| Posted by Kibu on March 10, 2015 | |
The one on the near left there looks derailed.
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That truck is on the ground.
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It sure would have been nice to have a map.
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| Posted by Marc on March 10, 2015 | |
Is that the same batch of cars that were in Horicon Wi?
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| Posted by cnw4007 on March 10, 2015 | |
Metra cars seem to be everywhere now !! Metra would like some back too....
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Are these tracks abandoned??
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| Posted by Phil P. on March 11, 2015 | |
Very interesting pic. What's the backstory with these cars? Destined for restoration and use on a tourism line?
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Marty - Just go on Google maps and enter "Jacumba" and follow the tacks to the end of Jacumba Road where it goes under Interstate 8. Marc - No clue where these former CNW cars came from and exactly how long they have been sitting on Dubbers Spur. Pictures available on the Internet show that they arrived sometime after 2008, and the vandalism started in earnest sometime after June of 2013. They have been fouling the main for less than a month or two. cnw4007 - Metra wound't want these back, they have been stripped of their copper wire and the insides are thrashed. I'm actually suppressed no one has not tried to torch them. Matt - They were embargoed in 2008. They are not abandon, but there has been no traffic over the line and the lease holder on the line (it is owned by San Diego MTS) - the Pacific and Imperial Railroad (PIR) is embroiled in an investment scandal that will probably result in MTS taking the line back and there being no company wishing to come forward to try and run the Desert Line as a business. Phil P. - My understanding is that the cars were bought to use for tourist trips through the gorge, but that was done by the former lessee - before PIR took over the current lease. Currently, these cars are decrepit and I cannot think of any museum that would want to restore them. For a more thorough back story I suggest you Google "Carrizo Gorge Railway" or "Goat Canyon" or "the impossible railway" as search terms.
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Marty, I set the map.
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| Posted by Kibu on March 13, 2015 | |
It's probable that the cars were originally purchased for a tourist aspect of the line, only to end up sidelined when the track was embargoed. Though I can not speak for certain, I suspect that their placement is far from coincidental, but rather was done in an effort to block the existing line from rail traffic. Thus preventing anything from embarking onto it, while at the same time putting cars which are in less than perfect (to put it mildly) shape to use.
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Looking at Google maps' satellite view, north of Arsenic Spring - it shows the string of cars well back from the switch when the satellite photo was taken (who knows when). It appears that by the time EL ROCO Photography arrived to take the above photo, someone tried to push the string back onto the track. When it derailed at the switch, they were left there.
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Without a doubt, this has got to be the most interesting un-used line in existence, anywhere.
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