Goat Canyon Trestle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 32 ° 43 ′ 45 ″  N , 116 ° 11 ′ 0 ″  W.

Goat Canyon Trestle
Goat Canyon Trestle
View of the Trestle Bridge from the southeast (2016)
Crossing of Goat Canyon
place Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Entertained by San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
construction Trestle bridge made of sequoia wood
overall length 182 or 229 m
height 57 m or 61
start of building 1932
completion 1933
location
Goat Canyon Trestle (California)
Goat Canyon Trestle

Goat Canyon Trestle is the largest curved wooden trestle bridge in the world. In 1919 the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway declared the construction of the "impossible railroad" to be complete. This led through Baja California , the eastern part of San Diego County and ended in the Imperial Valley . In 1932 one of the many tunnels through the Carrizo Gorge collapsed , resulting in the construction of a large trestle.

Construction of the bridge was completed in 1933. Because of the large temperature differences in the Carrizo Gorge, the use of wood as a building material was preferred to metal. In 2008 the bridge was no longer used for rail traffic.

background

Construction of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railroad began in 1907 under the direction of John D. Spreckels . This was supported by Edward Henry Harriman at the request of President Theodore Roosevelt . Because the route crossed desert and mountains, the engineers called it "impossible route". In 1919 the line was completed and connected San Diego with the Imperial Valley , partly through Mexico. Before the railroad was built, the only rail link to San Diego from the north was via Los Angeles and was not completed until the late 19th century. The new railroad connected to the Southern Pacific Railroad instead of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway north . Initially, the most important bridge on the route was the 100 m long and 61 m high Campo Creek Viaduct .

North portal of the collapsed tunnel (tunnel 15)

The SD&AE had to accept a number of difficulties that led to the temporary closure of the railway line, including tunnel collapses and falling rocks. One of these incidents was the collapse of tunnel number 15 in March 1932 as a result of an earthquake . The remains of the tunnel are still there.

history

After the collapse of tunnel 15, the Trestle Bridge was built to bypass it. Construction began in 1932 and was carried out in sections that were assembled at the bottom of the gorge and then lifted into place. The bridge was completed in 1933, and the railway line was given a new route. The construction material used was timber from sequoia trees , the same wood that had been used for the sleepers all along the route. Wood was used because the strong temperature differences would have made a steel bridge tired. The curve is 14 °.

Landscape north of the bridge, with it in the background on the right

In 1951, scheduled passenger traffic over the bridge ended, but freight traffic continued when the route was not interrupted due to damage. In 1976, the bridge and parts of the route were damaged by Hurricane Kathleen , and repairs were not completed until 1981. The use of the railway was stopped again in 1983 because tunnels collapsed again. The repair was only continued in 2003. During the Cedar Fire of 2003, the workers who were on site to renew the track took part in extinguishing fires donated not far from the track.

After the repairs were completed in 2004, operations were resumed by the Carrizo Gorge Railway . The Pacific Southwest Railway Museum runs excursions on the route from Campo . In 2008 the Desert Line, including track sections north of Mexico, was closed indefinitely for repairs, which ended commercial traffic on the line again. Tunnel number 6 collapsed in early 2017, disrupting the route. In January 2018, the Baja California Railroad surveyed the route to resume operations. The Trestle Bridge is a popular hiking destination.

Replicas

A replica of the bridge in H0 scale can be seen in the San Diego Model Railroad Museum . It has a height of 1.8 m and a length of 3.0 m. The model is from 1941. In the same museum there is also a model in N gauge that is based on an unrealized route taken in 1855.

Web links

Commons : Goat Canyon Trestle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Ernie Cowan: World's largest wooden trestle is in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (English) . In: North County Times , May 2, 2004. Archived from the original on May 1, 2004. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  2. ↑ a b c d e Ann Japenga: Rail renegades (English) . In: Los Angeles Times , March 30, 2004. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  3. ^ A b Joshua Stewart: Border rail line to connect US, Mexico (English) . In: San Diego Union-Tribune , June 9, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h The Canyoneers: Get close but not too close to Carrizo Gorge trestle (English) . In: San Diego Reader , July 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  5. ^ A b c Alexis Rangel: San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway, the 'Impossible Railroad,' (English) . In: Imperial Valley Press , El Centro Chamber of Commerce, August 12. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  6. ↑ a b c d e Diane Bell: Science Channel spotlights marvel in San Diego's back yard (English) . In: San Diego Union Tribune , April 19, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  7. ^ A b Jack Scheffler Innis: San Diego Legends: The Events, People, and Places that Made History . Sunbelt Publications, Inc., 2004, ISBN 978-0-932653-64-2 , pp. 233-236.
  8. ^ A b Richard V. Dodge: San Diego's 'Impossible Railroad' ( English ) Railway Historical Society of San Diego. June 20, 1956. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  9. ^ A b Jerry Schad, Scott Turner: Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: 282 Spectacular Outings Along the Coast, Foothills, Mountains, and Desert . Wilderness Press, February 20, 2017, ISBN 978-0-89997-802-4 , p. 1020.
  10. ↑ a b c d Darrell Beck: On Memory's Back Trail: The Impossible Railroad (English) . In: Ramona Home Journal , December 1, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  11. ↑ Richard L. Carrico: Book Review: Book on 'impossible railroad' well done (English) . In: San Diego Union-Tribune , January 23, 2011. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  12. ↑ James N. Price, Thomas L. Scharf (Eds.): The Railroad Stations of San Diego County . In: The Journal of San Diego History . 34, No. 2, April 1988, pp. 123-135. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  13. ↑ Lucinda Eddy: Visions of Paradise . In: San Diego Historical Society Quarterly . 41, No. 3, Summer 1995. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  14. ↑ Joseph P. Schwieterman: When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment ( English ). Truman State Univ. Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-931112-14-7 , pp. 36-38.
  15. ^ The Station Agent: Official Publication of the Order of Railroad Station Agents ( English ). Order of Railroad Station Agents, 1920, p. 9.
  16. ^ Clarence Alan McGrew: City of San Diego and San Diego County: The Birthplace of California ( English ). American Historical Society, 1922, p. 172.
  17. ↑ Earth Mover and Road Builder… ( English ). Traffic Service Corporation, 1920, p. 6.
  18. ↑ Laura Randall: In Campo, California's Old West roots remain (English) . In: Stars And Stripes , June 30, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  19. ↑ Goat Canyon Trestle Viewpoint Via Mortero Palms . Anza Borrego Foundation. Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 20, 2018: "Goat Canyon trestle was built in 1932 after an earthquake collapsed one of the tunnels of the Carrizo Gorge section of the San Diego and Arizona Railway." @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / theabf.org
  20. ↑ Phillip T. Farquharson, David M. Bloom, Carole L. Ziegler: Geology and History of Southeastern San Diego County, California: San Diego Association of Geologists for 2005 and 2006 . San Diego Association of Geologists, 2006, ISBN 978-0-916251-78-9 , p. 85.
  21. ↑ Charles M. O'Herin: Prototypes for Modelers: Vol 1, San Diego & Arizona Railway. . Link Pen Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9776279-0-5 , p. 55.
  22. ^ SDAG Meeting Announcement ( English ) San Diego Association of Geologists. January 2015. Accessed March 20, 2018.
  23. ↑ Christine Robbins: The Bridges of San Diego County: The Art of Civil Engineering . In: The Journal of San Diego History . 62, No. 1, January 2016, ISSN  0022-4383 , pp. 5-36. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  24. ^ Reena Deutsch: San Diego and Arizona Railway: The Impossible Railroad . Arcadia Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4396-4047-0 , p. 22 178.
  25. ↑ Lunar Light: San Diego & Arizona Eastern's Carrizo Gorge ( English ) Todd Clark. 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2018: "Goat Canyon Trestle itself was sagging in its center span, having had the lower tier of its tallest bent knocked away by a boulder that was sluiced down the canyon by the flood."
  26. ↑ Pacific Rail News ( English ). Interurbans Publications, 1995, p. 44.
  27. ↑ Jeff Ristine: Lakeside company hopes to move freight first by end of January (English) . In: San Diego Union-Tribune , December 7, 2003. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  28. ↑ Lowell Lindsay, Diana Lindsay: Anza Borrego Desert Region: Your Complete Guide to the State Park and Adjacent Areas of the Western Colorado Desert ( English ). Wilderness Press, October 10, 2017, ISBN 978-0-89997-780-5 , p. 388.
  29. ↑ The 'Impossible' Goat Canyon Trestle ( English ) Flattop Productions, Inc. November 2003. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  30. ^ Sandra Dibble: Rebuilding historic US-Mexico rail link (English) . In: San Diego Union Tribune , February 11, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2018. “The last operator, Lakeside-based Carrizo Gorge Railway, was able to re-establish limited service in 2004. Those operations stopped in 2008 after the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, which owns the Desert Line, raised concerns about its safety and demanded repairs that Carrizo Gorge could not afford. " 
  31. ↑ Dorian Hangrove: MTS Responds to Baja rail charges (English) . In: San Diego Reader , February 3, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2018. 
  32. ^ Will century-old Impossible Railroad finally thrive, delivering billions in economic activity? (English) . In: San Diego Union-Tribune , January 15, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018. 
  33. ↑ Tony Huegel: California Desert Byways: 68 of California's Best Backcountry Drives . Wilderness Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-89997-413-2 , p. 168.
  34. ↑ Lowell Lindsay, Diana Lindsay: Anza Borrego Desert Region: Your Complete Guide to the State Park and Adjacent Areas of the Western Colorado Desert . Wilderness Press, 2017, ISBN 978-0-89997-780-5 , p. 437.
  35. ^ All Aboard San Diego's Railroad Museum ( English ) Coronado Lifestyle Magazine. September 7, 2013. Accessed March 2018: "There's even a 10-foot-high model of the Goat Canyon Trestle that crosses over the Carrizo Gorge."
  36. ↑ Chris Radcliff: Geeky Places To Take Your Kids: San Diego . In: Condé Nast Publications (ed.): Wired . May 28, 2007. Accessed March 2018.
  37. ^ Paul Voss, William C. Schaumberg: 20 years of the San Diego Model RR Museum . In: White River Productions (ed.): Railroad Model Craftsman . March 2001. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  38. ^ Pacific Desert Line ( English ) San Diego Society of N Scale. January 8, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018: "Parts of our layouts coincide, and as a result, the museum now has two versions of the Goat Canyon Trestle."
  39. ↑ Fay Crevoshay: A Parent's Guide to San Diego and Baja California ( English ). Mars Publishing, Incorporated, 2003, ISBN 978-1-931199-28-5 , p. 32.