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California Southern Railroad

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

   California Southern Railroad
   System map
   Route map of the California Southern Railroad upon its completion in
   1885.
   Locale San Diego – Barstow, California
   Dates of operation 1880 – 1889
   Track gauge 4  ft 8½  in (1435  mm) ( standard gauge)
   Headquarters National City, California

   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 favour 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.

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
   Railroad 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 and Company, 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:

          "... 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, 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.

San Diego

   California Southern's original station in San Diego. This station was
   demolished and replaced in 1915 by what has come to be known as Union
   Station.
   Enlarge
   California Southern's original station in San Diego. This station was
   demolished and replaced in 1915 by what has come to be known as Union
   Station.

   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.

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 Fallbrook 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.

   A series of devastating washouts 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 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.

The crossing at Colton

   Construction of the California Southern was repeatedly interrupted by
   Santa Fe's rival, Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). In one instance, the
   California Southern was to build a level junction across the SP tracks
   in Colton, a crossing which still exists today. California Southern
   engineer Fred T. Perris ordered the crossing built and acquired the
   track section for the railroad. When the track was delivered to
   National City in July 1883, SP officials hired the sheriff there to
   seize the track section and prevent its installation. The sheriff kept
   the track under 24-hour guard, but Perris's men were able to retake the
   track while the sheriff napped, loaded the track on a flatcar and
   started northward with it toward Colton, where it was to be installed.

   Perris had obtained a court order on August 11, 1883, that would
   legally allow the California Southern to install the new track section,
   and his crew was ready to install it as soon as SP's Overland Mail
   passed the point of intersection between the two railroads. However, at
   that moment an SP locomotive arrived at the scene pulling a single
   gondola and stopped. The engineer of the SP locomotive then drove the
   train back and forth slowly at the crossing point in an effort to
   prevent the California Southern crew from installing the crossing. It
   was believed that the gondola held a number of SP men with rifles and
   other weapons who crouched below the walls of the car so as not to be
   seen.

   Jacob Nash Victor, another California Southern construction engineer,
   was the foreman at Colton. In a letter that Victor wrote to Thomas
   Nickerson, then president of the California Southern, he stated:

          "I thought it advisable to have final order of court printed and
          each SP employee served. It was also asserted that headquarters
          at San Francisco had not received the final order. The danger of
          a riot was so imminent, by legal advice I had the order
          telegraphed to the Sheriff at SF to serve on the President or
          Secy. ... In the meantime the Sheriff [in Colton] had organized
          a posse, with arms and was waiting for order of court to clear
          the track, on our application."

   The station and yards at San Bernardino in 1915. A year later, the
   station seen here was destroyed by fire.
   Enlarge
   The station and yards at San Bernardino in 1915. A year later, the
   station seen here was destroyed by fire.

   Soon, the court's construction order was accepted by SP, the track was
   cleared and the crossing was installed. The first train from San Diego
   arrived in Colton on August 21, 1882 (before the crossing was
   installed), and the first train to San Bernardino arrived just over a
   year later on September 13, 1883.

Cajon Pass

   The first structure that the California Southern used as a depot in San
   Bernardino was a converted boxcar. Building north from San Bernardino,
   the California Southern was able to piggyback on the survey work done
   by the Los Angeles and Independence Railway 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  mi (10  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.
   A Santa Fe train working through Cajon Pass in March 1943.
   Enlarge
   A Santa Fe train working through Cajon Pass in March 1943.

   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
   honour of his work through the pass, the city of Victorville was named
   after Victor.

Consolidation

   Santa Fe timetable from 1889 showing passenger train schedules between
   Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, using California Southern tracks
   from Barstow to Los Angeles and San Diego.
   Enlarge
   Santa Fe timetable from 1889 showing passenger train schedules between
   Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, using California Southern tracks
   from Barstow to Los Angeles and San Diego.

   To reach Los Angeles, the Santa Fe leased trackage rights 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 favour 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.
   Santa Fe's California Limited pauses at the summit of Cajon Pass in
   1908.
   Enlarge
   Santa Fe's California Limited pauses at the summit of Cajon Pass in
   1908.

   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.

Company officers

   Presidents of the California Southern Railroad were:
     * Benjamin Kimball 1880
     * Thomas Nickerson 1880-1885
     * George B. Wilbur 1885-1887

Visible remnants

   Much of the original 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.
   An eastbound Union Pacific Railroad train working upgrade on Cajon Pass
   in 1991.
   Enlarge
   An eastbound Union Pacific Railroad train working upgrade on Cajon Pass
   in 1991.

   The two ends of the former railroad are still in use as of 2006. 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.
   A southbound Pacific Surfliner train in 2005 at Carlsbad, south of
   Oceanside.
   Enlarge
   A southbound Pacific Surfliner train in 2005 at Carlsbad, south of
   Oceanside.

   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.
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