page_title: San Diego and Arizona Railway
section_title: Timeline
hierarchical_section_title: San Diego and Arizona Railway / Timeline
caption_attribution_description: English: The first San Diego and Arizona Railway through passenger train arrives at San Diego's Union Station passenger terminal on December 1, 1919 to officially open the line.
context_page_description: The San Diego and Arizona Railway was a 148-mile short line U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. It linked San Diego, its western terminus, with El Centro, its eastern terminus, where passengers could connect with Southern Pacific's transcontinental lines, eliminating the need to first travel north via Los Angeles or Riverside.
  The company charter was executed on December 14, 1906, and the groundbreaking ceremony was held the following September. Numerous delays delayed the completion of the line to November 15, 1919. Damage to the lines from both natural disasters and sabotage exerted great financial pressure on the company, and in 1932 Spreckels' heirs sold their interests in the railroad to the Southern Pacific, which was named the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway.
context_section_description: 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. The film Beggars of Life is filmed along the line.
  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.
  December 1985, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum revives the historic San Diego & Arizona Railway name (reporting mark SDAX), inaugurating its Golden State demonstration passenger trains over the railway out of Campo, CA east to Miller Creek and west to Division and tunnel four at the international border. These trips continue to this day.
caption: The first SD&A through passenger train "arrives" in San Diego on December 1, 1919 to officially open the line.
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