Having ridden many trips from Campo to Miller Creek over the years, I was waiting to ride further east, someday even through the Carrizo Gorge. Until then, I was interested in any excursion that included travelling over the Campo Creek High Bridge over California Highway 94. The Pacific Southwest Railroad Museum offered such a trip on April 26, 1997 to beyond Jacumba, so I sent my money for a ticket and that morning, I drove from Santa Ana to Campo.
I boarded a former Lackawanna electric coach and right on time, the engine whistled off and we were on the move, passing the museum's equipment in the yard before proceeding out into the San Diego back country. We crossed Campo Creek on a low trestle before the Highway 94 grade crossing and climbed into the hills above the highway then wound our way before turning north to Clover Flat and east across Miller Creek to the siding where the trips to Miller Creek end. From here I would be on new trackage and was anticipating the high bridge ahead. The tracks made several horseshoe curves as we were still gaining elevation towards Hipass before rounding a curve and rolling out onto the impressive Upper Campo Creek viaduct.
The steel bridge is 600 feet long and 180 feet above the creek and we slowed to almost a walking speed so that all passengers could have a good view from both sides with the highway far below. We came off the bridge and the boulders, so common to this part of Southern California, increased. The train curved as it proceeded south towards the Mexican border before we made a big horseshoe curve to the east then climbed the last few miles to Hipass, cutting through the Rattlesnake Mountains with Tierra de Sol to the north. We curved to the north before running east between the boulder-strewn hills then turned to the south at the foot of Goat Mountain.
We ran between Goat Mountain and Boundary Peak to the south then reached Boundary Creek which we would follow for the rest of journey. The train then travelled to within fifty feet of Mexico before passing through Jacumba with the former San Diego and Arizona Eastern wood-sided open vestibule coaches that were used for homes for section workers. We followed boundary Creek north along the east slope of Round Mountain then passed under the Interstate 8 bridge and went about another mile to Titus, where the train stopped.
We detrained then walked over to the De Anza Springs Campground where lunch was provided and while we were eating, the crew ran the engine around the train so it would be in the lead. The journey back to Campo was very relaxing as people were amazed at all of the places that I had travelled and there was more of an interest of looking into Mexico on the way back than there was going earlier.
We arrived early in Campo and I enjoyed my drive home to Santa Ana after another exciting train trip.
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