A Trip to the Abandoned Dos Cabezas Station and The Horse & Rider Pictograph
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มิ.ย. 2024
- From 1919 to 1958, Dos Cabezas was a stop on the San Diego and Arizona Railway, also known as the Impossible Railroad. Now, it sits abandoned and mostly forgotten in the Anza Borrego Desert, only accessible by dirt roads.
Dos Cabezas was an important stop on the railroad, as it was a source of water before trains entered the desert, or attempted the trip through the mountains and the Carrizo Gorge. However as railroads improved, there was less need for remote stations, and Dos Cabezas was abandoned.
The Dos Cabezas area was home to Native Americans for thousands of years, with its spring and access to water. They frequently took shelter in rock shelters, naturally created by the areas boulders.
European explorers didn't reach this area until 1774, and the site of men on horseback must have been an incredible site to the Kumeyaay people who lived in the area. Possibly so incredible that they documented that first encounter in a small rock shelter.
In this video we travel to Dos Cabezas, and explore what's left of the station, then head about a mile away, to look for the Horse and Rider pictograph, maybe the first depiction of the Spanish among the local native rock art.
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Thank you sir for exploring places I can no longer go to. I'm 81 and in a wheelchair and greatly appreciate your travels that kind of get me out of the house.😅
I'm just 72 ,but to damn lazy to go anywhere!!😂
@@chrisarmstrong411 i am going to that worthless piece desert if it has gold on it .i am 60
SAD@@zcam1969
@@chrisarmstrong411 L😂L
That is awesome. Respect Sir
My Neighbor George who served in WW2, told me that he took this railroad from Texas to San Diego way back in the 40's RIP George and thank you for your friendship and service to our country.
We love you George
I worked for the Bridge Gang on the SD&AE RR, 1969 - 1972. Spent many lunch breaks at Dos Cabezas. My boss, Jack Beal and his wife lived at Dos Cabezas when they first got married.
Nothing like watching/seeing American history! Books are one way, this is the best way! 🇺🇲
"This is the desert, there's nothing out here....Nothing." The desert IS what's out here and it's amazing. Thanks for posting another great one, Steve.
Every time I watch one of your videos, it stirs a massive sense of wanderlust in me, and this one is no different. I'm 70 now, and with mobility becoming increasingly difficult due to arthritic knees, these video are probably the only way I'll get to see the places you go to. Thanks for your continued efforts in bringing places like this to those of us that are physically unable to go there. Your historical research and narration is top-notch... safe travels!
Medicare will replace your knees, just saying.
Yes,you're showing us wonderful things that some of us are no longer able to go to.Thank you.I was born and raised in So Cal and I do love it still.Especially the deserts.
Sad to see how little respect people show to historic places. I'm glad to see you showing us around and spending time to find exiting and forgotten places.
I have seen lots of videos on the impossible railway, so if any are interested, just search youtube and they will come up.
Thakns for showing us Steve!
Love from Denmark
The history of the railroad is fascinating. I'm hoping to do something else on a section of it people don't get to see often soon.
Nicely done!
I agree. It’s unbelievable people cannot respect historical sites. At least we’re not as bad as they are in the Middle East. Were they destroy entire buildings and statues still not right anyway no matter how small or big the item is.
Don't think normal volks-..think Charles Manson...drugged , psychotic and...bored , tired of dust and sands ,,, anti social is simply gravy . This is wastelands - here civilization hath failed . Repeatedly
Why do People '''FEEL THEY''' have the right to Tag and Paint Buildings ???
Great Tour and History ... Thank You ..
You mean like the Native American petroglyphs, or the ancient Roman graffiti? I agree, it looks ugly now, but in a 1000 years, more or less, they might blend right in.
Even the natives were into tagging the walls.
I Honestly don't think Native
Americans would Disrespect
areas as that ...
The natives would have covered the rocks with their symbols and graffiti if they had had the means to do so. People are people.
Why were four faces hacked into a cliff in turtle island (america)?
The thing you didn't recognize was an upside down truck flatbed. They loaded dolomite at the loading dock. There were mines close to the station and all the way over on the other side of S-2 also.
People suck. Ugh. Thank you Steve for taking me places I couldn’t go to otherwise. ❤
It’s sad. People even tag rocks and trees these days.
I don't remember when we explored this area, but sometime in the 70s. My husband started walking the tracks and found the tunnels between Dos Cabezas and Goat Canyon had been blocked. (No doubt for the safety of the dummies who like to walk around in the desert.) Well, that dummy just climbed over the hills the tunnels were cut through.
When we found out the tunnels had been cleared, his dream was to build a railcart, but never got around to it.
I particularly love your sidetracks to places we explored fifty years ago. The survival of that water tank and phone booth is amazing. It all still looks the same - no buildings to be seen when we were there.
My first camping trips were to the Dos Cabezas area in 1971, camped there many times. The SD&AE was running then. Beautiful nighttime view looking toward Imperial Valley and beyond. Its so sad that people fell they can go out and spray paint what ever they want. Spray paint the inside of your home so we don't have to see your ugliness. Indian Hill also has some nice pictographs
The big thing you say you didn't recognize sure looks like an upside-down flatbed trailer since it appears to have a strap cincher, and boards for the deck.
Railfans keep dreaming of bringing that railroad back to life. I doubt that will happen. Excellent video as usual!
PETE B WILL GIT ER DONE
Oh yeah, it would cost so much at this point. All of those bridges and tunnels not to mentions the sections of tracks that are under rock slides.
I think I'll see your videos every week since i think about 1 year now. For someone from the Netherlands, these videos are really interesting. In the time that I have been following your channel, I have learned more about the Southwestern United States than I learned from television or in school. Your channel is very informative and entertaining, among all the nonsense out there on the Internet. Keep up the good work Steve.
Vandalism sucks. Great video as always!!
Something new to add to my So. Cal. desert adventure bucket list! I've been exploring the desert for most of my 66 years and yet there is so many more places left to discover, so I thank you Steve for showing me yet another place to head out to for a great day trip. As always when you bring us along with you, you help educate us with history along the way on your adventures. Great production as always, and thanks for adding the pictograph app, as it does help make them pop out of the rocks. Looking forward to next Wednesdays adventure!
The Kumeyyay would travel from Anza Borrego to what is now Cuyamaca and back again, depending on the season. The desert in the winter and the mountain in the summer. I used to be a park service volunteer for Cuyamaca and the history there is amazing.
Hi , nice area , do you know where knappers point is ? ...great gig...your lucky ...I'll get back there someday..
@@user-ie1tz5rm8x I’m thinking that’s on the Harvey Moore Trail.
Cuyamaca State Park was my first camping trip! We took the 🐎 🐎 & kids for a week end. (Late 1960s?). Always ❤ treasure that trip!!
Back in the 90s, a friend bought his first 4-wheel drive SUV, and the 'gang' made many jaunts to this area. We visited the stage coach station, and found the 1930s quonset huts, among other things. Such a quiet and interesting area. I wonder if the flowers come earlier to low-lying areas where the water pools; I've seen them on low hillsides and the desert floor. Glad you were able to capture the pictographs; thank you for sharing a bit of the early history of the area, and reminding people to be respectful. Yeah, those windmills. So weird that you can practically see the pulsing red lights from Arizona as you drive the 8 West back toward San Diego.
The lights suck because you see them and think you are getting close to the mountains and home, and then it takes forever to get to them.
Flowers depend on the rainfall, which varies from year to year.
This is a Great way to get out of the house due to health issues, Thank You Sir. THE SARGE
I was born and raised in Hemet. My dad and I explored so much of the surrounding area anhills in the 70 and 80s. There is so very much history and things to stumble upon. I get so homesick when I watch these videos. Keep making them and sharing the great history of the southwest.
Hey Steve!!😊 my grandfather worked on building that railway when he was 17 year's old,, plenty of stories he had!!❤
I hope you wrote them down or recorded him speaking.... When an old person dies... It's like a library burning down... Those experiences and history are lost forever!
Excellent job filming that bird of prey.
Thank you my name is Steve! Love your work, brother. 👍👍👍
Very cool video! Really appreciated all the historical information you provided. I drove my Corolla out to that water tower back in August 2009. I don’t recall having any problems with the road. Looks like the road may have gotten a bit worse since those days. Hard to believe those railroad tracks haven’t been used since 2008! I think one of the first tunnels you come to if you continued walking the tracks is partially blocked by a huge collapse that happened several years ago. I don’t think whoever still owns the railroad has bothered to make any repairs or safety upgrades. Therefore, I don’t think it will ever be opened to traffic again. Truly abandoned! I enjoyed the pictograph section near the end of the video. I’d always heard about that place. Regarding the water tower there at the station, when I was out there in 2009, someone had drawn a huge, female face on that water tower. I didn’t notice it in your footage, but maybe you didn’t film the side of the tower where the face is. Is it still there? It was really iconic looking and quite remarkable! Maybe 16 years’ worth of unrelenting sunshine and heat has caused it to fade away.
Maybe another fool with another spray can! 😂
As for abandoned mines... The old original highway 8, the concrete one that still exists in bits and pieces had lots of mines, mostly gold I think that you could see from the road when I was a kid and heading over to Arizona from InSane Diego. {before Interstate 8 and multi-lane separating up and down the mountains and passes}
@@LanceX-hv3gr I’ve been in some of those mines that you’re speaking of. Definitely a lot of history out there that is slowly being forgotten.
I think it's been cleaned at some point then new graffiti replaced it. There were a few sedans that made it most of the way but the last bit was too rough with some bug ruts.
Hooligans! Such a shame that people feel they can destroy things! No respect. Pictographs are so fascinating.
Interesting video Steve. Thanks for sharing
Salute and Give Tonto a Rub from COW-lumbus, Ohio MOO👋
Yeah, there is a cave near there that has some really amazing pictographs too.
@@TheStuport will do. Thanks
@@SidetrackAdventures tucked away so they can remain safe!
I'm amazed that the government hasn't removed all signs of the existence of the railroad.
Odd in my area also - a few yellow flowers and purple ones but scattered. I'm thinking once it warms up, it finally hit the 70s yesterday, the flowers will follow. Spring is today.
My grandpa said when they did that interstate construction if you didn’t pay the politicians in your area your town was cut completely out of the interstate highway. This is why so many little towns failed afterwards. So basically this gas station owner must have refused the extortion and he got left in the dust. Also why the interstate is so ridiculous in some places. They had to deliver what they promised the people that payed. So it got rerouted thru towns that paid.
Interesting to know
Lots of bribes and kickbacks helped shaped our highways and interstates for sure.
I've got too old to visit the desert so I can still see the hills in the Big Open, courtesy Side Track Steve.
Steve, Thank you for respectfully showing these places in the pioneer west that unfortunately I will never be able to visit myself.
I hiked the rails from Ocotillo to Jacumba around mid 2000’s. At the time there were train cars loaded with drywall on the tracks just sitting there with no engines. It also looked like someone was attempting to repair certain parts of the railway mostly in the canyon toward Jacumba.This area has such stunning beauty from the rock features, plant life and ancient human history. No matter what random place one picked to explore around you were guaranteed to find something interesting.
I great video! I love Anza Borrego State Park. When I was a kid in San Diego, we would go out there every Spring. I know you said there weren't wildflowers, but the ocotillo were fully leafed out. Flowers to follow.
I had heard that the flowers were in bloom, but it must be another section of the park. I'm actually glad it wasn't in this area, because the flowers bring a lot of people usually.
thank you Steve for taking the time and effort to bring us along . what fun 😊
Another great vid. You do a wonderful service, showing us Californians the overlooked history of this special place.
In the early 70s (72-73) I was in the navy & was on a detachment out to NAF EL CENTRO to belt ammo for the F8s I worked on.
On an off day I drove my 1966 Belvedere out to Dos Cabesa & then hiked to & back the goat canyon trestle from the East.
It ended up being an all day excursion since we didn't get out to the station (Dos Cabesa)to start hiking until about 11:00
As I remember it was in January so it was good hiking weather.
As always great video. If I were a younger man, I'd love to experience these adventures with you. But I'm wheelchair bound and can enjoy you wonderful explorations on my tablet. Thank you!
@7:36 that weird corrugated brick style was apparently common a hundred years ago. In Mesa, AZ the US government had constructed a Post Office and federal building that uses that style of tall square brick. The space has been turned into an events center after a renovation. The exterior of that section of the building was done in that austere federal concrete style so common in the roaring twenties and the great depression, but the interior the brick is visible.
It looks like roofing tiles for what it's worth, and I expect that this style of brick fell out of fashion fairly quickly as I've never seen it anywhere else including in other public buildings and schools constructed from the late 1940s onwards.
Excellent excursion Steve! You as always managed yet again to make it Possible to see The Impossible Dos Cabezas Railroad Station! LOVED the "Historical Marker" at Anza-Borrego State Park entrance. Precisely @ 1:35 we can actually hear you trying not to laugh as you say "No, this is the message"! 🤣 As always your humor is much appreciated! You preparation and research is not lost on your Fans either Steve. Always bonus when you show past photos of the topic you are commenting on. What a story about Mr. Berg going above and beyond to stop that passenger train. You always Deliver The Goods and The Sidetrack Adventures Posse LIVE For Hump Days! Cheers and MOO From COW-lumbus, Ohio 👋
That monument got a good laugh out of me. I never noticed it before, but apparently its been there for years. Usually the Border Patrol is set up there so can't really stop, but the checkpoint was closed that day.
Another great episode. I hiked from Jacumba the first time whike in the Boy Scouts around 1979. Carrizo Gorge has always had a magical feeling for me.
I have made that hike as a scout also!!!
... As have I, probably closer to 74 or so...
I'm old and living in New York City. I love your videos. Rode the ATSF through the southwest in the '50s from Colorado Springs, through Needles, into LA. Also, the music on this one is great! Nice job, Steve.
Dirt roads always excite me I love to go down them and see any old sites! And the petroglyphs are amazing, that new function on your camera helps a lot! And I sure wouldn't want to bring an old two-wheel drive car out there! Thanks for the trip!
We saw a few 2WD sedans including a Tesla. They all stopped about 3/4 of the way there though and didn't try the last section where it gets a bit rougher.
Another fantastic tour of a place I’ll never be able to visit but completely enjoyed. Your videos are amazing. Greetings from Northern California.
Great video. Enjoyed it. I've lived in Arizona for over 20 years and haven't visited any of these places, mainly because my wife and kids would have zero interest in this kind of subject. It wasn't necessarily vandalism that affected that rock art. We get a lot of adverse weather in this part of the country, rainstorms (even hail sometimes) and dust storms plus violent changes in temperature from winter to summer. All of those will cause rock paintings to degrade over the centuries.
Thank you for this video. My uncle Jose Gonzalez worked for the A&E RR. He lived in the crew quarters in the pic that showed them. He lived with his wife Julieta in the end unit on the left. In one shot near the units there is a big dead tree that has fallen over. That was their shade tree. I spent a few summers with them with my Cousin Dennis Olson. This was in the early 50's. .
My friends and I used to ride those rails through the Carrizo Gorge and we have crossed the Goat Canyon trestle many times in our home built cart. Now you see them all over You Tube but I believe that we were the first to do it on these rails back in the 1970s. When we rode them they were in disrepair. Then they were rebuilt again and again ruined by mother nature so now you can ride them once more. I'm thinking of building another cart.
Are part of the Facebook railcarts group?
No I'm not on FB. We did this way back in the 70s. I believe we were the first to do this for fun. I've only been on the S&D/AZ tracks and the Eagle Mountain tracks. Back then the Eagle Mountain tracks were live and we knew the track maintainers who gave us the train schedule so there would be no conflicts. They actually allowed us on their tracks.@@pappysproductions
That monument used to have a bronze plaque telling the story on Juan Baptista d'Anza and his expedition but it was stolen by metal recycling thieves in the 90s, as were most of the plaques of this type. Our winter home is fifteen miles or so north of here, and we can assure you theat this plenty to experience if you know what to look for.
Another enlightening and enlightened journey into our past. So close to our modern world, yet so very different. Thank you.
Great video Steve as always. I camped here with friends about 20 years ago, amazing history. The highlight was hiking to the Goat Canyon bridge. Thanks for the memories!
Great job ! As always I could watch this all day , thanks !
Thank you.
Love running around in the desert with you. This was a good one!
I see all those fancy, 'renewable energy' windmills, as usual, were not doing their job. Another great episode - thank you.
A rarity, the Anza Borrego desert is really windy and lot of the time.
Did you get any idea where the eponymous boulders and spring are?
You mean the bird choppers? It's a lot quieter when they're not. They ruin the scenery, catch fire and kill birds. Nothing environmentally friendly about that!
Construction of those wind turbines caused devastating flooding. Not green.
Thanks Steve! Contrary to the monument at the start- there is a lot out in the desert! It never gets old exploring the deserts of the Southwest. It truly restores the soul. Love your travels👍
Yay! It's Wednesday - time for another video from Steve with Sidetrack Adventures. I always look forward to these. Thank you Sir!
I'm amazed a train was on those tracks as recently as 2008 . . . I wonder what for?
There was gypsum mining in the area, and the successors to the San Diego Arizona Eastern Railroad kept freight operations on the isolated Eastern branch.
@@donalddodson7365 Thanks for the info.! Gypsum mining - I didn't think of that😄 and it makes sense. Cheers!
Our pleasure!
Plaster City.... You can see it off to the north of Interstate 8 once you are down in the desert....
It always brings a since of sadness when looking at places like this. To think about the dreams and visions that lay in rubble now.
Only humans with big hearts know the taste of NOSTALGIA!... 😢
Thank you Steve. I love watching your videos and plan to visit some of the places that you highlight in the future. And thank you to your wife for supporting you in this venture. Plus, I really appreciate how respectful you are of the land, sites and people.
Thank you for the vid. I love your meanderings around the SW and the research you do to bring these places to life.
I have driven back and forth on I-8 many many times over the last sixty years and really enjoy your videos on so many of the places that I have passed and wondered about. Thank you.
Great work.
Thanks!
Thank you for having awesome and normal educational content. Very appreciated. You're awesome.
Thank you!! My wife and I absolutely love listening and learning about what’s in our backyard. We look forward to your videos every week. Your content is bringing us closer together. Thanks again!
Wow, I've been visiting Dos Cabezas once a year for four-wheeling, and the hike up the railway. Kudos to you as I know you're not a "4 wheeler" and I'm aware that the area has a LOT of soft sand that will bog down even an off-roader unless you know how to drive on it. The real gem in that corner of the desert is the Thousand Palm Oasis at the top of the mountain!
Do the walk and spend a couple of days up there in the mountains... You also may get to see the the Bighorn Sheep like I did many years ago when I walked the rails from well before Jacumba. Find someone to drop you off at one the areas that are close to the tracks and start you walk there... Take LOTS of water... at least 3 gallons. Also, Pack it in, Pack it Out... leave only footprints... {:~)
Hello steve. Another great video ive been to dos cabezas a few times always enjoy it
Awesome. Im ready for you next trip
Thank you.
Great job as always Steve. You were sure out in the middle of nowhere for this one!
Fantastic trek again ! Going where most will never have the chance.
Thanks for taking us along.
Cheers from Detroit 🇺🇲
always love to see your videos .these are the places where ordinary people dont go .
its rare choice .and not 100% but somehow i like it .
I love history. You have awesome channel me and my 5yr love watching these videos so educational and calming at the same time
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Great 👍 STEVE....Be Safe 😊
Thanks 👍
The origin of the word/term vandal.
The word vandal comes from the Vandals, the Germanic tribe that attacked Rome in 455. The tribe's name meant "wanderer," but the word vandal was used in the 1600s to mean "destroyer of what is beautiful."
As I used to live in San Diego for decades I've visited this site many times.
Yea, me too, I once lived InSane Diego... Were you ever there when there was still water to the tower and the buildings were still standing?
@@LanceX-hv3gr Nope, it was pretty much like the video when I got there.
Thank you for sharing. Everyone stay safe,wai, happy 😊 and healthy. From Henrico County Virginia
Hey Steve, you mention that the ruins were destroyed by vandals in 10 years yet there seems to be no material left. Can I assume that people go to these abandoned places to loot all the building materials to build something for themselves rather than going and buying bricks and materials themselves to build?
Steve, the scenery is so beautiful in that part of the country the sky is so blue those clouds look like cotton…
Fascinating
I have to say that you are excellent to listen to. And your music selection was perfect. I’m happy to have found you so I can travel along side.
Very very cool. I've been to Dos Cabezas plenty of times and never knew that's a phone booth. I come in the opposite direction through Jojoba Canyon, it's a very cool road once you turn right from Mortero Canyon Rd.
Also, the wildflowers are definitely blooming more towards borrego springs off Henderson canyon Rd or Coyote canyon if you have an off road vehicle. So you were about an hour away from the bloom
Thanks for taking us along.
Thanks Steve. I have never seen anybody cover the Dos Cabezas station before. Great effort tog et there and show it.
Yet another amazing visit to places that were once bustling in one way or another and are now un-peopled. Thank you for sharing these trips. I enjoy your easy pace and how you leave a view up long enough to really take a good look.
TYVM....Time for you to build a rail-cart....
A couple of days ago a channel called Preston Goes drove one out there, he couldn't make it to the Trestle, but was able to hike the last bit to see it. th-cam.com/video/stsGKb_KMmM/w-d-xo.html
Thank you.
Thank you for filming this like your adventures. I had plans to do what you do old towns places of history western but when l retired l become sick then disabled now l can’t but l love your adventures thank you so much l enjoy and dream may be l will get better. 😊✝️🙏🛐🇺🇸
THANK YOU STEVE,,FANTASTIC TRAVELS AND HISTORY,,SAFE TRAVELS..
Thanx for all your labors! They are always interesting! Best wishes to you.
Thanks!
Wow. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Why people have to vandalize is disgusting. Great video.
Awesome video dude! Know the area fairly well would love to see this in person.
At least they didn’t use nuclear bombs to clear a path for the railroad, like in another one of your videos when they wanted to build a new highway through a mountain range…and I think you said that they wanted to detonate something like 26 nuclear bombs to open up the area…but sounder minds prevailed, thank God!!!
I enjoy your videos and I appreciate your narration and facts that you include in your videos. ❤
They might have tried had the bomb been invented. They were determined to get that rail line open.
Thanks! Steve 🐎
Thank you too.
Great trip Steve.... my travels has taken me many places few humans have been to.. You are getting to enjoy what so few have done.. Keep on truckin!!
Love the channel! Thanks for all the tours. Living on the east coast we have our interesting places but the west is a mystery to many.
Very interesting! Stay safe out there!
Thanks for another terrific adventure! Although there wasn't much left of the structures, the views from the elevated spots were beautiful! Makes you wonder how those mountains of boulders got that way over the millenia!! You've also got great soundtracks!
Hey Steve, you made me fell in love with the desert 🌵
An amazing amount of research and information! Thanks for sharing and brightning our day. Wishing you and your family safe travels in all of your adventures.
Thank you.
❤
Would love to see all rhose Ocotillo cactus when in bloom.
Thanks for the view of yet another place I can only see Thanks tyour videos!
😊❤
Happy Trails
from NM
One thing I found when out in the Borrego desert is the flowers come out in the early morning at first light and close up by the late morning when the sun starts to rise high, and it heats up. The flowers way of conserving moisture. Looked like a frame for a truck flatbed by the loading dock.
Excellent and beaut background music too.
Thank you for this fine video and sharing your experiences with your viewership.
It is a view of what time does (with substantial help from vandals!).
I wonder why the natives left: The harsh arid difficult terrain could not have been much of an attraction to Europeans, and therefore likely the natives would have been left alone.
A lot of it was getting nabbed by the Spanish and put in the Missions. The same group of native folks also travel up inot the mountains during the hotter parts of the year and settlers would not be down with that.
Good to know there is another Dos Cabezas besides the one in Cochise County.
Once again, fascinating places with the most informative history. That is why you're vlogs are among my favorites.
Another winner, Steve !!!
Thrilling!