California’s Abandoned Chicago Metra Train

Comments · 463

• TR

  @treborrelluf · 3 years ago

  Carrizo George was frequently mentioned. What a character he must have been!

  152

• TU

  @Tuno_Trackside · 3 years ago

  Thank you for making this video! I volunteer at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum and our goal is to preserve this railway. I'm glad to see a really good and in depth video on our "impossible" railroad!

  119

• JD

  @JDBsw67 · 3 years ago

  This line would make for a killer set for Western movies or even a western experience of riding a steam locomotive on portions of it, having an authentic Western town built on the line near Dos Cabezas, riding horses everywhere else, and having a drink the saloon. I would pay to get brought in on a Steam train and spend a weekend hanging out in a town like that.

  47

• SE

  @Seldoon_Nemar · 3 years ago

  I love how this channel feels like an OG History Channel or Discovery show. back in the late &apos;90s/ early 2k&apos;s . Even the intro gives it that vibe.<br>Keep up the amazing work

  67

• MO

  @mojavedesert519 · 3 years ago

  I remember those cars well. &nbsp;They were putting together a tourist and dinner train and running the train as a test. &nbsp;There was also a dining and kitchen car &nbsp;(Amtrak?) attached to that consist. &nbsp;They left the cars sitting on the track and vandals somehow released the brakes. &nbsp;The cars rolled downhill and derailed on a curve. &nbsp;The kitchen car overturned. &nbsp;We hiked there a couple of days after the derailment, and I marveled on how fast they repaired the tracks. &nbsp;I thought it was strange that they even re-used the old spikes in making the repair. &nbsp;Shortly after that the dining and kitchen car were removed and the other cars left on the siding where they remain today.

  11

• 0T

  @0therun1t21 · 3 years ago

  I miss the Spreckles Factory, the name fits sugar perfectly and the sign on the factory was a landmark. The package design and logo were cool.

  6

• TO

  @tonystidham4564 · 3 years ago

  In 2015, I was traveling through Cadillac, MI, and something caught my eye just off the U.S 131 Business Route, so I pulled onto a side street to check. On a railroad siding on the north end of town, was a series of Chicago Metra train cars. Don&apos;t know why they were there

  9

• AT

  @atlbrysco6198 · 3 years ago

  Wow - I do remember the design of these Chicago cars... way back in 1989/90 I was in the Navy and stationed at Great Lakes, IL. I and my shipmates would ride in these double level cars down to Chicago to out and experience the real world and then come back to the station by the base. So many of those mates are gone now... thanks for the story of what we were riding and where they ended up!

  79

• MI

  @mikeb.7589 · 3 years ago (edited)

  I also volunteered at PSRM back in the late &apos;80&apos;s to mid &apos;90&apos;s! As a docent you had to study the history and lead the tours. It was fun. Hiked this section of track a couple times from Jacumba to Dos Cabesas. Some Chinese labor was used in the construction of the line. I remember there was a good Chinese restaurant in Tecate when we took a tour train there. Some Chinese settled in the area after the line was completed. There was also a Chinese architecture style house on hill in Jacumba. Italian and German prisoners of war were housed at Camp Lockett which is adjacent to where the PSRM Campo museum is located. Some Italians stuck around too after the war was over. There was an Italian restaurant in Tecate called Passetto&apos;s I remember. Descendants of the POWs ran it. Love history. Thank you Ryan.

  6

• CO

  @ConradSlater-d2i · 3 years ago

  Gorge, not George.. Amazing story. &nbsp;The Chicago effect is huge. Thanks for sharing. .

  6

• R.

  @r.a.d.u.s.armyret.2904 · 11 months ago (edited)

  When i used to take the train downtown, these were from the Rock Island line. We could also take the Illinois Central. Both lines are now call Metra.

  2

• JU

  @JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts · 3 years ago (edited)

  Amazing story. &nbsp;The Chicago effect is huge. Thanks for sharing. ❤

  8