Abandoned!!! The ABANDONED Trains of Jacumba, CA... AMAZING!!!

Checked out the Abandoned Trains of Jacumba, CA.... All I can say is AMAZING!!! These train cars were left in amazing condition!! 2 level passenger cars, was the way to go back then!!!


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[slowtony]

As others have said, everything belongs to someone. This 100-year-old rail line was the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railroad. It was built by John Spreckles (brother of the San Francisco sugar baron) to provide a direct route from San Diego to the Union Pacific Railroad at Plaster City. It dips into Mexico at Tijuana, runs east to Tecate, and then reenters the United States at Campo. The line now belongs to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. I can remember when the line was operating, under a lease from SDMTS to Carrizo Gorge Railway. It carried rock from Mexico to the Imperial Valley. The resident engineer was a big boisterous guy who always seemed to be in a bright orange jumpsuit. The line never made much money. It stopped operating in 2008, "for track repairs".

In 2012, two of the Corrizo Gorge Railway investors took over the SDMTS lease, under the name Pacific Imperial Railroad. They had plans for a tourist service from Campo to Plaster City, with stops at the 1919 Jacumba railroad depot and at the De Anza Springs Resort. (De Anza Springs, a naturist resort, is at the top of the bluff. That's where the dirt path from the old rail cars leads.) I think that Pacific Imperial Railroad might have acquired the old commuter passenger cars. The last time there was passenger service on the Desert Line was 1951, and the cars in the video were made after 1960. At any rate, the new company couldn't get the wooden trestle approved for passenger service, missed lease payments, and incurred lawsuits. In 2017 it filed for bankruptcy with $7 million in debts.

The Mexican portion of the old railroad is now owned by a Baja California government entity. In 2012 the Mexican government granted Baja California Railroad a concession to operate the 44 mile section between Tijuana and Tecate, where it is now carrying freight. A group of businessmen who own factories (maquiladoras) in Tijuana are interested in funding restoration of the US Desert Line to carry their goods by rail to the US. They may have the funds to finally perform the track, trestle and tunnel repairs. However, a customs station will need to be created in Campos, which will require US agreement and cooperation. As of January 2020, I don't know the status of this proposal.

The vandalism of our back country by urban youth is appalling. I do get it that the destructive young people are crushed by the economy and society, feel powerless, and often are. I don't buy the 'art' pablum. They do graffiti on public and private property as combination way of getting back at the society they hate and screaming LOOK AT ME! because they know this is the only way, short of murder, that they will ever be noticed. As much as we hate this destruction, we should also ask each other what we have done, as a society, to give these kids so little hope and so much despair.

[TheAnunnaki-NYC]

This line was part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway and was abandoned in the early 2000's cause of a tunnel and trestle collapse. From what I heard the Baja California RR was doing inspections of the line of possibly bringing it back to life again in early 2018.

[HunterR]

Likely they are Pullman commuter coaches, Metra in Chicago and these could also be Southern Pacific commuter coaches too, given the local.

[theconceptualist]

These cars once belonged to Metra in Chicago. They still use these cars, called “Gallery” cars, to this day. Made by Pullman in the 1960s, they made them for Metra, Caltrain, and Virginia Railway Express primarily, and a lot of other commuter lines used them for a number of years and even Amtrak for a while. They’ve mostly fallen off with Metra the only line that still uses them as of December 2024. Caltrain used them up until a couple of months ago of me writing this. (Caltrain still does use them, but sparingly on a non-electrified portion of the route)

[mayolson]

This was so nice! I live in the Desert not too far from San Diego. I had never heard of this town let alone the train. What a great adventure.

[MarchHare]

I used to commute on the Metra Northwest and West line back in the 80s. Those cars with the red reversible seats look very familiar. You could turn the back of the seat to face in whichever direction the train was going or you could arrange it to face another seat. I liked the single upper deck seats. I think the middle car of the train where you see a small side window at the end of the upper deck (The one with "RIOTS" painted on it) has a control cab that allowed the engineer to drive the train when the engine was at the rear since there was no way to turn the train around. Trains inbound had the engine at the back, and at the front going outbound. It's possible I commuted in those now derelict cars going into and out of Chicago. Small world.

[davinp]

The Chicago Metra train still uses sold old Pullman Gallery cars. Of course, they've bought new ones and so have other commuter rail systems in the US. The new gallery cars are made by nippon-sharryo. These old cars were in good condition until they were vandalized

[tamarawalker]

Wow!! Never seen a upstairs train. So very cool. Kind of a creepy vibe going on too. Great video. Thanks so much for sharing with us.

[FeronRacc]

It appears the cars have been moved somewhat recently when looking at it from google earth, some of them have uncoupled from each other and the main line has been cleared. what also looks interesting is that at some point between 2015 and 2016 the brakes failed and it rolled back and derailed itself where it sat until sometime in 2018. (32°39'27.91"N, 161°11'22.36"W)

[edsfatboy]

Wonderhussy was just here with her sister.She walked all the way to the Goat canyon tressle on another guys paraglide their rigs to here and fly over the train and the looks

[MetroCSN]

Former Chicago & Northwestern cars, second order. They became RTA/Metra cars when those agencies were formed in about the mid-1970s.

[fireutility]

These types of cars are still used. They look like old RTA cars from Chicago in 1970-1990s

[bettyluckey]

Crazy Cool Vid !
The drone shots, too.
Hey, "Happy New Year!" to You, also. ; D

[culcune]

West of there, there is a portion of the railroad that still runs in the mountains from a rail museum several miles continuing across the Mexican border into Tecate, Baja Norte, Mexico. It is called Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. I recall watching a video of how a group of cross-border investors were shoring up the rail line to run from Mexico to Plaster City. Not sure where this portion of the railroad fits in, but I do recall they had dozens of miles of the railroad going to Plaster City, seemingly from Tecate.

[MrSteve]

Why does America have such vast amounts of waste? Blatant disregard for resources and land. I'm completely astounded that a fantastic country like this can be so wasteful. Really it is a shame to see so many places abandoned, in decline and forests growing around dumped cars. Towns empty or with a few solitary people living in them. Why not clean it all up? Recycle all the materials and spread out the overpopulated areas into homes with a bit of land around them even creating large areas to make national parks which encourage nature to take over for plants and animals but not growing over scrap yards. Just because there is so much land shouldn't make it an excuse to be so wasteful and not clean up after.

[thomashulse]

These cars belong to the Campo RR Museum (SD&ARR) . The plan was to use as excursion cars and a diner on site.Due to financial hardship they were sided on unused spur. The carizzo tressle and some tunnels are deemed unsafe for passanger trains . this putting the project in limbo.

[Dan-sqxk]

They look like Nippon Sharyo Gallery Cars, still in use today by Caltrain in San Francisco!

From the looks of it, I think there's a cab car / control car, the 3rd car down with the stripes on it.

[glendenig]

Old Metra/ RTA style commuter cars... used by many railroads in the 50s, 60s, &70s into the 80s & 90s. Rock Island, C&NW, SP, etc used them.

[josephmaganja]

The train trip Great getaway motel, restaurant

[serwadeloyi]

how did you get there? I plan on doing this hike