WrightwoodCalif.com Forum
Public Forums => Wrightwood History => Topic started by: Chris on Jan 27, 03, 11:51:26 PM
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I know that a few decades back, Wrightwood had a train station that is now used as a Newspaper Printing place... Can the tracks still be found through out Wrightwood/Swarthout? If so, where abouts?
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I do believe that the TRAIN STATION, was built to look like a train station.
there never were trains in wrightwood.
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Yeah, what Local said. Never been a train here.
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Though sometimes you can sure hear a train whistle!! Is that whistle from the train "station"?
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no no, i heard different, A long time ago they built a train track..... the first time the train tried to make it up, it lost power and never made it..... the printing depart was once a train station. I remember reading about it in one of Robbin W.'s books....
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I agree with Chris. There are tracks at the newspaper office. Why would anyone bother to lay tracks there if a train had not actually run thru there?
Well, maybe a train never did run thru there, but the tracks are there and you have to wonder why.
What a whimsical thought.
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*grins* Hey Witchy, I know him too. ;P Or maybe we know two different people. But a friend of mine has a train horn on his truck, I think. You can ALWAYS hear it on New Years!
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These horns are too big to mount on a truck. The person I know hooks his up to his air compressor. He has two or three of them that came off the old freight liners. When he blows those things I always anticipate seeing a train roaring through my backyard. He does have one on his truck too but it's not near as loud.
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These horns are too big to mount on a truck.
There are a few of the train horns in Wrightwood and yes, one of them is mounted under the carriage of a pickup truck and just as loud as standing next to a RR track.
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So are the tracks really there?
Local
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It seems very unlikely that there was ever a train to Wrightwood. The grades involved would have been prohibative requiring lots of switchback and tunneling. Not cost effective to provide service to a community of this size with no industry to serve. Maybe someone is thinking of the Mt. Lowe railway. You can still hike the right of way as it is now a trail. There are artifacts from the RR along the way, an overhead power line pole juts out of a rock at one place.
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Mt Lowe is a great hiking trail. Especially up at the ruins of the once majestic resort. Great view on a clear day.
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It is kind of a grind tho as the grade is a perfectly constant 6% you don't get a break or any variation in your pace.
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It seems very unlikely that there was ever a train to Wrightwood. The grades involved would have been prohibative requiring lots of switchback and tunneling. Not cost effective to provide service to a community of this size with no industry to serve.
3 Words.
Big Horn Mine.
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So somebody must know. It would seem that any RR up here would have left big scars with a lot of cuts and tunnels and would be obvious even if abandoned. ???
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But there is no way for any railroad to follow existing roadways, it is too steep. Evidence of an abandoned right of way not being visible on any of the likely approaches to Wrightwood, and in the abscence of any other evidence, I am forced to conclude that there was never any rail service to our town.
I know a fair amount about railroads as a longtime member of the Great Northern Railway Hisorical Society and an all around train nut, and there is nothing like an abandoned right of way around here!
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But there is no way for any railroad to follow existing roadways, it is too steep. Evidence of an abandoned right of way not being visible on any of the likely approaches to Wrightwood, and in the abscence of any other evidence, I am forced to conclude that there was never any rail service to our town.
Thats what I read! The train was on its way up but didnt enough of the HP, so it couldn't make it.
It never even made it up :'(
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Years ago I went on a couple of history tours through the swathrout valley with John Swisher. (an "old timer, historian from the high desert). He told the group that the train-trolley system that was ment to go through the swarthout valley was started but never finished. He pointed out some areas on lower Lone Pine that show some dug out areas where it was ment to be. He also told the group that the Sawmill burger joint in town is built the way it is (the front seems to be cut off a little) due to the right of way/easement for the trolley that never happened. I suggest going to the Wrightwood Museum on Sat and ask them. The people there are great with the history of the area. Take a look at the sawmill- it seems to make sense.
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In the book "Mountaineers" written by Pearl Comfort Fisher she states that there were plans for a trackless trolley up Lone Pine Canyon, the poles were installed, overhead wires run and trolley but never finished the project.
It was to bring Lime down the mountain.
No mention in the book about coming all the way into town, that I've read.
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In the book "Mountaineers" written by Pearl Comfort Fisher she states that there were plans for a trackless trolley up Lone Pine Canyon, the poles were installed, overhead wires run and trolley but never finished the project.
It was to bring Lime down the mountain.
No mention in the book about coming all the way into town, that I've read.
Thanks for the info Wrightwood. I guess that about answers my question :-D
Thanks again.
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Back when Tom Pinard founded the Mountaineer, he was a model train nut. Hence, the newspaper office became a pseudo-tain-station. Go into the newspaper office and see what is on the wall there.
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I thought we "about answered the question" MANY posts ago. There was never rail service to Wrightwood, or the Big Horn Mine. No one ever did answer where these rumored rail remnants are near the top of LPC.
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I lived at Clyde Ranch for a couple of years (92-94) I was told by Bob Clyde (owner of Clyde Ranch) that there were tracks laid up toward Wrightwood in LPC. When the train attempted to get up the hill, it was found to be too steep and all further attempts to get trains to Wrightwood were stopped.
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Chris:
The news paper office was built in the early 1970's by the original owner of the Mountaineer. It was built by a local contractor. Why he built it to look like a train station and put the tracks out front it do not know. As far as I know there never was a train that came to Wrightwood. None of the Old Timers that I have talked to ever said anthing about it. I have been here in Wrightwood since 1962.
ELN66
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So maybe we should change the title of this topic to:
HOW MANY WAYS ARE THERE TO SAY A TRAIN NEVER SERVED WRIGHTWOOD?
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And by the way...
People who build railroads don't lay track just in the hope that a train can climb the grade. It is all engineered ahead of time and they know precisely what grade a locomotive can climb. So the idea that someone would have laid track only to discover later that a train couldn't climb the grade is absolutely ridiculous.
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'nuff said :-)
Urban Legend
'nuff said :- ::) ::)
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There was "nuff said" about three pages ago. Apparently people who are unable to abandon gross misconceptions about national security, are also unable to abandon gross misconceptions regarding railroads.
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I'm just telling you what a man who was raised at Clyde Ranch, and who is near 80 or so told me.
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I recall reading all about this in the Mountaineer Progress a few years back.
As I recall, the train was to go from Cajon Junction to Wrightwood. The tracks were laid, but the surveyor shamed as the short train could not handle the steep grades and had to back down in defeat. The whole operation went defunct soon after. The article mentioned that much of the iron was picked off the road bed during WWII.
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As Vizzini said in The Princess Bride "Inconceivable!"
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I recall reading all about this in the Mountaineer Progress a few years back.
As I recall, the train was to go from Cajon Junction to Wrightwood. The tracks were laid, but the surveyor shamed as the short train could not handle the steep grades and had to back down in defeat. The whole operation went defunct soon after. The article mentioned that much of the iron was picked off the road bed during WWII.
Do you recall reading the posts that preceded this one? Jeezo....
There never was a train....train tracks or anything that resemble the above in this area except where Tom Pinard made his own personal train station; complete with salvaged railroad tracks. You can still see the wagon wheel tracks on the old stage route near the county line....wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that the scars of building something as large as a railroad line would still be present. I'll buy dinner at Blue Ridge if someone can provide sustantiated evidence of a railroad line that ran from Cajon to Wrightwood.
I don't recall the date, but maybe the Mountain Progress was dated April 1st of that year.. ;-)
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check out the trackless trolly add for sale on ebay under Big Pines interesting
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Interesting. Looks like that was the add to attract invetsors.
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To save everyone the effort here's the news clipping for sale:
(http://www.wrightwoodcalif.com/history/BigPines.JPG)
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T'is hell to get old.... I had to add a title so I put in the subject line: "The Real Story of the Swarthout & Cajon Valley Railroad."
If you want the rest of the story, go to that subject....
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To the south of 138 up along the foothills near the county line. Passes through private property now and is crossed in many places by roads and atv tracks.
Rich Warmouth, works for County Parks and Rec in Pinon Hills, knows of many such sites.