San Diego and Arizona Railway - Timeline

Timeline

• 1873: The Texas and Pacific Railroad fails in an attempt to establish a direct rail link between San Diego and the East during the "Panic of 1873."
• 1905: The San Diego and Eastern Railroad (SD&E) conducts a survey for a planned rail line to Arizona but folds prior to commencing track laying.
• December 14, 1906: John D. Spreckels announces he will form the San Diego and Arizona Railway Company (SD&A) and build a 148-mile (238 km) line between San Diego and El Centro. Spreckels has an agreement with the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) to silently fund the project (ironically, Spreckels later became an outspoken critic of the Southern Pacific Railroad and their monopolistic practices, and often used his newspaper interests as a platform to denounce the company and its officers).
• September 7, 1907: Groundbreaking ceremonies for the SD&A are held in downtown San Diego at the foot of 26th Street (now known as Dewey Street) and Main Street. The line will follow in part the route surveyed by the defunct SD&E.

• 1909: The Mexican Government orders the SD&A to form the Tijuana and Tecate Railway Company, which will construct and hold a 99-year lease on the 44-mile (71 km) Mexican rail segment.
• July 29, 1910: The first passenger train on the SD&A enters Mexico.
• 1911: Mexican revolutionaries mount several attacks on the SD&A construction crews to conscript soldiers and supplies, and cut telephone wires.
• 1916: The "Great Flood" washes out several rail lines. World War I increases the cost of railway construction materials by 50 to 150 percent.
• 1917: The U.S. federal government seizes control of all railroads and stops construction of the SD&A as part of its war effort to conserve resources, but later grants Spreckels special exemption on the grounds the SD&A will serve a military installation. The SD&A absorbs the struggling San Diego and Southeastern Railway (SDSR), assuming operation of the company's steam divisions and gas-electric motor cars. The San Diego Electric Railway (SDERy) continues to operate the interurban line to Chula Vista under lease. The remaining SDSR tracks not damaged in the previous year's flooding function as a "bridge" line between the SD&A and SDERy, which allows for the interchange of freight traffic.
• November 15, 1919: The "golden spike" is driven and construction of the SD&A is completed at a cost of $18 million (three times the original estimate).

• December 1, 1919: The first passenger train "arrives" in San Diego from El Centro for the official line opening ceremony.
• December 10, 1919: Through Pullman service to Chicago is initiated; the cars are switched to the Southern Pacific's Golden State passenger train in Yuma.
• 1922: A new emblem, depicting a scene in the Carrizo Gorge and lettered "San Diego Short Line," is adopted.
• 1926, 1927, and 1929: Heavy rains take out large sections of trackage east of San Diego.
• 1928: Motor service to La Mesa and Lakeside is discontinued.
• January 1932: Fire breaks out in Tunnel 3 in Baja California, which leads to a collapse. Repairs take 45 days.
• March 27, 1932: A huge mountain slide, loosened by heavy rains, blocks the line in the vicinity of Tunnel 15. Repairs are completed and freight and passenger services are re-established on July 6 and 7th.
• October 22, 1932: Tunnel 7 burns and is subsequently abandoned.
• October 24, 1932: Financial problems force Spreckels' heirs to transfer their share of SD&A ownership to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company for $2.8 million.
• January 23, 1933: A bypass track along the cliff at Tunnel 7 is completed and the line is reopened to traffic.
• February 1, 1933: The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway assumes all operations of the SD&A.