San Diego and Arizona Railway

The Impossible Railroad

Ph.D., Reena Deutsch

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781439640470
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Surveyors called the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) ?The Impossible Railroad? because of its jagged, mountainous, and brutal desert route. The financier and driving force behind building this binational 148-mile rail connection to the east from San Diego, California, was businessman John D. Spreckels. Because of his perseverance, the jinxed 1907?1919 construction overcame a series of disasters, including the Mexican Revolution, a prolonged lawsuit, floods, World War I, labor shortages, a tunnel cave-in, and a lethal pandemic. Once up and running, the line was intermittently in and out of service and later sold and renamed the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. While ?The Impossible Railroad? still faces constant challenges and partial closures, freight and trolley service currently operate on its right-of-way, and tourist excursions are offered at its Campo, California, depot.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - CONSTRUCTION 1907–1917 THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
• Two - CARRIZO GORGE 1917–1919 LOOKS LIKE HEAVEN, FEELS LIKE HELL
• Three - OPERATIONS PRE-1932 FINALLY ROLLING . . . SOMETIMES
• Four - 1932 THE IMPOSSIBLE YEAR
• Five - OPERATIONS POST-1932 LET’S KEEP IT ROLLING
• Six - TROLLEYS, FREIGHT, AND TOURISTS A NEW ERA
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RAILWAY MUSEUM ASSOCIATION