Goat Canyon Trestle

91934 Jacumba Hot Springs, CA, United States of America (USA) (California)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Goat Canyon Trestle is a wooden trestle in San Diego County, California. At a length of 597–750 feet (182–229 m), it is the world's largest all-wood trestle. Goat Canyon Trestle was built in 1933 as part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, after one of the many tunnels through the Carrizo Gorge collapsed. The railway had been called the "impossible railroad" upon its 1919 completion. It ran through Baja California and eastern San Diego County before ending in Imperial Valley The trestle was made of wood, rather than metal due to temperature fluctuations in the Carrizo Gorge By 2008, rail traffic stopped utilizing the trestle.

History

The trestle was built in response to the collapse of Tunnel 15. Construction began in 1932. Sections of the trestle were assembled at the bottom of the canyon, then lifted into position.Redwood timber, the same type used for railroad ties along the rest of the route, was utilized because Carrizo Gorge's considerable temperature fluctuations could have led to metal fatigue in a steel bridge. To resist Goat Canyon's high winds, it was built with a 14° curve.  Additionally, the bridge was built without nails. Construction was completed by 1933, leading to a realignment of the railroad route. For fire suppression a tank car was located near tunnel 16.

After World War II, the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway was impacted by increased automobile travel. In 1951, scheduled passenger service over the trestle ended.Intermittent freight traffic continued when the railroad was not closed due to damage. In 1976, Hurricane Kathleen damaged the trestle, as well as the rest of the line; repairs were not completed until 1981. Use of the railroad ended again in 1983 due to collapsed tunnels. In 1999, Huell Howser visited the trestle and filmed an episode about it for the public television series California's Gold. Restoration of the railway did not resume until 2003. During the 2003 Cedar Fire, crews working on the railway repairs assisted the California Department of Forestry by extinguishing fires set by arsonists along the railroad tracks.

The Carrizo Gorge Railway resumed service on the line after repairs were completed in 2004. Pacific Southwest Railway Museum provided trips on the railroad from Campo. In 2008, the Desert line, which includes track north of Mexico including Carrizo Gorge closed indefinitely for repairs, ending revenue rail usage of the trestle. In early 2017, tunnel Number 6 near the trestle collapsed, and the route was obstructed. As of January 2018, Baja California Railroad was assessing the line before beginning repairs to allow it to return to operation. The trestle remains a popular destination for hikers.

Replicas

The San Diego Model Railroad Museum hosts a HO scale replica of the trestle. HO Scale is 1:87 scale. It stands six feet (1.8 m) off the floor is 10 feet (3.0 m) tall in total. It is older than the museum itself, having been built in 1941. The museum also contains a smaller N scale (1:160) replica of the trestle, based on an 1855 surveyed route

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