The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company (reporting mark SDAE) is a short-line American railroad founded in 1906 as the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) by sugar magnate, developer, and entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by many engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved, the line was established in part to provide San Diego with a direct rail link to the east by connecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad lines in El Centro, California.
The SD&A's 146.4-mile (235.61 km) route originates in San Diego, California, and terminates in El Centro, California.
The SD&AE uses about 108 miles (174 km) of the original SD&A system, broken into four segments:
The Main Line which runs 15.5 miles (24.94 km) from Downtown San Diego south to San Ysidro, and is also used by the Blue Line of the San Diego Trolley.The La Mesa Branch which runs 16.1 miles (25.91 km) east to the city of El Cajon, and is also used by the Orange Line of the San Diego Trolley.The currently unused Coronado Branch which splits from the Main Line in National City and runs 7.2 miles (11.59 km) south to Imperial Beach.The currently unused Desert Line which runs 69.9 miles (112.49 km) from the Mexico–United States border near Tecate, California to Plaster City, California.The company took over the SD&A's operations in February 1933 after financial troubles led John Spreckels' descendants to sell their interests in the railroad to the Southern Pacific. Through the years natural disasters and vandalism rendered sections of the line unserviceable, and portions of the line have been sold to various interests.
In August 20, 1979 the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) bought the SD&AE from Southern Pacific to establish the San Diego Trolley, an intra-county light rail passenger line. The remaining track into Imperial County is available for freight service, was part of the sale condition to MTS by Southern Pacific.
As of April 2021, the San Diego and Imperial Valley Railroad has exclusive trackage rights move railcars from the end of the BNSF Railway in Downtown San Diego to either industrial customers in the San Diego area or to the Mexico–United States border in San Ysidro over the SD&AE Main Line and La Mesa Branch. The Baja California Railroad holds the rights to operate over the SD&AE Desert Line in the Imperial Valley.
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