Photos from a hike along the SD&A tracks - Model Railroader Magazine

Wednesday night I went out to the desert east of San Diego, camped out over night near the tracks of the former San Diego & Arizona Railroad. Got a few night photos:

I got up right around sunrise and hiked along the tracks, which pass through an incredible canyon known as Carrizo Gorge. I was hoping to make it to the famous Goat Canyon Trestle (roughly 700 feet long and 200 feet high), however I didn't get that far. In fact, I didn't even get into the actual gorge -- the tracks first pass along the edge of a much smaller (yet still very large) canyon that is just a tributary of the gorge. As you can see, this whole area was the inspiration for my In-ko-pah Railroad.

Here I am standing in a culvert made from large blocks of local granite:

Here's Tunnel #21, the last tunnel on the line but the first one you'll come to when entering the gorge from the north:

The tracks still have the original rails from when the line was first built. This rail is dated 1913:

I flew my drone a few times and got some interesting shots:

Some aerial views of Tunnel #20:

Looking south from above Tunnel #20:

Looking east from above Tunnel #20. This area contains traces of the old railroad construction camp:

On the ground, looking south towards Tunnel #20:

The other end of the tunnel:

This was as far as I got. Unfortunately I crashed my drone pretty badly when I tried to fly it through the tunnel. When it lost the GPS signal, it started to drift. I tried to back it out but it drifted into the side of the tunnel. Good thing I paid for the first year insurance on it.

I still have to edit the video, so I'll post that later.

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