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!

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

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.

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

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!

Gorge, not George.

*Just* took a METRA train for the first time ever about 30 minutes ago, great to see a video here on them. Such an interesting experience to ride on the second floor.

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't know why they were there

Thank you, Ryan, for all the history. I knew about the cars, I knew about line and trestle, but I didn't know all of that... As someone who really likes trains and train history, I really appreciate it. You know, I think we got some of those old metro cars around here. I believe those are the same class of chicago metro cars that I got to ride in a time two. I believe they're the same type as the one's Iowa Interstate bought for their IAIS 6988 & IAIS 7081 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" Chinese steam locomotive... I went for a ride in them a couple of times back in 2011 once round trip at Rock Island Train Fest, Rock Island, IL to Walcott, IA I believe and once at Planes Trains and Automobiles, fest. Geneseo, round trip from Geneseo, IL to Annawan, IL. I'm not sure if they're still making any runs with those old locomotives or not. 🤔 I think they are, I'm gonna have to look it up. I would sure love to go on another ride sometime. I wish they'd still have that trained festival in Rock Island, that was a one time in history awesome amazing event.

Hearing you pronounce gorge (hard G) like George (soft G) is grating to listen too. Other than that it is a really interesting and informing video.

Those bi-level cars were formerly owned by the C. & N. W. then became property of METRA. All of the other Budd bi-level cars, I believe, such as on the C. B. & Q, were stainless steel sided cars.

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

I don't know if you knew this Ryan but those Metra trains were based in Joliet and were on the former Rock Island line. The service went threw off of the southwest suburbs. I took it from Joliet to Downtown in my first solo trip into the City when I was 13 and many times more afterwards. I loved those double decker cars and durning the week they were always packed with commuters going to and fro . It used to cost 1.00 for a ride and you better have had your ticket for the Conductor to punch or they'd make you buy another. Those were fun days. Always wondered what happened to them because there were a lot of them.

Ya know? I don’t remember subbing to your channel. I know of you guys due to Indie N. and his Great War series. Honestly you’ve become on of my favorite channels. So many different topics that one would never know of. Love it!

Love the video, but it's not "George" as in the man's name. It's "Gore"ge.

Love all the different stories tied to Chicago you find. Keep it up 👍 We also have on old Metra train (Nashville Star) here in Tennessee but it still runs.

Excellent video! We released a Goat Canyon Trestle video last week. Great minds think alike! Such a fascinating site. Anyways, always love your excellent research.

In the railroad. We don’t call it abandoned, they are “unused”. Because someone still owns them.

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.

I remember those trains paint schemes. I don't think they use the bright orange seats anymore but I remember being a little kid when they did. They had the seats that can flip so you can face either way. I would sit up top and the conductor could walk around the bottom and reach up for the tickets. I remember being given a big stack of used ticket stubs once. (I've in Peora for the past 10 years now but this was back in the early 90's.)

Very interesting and well done, thank you. It's a shame that they are abandoned, train history should be preserved. I know I wouldn't mind having one or two car.

I didn't know this recent history of this trestle. So sad. It was a very cool part of RR history.

Adam the WOO was here last week

I rode my bicycle out to the trestle on the hottest day of the year, over 120 degrees. Stopped and walked through the train on the way out. There is a nudist camp close to the start of the ride.

Jacoba springs? It's Jacumba Hot Springs, known to locals as Jacumba(Ha Come bah).

12:10 Interesting at around this time, I was working for Nippon Sharyo USA. We were in the test-build phase of manufacturing the new Cal-Trans cars. However, these cars failed the FRA crush test, despite the cars being of a new design, and being tested several times. As a result, Nippon Sharyo USA lost its Cal-Trans contract. Rumor had it that a train building company in New York took over the project. It should also be noted that when Nippon Sharyo USA opened, there was mass protests at the Nippon Sharyo plant in Japan. During the first at round of Metra passenger cars built at Nippon Sharyo USA, the price per unit was inflated, so when the first project was completed, the property was paid off. As a result of a lost Cal-Trans contract, Nippon Sharyo USA shut down, and no longer exists.

I also volunteered at PSRM back in the late '80's to mid '90'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's I remember. Descendants of the POWs ran it. Love history. Thank you Ryan.

Your trademark mispronunciation: it is Carrizo GORGE, not George.

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

Those cars were sent out there because they are full of asbestos. A Coaster engineer and a Metra engineer were talking and the Coaster engineer said, "Hey, maybe you know about this, there are a bunch of Metra cars in the desert..." The Metra enginner said, "So that's were they went. Metra had a bunch of cars with asbestos and one day they just vsnished."

These appear to be early Metra repaints of CNW equipment. Metra has sent these type coaches to the annual "Galesburg Railroad Days" held in June. I rode them there in the 1990s, and in Chicago as well (Northwest Line 1978-1989). Would never have believed they could end up sitting in a southern California desert. Museum yes, desert no. Thanks for the video!

10:05 this is a British freight train homie. I will say, there has been a big improvement of using the correct photos/videos for the subject. Almost there.

Although I will probably never have a chance to hike this railroad, at least I can drive a train along the line in Trainz Simulator. Definitely do a video on Southern Pacific’s Tillamook line in Oregon and it’s eventual demise.

It is sad to see such a railway in which a huge investment has been made, how it sits abandoned instead of being lost in the tourist circuit. A pity of such splendor

I've traveled all over our country and never understood why the people of California "TAG" everything up ?? Even in their parks n nice places.. smh.

Fascinating! You mentioned Wisconsin And Southern Railroad, I watch videos from Roman's Milwaukee Roads , he has excellent footage of that railroad. Greetings from Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

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

I was there just over a year ago. Didn’t see the Goat Canyon trestle bridge but did see the abandoned rail cars. They are really neat to see and easy to get to.

this is the tracks next to the nudist camp right?

Theres even used to be 3 old amt 800 series cars from montreal. Unfortunatly 2 were set ablaze recently.

Lived in chicagoland area (1996-98) and took the Metra daily from North Suburbs (Des Plaines/Park Ridge/Evanston) to Union Station (Downtown). These look like some of them. Cool story.

I commuted into Chicago for a good few years in trains that look exactly like the one in thumbnail. Very strange to see where they ended up. I probably didn't ride in those exact cars, but I could have.

As a Chicagoan, those trains look very familiar. It used to be the illinois central line When I was a kid. We called it the I.C.

The television presentation format works on television because you can’t fast forward. Swing and a miss.

Very interesting and informative information! T. Y. Too you and all behind the scenes! T00 make this video possible! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Current Metra cars on the Heritage Corridor line look almost identical. Some of the most uncomfortable seats on all the Metra lines around here.

Think what’s more crazy is these same damn cars are still in operation… And they feel their age lol

That bridge prob needs to be a brick built concrete filled viaduct or a steel lattice deck atop concrete pillars, last 100 years come rain or shine with little maintaining needs.

Awsome 😊

Hi hope all is well with you and your family too. Great video very interesting. Question Did they finally remove that abandoned train? Just curious

I have been waiting for this for a long time.

I can just imagine a scenic railroad or a railroad preserve society grabs those cars and fully restores them

Great video and great history... Thanks !

I enjoy your blurbs but this one did not seem to answer the Q - how those cars got out there. Why/when did Metra sell them? How did they get out there? What was the plan? Did someone actually anticipate enough passengers on this route? Why not mothball them, like passenger jets parked out in Arizona desert?

I love Carrizo George. He lives near the Carrrizo Gorge, right? Just south of the San Juan Gorge (or is that San Juan George? So hard to read and write English, especially for professional narrators).

Weird. I’ve lived in LA for 20 years. I moved here from Chicago. About 30 years ago-until ‘96- I worked on Canal Street. What is now Ogilvie Station yard runs past the back of the building I worked in. My work space was at the back on the 2nd floor. My window looked out onto that yard. Those Metra trains in that paint scheme-light grayish white, muted brownish stripe and muted rust orange stripe-ran in and out of that station yard, within mere feet away, past my office window.

Carrizo Gorge has a railroad, their 3 locomotives (2 F units with the big "SPIRIT" text and 1 alco unit), they're all stored at Jacumba Yard, they rarely try to repair something on the SD&AE railroad nowadays. Bonus Fact: There's a VHS video on KZfaq showing the arrival of the Chicago Metra's train cars.

The passenger cars of which some were set on fire, were sitting on a spur track back from the main track. Someone released the brakes and some if not all of the railcars rolled down and across the main track derailing. This most likely would have damaged all of the trackage and railcars making it nearly impossible to salvage anything.

being from this area and watching this is very entertaining

I remember the seats moved so you could sit facing front or backwards.

My god, I have seen the metro cars sitting outside the Wisconsin Southern yard in Horicon, WI. Did not realize they were connected story to those in California

13:10 It's 7773, at least that's the number on the train in the picture, not 7774

I wonder how far you could get with a hand rail car?

Sad, but also fascinating story.

Great history and thank you for sharing this video

And the worst part is that Metra could use those cars

A great story, well told.

Thank you for this explanation. I have seen videos of exploration of this canyon and bridge and the passenger cars.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

They are CARS, not trains.

So sad that some people feel a compulsion to deface abandoned historical things with their amazing graffiti. Yeah, I know it can sometimes be artistic, but c'mon - not every single thing needs to be a canvas. I wish they had a little more respect.

Very Interesting..👍👍👍

Thanks for the video. It was good to hear about Mr. George. Maybe he needed to hire more good operators. 😂 I am sure you have heard about the George thing enough, and Jacumba. Thanks for pronouncing Baja right though, that might have did me in. A little info for you. A train isn't a train without a locomotive. Those would just be cars, or passenger cars, or rail cars, or train cars. Think of it like a Semi. A trailer isn't a semi, but it can be a semi trailer. Also, a locomotive by itself isn't a train. Sadly, the three Montreal metro cars, TPHX 801, 817, and 835, that are on a siding further up the line have been set on fire. It is sad the difference in a video from 12 years ago to a video from 1 year ago. 12 years ago they appeared to be in great condition, now they are just scrap.

That's Gorge, not George.

CARIZZO GORGE, NOT GEORGE! ITS NOT A SLICK PIMP FROM THE 70'S.

Man them international routes must have been quite extensive if they were running BR class 66's on 'em...

i live near here in san diego, i remember when i first started hiking in the desert near these cars they were pristine, north of Jajamba. but the moved them further north near the nudest colony and then the word was out. covered with graffiti ever since. careful, it is CA desert. i almost got shot there but could not convince sherifs to intervene.

NO STOPS BETWEEN AURORA AND SAN DIEGO! PLEASE NOTE - NO STOPS BETWEEN ...

I rode those trains while at Great Lakes naval yraining center.

Carrizo GORGE, not George.

Yeah there's that west coast flavor I've been craving!

The "mystery" is why KZfaqrs even watch this video beyond the first 30 seconds.

I rode those in Chicago in the 80s.

The "G" word you couldn't pronounce in the scenic railway's name is "Gorge," which is a geographic feature. "George," on the other hand, is a proper noun and not a geographic feature.

Are trestles traditionally tripod supports relying on support from horizontal frames?

Uhh.... I hate to be the guy that goes "actually" to you, but the comment at 12:45 is a perfect example of you NOT doing actual in depth research in regards to the railroad. It does still exist, and is actively working to re-open the line. There were setbacks due to Covid, yes, but work continues, which includes completely replacing bridges, and upgrading trackwork to modern standards. The bridges being replaced with metal bridges, in place of the old wooden trestles. I would hope a history channel would actually research a subject, but guess this is youtube and it's too difficult to actually do anything the correct way.

Me, when I see those cars: Oh hey, those are the cars that were used in "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" aren't they?

Vandals have destoyed this equipment.

Was hoping for some videography but cool video

Would be some nice drone area footage.

Well George we have a preserved tressle in damp old UK! In Malden Essex it must be the smallest! And too damp to combust!

Some other RTA semi-bi-levels wound up rolling on the Virginia Railway Express commuter service into Washington DC.

Thanks. toronto canada

I saw a special on Huell Howser California gold that showed that line and those cars being used for a day trip from a San Diego train museum to the Tecate beer factory in Mexico.. Also I believe those cars were going to be bought by the failed. X-train project from LA to Las vegas. Then the entire project fell through. Just going by best recollection. Maybe it was on another SD rail line, not sure.

Passenger travel was replaced. And the Port San Diego didn’t create a container port. Lost business to Long Beach

I love Metra trains ⚠️👀💯

There are those who would love to have cars like that for railroad projects

Train Tracks are Never really Abandoned. They are still Own by the Railroad Company that buys the route/tracks. While they could be Left unused for Many Many Many Years. Until the Tracks are actually Removed. They are not Abandoned and are still Own by the Company. Also Note 9:15 is the Start of the Actual Video Title of Why There are Metro Trains There. The Rest was not really needed in the video. As it did Not Explain anything about the Chicago Metro Trains Currently there.

Interesting John in Chicago

That's crazy