Goat Canyon Trestle

Goat Canyon Trestle
Trestle as seen from the southeast in 2016
Coordinates32°43′45″N 116°11′00″W / 32.72917°N 116.18333°W / 32.72917; -116.18333
CrossesGoat Canyon[1]
LocaleAnza-Borrego Desert State Park[1][2]
Other name(s)Goat Canyon Railroad Trestle[3]
OwnerSan Diego Metropolitan Transit System[2][4]
Heritage statusSan Diego Historic Civil Engineering Landmark[5]
Characteristics
MaterialRedwood[1]
Total length597[6]–750[1][7] ft (182–229 m)
Height186[2][6]–200[1][8][9] ft (57–61 m)
History
Construction start1932[8]
Construction end1933[6]
ReplacesTunnel number 15[6]
Location
Map

Goat Canyon Trestle is a wooden trestle in San Diego County, California.[1] At a length of 597–750 feet (182–229 m), it is the world's largest all-wood trestle.[1][8][10][11] Goat Canyon Trestle was built in 1933 as part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, after one of the many tunnels through the Carrizo Gorge collapsed.[6][7] The railway had been called the "impossible railroad" upon its 1919 completion.[12] It ran through Baja California and eastern San Diego County before ending in Imperial Valley.[12] The trestle was made of wood, rather than metal, due to temperature fluctuations in the Carrizo Gorge.[6] By 2008, most rail traffic stopped using the trestle.[13]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cowan, Ernie (May 2, 2004). "World's largest wooden trestle is in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park". North County Times. San Diego County. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved February 15, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ a b c Japenga, Ann (March 30, 2004). "Rail renegades". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  3. ^ Robbins, Christine (Winter 2016). Engstrand, Iris W.; McClain, Molly; Strathman, Theodore; Miller, David (eds.). "The Bridges of San Diego County: The Art of Civil Engineering" (PDF). The Journal of San Diego History. 62 (1): 5–36. ISSN 0022-4383. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  4. ^ Stewart, Joshua (June 9, 2016). "Border rail line to connect U.S., Mexico". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  5. ^ Amezcua, Carlos (November 15, 2018). "SD&A Centennial celebration airs on San Diego's KUSI". KUSI News. San Diego. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
    Jennewein, Chris (May 9, 2014). "Reopening Cross-Border Rail Line Gets South County Support". Times of San Diego. Retrieved September 7, 2019. It includes the 186-foot-tall, 630-mile-long Goat Canyon Trestle, a historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
    McCarthy, Eric (August 2016). "Flying into Writing". In Flight USA. San Mateo, California. Retrieved September 7, 2019. About three quarters of the way through the gorge is the Goat Canyon Trestle, a massive trestle bridge that, at 186 feet tall and 630 feet long, was in its day, the tallest wooden structure in daily use. It became a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1986.
  6. ^ a b c d e f The Canyoneers (July 19, 2017). "Get close but not too close to Carrizo Gorge trestle". San Diego Reader. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Rangel, Alexis (August 12, 2013). "San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway, the 'Impossible Railroad,'". Imperial Valley Press. El Centro, California: El Centro Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Bell, Diane (April 19, 2017). "Science Channel spotlights marvel in San Diego's back yard". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference MAY2010SDR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference SDAG0506 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Sarah Baxter (June 22, 2017). History of the World in 500 Railway Journeys. Aurum Press. p. 378. ISBN 978-1-78131-678-8. OCLC 1010740115.
    Joe Yogerst (2019). 100 Parks, 5,000 Ideas: Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to Do. National Geographic Books. pp. 241–. ISBN 978-1-4262-2010-4. OCLC 1035427182.
  12. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Innis2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Jerry Schad; Scott Turner (February 20, 2017). Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: 282 Spectacular Outings Along the Coast, Foothills, Mountains, and Desert. Wilderness Press. p. 1020. ISBN 978-0-89997-802-4.