Catching the Midnight Rider: Railfanning the San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- During the very early morning hours, a very unique railroad with a very unique operation can be seen in the South Bay - freight trains running on light rail tracks.
Running throughout the South Bay of San Diego county is the San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad (SDIV) - a shortline owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. With over 30 miles of track, the SDIV switches out various industries and companies in the South Bay and serves as a bridge line between the BNSF in San Diego and the Baja California Railroad in Tijuana, Mexico. However, the only rail lines available for these operations are owned by San Diego's Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) for their Trolley services. To prevent any disruptions to this service, the SDIV conducts all its operations in the early morning hours when Trolley services have ceased - normally between 1 and 4 am. This is the only kind of operation I am aware of where freight trains and light rail share the same tracks.
Being a night owl that lives very close to the MTS Blue Line, I routinely hear the SDIV from miles away as it transports cars between SD and TJ. Come along as we railfan the "Midnight Rider" at various spots in the South Bay communities of San Diego, National City, and Chula Vista!
![[HD] San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad Chase to San Ysidro & El Cajon!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9SiaXPi_z0g/mqdefault.jpg)
![[HD] San Diego & Imperial Valley Railroad Chase to San Ysidro & El Cajon!](/img/tr.png)
Great footage of this local and a chase scene as well ! Nice coverage of the Midnight Rider because, until now, I've never heard of this local or it's busy activities. Awesome video I appreciate your efforts Patrick !
Regards From Orange County;
- Larry
Thank you for watching Larry! Operating in the dead of night has certainly made the SDIV one of Southern California's more obscure railroads. It's a really interesting operation to witness, provided you're able to sleep in the next morning. LOL
OMG! I always used to hear it near Massachusetts Ave. station but I dont hear it anymore. Ive recently been wondering why, do you know anything abt it?
The trains in these clips were running between SD and TJ on the Blue Line. The Massachusetts Ave station is on the Orange Line, and SDIV's operations there are switching out businesses in La Mesa and El Cajon, which can be infrequent. I'm not very familiar with their Orange Line operations, but if you haven't heard them in a while, then that likely means that their customers probably just have not had anything to switch out.
Hey you know when they run to El Cajon? I might go see them
@SD40-2 All I know about the El Cajon train is that it leaves the downtown yard at around 12:15-12:30 right after the last Orange Line trolley comes in. Unfortunately, I don't know which days they run.
Alright thx what day did you see it if you remember?
@@SD40-2 I've never seen the El Cajon run.
@@Patrick_3751 ooh alright all good
What days and times do they operate?
@AustinRailProductionsOfficial I recall Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings being the most reliable days of them running. Sunday and Monday mornings were almost always no goes.
You might see the locomotives begin to move in the downtown SD yard at around 10 pm. They normally wait in the yard for the last Blue Line Trolley to come in at around 12:50 am. However, they will occasionally enter the Blue Line before that, and then stop just before the bridge over the Sweetwater River and wait there for the last Trolley.
The run to San Ysidro takes 30 mins at most, and once completed, the locos will undergo some basic maintenance and refueling that takes about an hour. Sometimes, they will return to SD with another cut of cars. Sometimes, they'll return light. But they normally have everything wrapped up by around 3:30 or 4:00 am.
@@Patrick_3751 Thank you I might catch them!
@@AustinRailProductionsOfficial No problemo! Good luck and drink plenty of caffeine! lol
@@Patrick_3751lol