Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge was built in 1933 as a part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. Its redwood planks stand a very impressive 200 ft tall, and 750 ft long. It is the world’s tallest all-wood trestle bridge. Before its construction, the railway had been dealing with the problem of collapsing tunnels. In fact, the problem was so bad that the railways had been named the “impossible railroad” back in 1919.
The railway ran through Baja California and eastern San Diego County before ending in the Imperial Valley. The bridge is constructed of wood rather than metal to better handle the extreme temperature changes in the Carrizo Gorge which it calls home. They were concerned that the extreme heat and frigid winters would fatigue a metal bridge. The temperature was not the only obstacle that its engineers were up against. There were also high winds in the area. To handle the battering winds of Goat Canyon, they designed the trestle to have a 14° curve. One other interesting fact about this monster trestle bridge is that it was built without the use of nails.
After World War ll, the railway started to struggle because more and more people were choosing cars as their transportation mode of choice. In 1951, passenger service on this rail came to a screeching halt. Some freight trains still took advantage of the colossal trestle. However, in 1979, Hurricane Kathleen came through and devastated the entire area. The bridge and the surrounding tracks were badly damaged. This would keep the track out of commission until it was repaired in 1981. But it was short lived due to yet another tunnel collapse in 1983. The tracks and bridge would remain practically abandoned for 10 years.
In 2003, the decision was made to perform repairs on the rails. In 2004, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum started giving rides to the bridge. This lasted until the “impossible railroad” decided that it wanted to live up to its name once more. The collapse of tunnel #6 (which is part of the trail) put train activity on pause yet again. However, there are talks about rebuilding the railroad once again in 2018. Only time will tell the fate of the Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge.
Check out our blog on directions and tips on how to get to this amazing place.
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