Category Archives: Railroads

District 9, Highways, History, Inyo County, Old Alignment, Railroads, Southern Pacific, SR-136, SR-190

Old State 136 near Keeler, CA

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Map of Dolomite Loop Road and current State 136. Stars at center mark the former railroad crossing locations. Photos below show the southern crossing.

The Owens Valley in Inyo County, California is home to many fascinating highway relics. One road in particular toward the southern end of the Owens Valley southeast of Lone Pine, State Highway 136, had a very unique and rare feature – old railroad grade crossing markings. Until 1964, it was known as State Highway 190 and was realigned quite a bit between the Owens River and Keeler in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s as travel to Death Valley became more popular. Most of the old alignments are still traversable today, complete with original paving. The longest intact section is known as Dolomite Loop Road and runs between the Owens River bridge to just north of Swansea.

Former SPRR (Carson and Colorado Railway) grade crossing near Dolomite mine. Remains of rails and ties can be seen here at the darker asphalt patch.

These crossings were still in use until the whole line was abandoned in April 1960. The markings themselves likely date to the 1940’s. They are made of a large X and an arrow pointing to the crossing itself.

Looking southerly toward the northern Dolomite mine grade crossing.
Northerly view at the Dolomite mine crossing. The former railroad grade can be seen low berm to the left of the roadway.
History, North Park, Railroads, Roads, San Diego, San Diego County, San Diego Electric Railway, Streetcar

Streetcar Tracks Exposed – Part 2

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Ongoing roadwork in the North Park neighborhood in San Diego has exposed yet more streetcar tracks. This work is a part of a bikeway project which will add raised median islands and pedestrian signals to enhance safety along the route.

The tracks for the #2 San Diego Electric Railway line are temporarily exposed on 30th St at Landis St. Both sets of rails are at least partially exposed, with the southbound rails fully exposed and northbound with one side exposed. I doubt they will remain for very long.

Tracks exposed at Landis St on 30th St
Southbound tracks and one northbound rail exposed

Information on the roadwork from the City of San Diego and SANDAG:

Landis Street and 30th Street: Crews will implement traffic control and begin demolition activities to construct median islands, curb extensions, curb ramps, and pedestrian improvements (including installing Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacons or “RRFBs”) at the intersection.

History, Mass Transit, North Park, Railroads, Roads, San Diego, San Diego County, San Diego Electric Railway, Streetcar

San Diego Electric Railway Exposed in North Park

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The City of San Diego has a project underway known as the University Avenue Mobility Project. This will add a median to University Ave from Florida St to Boundary St and a transit lane in both directions. This work, which has begun in earnest in the past few weeks, has exposed more of the San Diego Electric Railway #7 car line. The last time these tracks saw revenue service was on April 23, 1949 and have been buried under asphalt since.

Construction projects such as these allow a brief glimpse into San Diego’s past, in this case exposing hundreds of feet of intact railway tracks. At the time of this writing, the exposed tracks run from Idaho St to near Grim Ave along University Ave. Between Idaho St and Utah St, you can see get a unique view looking between two sets of tracks, where the remainder exposed is just one direction.

Who knows? Maybe the future of University Ave will see these tracks torn up and replaced with newer rails? Los Angeles did that along 1st for the Metro L Line back in the early 2000’s. It could happen here.

Looking west from Utah St on University Ave. Here, the middle of a section of double-track can be seen during roadway construction. Additional rails are still buried beneath the pavement.
Looking east from Kansas St on University Ave. These were the former westbound tracks.
Further east on University Ave at Ohio St looking at the former westbound tracks.
History, Image, Los Angeles County, Railroads, Santa Clarita

Featured Image – 10/29/2020 – Magic Mountain Train Station

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Former “Spillikin Corners” train station

Back in the 1970’s, long before it was known as “Six Flags Magic Mountain”, it was simply known as “Magic Mountain” and had an area known as “Spillikin Corners”. At the time, it had a train which ran in a loop, not unlike so many other parks of the era. The train was gone by the 1980’s, and the area is now known for rollercoasters such as “West Coast Racers” and “Apocalypse”. This train platform was adjacent to the path that led between “Apocalypse” and “Roaring Rapids”. Sadly, these last remnants of old Magic Mountain were removed in 2018. The photo shows the last remnants of a platform which last saw use more than 35 years ago, likely longer. Do you have memories or photos of the trains there?

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History, Railroads, San Diego, San Diego County, San Diego Electric Railway, University Heights

San Diego Electric Railway #11 line at El Cajon Blvd

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Recent utility work on Park Blvd has indirectly revealed that the tracks for the former SDERy #11 line (Downtown to Kensington via Park and Adams) are still buried beneath Park Blvd, at least at El Cajon Blvd. Looking at video from 1970 of Park Blvd wasn’t really helpful in spotting the tracks as they seem to have been paved over quite well even back then.

1970 video showing Park Blvd from the San Diego City Clerk

However, despite not being physically uncovered, their presence is still made known. Crews, marking various services underneath the roadway, also marked “Railroad Tracks” on Park Blvd. Two sets in fact, which is pretty cool. Maybe they’ll be unearthed in the near future.

Railroad Tracks marked at the crosswalk at Park / El Cajon / Normal
Looking southerly on Park showing both sets of markings