California Southern Railroad - Visible Remnants

Visible Remnants

Much of the right-of-way graded and used by the California Southern is still in use. Several structures built for or by the railroad, or in some cases their remains, can still be seen. 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 served as the foundations for the railroad's station facilities and water tanks there remain long after the buildings atop them were removed. The Santa Fe realigned the track at several places during the 20th century to straighten curves along Cajon Creek (between Cajon and San Bernardino), lower grades for eastbound trains with the 1913 addition of a separate track through what has come to be known as Sullivan's Curve, and to reduce some curvature and lower the pass's 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 has 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.