Railbiking the Carrizo Gorge

I recently took railbike trip on the former San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railroad into the Carrizo Gorge. The line is currently embargoed east of Jacumba because of bridge conditions, so this gave me the perfect opportunity to ride the line. This trip was in late January, 2009.

A look at how the railbike works; a front wheel is guided along the rail by flanges and a powerful magnet. This keeps the front wheel of the bike on the rails. An outrigger hold wheels against the opposite rail and holds the bike vertical. Then the rear wheel follows the front wheel, tracking independently on the rail.

Here's the front wheel.




At speed, you can see how the front wheel tracks on the rail.
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Heading Into the Gorge
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Starting the trip in Jacumba, the valley is pretty wide and flat. The line turns northward, away from the Mexican border and begins the descent along Carrizo Creek.

The first crossing of Carrizo Creek. You can see that some work has recently been done on this trestle.

The first tunnel, leading into the upper reaches of the gorge.

Entering the gorge.

Immediately, the gorge deepens and the rails wind along the steep edges. Many bridges are engineered to hold the tracks against the canyon walls.

Exiting Tunnel 8.

At Titus siding, three ex-Montreal commuter coaches and a caboose are stored in the siding. Its a long story why they're there, but now they are stuck in the gorge because of the embargo.

Inside Tunnel 10, the longest in the gorge.

The impressive Goat Canyon Trestle carries the tracks across a crumbling slope of the canyon. Originally, the line passed through a tunnel here. But after sliding away several times, the bridge was built as a permanent bypass.

Presumably, this tunnel just east of the trestle was one that had collapsed. In order to reopen this line after many years of abandonment, many of the tunnels needed to be cleared and repaired. This tunnel is where I turned around to head back to Jacumba.

Back at the trestle, the semaphore blade is still attached to the signal that protected train movements over the bridge.

It is obvious that some work has been done to the deck of the Goat Canyon Trestle.

Stone retaining walls hold the tracks against the canyon walls.

A self portrait at speed. The lantern is definitely needed inside the longer tunnels.

Entering Tunnel 10 again.

On the return, I derailed and shredded the side-wall of my front tire at MP 97 - still 5 miles from Jacumba.

So I pushed the bike the rest of the way.

At the west end of the gorge, the SD&AE "no trespassing" sign still stands, although heavily worn.