California Southern Railroad
Encyclopedia
The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary
railroad
of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
(Santa Fe) in Southern California
. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow
and San Diego, California
.
Construction began in National City
, just south of San Diego, in 1881, and proceeded northward to the present day city of Oceanside
. From there, the line turned to the northeast through Temecula Canyon
, then on to the present cities of Lake Elsinore
, Perris
and Riverside
before a connection to the Southern Pacific Railroad
(SP) in Colton
. Following a frog war
where the SP refused to let the California Southern cross its tracks, a dispute that was resolved by court order in favor of the California Southern, construction continued northward through Cajon Pass
to the present day cities of Victorville
and Barstow
. The line, completed on November 9, 1885, formed the western end of Santa Fe's transcontinental railroad
connection to Chicago. Portions of the original line are still in use today as some of the busiest rail freight and passenger routes in the United States
.
at an as-yet undetermined point. Among the organizers were Frank Kimball, a prominent landowner and rancher from San Diego who also represented the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of City Trustees of San Diego, Kidder, Peabody & Co.
, one of the main financial investment companies involved in the Santa Fe
, B.P. Cheney, L.G. Pratt, George B. Wilbur and Thomas Nickerson
who was president of the Santa Fe. The organizers set a deadline of January 1, 1884, to complete the connection, a deadline that was later adjusted due to problems in the construction of the Atlantic and Pacific that forced it to stop at Needles, California
.
The California Southern built its track northward from a point in National City, south of San Diego. The route, portions of which are still in use, connected the present day cities of National City, San Diego, Fallbrook
, Temecula
, Lake Elsinore
, Perris
, Riverside
, San Bernardino
, Colton
, Cajon (not to be confused with El Cajon
), Victorville
and Barstow
.
In Barstow, then known as Waterman, the California Southern would connect to another Santa Fe subsidiary, the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The Atlantic and Pacific was chartered in 1866 to build a railroad connection westward from Springfield, Missouri
, connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico
, then along the 35th parallel
to the Colorado River
. From there, the railroad was to continue to the Pacific Ocean following whatever proved to be the best route. The route was scheduled to be completed by July 4, 1878. However, the Southern Pacific was able to get a clause favorable to their own interests inserted into the charter:
Southern Pacific had already established a connection to Mojave
, so their crews built eastward from there through Barstow (then called Waterman) to Needles, California
, completing the connection across the Colorado River on August 3, 1883. The California segment was leased to the Santa Fe in August 1884, and fully acquired by the Santa Fe under foreclosure in 1897.
The California Southern began construction in National City on land originally acquired by Frank Kimball. The railroad's main yards
and locomotive
maintenance shops were located here, and until the connection was made with Barstow, all tools and equipment ordered by the railroad arrived here by ship around Cape Horn
from points in the eastern United States, while the wooden ties
arrived by ship from Oregon
. Surveys and construction between National City and San Diego were well underway by March 1881. The railroad reached Fallbrook and opened between there and San Diego in January 1882.
In 1881 and 1882, the California Southern received ten locomotive shipments by sea at National City. The last three of these, delivered in November 1882 aboard the ship Anna Camp, have been identified as the last three locomotives ever delivered to the United States Pacific coast after traveling around Cape Horn.
and Temecula
, bypassing what was at the time the pueblo of Los Angeles
. What the railroad didn't understand was the nature of Southern California's dry washes. The local inhabitants told the railroad of the dangers of building through such an area, that it could become a raging torrent of water, but the railroad built through the canyon anyway.
Despite the warnings, track work through the canyon proceeded at a quick pace. The line was completed to Fallbrook on January 2, 1882, then to Temecula on March 27, 1882.
Many parts of the canyon had suffered storms. In February 1884 a storm hit. The train was delayed and the canyon walls brought boulders crashing down on the rails. On February 3, the train was unable to get through. A few days later, the wires were down. The train from Colton to San Diego was unable to get through. Disaster had been averted because young Charlie Howell hurried up the tracks from his family homestead near Willow Glen and somehow managed to stop the train. A series of devastating washout
s on the section through Temecula Canyon occurred amid heavy rain storms that flooded the area starting on February 16, 1884, just six months after the first trains operated the entire route between San Diego and San Bernardino. The storms brought more than 40 inches (1,016 mm) of rain in a four-week period. Two thirds of the mainline through the canyon were washed out with ties seen floating as far as 80 miles (129 km) away in the ocean. Temporary track repairs were made after the first storms, but later in the month, additional rains and flooding washed out the entire route through the canyon. Repairs were estimated at nearly $
320,000, a figure that could not be recouped effectively.
The canyon was finally bypassed completely with the completion of the Surf Line
on August 12, 1888, and the line through the canyon was relegated to branch line
status.
Construction of the California Southern was repeatedly interrupted by Santa Fe's rival, Southern Pacific Railroad
(SP). In one instance, the California Southern was set to build a level junction
across the SP tracks in Colton
, a move that would end Southern Pacific's monopoly in Southern California.
The Colton Crossing
was the site of one of the more notable frog war
s in American railroad history. In the summer of 1882, tensions reached their boiling point when construction of tracks for the California Southern reached Colton, California. In an attempt to forcibly prevent the California Southern Railroad crews from completing construction, the Southern Pacific (SP) parked and then slowly moved a locomotive
and gondola
along the SP track at the location of the planned crossing. In addition, the SP hired armed men, including the famous Virgil Earp
, to guard the tracks. Before the violence could get out of hand, Governor Robert Waterman
ordered San Bernardino County Sheriff J.B. Burkhart to enforce the state court order. Waterman personally ordered Earp and the crowd to comply with the court order. Earp backed down and told the SP engineer to move the locomotive. The crossing was built, ending the Southern Pacific's monopoly in Southern California.
. Building north from San Bernardino, the California Southern was able to piggyback on the survey work done by the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad
up to a point near Cajon.
The original grade of the line up the pass rose at a 2.2% slope
between San Bernardino and Cajon, where the grade steepened to 3% until reaching the summit 6 miles (9.7 km) further. The route over Cajon Pass was completed with a "last spike" on November 9, 1885, and the first train to use the pass carried a load of rails southward from Barstow on November 12 to be installed near Riverside. The first through train from Chicago via Santa Fe lines arrived in San Diego on November 17, 1885.
Construction of the original route through Cajon Pass
was overseen by Victor, who by this time had become General Manager of the California Southern. He operated the first train through the pass in 1885, proclaiming "No other railroad will ever have the nerve to build through these mountains. All who follow will prefer to rent trackage from us." Victor's assertion remained true for a while as the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (which later became part of Union Pacific Railroad
) signed an agreement to operate over the California Southern track via trackage rights on April 26, 1905, but Victor was proven wrong eighty years later when SP built the Palmdale Cutoff in 1967 at a slightly higher elevation through the pass. In honor of his work through the pass, the city of Victorville
was named after Victor.
over the Southern Pacific from San Bernardino on November 29, 1885, at $1,200 per mile per year. Naturally, the Santa Fe sought ways to reduce the fees. On November 20, 1886, the Santa Fe incorporated the San Bernardino and Los Angeles Railway to build a rail connection between its namesake cities. California Southern track crews performed the construction work, and the first train on the new line arrived in Los Angeles
on May 31, 1887. During the construction, Santa Fe officials worked to consolidate the many subsidiary railroads in Southern California in order to reduce costs. At a stockholder meeting on April 23, the eight railroads and their prominent stockholders, minus the California Southern, voted in favor of consolidation, and the California Central Railway was formed as a result on May 20, 1887. After the consolidation, although the California Southern remained a separate subsidiary, the National City shops were downgraded and the services provided there were moved to the newly constructed shops in San Bernardino. One of the first official lists of stations on the California Southern and California Central railroads published on July 13, 1887, shows the California Southern divided operationally into two divisions: the San Diego division covered the territory between National City and Colton; from there, the San Bernardino Division covered the route through Cajon Pass to Barstow.
The Santa Fe underwent a massive financial overhaul in 1889. The major investors in Boston, Massachusetts, were mostly replaced by investors from New York and London at the annual meeting on May 9. The investors replaced the company's board of directors with a new board that included George C. Magoun
(who would later be linked with the company's 1893 receivership). The new investors disliked the number of subsidiary companies and sought to further consolidate them. The California Southern, California Central and Redondo Beach Railway companies were consolidated into the Southern California Railway on November 7, 1889. The Santa Fe finally purchased outright the holdings of the Southern California railroad on January 17, 1906, ending the railway's subsidiary status and making it fully a part of the Santa Fe railroad.
graded and used by the California Southern is still in active daily use by contemporary railroad companies. Several structures originally built for or by the railroad, or in some cases the remains of these structures, can also still be seen along the line. Some of the buildings that remain are still in use in their primary purposes.
The two ends of the former railroad are still in use as of 2008. The section between Barstow and Riverside through Cajon Pass
, which includes the disputed crossing in Colton
, remains one of the busiest rail freight corridors in the United States, seeing trains of BNSF Railway
and Union Pacific Railroad
as well as Amtrak
's daily Southwest Chief
passenger train. At Cajon, the concrete pads that once served as the foundations for the railroad's station facilities and water tanks there still remain long after the buildings that were atop them have been removed. Not all of the track through Cajon Pass is in its original 1885 location. The Santa Fe made a few realignments of track through the pass during the 20th century to straighten some curves along Cajon Creek (between Cajon and San Bernardino), lower gradients for eastbound trains with the addition of a separate track through what has come to be known as Sullivan's Curve, and to reduce some curvatures and lower the pass's overall summit elevation by 50 ft (15 m).
The maintenance shops in San Bernardino are still in use by BNSF Railway, although not to the extent that they were used in the 20th century. The San Bernardino station
that was opened by the California Southern was destroyed by fire on November 16, 1916. It was replaced in 1918 by the Santa Fe with the current structure that now serves Metrolink
's San Bernardino Line
commuter trains on runs that terminate at Los Angeles Union Station
. Limited service from San Bernardino to Riverside is provided by some San Bernardino Line trains, and the Metrolink Riverside Line
terminates at the Riverside station although it reaches the station via a more southerly route. South of Riverside, the track is still in place to Perris, where the Orange Empire Railway Museum
resides with a connection to the mainline.
At the southern end, the section between San Diego and Oceanside also sees heavy use by Amtrak California
's Pacific Surfliner
trains as well as those of the San Diego Coaster
. As part of the Santa Fe's rail network, it was part of what has come to be known as the Surf Line
; as of January 2006, this line is the second busiest passenger rail line in the United States.
Although San Diego's Union Station
replaced the railroad's original station there in 1915, the California Southern's station and office building in National City has been preserved and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
railroad
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
(Santa Fe) in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
and San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
.
Construction began in National City
National City, California
National City is a city in San Diego County, California. The population was 58,582 at the 2010 census, up from 54,260 at the 2000 census. National City is the second oldest city in San Diego County and has a historic past.-History:...
, just south of San Diego, in 1881, and proceeded northward to the present day city of Oceanside
Oceanside, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...
. From there, the line turned to the northeast through Temecula Canyon
Temecula, California
Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...
, then on to the present cities of Lake Elsinore
Lake Elsinore, California
For the lake see Lake Elsinore.Lake Elsinore or LE is a city in western Riverside County, California. The population was 51,821 at the 2010 census...
, Perris
Perris, California
Perris is a city in Riverside County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city population was 68,386, up from 36,189 at the 2000 census. The city is named in honor of Fred T. Perris, chief engineer of the California Southern Railroad...
and Riverside
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
before a connection to the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
(SP) in Colton
Colton, California
Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is approximately 57 miles east of Los Angeles. The population of Colton is 52,154 according to the 2010 census, up from 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the...
. Following a frog war
Frog war
In American railroading, a frog war occurs when a private railroad company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities, with the courts usually getting involved, but often long after companies have taken the matter in their own hands and settled, with hordes of workers...
where the SP refused to let the California Southern cross its tracks, a dispute that was resolved by court order in favor of the California Southern, construction continued northward through Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass is a moderate-elevation mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California in the United States. It was created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault...
to the present day cities of Victorville
Victorville, California
Victorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of southwestern San Bernardino County, California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,903, up from 64,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
and Barstow
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
. The line, completed on November 9, 1885, formed the western end of Santa Fe's transcontinental railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
connection to Chicago. Portions of the original line are still in use today as some of the busiest rail freight and passenger routes in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
The California Southern was organized on July 10, 1880, as a means to connect San Diego to a connection with the Atlantic and Pacific RailroadAtlantic and Pacific Railroad
The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjoint segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Southern California. It was incorporated by the U.S. Congress in 1866 as a...
at an as-yet undetermined point. Among the organizers were Frank Kimball, a prominent landowner and rancher from San Diego who also represented the Chamber of Commerce and the Board of City Trustees of San Diego, Kidder, Peabody & Co.
Kidder, Peabody & Co.
Kidder, Peabody & Co. was a U.S.-based securities firm, established in Massachusetts in 1865. Its operations included investment banking, brokerage, and trading....
, one of the main financial investment companies involved in the Santa Fe
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
, B.P. Cheney, L.G. Pratt, George B. Wilbur and Thomas Nickerson
Thomas Nickerson (ATSF)
Thomas Nickerson was the eighth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between 1874 and 1880. He was also president of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad....
who was president of the Santa Fe. The organizers set a deadline of January 1, 1884, to complete the connection, a deadline that was later adjusted due to problems in the construction of the Atlantic and Pacific that forced it to stop at Needles, California
Needles, California
Needles is a city located in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the Mohave Valley, which straddles the California–Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95...
.
The California Southern built its track northward from a point in National City, south of San Diego. The route, portions of which are still in use, connected the present day cities of National City, San Diego, Fallbrook
Fallbrook, California
Fallbrook is an unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. The Fallbrook census-designated place population was 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census....
, Temecula
Temecula, California
Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...
, Lake Elsinore
Lake Elsinore, California
For the lake see Lake Elsinore.Lake Elsinore or LE is a city in western Riverside County, California. The population was 51,821 at the 2010 census...
, Perris
Perris, California
Perris is a city in Riverside County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city population was 68,386, up from 36,189 at the 2000 census. The city is named in honor of Fred T. Perris, chief engineer of the California Southern Railroad...
, Riverside
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
, San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
, Colton
Colton, California
Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is approximately 57 miles east of Los Angeles. The population of Colton is 52,154 according to the 2010 census, up from 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the...
, Cajon (not to be confused with El Cajon
El Cajon, California
-History:El Cajon is located on the Rancho El Cajon Mexican land grant made in 1845 to María Antonia Estudillo, wife of Miguel Pedrorena. In 1876 Amaziah Lord Knox , a New Englander who had recently moved to California, established a hotel there to serve the growing number of people traveling...
), Victorville
Victorville, California
Victorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of southwestern San Bernardino County, California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,903, up from 64,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
and Barstow
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 22,639 at the 2010 census, up from 21,119 at the 2000 census. Barstow is located north of San Bernardino....
.
In Barstow, then known as Waterman, the California Southern would connect to another Santa Fe subsidiary, the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The Atlantic and Pacific was chartered in 1866 to build a railroad connection westward from Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
, connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, then along the 35th parallel
Circle of latitude
A circle of latitude, on the Earth, is an imaginary east-west circle connecting all locations that share a given latitude...
to the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
. From there, the railroad was to continue to the Pacific Ocean following whatever proved to be the best route. The route was scheduled to be completed by July 4, 1878. However, the Southern Pacific was able to get a clause favorable to their own interests inserted into the charter:
- "... the Southern Pacific Railroad ... is hereby authorized to connect with the said Atlantic and Pacific railroad formed under this act, at such point, near the boundary line of the State of California, as they shall deem most suitable for a railroad line to San Francisco."
Southern Pacific had already established a connection to Mojave
Mojave, California
Mojave is a census-designated place in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2762 feet...
, so their crews built eastward from there through Barstow (then called Waterman) to Needles, California
Needles, California
Needles is a city located in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the Mohave Valley, which straddles the California–Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95...
, completing the connection across the Colorado River on August 3, 1883. The California segment was leased to the Santa Fe in August 1884, and fully acquired by the Santa Fe under foreclosure in 1897.
San Diego
Classification yard
A classification yard or marshalling yard is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill...
and locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
maintenance shops were located here, and until the connection was made with Barstow, all tools and equipment ordered by the railroad arrived here by ship around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
from points in the eastern United States, while the wooden ties
Railroad tie
A railroad tie/railway tie , or railway sleeper is a rectangular item used to support the rails in railroad tracks...
arrived by ship from Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Surveys and construction between National City and San Diego were well underway by March 1881. The railroad reached Fallbrook and opened between there and San Diego in January 1882.
In 1881 and 1882, the California Southern received ten locomotive shipments by sea at National City. The last three of these, delivered in November 1882 aboard the ship Anna Camp, have been identified as the last three locomotives ever delivered to the United States Pacific coast after traveling around Cape Horn.
Temecula Canyon
In order to connect to the Atlantic and Pacific line in the quickest way possible, surveyors and engineers for the California Southern pushed the route through FallbrookFallbrook, California
Fallbrook is an unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. The Fallbrook census-designated place population was 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census....
and Temecula
Temecula, California
Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...
, bypassing what was at the time the pueblo of Los Angeles
Pueblo de Los Angeles
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles was the Spanish civilian pueblo founded in 1781, which by the 20th century became the American metropolis of Los Angeles....
. What the railroad didn't understand was the nature of Southern California's dry washes. The local inhabitants told the railroad of the dangers of building through such an area, that it could become a raging torrent of water, but the railroad built through the canyon anyway.
Despite the warnings, track work through the canyon proceeded at a quick pace. The line was completed to Fallbrook on January 2, 1882, then to Temecula on March 27, 1882.
Many parts of the canyon had suffered storms. In February 1884 a storm hit. The train was delayed and the canyon walls brought boulders crashing down on the rails. On February 3, the train was unable to get through. A few days later, the wires were down. The train from Colton to San Diego was unable to get through. Disaster had been averted because young Charlie Howell hurried up the tracks from his family homestead near Willow Glen and somehow managed to stop the train. A series of devastating washout
Washout
A washout is the sudden erosion of soft soil or other support surfaces by a gush of water, usually occurring during a heavy downpour of rain or other stream flooding. These downpours may occur locally in a thunderstorm , or over a large area, such as following the landfall of a tropical cyclone...
s on the section through Temecula Canyon occurred amid heavy rain storms that flooded the area starting on February 16, 1884, just six months after the first trains operated the entire route between San Diego and San Bernardino. The storms brought more than 40 inches (1,016 mm) of rain in a four-week period. Two thirds of the mainline through the canyon were washed out with ties seen floating as far as 80 miles (129 km) away in the ocean. Temporary track repairs were made after the first storms, but later in the month, additional rains and flooding washed out the entire route through the canyon. Repairs were estimated at nearly $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
320,000, a figure that could not be recouped effectively.
The canyon was finally bypassed completely with the completion of the Surf Line
Surf Line
The Surf Line is a railroad line that runs from San Diego north to Los Angeles along California's Pacific Coast. It is so named because much of the line is near the Pacific Ocean, within less than 100 feet in places...
on August 12, 1888, and the line through the canyon was relegated to branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
status.
The crossing at Colton
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
(SP). In one instance, the California Southern was set to build a level junction
Level junction
In U.S. railroad practice, a level junction is a railway junction that has a track configuration in which merging or crossing railroad lines provide track connections with each other that require trains to cross over in front of opposing traffic at grade In U.S. railroad practice, a level junction...
across the SP tracks in Colton
Colton, California
Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is approximately 57 miles east of Los Angeles. The population of Colton is 52,154 according to the 2010 census, up from 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the...
, a move that would end Southern Pacific's monopoly in Southern California.
The Colton Crossing
Colton Crossing
The Colton Crossing is an "at grade" Railway Crossing situated in Colton, California, directly south of the Interstate 10 freeway. First built in 1883, it was the site of one of the most intense Frog wars in railroad construction history leading to a personal confrontation between famed lawman...
was the site of one of the more notable frog war
Frog war
In American railroading, a frog war occurs when a private railroad company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities, with the courts usually getting involved, but often long after companies have taken the matter in their own hands and settled, with hordes of workers...
s in American railroad history. In the summer of 1882, tensions reached their boiling point when construction of tracks for the California Southern reached Colton, California. In an attempt to forcibly prevent the California Southern Railroad crews from completing construction, the Southern Pacific (SP) parked and then slowly moved a locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
and gondola
Gondola (rail)
In railroad terminology, a gondola is an open-top type of rolling stock that is used for carrying loose bulk materials. Because of its low side walls, gondolas are used to carry either very dense material, such as steel plates or coils, or bulky items such as prefabricated pieces of rail...
along the SP track at the location of the planned crossing. In addition, the SP hired armed men, including the famous Virgil Earp
Virgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp fought in the Civil War. He was U.S. Deputy Marshal for south-eastern Arizona and Tombstone City Marshal at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the Arizona Territory. Two months after the shootout in Tombstone, outlaw Cowboys ambushed Virgil on the streets of...
, to guard the tracks. Before the violence could get out of hand, Governor Robert Waterman
Robert Waterman (governor)
Robert Whitney Waterman was an American politician. He served as the 17th Governor of California from September 12, 1887 until January 8, 1891.-Early years:...
ordered San Bernardino County Sheriff J.B. Burkhart to enforce the state court order. Waterman personally ordered Earp and the crowd to comply with the court order. Earp backed down and told the SP engineer to move the locomotive. The crossing was built, ending the Southern Pacific's monopoly in Southern California.
Cajon Pass
The first structure that the California Southern used as a depot in San Bernardino was a converted boxcarBoxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...
. Building north from San Bernardino, the California Southern was able to piggyback on the survey work done by the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad
Los Angeles and Independence Railroad
The Los Angeles and Independence Railroad , opened October 17, 1875, was a steam powered rail line which travelled from a wharf North of the current Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica along a private right-of-way to 5th and San Pedro Street in downtown Los Angeles...
up to a point near Cajon.
The original grade of the line up the pass rose at a 2.2% slope
Slope
In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line describes its steepness, incline, or grade. A higher slope value indicates a steeper incline....
between San Bernardino and Cajon, where the grade steepened to 3% until reaching the summit 6 miles (9.7 km) further. The route over Cajon Pass was completed with a "last spike" on November 9, 1885, and the first train to use the pass carried a load of rails southward from Barstow on November 12 to be installed near Riverside. The first through train from Chicago via Santa Fe lines arrived in San Diego on November 17, 1885.
Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass is a moderate-elevation mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California in the United States. It was created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault...
was overseen by Victor, who by this time had become General Manager of the California Southern. He operated the first train through the pass in 1885, proclaiming "No other railroad will ever have the nerve to build through these mountains. All who follow will prefer to rent trackage from us." Victor's assertion remained true for a while as the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (which later became part of Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
) signed an agreement to operate over the California Southern track via trackage rights on April 26, 1905, but Victor was proven wrong eighty years later when SP built the Palmdale Cutoff in 1967 at a slightly higher elevation through the pass. In honor of his work through the pass, the city of Victorville
Victorville, California
Victorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of southwestern San Bernardino County, California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,903, up from 64,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
was named after Victor.
Consolidation
To reach Los Angeles, the Santa Fe leased trackage rightsTrackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over the Southern Pacific from San Bernardino on November 29, 1885, at $1,200 per mile per year. Naturally, the Santa Fe sought ways to reduce the fees. On November 20, 1886, the Santa Fe incorporated the San Bernardino and Los Angeles Railway to build a rail connection between its namesake cities. California Southern track crews performed the construction work, and the first train on the new line arrived in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on May 31, 1887. During the construction, Santa Fe officials worked to consolidate the many subsidiary railroads in Southern California in order to reduce costs. At a stockholder meeting on April 23, the eight railroads and their prominent stockholders, minus the California Southern, voted in favor of consolidation, and the California Central Railway was formed as a result on May 20, 1887. After the consolidation, although the California Southern remained a separate subsidiary, the National City shops were downgraded and the services provided there were moved to the newly constructed shops in San Bernardino. One of the first official lists of stations on the California Southern and California Central railroads published on July 13, 1887, shows the California Southern divided operationally into two divisions: the San Diego division covered the territory between National City and Colton; from there, the San Bernardino Division covered the route through Cajon Pass to Barstow.
George C. Magoun
George C. Magoun was, in the late 1880s, the Chairman of the Board of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway....
(who would later be linked with the company's 1893 receivership). The new investors disliked the number of subsidiary companies and sought to further consolidate them. The California Southern, California Central and Redondo Beach Railway companies were consolidated into the Southern California Railway on November 7, 1889. The Santa Fe finally purchased outright the holdings of the Southern California railroad on January 17, 1906, ending the railway's subsidiary status and making it fully a part of the Santa Fe railroad.
Company officers
Presidents of the California Southern Railroad were:- Benjamin Kimball 1880
- Thomas NickersonThomas Nickerson (ATSF)Thomas Nickerson was the eighth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between 1874 and 1880. He was also president of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad....
1880-1885 - George B. Wilbur 1885-1887
Visible remnants
Much of the original right-of-wayRight-of-way (railroad)
A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted, through an easement or other mechanism, for transportation purposes, such as for a trail, driveway, rail line or highway. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way...
graded and used by the California Southern is still in active daily use by contemporary railroad companies. Several structures originally built for or by the railroad, or in some cases the remains of these structures, can also still be seen along the line. Some of the buildings that remain are still in use in their primary purposes.
Cajon Pass
Cajon Pass is a moderate-elevation mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California in the United States. It was created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault...
, which includes the disputed crossing in Colton
Colton Crossing
The Colton Crossing is an "at grade" Railway Crossing situated in Colton, California, directly south of the Interstate 10 freeway. First built in 1883, it was the site of one of the most intense Frog wars in railroad construction history leading to a personal confrontation between famed lawman...
, remains one of the busiest rail freight corridors in the United States, seeing trains of BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
and Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
as well as Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's daily Southwest Chief
Southwest Chief
The Southwest Chief is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 2256-mile BNSF route through the Midwestern and Southwestern United States. It runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, passing through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California...
passenger train. At Cajon, the concrete pads that once served as the foundations for the railroad's station facilities and water tanks there still remain long after the buildings that were atop them have been removed. Not all of the track through Cajon Pass is in its original 1885 location. The Santa Fe made a few realignments of track through the pass during the 20th century to straighten some curves along Cajon Creek (between Cajon and San Bernardino), lower gradients for eastbound trains with the addition of a separate track through what has come to be known as Sullivan's Curve, and to reduce some curvatures and lower the pass's overall summit elevation by 50 ft (15 m).
The maintenance shops in San Bernardino are still in use by BNSF Railway, although not to the extent that they were used in the 20th century. The San Bernardino station
San Bernardino (Amtrak station)
The Santa Fe Depot is a Mission Revival Style passenger rail terminal in San Bernardino, California, United States. It currently serves one Amtrak and three Metrolink lines...
that was opened by the California Southern was destroyed by fire on November 16, 1916. It was replaced in 1918 by the Santa Fe with the current structure that now serves Metrolink
Metrolink (Southern California)
Metrolink is a commuter rail system serving Los Angeles and the surrounding area of Southern California; it currently consists of six lines and 55 stations using of track....
's San Bernardino Line
Metrolink San Bernardino Line
The San Bernardino Line is the busiest of Southern California's seven Metrolink lines, running from Downtown Los Angeles east through the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire to San Bernardino. It is one of the three initial lines on the original Metrolink system...
commuter trains on runs that terminate at Los Angeles Union Station
Union Station (Los Angeles)
Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California. The station has rail services by Amtrak and Amtrak California and Metrolink; light rail/subways are the Metro Rail Red Line, Purple Line, Gold Line. Bus rapid transport runs on the Silver Line...
. Limited service from San Bernardino to Riverside is provided by some San Bernardino Line trains, and the Metrolink Riverside Line
Metrolink Riverside Line
Metrolink's Riverside Line is a commuter rail running from Los Angeles Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles to Riverside, California along the Union Pacific Railroad. It runs weekday peak commuter hours only, with very little mid-day and reverse-commute service. The Riverside Line, the fourth...
terminates at the Riverside station although it reaches the station via a more southerly route. South of Riverside, the track is still in place to Perris, where the Orange Empire Railway Museum
Orange Empire Railway Museum
The Orange Empire Railway Museum , 2201 South "A" Street, Perris, California, is a railroad museum founded in 1956 at the Pinacate Station as the "Orange Empire Trolley Museum." The museum also operates a heritage railroad on the museum grounds.-Background:The collection focuses on Southern...
resides with a connection to the mainline.
Amtrak California
Amtrak California is a brand name used by the Caltrans Division of Rail for all state-supported Amtrak rail routes within the U.S. State of California...
's Pacific Surfliner
Pacific Surfliner
The Pacific Surfliner is a Amtrak regional passenger train route serving communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo....
trains as well as those of the San Diego Coaster
San Diego Coaster
The San Diego Coast Express Rail, or Coaster , is a commuter rail service that operates in the Central and Northern coastal regions of San Diego County, California, United States. The service is operated by TransitAmerica Services on contract with North County Transit District . The service has...
. As part of the Santa Fe's rail network, it was part of what has come to be known as the Surf Line
Surf Line
The Surf Line is a railroad line that runs from San Diego north to Los Angeles along California's Pacific Coast. It is so named because much of the line is near the Pacific Ocean, within less than 100 feet in places...
; as of January 2006, this line is the second busiest passenger rail line in the United States.
Although San Diego's Union Station
Union Station (San Diego)
Union Station in San Diego, California, also known as the Santa Fe Depot, is a train station built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to replace the small Victorian-style structure erected in 1887 for the California Southern Railroad Company. The Spanish Colonial Revival style station is...
replaced the railroad's original station there in 1915, the California Southern's station and office building in National City has been preserved and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
California Southern Railroad (1914-1942)
The California Southern Railroad was established in 1914 to build a rail link from Rice, CA to Blythe, CA. Construction is finished in 1916, and the line extends to Ripley,CA at 1920. It soon became a subsidiary of Santa Fe, and is sold to the railroad at the end of 1942.External links
- The California Southern Railroad and the Growth of San Diego - Part I and Part II; from the Journal of San Diego History.
- A Chinese American in 1884: Floods, Fall Brook And Fallbrook; describes the washouts in Temecula Canyon in 1884.
- Perris and its Railroad; by Richard V. Dodge, 1959.
- Santa Fe Railroad Routes in Southern California 1888
