San Diego
& Arizona Railway:
The
Impossible Railroad
by
Reena Deutsch
The
following slide (Powerpoint) shows are available for future presentation to
groups and organizations. However, no presentations are available during 2020.
Presentation #1 (1 hour) Impossible Railroad 100-year history
This
lecture describes the lengthy history of the San Diego & Arizona (Eastern)
Railway starting with the 1906 relocation of visionary entrepreneur John D.
Spreckels to San Diego (Coronado). Dramatic
details about the challenging 1907-1919 construction and the disaster-ridden operations
leading right up to the present time will support why the line was, and still
is, called “The Impossible Railroad.”
The talk features the “impossible”
terrain that was conquered when Spreckels’ line was constructed, particularly
in the Carrizo Gorge region, and the “impossible” challenges and adversities
that the line overcame and still continues to be plagued with. This lecture includes a brief, unique “trivia” segment.
Presentation #2 (1 hour) Why and how SD&A’s Goat Canyon Trestle
was built
This slide
show details the foreboding events and warnings, beginning in 1926, that led up
to the 1932 abandonment of Carrizo Gorge’s Tunnel #15 and subsequent
construction of a replacement tunnel and the famed and enormous Goat Canyon
Trestle. Audience members will gasp, and
perhaps chuckle, at the SD&A’s lack of responsiveness to multiple cautions
and recommendations preceding the impending catastrophe. The presentation is based on unpublished
details and photos contained in original SD&A documentation that came to
light several years ago. These
astonishing images demonstrate the complex and arduous process of construction
of the tunnel that replaced Tunnel #15 and the new trestle crossing Goat
Canyon.
Presentation #3 (1 hour) Impossible Railroad Odds ‘N Ends
While
writing the book San Diego and Arizona
Railway: The Impossible Railroad, over 3,000 photographs and images
were accumulated, and 1000s of additional photos have been acquired since then.
Many of the photographs have been
categorized into groupings such as "Steam locomotives,"
"Mexico," "Spreckels," "Maintenance-of-way and other
equipment," "Floods, sub-categorized by year," "Tunnel
fires, sub-categorized by tunnel and year," "Aerial views,"
"Maps," "Track diagrams," "Carrizo Gorge construction,"
etc. For this interactive presentation, a
list of the categories of images is available to the audience who will take
turns selecting which image category to view. ALL photos/images under each requested
category are projected. Information
about some of the photographs is shared when known. Some images are great, others fuzzy.
Presentation #4 (1 hour) Hiking the tracks to
the Goat Canyon Trestle – legally!
A series of
photographs will take you on a virtual one-way hike of almost 13 miles along
the tracks of the historic San Diego & Arizona Railway through steep and
arid Carrizo Gorge with a stop at and tour of the legendary Goat Canyon
Trestle. This hiking route is normally
illegal, but the images are compiled from four legally permitted group hikes organized
and led by Reena Deutsch, two from the west (Jacumba) in fall 2014 and two from
the east (Dos Cabezas area) in spring 2015. View fascinating natural and historic sights along
the way and be treated to a narrative of the route as if you were hiking along
with the participants. Crossing over
some of the treacherous smaller trestles and through numerous tunnels may simultaneously
terrify and amaze you. As plans are
underway for the SD&A to resume operations through the desert, prepare to
get your adrenalin pumping for an experience whose days may be numbered.
Presentation #5 (˝ hour) C100! – a special
presentation created for the 100th anniversary of the SD&A
Railway by the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association C100! (Celebrate100!)
committee. It is no longer available
after 2019.
This program
provided a brief glimpse back to the early days when San Diego unsuccessfully
attempted to acquire railroad service, followed by John D. Spreckels’ long and
hard-fought success in finally building the San Diego & Arizona Railway between
San Diego and El Centro to link the coastal community to the southern
transcontinental rail network to the east. The presentation included a condensed review
of the line’s trouble-filled 12-year construction and seemingly jinxed years of
operations plagued by one challenge, hardship, or disaster after another, and explained
why the 100th year since the completion of the SD&A, still
operating on some segments of the original route, was, indeed, a time to
celebrate. Plans to celebrate the
Centennial year were announced. Information
was provided about the all-volunteer non-profit organization which operates
vintage excursion trains along the old SD&A mainline and features
educational displays, programs, and exhibits.
If you
would like to invite author Reena Deutsch to appear at a booksigning, present a
slide show and/or lecture, or participate in other book-related events, or have
any questions about this, please email
Info
[[at]] ImpossibleRailroad [[dot]] com
To go to
the Impossible
Railroad’s home
page, click here.
.
Last updated April 27, 2020