U.S. railroad founded by John D. Spreckels From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The San Diego and Arizona Railway (reporting mark SDA) was a 148-mile (238 km) short line U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. It linked San Diego, its western terminus, with El Centro, its eastern terminus, where passengers could connect with Southern Pacific's transcontinental lines, eliminating the need to first travel north via Los Angeles or Riverside.
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | San Diego, California |
| Reporting mark | SDA |
| Locale | California Mexico |
| Dates of operation | 1919–1933 |
| Successor | San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 129 miles (208 kilometers) |
The company charter was executed on December 14, 1906, and the groundbreaking ceremony was held the following September. Numerous delays (including government intervention during World War I) delayed the completion of the line to November 15, 1919. Damage to the lines from both natural disasters and sabotage exerted great financial pressure on the company, and in 1932 Spreckels' heirs sold their interests in the railroad to the Southern Pacific, which changed the name to San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway (SD&AE).
The company was chartered on December 14, 1906, and groundbreaking ceremonies held at the intersection of San Diego's Main and 26th Streets on September 7, 1907. Construction delays, attacks by Mexican revolutionaries, and government intervention during World War I all served to push the construction completion to November 15, 1919 when the "golden spike" was finally driven by John Spreckels. In 1917, the SD&A acquired the San Diego and Southeastern Railway, which operated branches to Foster (formerly the San Diego, Cuyamaca, and Eastern Railroad) and Bonita (formerly the National City & Otay Railway)[1].
The first through SD&A passenger train left Campo on the morning of November 30, and made the full run from El Centro to San Diego's downtown union station, Santa Fe Depot, for the official opening of the line on December 1, 1919. The total construction cost of the 146.4 miles (235.6 km) of track laid was approximately $18 million, or some $123,000 per mile; the original estimate was $6 million. The 11-mile (18 km) long segment through Carrizo Gorge (which included 13,385 feet (4,080 m) of tunnels, 17 in all) alone cost over $4 million to construct; the three miles (5 km) of tunnels (21 total) along the entire line ran another $1.8 million. Almost 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of bridges and trestles were built as well.
The tracks departed downtown San Diego south where they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at San Ysidro. From there the line traversed eastward through Tijuana, then headed northeast through Tecate and back over the border to the town of Campo. To construct and maintain the 44-mile (72 kilometer) stretch through Mexico the SD&A formed the Ferrocarril Tijuana y Tecate, S.A. de C.V., at the behest of the Mexican government. East of Campo the road traveled through Clover Flats, across the Coast Range (elevation 3,660 feet), then descended through the breathtaking but treacherous Carrizo Gorge, the builders' most significant obstacle.[2] Though the SD&A line ended in Seeley, trackage rights gave the railroad the ability to run trains as far east as El Centro and as far south as Calexico. Branch lines ran from downtown to as far north and east as the community of Lakeside, with a separate line which rounded San Diego Bay to service Coronado Heights, Coronado, and North Island.
Damage to the lines from heavy rainstorms, landslides, and fires took a financial toll on the railroad, as did border closings with Mexico. Clashes with the Industrial Workers of the World resulted in acts of vandalism as well. In 1932, financial difficulties forced Spreckels' heirs to sell their interests in the firm for $2.8 million to the Southern Pacific, which renamed the railroad the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway (SD&AE).
In 2012 the Mexican government allowed the company Baja Rail to restore and use the track between Tijuana and Tecate. The company has poured ~$20,000,000 into revitalizing the 44 mile stretch of track it is allowed to operate on.[3] The company sought approval from the United States government to build and restore the desert line of the track in San Diego, to allow some more commerce between the two countries. The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) stepped in, and Baja Rail partnered with them to restore the track. However, they made little progress and suddenly stopped making payments to MTS in 2020.[4] The fate of the railway's operation is unclear, as of 2020.
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