companies would no longer be able to fund the project putting extreme Financial strain over the entire Endeavor either way Spreckels was determined to continue using his funds and fortunately he was the son of a sugar industrialist with a vast real estate Empire so this wasn't really a problem construction began on the Mexican side in February of 1910 while the railway was not yet completed the railway's first passengers traveled to Tijuana on July the 29th construction continued ending in 1910 with a finished bridge over the Tijuana River unfortunately 1911 was not as productive the Mexican Revolution occupied the time of the Mexican workers Halton construction until June of that year progress continued after the conflict was resolved and the insurrectionist surrendered in the following years legal troubles put further strain on the company the Southern Pacific Railroad company sued to retrieve the funds from the late Edward a Chairman's estate they wanted nearly 3 million dollars from Spreckels unfortunately for Southern Pacific John D Spreckels fought them in court four years later the case was dismissed This legal outcome swayed Southern Pacific to return their support to the San Diego and Arizona railroad project during and after the lawsuit spreckel's company continued its expansion of the railroad merging some of John D spreckel's other railroad assets in the process unfortunately the first World War began in 1914 complicating his relationship with Mexico and related contractual agreements funding was once again challenged in 1917 when the United States entered the war but even so the project continued under spreckel's determination wartime gave ownership of major railroads to the federal government and stopped all construction so once again John D Speckles used his power and influence to Lobby the government claiming that the railroad needed to be exempt from the ban as a defensive measure this project and the San Diego and Arizona railroad were issued the sole exemption from these regulations however labor and resources were still scarce his priority went to the war effort finally the railroad was completed on November the 15th 1919. the first passenger train began service on December the 1st that same year the sdna was nicknamed the quote impossible railroad because it was logistically challenging to follow its route unfortunately this nickname was quickly proven to be correct natural disasters damaged the railway almost immediately when heavy rains plagued San Diego throughout 1920 putting several train sections out of commission in January of 1932 tunnel number three collapsed in Baja California after a fire compared to Future restoration projects that would be needed this was resolved relatively quickly taking only 45 days but similar problems would reoccur later that same year tunnel number 15 also collapsed on March the 27th repaired a tunnel number 15 would not be easy due to the state of materials and its location then another tunnel burned in October of that year but this time it was just left abandoned then we have tunnel number seven which was no longer used after October the 22nd but a replacement path around the cliff was built three months later two days after this fire the Southern Pacific transportation company bought the majority ownership stake of sdna from spreckel's hairs for 2.8 million dollars the sdna was quickly Incorporated and renamed the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway abbreviated as sdae the network was looking rather Grim at this point the damage to Tunnel number 15 was beyond repair and replacing the tunnel that passed through goat Canyon was not feasible as a long-term solution this is why they built the famous Trestle Bridge as a pass-through it was a measure of desperation the bridge was built in parts during construction and moved to its intended place to be assembled kind of like Ikea furniture but it was quite an undertaking it was hard to retain workers as money felt sick working at such high altitudes even so the bridge was completed in 1933 in the first year of Southern Pacific's ownership goat Canyon Trestle quickly became the focal point of sdnae's route but the transportation industry would soon be gutted once again following the end of World War II you see after two decades of depression and another world war Americans flocked to purchase automobiles as a result passenger trains plummeted in profits sdna responded by shutting down their passenger service on January the 11th 1951 from that point the railroad became exclusive for Freight Service 25 years later hurricane Kathleen gutted San Diego and this damaged significant portions of the Railway putting the goat Canyon Trestle out of commission until 1981 and it's here that we returned to the topic of California's abandoned Chicago Metra train Southern Pacific tried to abandon the railway back in 1978 but the United States Interstate Commerce Commission refused their legal request so in response Southern Pacific sold the railway to San Diego's Metropolitan Transit development board on August the 20th 1979. freight services continued under the new owners who contracted Kyle Railways for operations Services throughout the 1980s the railroad expanded its freight services most prominently beginning new international routes the sdna railroad maintained its relationship with the Mexican Government in creating these Services even so the 80s were not free from disaster as two Bridges were utterly destroyed by fire in 1983 while still technically in use it was clear that the rehabilitation of the railroad was a full-time job for this reason cariso George Railway Incorporated began to operate and repair the line from July of 1997. this company would shape the fate of the railroad for the next 25 years by the year 2000 the Mexican Government gained control over the Tijuana Tecate line and the state of Baja California was given administrative power with the Carrizo George Railway becoming the operator the following year they continued their repairs of the Railway and the Goat Canyon trestle with construction ending in 2004 and services continuing on May the 15th that same year by 2007 Carrizo George Railway purchased 17 cars from the Chicago Metra these comparatively modern cars were previously used for Chicagoland passenger services and I somehow doubt that anyone ever imagined they'd end up in the Californian desert yet they weren't even intended for use in the states the trail cars were bought specifically for use in the Mexican section of the route and although the cars were transported to jacoba Springs by rail they never crossed the border of the 17 cars purchased eight were resold to the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad unfortunately the remaining cars would never return to operation as the Chicago Metro carriages waited in the desert the Carrizo George Railway continued its restoration work but natural disaster continued to sabotage the state of the railway tunnel 3 received significant fire damage once again on Christmas day of 2009 which hurt travel on the Tijuana Tecate line in fact use of that line ceased entirely in 2011. then when it came time to renew contracts The Mexican government decided to work with a new company Baja California railroad Incorporated this new company is part of the Baja California state government aligning its interests completely with the Mexican Government unfortunately since they no longer needed the railroad and the previous owners no longer had the rights to operate as a railroad company the entire thing shut down on December the 12th and this is where our Chicago rail cars went abandoned because the Carrizo George Railway no longer exists nobody can claim ownership of the remaining Metro trains they simply lay on the track sightings waiting for operators that will never arrive during the Chicago Metro train stint in California they never received a single passenger unless you include trespassers who are exploring the valley the trains most notably train number 7774 remains stagnant and Frozen in Time following the breakup of Carrizo George the entire San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway has not fared much better contractual agreements and government permission allowed the San Diego Metropolitan transit system to leave control of operations to the Pacific Imperial railroad which strives to continue the unfinished projects of Carrizo George by December of 2012 the Pacific Imperial railroad signed a contract promising a detailed plan of how they intended to repair and operate the network however Baja California railroad subleased the desert line from Pacific Imperial on June the 9th 2016 taking responsibility for its obligations just four months later Pacific Imperial filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy after tunnel number six collapsed in February of 2007 the Pacific Imperial railroad provided a more extensive lease to the Baja California railroad under the new contract Baja California would operate the desert line for 99 years for a fee of 1 million US dollars annually in response the Baja California railroad signed the contract and shared a three-phase rehabilitation plan focusing on one section at a time however they never started any of this work to the contrary by mid-2000 120 the Baja California railroad stopped paying its operational fee altogether in turn the San Diego and Arizona Eastern railroad canceled the lease in November of 2021 from that point large sections including the goat Canyon Trestle remain out of commission as there are too many repairs to function the company still works in theory and has plans to destroy the remaining lines but it has not announced new repair plans since the contract with Baja California ended well notable portions of the Railway such as the goat Canyon Trestle are technically on private property they're also Out Of Reach thanks to the rough natural terrain the Chicago Metro cars remain abandoned in the valley Beyond repair despite their abandonment and difficult to reach location the cars have become something of a niche tourist attraction within jacoba Springs in fact local Street artists have also become accustomed to their existence making their mark on the space with a broad spectrum of graffiti so after a century of disaster the San Diego and Arizona Railway has become a Hidden Gem a reminder of how Transportation evolved in America with the Chicago train car as the cherry on top thank you all for watching until next time I'm Ryan so cash signing off

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 309,095

Keywords: san diego and arizona eastern railway, san diego and arizona railroad, san diego and arizona railway, railroad, san diego railroad, san diego & arizona railway, san diego and arizona railway centennial, san diego arizona eastern railroad, san diego & arizona, san diego and arizona, abandoned railroad, san diego and arizona rr, arizona, san diego, pacific southwest railway museum, railway, carrizo gorge railroad, san diego railroad museum

Id: xv2yWI0edOs

Length: 16min 4sec (964 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 06 2023