History of Railroads in San Diego

HISTORY OF RAILROADS IN SAN DIEGO DRAFT History of Railroads in San Diego To become an important commercial and trading center on the west coast, a population center would require a port and an inland transportation system. The development of railroads as the primary form of land transportation in the mid-19th century made this mode a necessity for any major city. But compared to California’s’ other cities, San Diego’s first major railroad arrived late. There were many proposed lines, including the Texas and Pacific that would have San Diego, as its Pacific terminus, but that line was never built. The Atlantic and Pacific line was another road that would be built into California along the 35th parallel, and was under the control of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF). This proposed route provided San Diego to build a line to this route, and obtain an outlet to the east. The California Southern Railroad Company was chartered on October 12th, 1880, with the purpose of constructing a line from National City to San Bernardino, and on to Barstow. The California Southern was constructed from National City north to San Luis Rey, now named Oceanside, by the end of 1881. Just north of Oceanside, the line curved to the right, following up the Santa Margarita River, to Fallbrook Station, in the valley about two miles north of the town of Fallbrook. Then it continued up through the rugged Temecula Canyon and continued towards San Bernardino. The road was opened from National City to Colton on August 21, 1882, and reached San Bernardino on September 12th 1883. But an agreement between the Santa Fe and the major California Railroad, Southern Pacific stopped the Atlantic and Pacific at the Arizona border. The Southern Pacific controlled the interchange at Colton, and traffic to and from San Diego was strangled. Then came the great floods of February 1884, the wettest season of record. About 30 miles of line in the Temecula Canyon was washed out. $250,000 was needed for the repairs, but the California Southern was in financial trouble and could only raise $114,000 towards the repairs. But Southern Pacific rival, the Santa Fe was still seeking a port outlet in California. Shut out of Los Angels and San Francisco by the Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe acquired control of the California Southern to obtain its seaport outlet. With funding from the Santa Fe, the line was restored, and San Diego bay was connected by to the east via the Santa Fe. In 1888, Santa Fe completed the “Surf Line” along the coast. This extension was built from the California Southern station at Oceanside to Orange County. In 1890, the Santa Fe completed a line from San Bernardino to Los Angeles, which provided San Diego with an outlet to the east through the Santa Fe lines in Los Angles via the “Surf Line”. As commerce in the Los Angeles basin increased, the Santa Fe moved its operations from National City to Los Angeles. The second flood of February 1891 ended railway service between Fallbrook and Temecula and Santa Fe gave up on the through San Diego to San Bernardino line. In 1893, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was declared bankrupt and a receivership followed. Out of it emerged the present corporation, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company. After the turn of the century, the Santa Fe took over the Southern California Railway. Santa Fe realized that Los Angeles was the marketing DRAFT center of Southern California. Emphasis shifted to that port and surrounding facilities. They gradually moved the management offices and machine shops of the railroad to San Bernardino in order to have greater leverage in the competition for the Los Angeles shipping and transport business. Los Angeles took predominance and the route to the east that was established by the “Surf Line” from San Diego became the only rail link. San Diego became a branch line of Los Angeles rather than a major terminus. San Diego leaders determined that another independent rail link was desirable. The San Diego and Arizona was formed from the local San Diego railroads, and began the construction of the line directly east. The opening of the San Diego and Arizona in 1919 provided another rail outlet from San Diego via a connection to the Southern Pacific at El Centro. Traffic could be interchanged at the location and forwarded to the east via the Sunset Line. This routing bypassed the Santa Fe and Los Angles, and provided a com0etitive rail option to shippers in San Diego. The Southern pacific acquired full control of the SD&A in 1933, renaming it the San Diego and Arizona Eastern. But the line was never very profitable to the Southern Pacific. In 1951, passenger service was terminate, leaving Santa Fe the only rail passenger operator in San Diego with the “San Diegan” trains which operated between Los Angeles and San Diego. Passenger trains continued to be a money-losing proposition for the nation’s railroads. In 1971, the federal government assumed operations of mast passenger trains and formed the National Rail Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK). The “San Diegan” route was retained in the national system. The Santa Fe became a freight only operator in San Diego. CALTRANS became involved in San Diegan service in 1976 with state support for the AMTRAK route. Further support by the state led to increased round trips, increasing congestion on the line. The severe damage to the Desert Line portion of the SD&AE in1976 led Southern Pacific to petition to abandon the line. But an Agreement was reached with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board, where the MTDB would purchase the line in a fully rehabilitated condition to operate light rail between San Diego and San Ysidro, and continue freight operations. Kyle Railways was the short line operator that continued the freight operations, but economic conditions combined with fires and additional environmental events that closed the Desert Line caused Kyle to exit from the operation in 1982. Another operator, RAILTEX, was chosen to continue freight operations but the Desert Line operations where never restored. Fires resulted in the collapse of tunnels No. 8 and No. 16 closed the line for good in 1983. This left San Diego with a single rail outlet via the Santa Fe through Los Angeles. In 1989, government entities formed the Los Angeles-San Diego Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN) as a joint powers agency with the objective of increasing rail service on the 128-mile route between San Diego and Los Angeles, and centralizing the work of handling rail improvements on the line. The bulk of the corridor was owned by the Santa Fe. In 1992, Santa Fe sold the “Surf Line” from San Diego to Fullerton to the San Diego North Country Transit District (NCTD). NCTD was inaugurating a commuter rail service from San Diego to Oceanside called the “Coaster” and formed the San Diego Northern Railroad as the operating entity for the line. Santa Fe continued to have DRAFT trackage rights over the line to operate its freight traffic. The 43-mile commuter line began operations between San Diego and Oceanside. But the “Coaster” trips combined with increased AMTRAK San Diegan runs limited the Santa Fe to specific operating windows. The trend towards consolidation in the national rail system continued in the 1990s. In 1995. the Santa Fe merged with the Burlington Northern forming the Burlington Northern Santa FE (BNSF). In 1996, the Southern Pacific was merged into the Union Pacific (UP), with the UP taking over the operations between Plaster City and El Centro. DRAFT HISTORY OF THE SAN DIEGO & ARIZONA EASTERN A local San Diego businessman by the name of John D. Sprekcles, son of a San Francisco based sugar magnate, saw the need for and independent rail line to the east without going through Los Angeles. A survey for a line east of San Diego, and a route that swung south through Mexico and running through Carrizo Gorge to the desert for a connection with the Southern Pacific at El Centro was chosen. On December 14, 1906, Spreckles announced that he would from the San Diego & Arizona Railroad Company to build the 148-mile line. Southern Pacific president E. H. Harriman decided that his road needed a connection to San Diego, and agreed to silently fund the project. The through route was chosen through Mexico because of lower grades, but the Mexican government ordered the SD&A to form the Ferrocarril Tijuana y Tecate to construct and hold a 99 year lease on the 44 mile Mexican rail segment. In 1909, Harriman died and the new management at Southern pacific cut off further funding. Spreckles continued construction on the line using his own funding. The effort continued, despite flooding and encounters with revolutionaries during the Mexican Civil War. But by 1917, a new agreement was reached with southern Pacific and the line returned to joint ownership. The line was completed in 1919, with John D. Spreckles driving the “golden spike” on November 19. DRAFT Early operations were to reveal that the elements would have a continuing negative effect on the line. In 1926, 1927, and 1929 rains take out large amounts of trackage east of San Diego. These were not to be the last instances of the line being shut down due to fires and floods. The great depression took its toll on most railroads and the SD&A was no exception. Losses mounted. On October 24, 1932, financial problems force John D. Spreckels’ heirs to transfer their share of SD&A ownership to SP for $2.8 million.

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