J.D. Spreckels was my Great Great Grandfather. Sailed to San Diego w/ family in April 1906 my grandmother Marie Spreckels Elizalde (granddaughter) to J.D.S. She told me the following when I was a Kid : She was was 6yrs old living in SF at the mansion on Nob Hill when the great earthquake hit. As SF began to burn out of control. With the fires unchecked and advancing across the city JD gathered the family and retreated to his yacht the "Venicia" in the bay. In a failed attempt to create a fire break the Spreckels mansion and the others on Nob Hill were dynamited, she watched the whole city burn from the safety of the yacht before they set sail to San Diego. Anyway I have not seen this film for 15yrs. have a VHS copy somewhere . I'm very happy to find this Thank you sincerely, Joaquin Elizalde
I did not know the history behind Mr. Spreckles. This is a real interesting story. I grew up in the San Diego area late 50's and 60's. This us truly fascinating.
Thanks for sharing that bit of family history. Interesting that they stayed in their Hotel Del for a while until their Coronado home was built. Or maybe there was an interim house?
My grandmother was born in Tuscon Az and was a halfbreed...English and Yaqui Native. She remembers when she was around 3 years old her family moved to Southern California in a covered wagon on the "wooden street". The railroad tracks. People were mean to them because they were native and there was no water at times. Strong woman her whole life. I have a creamer from that crossing that I cherish.
It's videos like these that give the younger generations the background behind something so amazing. I have been into trains since I was a toddler, and my knowledge keeps expanding everyday. I had just found about the Goat Canyon Trestle today, and this documentary helps explain why it was built and the railroad the built it. God bless the many souls who put their life on the line for such a breath-taking view in the Carrizo Gorge and building the railway in general. Now all they need to do is to restore the railway to its original glory, though i doubt it'll take a few days to do so.
Thank you for a trip down memory lane. Im now 90 but spent many times in your beautiful state and enjoyed visiting your many railroad locations. Thank you. Jim Hatboro, PA
Worked for corrizo gorge railway around 2004 doing track repair for hauling sand to campo. We worked plaster city to Mexico. Was a fun adventure for a young man. In my early 20's. We had multiple derails in the gorge. It was no joke then. No room for heavy equipment. We hired house movers. To jack the cars up in the air and then we would rebuilt the tracks under them. Must of bin some task building it. Turns are to tight and soft the train just pushes them out of spec. It will never be refurbished. Even when new it was impossible and it will always remain that way. It's to slow for any union to pick up. Also there is graveyard just before dos cabasas. West side of inkopah. High on at the top of the gorge. We're many of the ill workers were laid to rest. Nobody ever mentions it. Many unmarked. Little foot trail used to lead up it.
That's very interesting about the buried souls. I've hiked the trail from the Nudist colony to the the main bridge. Beautiful hike, didn't know about the Graves. Would have been fun to explore or find. Next time. I hope they open the rail for entertainment purposes, scenic cocktail cruises would be fun. I know the rail has been used recently for other purposes.
I had a feeling those turns were too much for trains to handle. I wonder if a bypass following the I-8 could be built and rejoin the original track in Ocotillo?
American railroad history Is always very intreaging to hear and watch on video The blood sweat and tears from hard working men of all nationality putting all there efforts into it . I'm a third generation railroader and my blood flows with railroading I don't work on the railroad anymore but I can't shake off the power of the railroad.... I'm still amazed of its presents till this day ... 2021 ... And still rolling ..... Its really AMAZING....
5/6/2022 What a great story. I lived in San Diego from 1967 to1970, (I served in the Navy there) and at that time if you wanted to travel by train you took the San Diegian, on the Santa Fe, once each day, each way. The Santa Fe basically ended at the wonderfully beautiful station at the foot of Broadway. From there the Southern Pacific took over, I never saw any other locomotive than the old Santa Fe Alco RS, or what ever was assigned to the in bound freight or passenger train. Now I find out that the San Diego and Arizona was the actual railroad going from Broadway south, and was still operational, at the time. I, being a life long rail fan, often wondered what became of the freight cars that came into San Diego on the Santa Fe, from Los Angles. Now I know 52 years later. ;-)
If you look on You Tube there are videos of some of the rail cars stored on siding tracks in Jacumba that’s the town constantly on the news because of the mass crossings of illegal migrant crossings
This is a great documentary, in the 70's I was a teenager and it was well known that on any Saturday get up to Campo by noon and there were box car parties. The most spectacular ride to El Centro, you needed to make sure somebody with a station wagon would meet you in El Centro to get you back to Campo. Later in the 80's as a contractor SDG&E hired me to work on a tower some where out near the Colorado River. We took off from El Cajon in there helicopter, on the way east I was telling the pilot about the box car party that started in Campo. Well hang on to your shorts because the pilot did a sharp turn to the south. Before we knew it we were we were above Campo and only a 100 foot above the rail tracks. 100 miles of in and out up and down everything but the tunnels. What a ride. I get dropped off on a sand dune and there it was a 300 foot tower that needed a new light bulb. The tower got struct by lightning so this was an emergency job. To my surprise this tower had an elevator not like the kind you see in any high rise this was a 3 foot X 3 foot thing you could stand on and ride to the top of the world. This was a first for me and this is only half the story. The pilot dropped me off and continued someplace to refuel, I do my job and an hour latter I am back in the air. Part of my agreement to fly with SDG&E in there helo was on the way back to San Diego was there pilot would inspect there transmission lines all the way back from the Colorado river to Otay Lake in SD. I didn't have a problem with that. This was 1 incredible day of my life I will never forget just I had a camera because you would be watching my video and not this one. All kidding aside this was a great documentary, so many things I never knew about SD.
This is a terrific video. I've spent a lot of time in San Diego and was a member of the San Diego Model Railroad Club in the original location in Balboa Park. The Club is still in the Park, and is in a better location. There are several model railroads there, including a huge HO model of the San Diego and Arizona Railroad.
My girlfriend loves that place!!! We go all the time, I had walked by it maybe 20 times before she showed me it lol there’s always something new to find with that level of detail there
Very informative video on the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railroad which is now the San Diego & Imperial Valley railroad that is owned by the Genesee & Wyoming transportation company which owns many railroads in the United States & a rail line in Australia & the Tijuana-Tecate railroad in Mexico. The line needs to be rebuilt which will take lots of money to do so.
Many say the line into Mexico is worth something but I doubt there is any reason to go to Yuma. It would take a pretty significant tourist traffic to run but they do it at Silverton CO.
This is an excellent video. I can't believe I didn't know this history until now. This is one amazing railroad track. I'm working on an alternate hiking trail to the Goat Canyon Bridge. I haven't hiked it yet, but it looks promising. When the tracks become operational (if they aren't now) people won't be able to walk on the tracks (it's illegal now, but not sure if it's enforced).
thanks for sharing... great bit of history... my uncle.. my mom's uncle actually... helped build a wooden road for cars across the desert from El Centro over to the mountains.. right in that same time period... tough guy... my heroes have always been cowboys
I saw a video just last night here on TH-cam that shows a person on a speeder touring what's left of that line. The part of the line south and west of Tecate MX pulled out, and just a tunnel face remaining. If that being the case, I don't see how that line will ever be reinstated to regular use again.
I DID MANAGE OVER A PERIOD OF SEVERAL YEAR AND THREE SEGMENTS TO RIDE THE SD&A FROM SAN YSIDRO TO OCTILLIO WELLS !! I SPENT 4 WINTERS AT CAMPO THE THIRD WINTER WORKING AS SUPERINTENDENT OPERATIONS AT CAMPO MY THIRD YEAR! MY 4 TH YEAR ASSISTED DAYLIGHTING THE COLLAPSED TUNNEL JUST SOUTH OF THE BORDER TUNNEL! KEEP THEM ROLLING BROTHERS!! 👍👍
5:27 I used to live in Temecula, in the East Loma Linda neighborhood right next to where Pechanga Casino was build before and as they were developing and changing the casino from the large tent it was in the mid nineties. Just west of where the author of "Perry Mason', Erle Stanley Gardner lived before 1970. I used to ride me bike with my best friend all throughout the hills there behind Pechanga Parkway back when it was Pala Rd. We rode out bikes down Via Edwardo, past the END sign, and down and past Via Oddesa before it was the semi dirt road and part of the gold course of the Temecula Creek Inn it stole from us kids(at least that's how we looked at it), that is it now, when we used to call it "the riverbed". During rainy seasons it FILLED with water, and mud and we had a lot of fun back then. We even built into the "wall" of the river bed, looking back on it now, and very dangerous dirt cave that could've collapsed on us. We often rode to the many trails in the hills back there. Built small bike jumps, farther up the trails there was even a before our time built almost "dirt bike dirt half pipe" large ramp/jump that I was too scared to ride up more than once but my best friend could do multiple times no problem. In the middle of the field in 1993 there was an old 50s truck stuck there. There were old foundations of homes in those hills and remains of 1 or 2 adobe mud and straw walled homes. There also used to be a small pond a little higher up the trails. My mother has lots of pictures. During one of my walks up there as a kid in the early nineties I found a single random railroad nail up there. I forget exactly where and how I found it, but I bet it was from the train track that got swept away. I still have it in my random things box, all rusted.
I really do wish that you had at least acknowledged that the Gerdes' were the real producers of this show for PBS. I was working for Carrizo Gorge at the time and volunteering with the railroad museum and went with them on some of the filming. Anyone who wants to buy the original should contact KPBS San Diego or the Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum to see if it is still available.
If I had a billion dollars, I would be like John S and open this line up for tourist to ride this wonderful Carrizo Gorge. A lunch train ride would be nice. It would be like the Grand Canyon train. If I had a billion dollars.
I have tickets to ride this line with a bunch of other railroad enthusiasts this coming August. :) The damage to the Carrizo Gorge has been repaired only recently.
I read that Baja California Railroad is restoring the tracks through the Gorge for freight service in 2018 and will operate freight trains between Tijuana and Coyote Wells where it'll interchange at a new intermodal terminal with Pacific Imperial Railroad. There were plans to run tourist trains through Carrizo Gorge out of Jacumba back in the 70s, but then-operator SP shut down their idea. Hopefully BCRR will be more open to tourist trains through Carrizo Gorge. That line needs to be reopened to passenger service. It's too beautiful not to be available to the public.
Chris Jones Indeed. It would be awesome if Amtrak and the UP operated it regularly with today's technology at hand. Amtrak's sunset limited could traverse the route to San Diego as well as its current route to LA much like how the Empire builder offers service to either Seattle or Portland. Somebody needs to come forward to resurrect this whole line The way it could have been, as well as possibly refining the iconic trestle bridges as well as modern warning systems for when mother nature strikes.
Ya it's bin bought n sold privately repeatedly. I worked for it under the tittle corrizo gorge railway in 2004. As track crew replacing a minimum of 8 ties a man per day by hand. They hauled sand to the sand plant in campo from ocitillo
Waste? The people that worked on it and for it got paid. They spent their money and contributed to the economy just like you do. There are cars you used to have that are now long gone and now scrapped. Were they all just a waste? Of course not
I'm grateful as the former right of way for the Coronado RR is now a bike and walking path! There are remnants of the railroad as well as the old depot in National City.
I helped shoot this documentary. Just to clarify, it was produced by Gerdes Creative for KPBS TV. David Hardee did nothing but steal it and post it to TH-cam.
@@tom7601 Actually it's not. All rights to this production belong to the production company that produced it. Not KPBS or anyone else. No taxpayer money was used to produce this doc so maybe you should get your facts straight before posting comments you know nothing about.
@@RHotzCreativeMediaProductions Well you dicks should POST it yourselves then, right? Sure as hell ain't no one going to buy it or rent it from you! lol
I hear the Baja railroad will be reopening the line, they’ve locked up all the tunnels to discourage hiking and mountain biking. In a way it’s good the line will be maintained but how long till the goat canyon dry redwood trestle catches 🔥 the main attraction... I’m sure it will never be rebuilt
Part of the tressle was rebuilt in the 80 after being set fire to for insurance. Worked there in 2004. That's not the problem. The gorge has soft tight corners. They have attempted to rerout in a few areas. The train just pushes the track out causing derails. We had multiple in just the 2 years I worked there. There is no room for heavy equipment. We had to hire house movers to jack the cars into the air. Then rebuild the track under them on the side of the gorge. Wich is a few hundred feet down in most areas.
It is indeed an EXCELLENT film which we watched at the railroad museum in Campo. Wish there were a more affordable option for purchasing or renting it; we are on a tight budget and also try not to add yet more things to have to store in our small home. It's worthy of Netflix or Amazon streaming. Can't find it for sale on Amazon, eBay or History Channel.
Im a UK rail enthusiast love American railways , If the Carrizo Gorge line ever opens again I will save every penny I have to travel to California to ride on it, Im 66 years old now , anybody think I will make it?.
I tried to answer by doing the thumbs down but it wont show any number. Why do they have a thumbs down when it wont work? I dont get it, does anyone know?
The tunnels are open now. You can go out there and see the Goat Canyon Trestle bridge but it will not be by train. People hike and ride their bikes out there all the time.
I guess Tunnel 8 wasn't out 'for good' then 52:08 Tunnel 8 in Google Earth www.google.com/maps/@32.686482,-116.1983069,1414a,20y,65.63h,41.32t/data=!3m1!1e3 54:18 mentions tunnel 16 also, one just north of the Goat Canyon Trestle www.google.com/maps/@32.7299578,-116.1879507,509a,20y,75.19h,47.17t/data=!3m1!1e3
There are currently plans to fix up this line and restore freight service sometime in 2018. I'm hoping that maybe they'll run some passenger/excursion trains too, but I don't know for sure.
This is a terribly interesting video. Only one problem. The music is too God-damned loud. I could barely understand half of what anyone was saying. Now that the SD&AE is done, how about a show about one of the most significant feats of engineering related to automobile travel: US HWY 80 from San Diego to Yuma?
He was one of the robber barons who was detested. Like Bezos and Musk today. Whenever they built a line they jacked up freight costs to impoverish shippers. This was before cars, trucks, and the interstates of course.
Really a shame we didn't keep the cars out of San Diego. A nice trolley system, walking and biking in San diego weather without the worry of being run over and pollution would be great.
Carrizo Gorge is an amazing place to visit. I believe a Mexican company now owns the railway. Is this true? Are there plans to rehabilitate it and open it up for service again? Glad to have found this video explaining eh history of the SD&A.
It's bin bought n sold multiple times. Worked there in 2004. No point ots still the impossible railway. We had multiple derails in the gorge. The turns are to tight and soft. The train pushed the track out. We had multiple derails in just the 2 year's I worked there. No room for heavy equipment. We had to jack the cars up in the air. Hired house movers for this. Rebuilt the track under them. The tunnele especially 16 I believe might be 14. Has collapse a good 100 ft in. And does so more every big rain. Ive had it come down wile in there. Dropping soft ball sized rocks on you. Ontop of that. The terrain is so rough the train has a 10mph top speed. No union wants it.
@@dormantmenace Thanks for sharing your personal experiences on that track. The tunnel just down hill from the Goat Canyon trestle is partially caved in. Is that the tunnel,12 -16?, you note above?
Understandable, but as the married widow drowned, the propane tank sang to the porpoise. When the helicopter proposed lunch, the propeller saw the midnight daylight yesterday at you. Laughingly, the robin gasped, while moonbeams ate marshmallows inside the deer. Aware of pencils, aroma heard floor tiles selling whales. Branded as lost is the umbrella, as it elopes at tires. Wherein the thesis seams chicken openly, it only missed the elevator by rainfall. Quietly, fires argue as to when the crow sounds popcorn afternoon today. Heavy borrows irrigate crime with ice cream whelps instead of Krylon drips.
Ray Starr SDSU RR Historian. Years ago I heard a story about some guy owned property that is now Rancho Santa Fee. This guy clamed that eucalyptus tree would make great RR ties, the trees grew fast and straight and resistant to bugs and rot but eucalyptus was not a good RR tie. Any truth to this story? I also heard that a ship builder was suckered into property that is now known as Scripts Ranch as eucalyptus would make great masts for sailing ships.
That’s a true story, a bunch of people planted tons of eucalyptus trees around San Diego and in the desert. They were thinking because it grows so fast and doesn’t need much water it would be perfect. There was some commercial uses if they could figure out something to do with the wood. They had a use for the oils from the tree but were kind of gambling people would use the wood which is too spongy. The owner of the Santa Fe Railroad went to Australia and got a bunch of different types of eucalyptus and planted thousands for railroad ties. But… the railroad company found the eucalyptus was hard to dry out/cure, would warp, and they wouldn’t hold the railroad tie. You’d think they would have tried using a couple for ties before planting thousands of trees lol. I don’t know what they use in Australia I kind of figured they have a species of eucalyptus that works for railroad ties but maybe they just use a different wood.
Required redwood for construction of such train systems about the nation devastated the only environment on the globe to sustain such magnificent trees some over four thousand years of age. The morning mist fed from the Pacific Ocean in present day Northern California Redwood Forest was once a magical place.
Temperature extremes imposing upon various paraphernalia required for construction and maintenance of required track and rolling stock. Soon becomes obvious this thing isn’t ever going to make money and most investors prefer positive returns.
No. Many have tried. The terrain is to rough the train has a 10mph limit. No union wants it. And in just the 2 years I worked there in 2004. We had multiple derails. The turns in the gorge are to soft and tight. Train pushed the tracks out. It's never gonna happen. And thier is no room for heavy equipment out thier. We had to jack the train cars into the air with help of house movers. And rebuild the track under them on the side of the few hundred foot deep gorge. It's never gonna happen
I live in Phoenix AZ. I've always wondered when there is no train from Phoenix to San Diego. Now I know. The US Government wastes around 150 Billion dollars every year, easily enough to refurbish this rail line.
I would personally like to send a note to Mr. Hardee. This is a show my parents made for the public television station KPBS in San Diego. Seeing as you have taken the liberty of uploading their award winning program to the internet without their consent, I have reported you for Copyright Infringement. Our family loves trains, but we do not love criminals. Perhaps I would be more lenient if you had at least cited the real creators of this show instead of blatantly taking credit for it. Good Day
It seems that reporting this video didn't affect anything. I'm glad that's the case as I never would have known this existed had it not popped up in my recommendation from TH-cam. I would expect that KPBS would have paid your parents to air this documentary, so hopefully they got whatever compensation they planned on getting at the time. Doing a quick Google search, I can only find a book version of this story; nothing on video. At the end of the credits is an option to buy this on VHS, so obviously this is pretty old now. If people are still planning on making money on this documentary (whether its KPBS or your parents), then they should post this on TH-cam and generate money. This is a great story and shouldn't be kept from people.
@@SuperJ213 Good call, I lived in San Diego from 1998-2002, and made several visits to the Campo Depot and also hiked every inch of the gorge from Interstate 8 to the Goat Canyon Trestle, also the other way around from State Route 2 as well. I have walked across the trestle several times, saw the 1963 Coors Train, movie remains, and climbed the two cars of the June 1983 derailment. At the museum, I climbed aboard into the cab of the magnificient Engine 104, the greatest treasure of the Campo facility. I saw the premier of this program when it first aired, one of the hosts was Jerry Schad whom I had the opportunity to hike with later on. As Engine 104 sits patiently waiting for a savior that will never come, at least this presentation remains posted to offer a glimmer of hope.
“The last great railroad builder”. What? So, companies not owned by a single individual don’t count? Who decided that? I mean, China is building tons of high speed rail lines right now, and the rest of the world did build rail lines after Spreckels, too.
J.D. Spreckels was my Great Great Grandfather. Sailed to San Diego w/ family in April 1906 my grandmother Marie Spreckels Elizalde (granddaughter) to J.D.S. She told me the following when I was a Kid : She was was 6yrs old living in SF at the mansion on Nob Hill when the great earthquake hit. As SF began to burn out of control. With the fires unchecked and advancing across the city JD gathered the family and retreated to his yacht the "Venicia" in the bay. In a failed attempt to create a fire break the Spreckels mansion and the others on Nob Hill were dynamited, she watched the whole city burn from the safety of the yacht before they set sail to San Diego. Anyway I have not seen this film for 15yrs. have a VHS copy somewhere . I'm very happy to find this Thank you sincerely, Joaquin Elizalde
Spreckels as in the produce packing company just south of Salinas?
Thank you for sharing that information. It was fascinating.
I did not know the history behind Mr. Spreckles. This is a real interesting story. I grew up in the San Diego area late 50's and 60's. This us truly fascinating.
Thanks for sharing that bit of family history. Interesting that they stayed in their Hotel Del for a while until their Coronado home was built. Or maybe there was an interim house?
When I lived in San Diego I spent every Sunday listening to the epic Speckles Organ in Balboa Park
My grandmother was born in Tuscon Az and was a halfbreed...English and Yaqui Native. She remembers when she was around 3 years old her family moved to Southern California in a covered wagon on the "wooden street". The railroad tracks. People were mean to them because they were native and there was no water at times. Strong woman her whole life. I have a creamer from that crossing that I cherish.
It's videos like these that give the younger generations the background behind something so amazing. I have been into trains since I was a toddler, and my knowledge keeps expanding everyday. I had just found about the Goat Canyon Trestle today, and this documentary helps explain why it was built and the railroad the built it. God bless the many souls who put their life on the line for such a breath-taking view in the Carrizo Gorge and building the railway in general. Now all they need to do is to restore the railway to its original glory, though i doubt it'll take a few days to do so.
Thank you for a trip down memory lane. Im now 90 but spent many times in your beautiful state and enjoyed visiting your many railroad locations. Thank you.
Jim
Hatboro, PA
Worked for corrizo gorge railway around 2004 doing track repair for hauling sand to campo. We worked plaster city to Mexico. Was a fun adventure for a young man. In my early 20's. We had multiple derails in the gorge. It was no joke then. No room for heavy equipment. We hired house movers. To jack the cars up in the air and then we would rebuilt the tracks under them. Must of bin some task building it.
Turns are to tight and soft the train just pushes them out of spec. It will never be refurbished. Even when new it was impossible and it will always remain that way. It's to slow for any union to pick up.
Also there is graveyard just before dos cabasas. West side of inkopah. High on at the top of the gorge. We're many of the ill workers were laid to rest. Nobody ever mentions it. Many unmarked. Little foot trail used to lead up it.
That's very interesting about the buried souls. I've hiked the trail from the Nudist colony to the the main bridge. Beautiful hike, didn't know about the Graves. Would have been fun to explore or find. Next time.
I hope they open the rail for entertainment purposes, scenic cocktail cruises would be fun. I know the rail has been used recently for other purposes.
I had a feeling those turns were too much for trains to handle. I wonder if a bypass following the I-8 could be built and rejoin the original track in Ocotillo?
American railroad history
Is always very intreaging to hear and watch on video
The blood sweat and tears from hard working men of all nationality putting all there efforts into it .
I'm a third generation railroader and my blood flows with railroading
I don't work on the railroad anymore but I can't shake off the power of the railroad....
I'm still amazed of its presents till this day ...
2021 ...
And still rolling .....
Its really AMAZING....
finally I know history of that railway, I always wanted to go there and now even more I have to do that.
5/6/2022
What a great story. I lived in San Diego from 1967 to1970, (I served in the Navy there) and at that time if you wanted to travel by train you took the San Diegian, on the Santa Fe, once each day, each way.
The Santa Fe basically ended at the wonderfully beautiful station at the foot of Broadway. From there the Southern Pacific took over,
I never saw any other locomotive than the old Santa Fe Alco RS, or what ever was assigned to the in bound freight or passenger train. Now I find out that the San Diego and Arizona was the actual railroad going from Broadway south, and was still operational, at the time. I, being a life long rail fan, often wondered what became of the freight cars that came into San Diego on the Santa Fe, from Los Angles. Now I know 52 years later. ;-)
1965-1971 USS Piedmont ??
If you look on You Tube there are videos of some of the rail cars stored on siding tracks in Jacumba that’s the town constantly on the news because of the mass crossings of illegal migrant crossings
This is a great documentary, in the 70's I was a teenager and it was well known that on any Saturday get up to Campo by noon and there were box car parties. The most spectacular ride to El Centro, you needed to make sure somebody with a station wagon would meet you in El Centro to get you back to Campo. Later in the 80's as a contractor SDG&E hired me to work on a tower some where out near the Colorado River. We took off from El Cajon in there helicopter, on the way east I was telling the pilot about the box car party that started in Campo. Well hang on to your shorts because the pilot did a sharp turn to the south. Before we knew it we were we were above Campo and only a 100 foot above the rail tracks. 100 miles of in and out up and down everything but the tunnels. What a ride. I get dropped off on a sand dune and there it was a 300 foot tower that needed a new light bulb. The tower got struct by lightning so this was an emergency job. To my surprise this tower had an elevator not like the kind you see in any high rise this was a 3 foot X 3 foot thing you could stand on and ride to the top of the world. This was a first for me and this is only half the story. The pilot dropped me off and continued someplace to refuel, I do my job and an hour latter I am back in the air. Part of my agreement to fly with SDG&E in there helo was on the way back to San Diego was there pilot would inspect there transmission lines all the way back from the Colorado river to Otay Lake in SD. I didn't have a problem with that. This was 1 incredible day of my life I will never forget just I had a camera because you would be watching my video and not this one. All kidding aside this was a great documentary, so many things I never knew about SD.
This is probably the best & most interesting video of the history of both San Diego as well as that of the railroad.
this is a really great documentary, I'd recommend it to anyone. fascinating piece of history & very well put together
This is a terrific video. I've spent a lot of time in San Diego and was a member of the San Diego Model Railroad Club in the original location in Balboa Park. The Club is still in the Park, and is in a better location. There are several model railroads there, including a huge HO model of the San Diego and Arizona Railroad.
That is easily the best model railroad I've ever seen
It must be well hidden. I've been to that park several times and have never seen any model railroad.
My girlfriend loves that place!!! We go all the time, I had walked by it maybe 20 times before she showed me it lol there’s always something new to find with that level of detail there
This Railroad should be kept as a monument to the people who built it.
Very informative video on the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railroad which is now the San Diego & Imperial Valley railroad that is owned by the Genesee & Wyoming transportation company which owns many railroads in the United States & a rail line in Australia & the Tijuana-Tecate railroad in Mexico. The line needs to be rebuilt which will take lots of money to do so.
Many say the line into Mexico is worth something but I doubt there is any reason to go to Yuma. It would take a pretty significant tourist traffic to run but they do it at Silverton CO.
What a lovely film. Informative, well-researched, well-filmed. Optimistic. Not a hint of jingoism. Well done!
My best friend, Great Good... !!! I wish you every day of your development.
This is an excellent video. I can't believe I didn't know this history until now. This is one amazing railroad track. I'm working on an alternate hiking trail to the Goat Canyon Bridge. I haven't hiked it yet, but it looks promising. When the tracks become operational (if they aren't now) people won't be able to walk on the tracks (it's illegal now, but not sure if it's enforced).
thanks for sharing... great bit of history... my uncle.. my mom's uncle actually... helped build a wooden road for cars across the desert from El Centro over to the mountains.. right in that same time period... tough guy... my heroes have always been cowboys
I saw a video just last night here on TH-cam that shows a person on a speeder touring what's left of that line. The part of the line south and west of Tecate MX pulled out, and just a tunnel face remaining. If that being the case, I don't see how that line will ever be reinstated to regular use again.
Very interesting documentary. Thank you for uploading.
Larry, Taiwan
I DID MANAGE OVER A PERIOD OF
SEVERAL YEAR AND THREE SEGMENTS TO RIDE THE SD&A
FROM SAN YSIDRO
TO OCTILLIO WELLS !!
I SPENT 4 WINTERS AT CAMPO
THE THIRD WINTER WORKING AS
SUPERINTENDENT OPERATIONS AT CAMPO MY THIRD YEAR!
MY 4 TH YEAR ASSISTED DAYLIGHTING THE COLLAPSED
TUNNEL JUST SOUTH OF THE BORDER TUNNEL!
KEEP THEM ROLLING BROTHERS!!
👍👍
Love this Video! Proud to share it with my Grandsons.
The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954, still get a tear in my eye when I hear an old train in the night.
They do on "Big Boy".
The last transcontinental RR was the Milwaukee Road!
Most excellent. Thank you very much.
My Grandfather James Moore worked on that railroad
I just watched the movie "Beggars for life" that was made on this line. It was brilliant.
One mans determination and his vision.....amazing....
5:27
I used to live in Temecula, in the East Loma Linda neighborhood right next to where Pechanga Casino was build before and as they were developing and changing the casino from the large tent it was in the mid nineties. Just west of where the author of "Perry Mason', Erle Stanley Gardner lived before 1970. I used to ride me bike with my best friend all throughout the hills there behind Pechanga Parkway back when it was Pala Rd. We rode out bikes down Via Edwardo, past the END sign, and down and past Via Oddesa before it was the semi dirt road and part of the gold course of the Temecula Creek Inn it stole from us kids(at least that's how we looked at it), that is it now, when we used to call it "the riverbed". During rainy seasons it FILLED with water, and mud and we had a lot of fun back then. We even built into the "wall" of the river bed, looking back on it now, and very dangerous dirt cave that could've collapsed on us. We often rode to the many trails in the hills back there. Built small bike jumps, farther up the trails there was even a before our time built almost "dirt bike dirt half pipe" large ramp/jump that I was too scared to ride up more than once but my best friend could do multiple times no problem. In the middle of the field in 1993 there was an old 50s truck stuck there. There were old foundations of homes in those hills and remains of 1 or 2 adobe mud and straw walled homes. There also used to be a small pond a little higher up the trails. My mother has lots of pictures. During one of my walks up there as a kid in the early nineties I found a single random railroad nail up there. I forget exactly where and how I found it, but I bet it was from the train track that got swept away. I still have it in my random things box, all rusted.
Very interesting history. Thanks for uploading it!
Wonderful! Thank you so much!
Excellent telling of the SD&AERR ! I enjoyed it !
Great documentary... thank you.
This makes me more proud to be from SD. It really is Americas Finest.
No, one of the most perverted cities.
I really do wish that you had at least acknowledged that the Gerdes' were the real producers of this show for PBS. I was working for Carrizo Gorge at the time and volunteering with the railroad museum and went with them on some of the filming. Anyone who wants to buy the original should contact KPBS San Diego or the Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum to see if it is still available.
Spreckles dream has come true .Just look at all of the "tent cities" there are in California today in 2022.
That was awesome. Thanks for sharing!
If I had a billion dollars, I would be like John S and open this line up for tourist to ride this wonderful Carrizo Gorge. A lunch train ride would be nice. It would be like the Grand Canyon train. If I had a billion dollars.
+Ralphie May so much of the past is still there would love to run it on a rail cart man just riding on the old tracks at speed would be a blast
I have tickets to ride this line with a bunch of other railroad enthusiasts this coming August. :) The damage to the Carrizo Gorge has been repaired only recently.
I read that Baja California Railroad is restoring the tracks through the Gorge for freight service in 2018 and will operate freight trains between Tijuana and Coyote Wells where it'll interchange at a new intermodal terminal with Pacific Imperial Railroad. There were plans to run tourist trains through Carrizo Gorge out of Jacumba back in the 70s, but then-operator SP shut down their idea. Hopefully BCRR will be more open to tourist trains through Carrizo Gorge. That line needs to be reopened to passenger service. It's too beautiful not to be available to the public.
Chris Jones Indeed. It would be awesome if Amtrak and the UP operated it regularly with today's technology at hand. Amtrak's sunset limited could traverse the route to San Diego as well as its current route to LA much like how the Empire builder offers service to either Seattle or Portland. Somebody needs to come forward to resurrect this whole line The way it could have been, as well as possibly refining the iconic trestle bridges as well as modern warning systems for when mother nature strikes.
karl schweizer i hike through it almost monthly it is a beautiful area. Would love to ride through it too
and now 100 years after its opening, most of the tracks sit abandoned
It has an owner.
Ya it's bin bought n sold privately repeatedly. I worked for it under the tittle corrizo gorge railway in 2004. As track crew replacing a minimum of 8 ties a man per day by hand. They hauled sand to the sand plant in campo from ocitillo
@@dormantmenace _Been_ _bin_ and _Ben_ have different meanings.
It's sad to see so much effort and toil go to waste on an abandoned railroad.
Waste? The people that worked on it and for it got paid. They spent their money and contributed to the economy just like you do. There are cars you used to have that are now long gone and now scrapped. Were they all just a waste? Of course not
I'm grateful as the former right of way for the Coronado RR is now a bike and walking path! There are remnants of the railroad as well as the old depot in National City.
We went to the moon and back didn't we? We can fully get that railroad reopened, it's gotta happen!
😢Now that's a Desert Transcontinental Railroad
I helped shoot this documentary. Just to clarify, it was produced by Gerdes Creative for KPBS TV. David Hardee did nothing but steal it and post it to TH-cam.
And I, for one, am thankful he did. It was paid for with taxpayer money which means it belongs to all of us.
@@tom7601 Actually it's not. All rights to this production belong to the production company that produced it. Not KPBS or anyone else. No taxpayer money was used to produce this doc so maybe you should get your facts straight before posting comments you know nothing about.
@@RHotzCreativeMediaProductions Well you dicks should POST it yourselves then, right? Sure as hell ain't no one going to buy it or rent it from you! lol
25:28 I thought I saw #2353 with her original Southern Pacific 6 chime or 5 chime whistle instead of that Louisville and Nashville Crosby 3 chime.
+Erich Diebold that is either a SP 6 chime or a Nickel Plated 5 chime. but I'm not sure what it is hard to distungish
Great documentary!!!
Great video, Thanks.
Jest tutaj super. Bardzo ciekawe filmy. Dzięki.
Fantastic video
I hear the Baja railroad will be reopening the line, they’ve locked up all the tunnels to discourage hiking and mountain biking. In a way it’s good the line will be maintained but how long till the goat canyon dry redwood trestle catches 🔥 the main attraction... I’m sure it will never be rebuilt
Per recent you tubers most of the tunnels are open. Lots of rattlesnakes.
Part of the tressle was rebuilt in the 80 after being set fire to for insurance. Worked there in 2004. That's not the problem. The gorge has soft tight corners. They have attempted to rerout in a few areas. The train just pushes the track out causing derails. We had multiple in just the 2 years I worked there. There is no room for heavy equipment. We had to hire house movers to jack the cars into the air. Then rebuild the track under them on the side of the gorge. Wich is a few hundred feet down in most areas.
Thank you for sharing this
It is indeed an EXCELLENT film which we watched at the railroad museum in Campo. Wish there were a more affordable option for purchasing or renting it; we are on a tight budget and also try not to add yet more things to have to store in our small home. It's worthy of Netflix or Amazon streaming. Can't find it for sale on Amazon, eBay or History Channel.
I'm confused and not being smart. You're watching it on TH-cam. Its free. I don't understand.
@@creggf4685 Check the date of my post -- it was 8 years ago that we could not get it on TH-cam.
Im a UK rail enthusiast love American railways , If the Carrizo Gorge line ever opens again I will save every penny I have to travel to California to ride on it, Im 66 years old now , anybody think I will make it?.
I tried to answer by doing the thumbs down but it wont show any number. Why do they have a thumbs down when it wont work? I dont get it, does anyone know?
The tunnels are open now. You can go out there and see the Goat Canyon Trestle bridge but it will not be by train. People hike and ride their bikes out there all the time.
I guess Tunnel 8 wasn't out 'for good' then 52:08 Tunnel 8 in Google Earth www.google.com/maps/@32.686482,-116.1983069,1414a,20y,65.63h,41.32t/data=!3m1!1e3
54:18 mentions tunnel 16 also, one just north of the Goat Canyon Trestle www.google.com/maps/@32.7299578,-116.1879507,509a,20y,75.19h,47.17t/data=!3m1!1e3
There are currently plans to fix up this line and restore freight service sometime in 2018. I'm hoping that maybe they'll run some passenger/excursion trains too, but I don't know for sure.
NOOO..you're too fucking old already..!!
The San Diego park mentioned (Mission Cliffs?) early on I assume is now called Trolley Barn Park?
This is a terribly interesting video. Only one problem. The music is too God-damned loud. I could barely understand half of what anyone was saying. Now that the SD&AE is done, how about a show about one of the most significant feats of engineering related to automobile travel: US HWY 80 from San Diego to Yuma?
14:53 - This Edward Harriman is none other than the "EH Harriman of the Union Pacific Railroad" referenced in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
He was one of the robber barons who was detested. Like Bezos and Musk today. Whenever they built a line they jacked up freight costs to impoverish shippers. This was before cars, trucks, and the interstates of course.
I have been in Hotel Del Coranado, for lunch, nice.
Street Cars First Used in Richmond Va. Steel Cables made in Roebling NJ.
A high speed passenger train from Phx to San Diego would be awesome nowadays.
Really a shame we didn't keep the cars out of San Diego. A nice trolley system, walking and biking in San diego weather without the worry of being run over and pollution would be great.
50:35 2 medium weight locomotives to spread out the weight?
Carrizo Gorge is an amazing place to visit. I believe a Mexican company now owns the railway. Is this true? Are there plans to rehabilitate it and open it up for service again? Glad to have found this video explaining eh history of the SD&A.
It's bin bought n sold multiple times. Worked there in 2004. No point ots still the impossible railway. We had multiple derails in the gorge. The turns are to tight and soft. The train pushed the track out. We had multiple derails in just the 2 year's I worked there. No room for heavy equipment. We had to jack the cars up in the air. Hired house movers for this. Rebuilt the track under them. The tunnele especially 16 I believe might be 14. Has collapse a good 100 ft in. And does so more every big rain. Ive had it come down wile in there. Dropping soft ball sized rocks on you. Ontop of that. The terrain is so rough the train has a 10mph top speed. No union wants it.
@@dormantmenace Thanks for sharing your personal experiences on that track. The tunnel just down hill from the Goat Canyon trestle is partially caved in. Is that the tunnel,12 -16?, you note above?
Is this available in disc? I'd like to be able to share it with my grandson.
Understandable, but as the married widow drowned, the propane tank sang to the porpoise. When the helicopter proposed lunch, the propeller saw the midnight daylight yesterday at you. Laughingly, the robin gasped, while moonbeams ate marshmallows inside the deer. Aware of pencils, aroma heard floor tiles selling whales. Branded as lost is the umbrella, as it elopes at tires. Wherein the thesis seams chicken openly, it only missed the elevator by rainfall. Quietly, fires argue as to when the crow sounds popcorn afternoon today. Heavy borrows irrigate crime with ice cream whelps instead of Krylon drips.
nice docu, thank you
San Diego to Yuma wow if only we could have developed it like the Alameda corridor in LA SD would be a world class city instead of LA's baby brother
Thank you
SF closer in L.A.?
What a cool story that is
Ray Starr SDSU RR Historian. Years ago I heard a story about some guy owned property that is now Rancho Santa Fee. This guy clamed that eucalyptus tree would make great RR ties, the trees grew fast and straight and resistant to bugs and rot but eucalyptus was not a good RR tie. Any truth to this story? I also heard that a ship builder was suckered into property that is now known as Scripts Ranch as eucalyptus would make great masts for sailing ships.
That’s a true story, a bunch of people planted tons of eucalyptus trees around San Diego and in the desert. They were thinking because it grows so fast and doesn’t need much water it would be perfect.
There was some commercial uses if they could figure out something to do with the wood. They had a use for the oils from the tree but were kind of gambling people would use the wood which is too spongy.
The owner of the Santa Fe Railroad went to Australia and got a bunch of different types of eucalyptus and planted thousands for railroad ties. But… the railroad company found the eucalyptus was hard to dry out/cure, would warp, and they wouldn’t hold the railroad tie.
You’d think they would have tried using a couple for ties before planting thousands of trees lol. I don’t know what they use in Australia I kind of figured they have a species of eucalyptus that works for railroad ties but maybe they just use a different wood.
Required redwood for construction of such train systems about the nation devastated the only environment on the globe to sustain such magnificent trees some over four thousand years of age.
The morning mist fed from the Pacific Ocean in present day Northern California Redwood Forest was once a magical place.
Yep, environmental and arboreal genocide.
Good.
SAN DIEGO WAS AN AT&SF TOWN
VHS still available?
you've got in on TH-cam .. just capture or download it .. DUH
@@rhuephus my VHS player doesn’t have the TH-cam app. Not supported…
nice
Temperature extremes imposing upon various paraphernalia required for construction and maintenance of required track and rolling stock. Soon becomes obvious this thing isn’t ever going to make money and most investors prefer positive returns.
The tourist trains in CO. have been able to cope with bad conditions. They get 20 ft. of snow there and minus 20 below.
Well, it's been 23 years since this was made, has the line been refurbished yet?
Nope.
It really has no economic function except for tourists.
@@rogersmith7396 oh, ok thanks. Looks like hobbs of hell this track runs through
@@masculinus9I4I89 Several modern YT vids on it. Last guy climbed up and down Goat Canyon Trestle. Lots of snakes.
No. Many have tried. The terrain is to rough the train has a 10mph limit. No union wants it. And in just the 2 years I worked there in 2004. We had multiple derails. The turns in the gorge are to soft and tight. Train pushed the tracks out. It's never gonna happen. And thier is no room for heavy equipment out thier. We had to jack the train cars into the air with help of house movers. And rebuild the track under them on the side of the few hundred foot deep gorge. It's never gonna happen
I have the Lionel Legacy Engine in the video. In Sothern Colors.
Sadly. It's now a hiking path, No rails.
They've already started tearing up sections of this track...shame it can't be re-purposed. Tourism, whatever..
I live in Phoenix AZ. I've always wondered when there is no train from Phoenix to San Diego. Now I know. The US Government wastes around 150 Billion dollars every year, easily enough to refurbish this rail line.
Low desert ,blues
I slute who died during the railroad construction saeed from lahore pakistan
Sreckles wasn't the man. It was the men who created this rail line
I would personally like to send a note to Mr. Hardee.
This is a show my parents made for the public television station KPBS in San Diego. Seeing as you have taken the liberty of uploading their award winning program to the internet without their consent, I have reported you for Copyright Infringement.
Our family loves trains, but we do not love criminals.
Perhaps I would be more lenient if you had at least cited the real creators of this show instead of blatantly taking credit for it. Good Day
troll.
He isnt doing it for money, it's fair use.
All based on taxpayer money.
It seems that reporting this video didn't affect anything. I'm glad that's the case as I never would have known this existed had it not popped up in my recommendation from TH-cam. I would expect that KPBS would have paid your parents to air this documentary, so hopefully they got whatever compensation they planned on getting at the time. Doing a quick Google search, I can only find a book version of this story; nothing on video. At the end of the credits is an option to buy this on VHS, so obviously this is pretty old now. If people are still planning on making money on this documentary (whether its KPBS or your parents), then they should post this on TH-cam and generate money. This is a great story and shouldn't be kept from people.
@@SuperJ213 Good call, I lived in San Diego from 1998-2002, and made several visits to the Campo Depot and also hiked every inch of the gorge from Interstate 8 to the Goat Canyon Trestle, also the other way around from State Route 2 as well. I have walked across the trestle several times, saw the 1963 Coors Train, movie remains, and climbed the two cars of the June 1983 derailment. At the museum, I climbed aboard into the cab of the magnificient Engine 104, the greatest treasure of the Campo facility. I saw the premier of this program when it first aired, one of the hosts was Jerry Schad whom I had the opportunity to hike with later on. As Engine 104 sits patiently waiting for a savior that will never come, at least this presentation remains posted to offer a glimmer of hope.
I just want too know who originally owned Greenwood cemetery off imperial Ave... 1883-1971
It has recently been stolen
how does one "steal" a cemetery ??
With tech advancements can San Diego try one more time
No
I'd be more difficult today than 100 years ago.
You mean with a plane.
Very peculiar that in a 1-hour long documentary regarding San Diego that there is not one single mention of a whales vagina
If only it worked San Diego would be a great port city
yeah ... and then you'd have a garbage dump like L.A. and S.F. -- is that what you'd really like ???
ilike and think a well told story
TC METİN GÖKBULUT 🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷💯💯💯👍👍👍
The Eye-Doubleyou-Doubleyou. Yes, that’s how the IWW is known. 🙄
“When World War 2 broke out in 1941” That timeline will be a surprise to Poland.
“The last great railroad builder”. What? So, companies not owned by a single individual don’t count? Who decided that?
I mean, China is building tons of high speed rail lines right now, and the rest of the world did build rail lines after Spreckels, too.
God bless the IWW great union
an early incarnation of the communist party
Did'nt know they tried to take over Mexico. Union vacation retreat?
In
buy it from the History Channel
or Amazon