Picked Switch -A set of five (5) former Chicago Northwestern (CNW) commuter cars that were acquired by Chicago Metra (METX) and later sold as surplus lies derailed across the turnout at Dubbers Spur on the Carrizo Gorge Desert Line.
These former Chicago Northwestern commuter cars were leased to Chicago Metra by Union Pacific, and are owned by the East County Dirt Works, the successor in interest to the Carrizo Gorge Railway who got them from UP.
Seven of these cars were purchased sometime between 2002 and 2008, and along with the three "Societe de Transport de la Communaute Urbaine de Montreal" cars (located on Carrizo Gorge Siding) they were to be used to provide commuter service between Tijuana and Tecate in Mexico.
In spite of the former Carrizo Gorge Railway Company clearing the collapsed tunnels and getting the line passible again, the commuter deal with the Government of the State of Baja California fell through and the cars where later stored along the line where they have been rotting away ever since.
As of this date, the location of two of the seven Metra cars is unknown, since there are only five of them at Dubbers Spur.
Goat Canyon trestle is is seven (7) track miles away and Dos Cabazas Station (on the other end of the gorge) is 13.7 track miles eastward. This railroad was embargoed in 2008 and there have been no trains running on this track since that time.
