Railroads & Locomotives History California’s Salton Sea: A rail photo gallery

California’s Salton Sea: A rail photo gallery

By Angela Cotey | January 25, 2013

| Last updated on November 23, 2020


Go 232 feet below sea level, where the weather is some of the most searing on Earth

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The Salton Sea in Southern California was formed in 1907 when men tried to redirect Colorado River irrigation canals and caused a two-year flood. It spans the intersection of two great deserts: the Mojave to the north and the Sonoran to the south and west. Summer temperatures routinely hover at 120 degrees.

In the 1950s and 1960s, developers tried to turn the sea into a marine resort. Instead it evolved into a rich and fragile ecosystem, as well as an oasis for birds.

Union Pacific’s Yuma Subdivision follows this accidental sea, and the area sees up to 35 trains a day. Read about UP’s booming Sunset Route in the March 2013 issue of Trains magazine, and check out additional photos right here.

Elrond Lawrence

Framed by Mount San Jacinto and the lower Coachella Valley, No. 7899 rolls east through North Shore, Calif., and begins its run beside the Salton Sea on Oct. 26, 2012.

One thought on “California’s Salton Sea: A rail photo gallery

  1. IN 1957 I TOOK THE FOLLOWING EXTENDED TRIP ( I WAS A TELEGRAPH OPERATOR WITH C N R ) ALL THESE TRIPS DOEN WITH PASSES AND I PAID EXTRA FARE ON SOME TRAINS.

    EXCUSE ALL CAPS AS AT 82 YEARS OLD EYESIGHT IS NOT 20-20

    FROM WINNIPEG MANITOBA I RODE NORTHERN PACIFIC #14 FROM EMERSON JCT MANITOBA FOR A COUPLE HOURS IN THE ENGINE UP TO GRAND FORKS

    AT GRAND FORKS ND I CAUGHT G.N. WESTERN STAR TO SPOKANE
    STAYED OVER NIGHT AND TOOK G N TRAIN TO THE WEST COAST EN ROUTE TO WHITE ROCK B.C. VIA G N

    FROM WHITE ROCK ( VANCOUVER B C ) TO VICTORIA THEN TO SEATTLE BY BOAT

    THENCE FROM SEATTLE SOUTHWARD VIA CITY OF PORTLAND ( I THINK )TO PÔRTLAND AND THEN è SHASTA DAYLIGHT È TO MARTINEZ CA AND ON TO SAN FRANCISCO

    FROM THERE TO NEW ORLEANS VIA SOUTH PACIFIC TRAIN THAT LEFT SAN FRANCISCO AT NIOGHT – FROM PALM SPRINGS TO YUMO I RODE IN THE ENGINE PAST THE SALTON SEA…..

    FROM NEW ORLEANS I TOOK I C TO CHICAGO BUT RODE IN THE ENGIONE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO JACKSONVILE ( I THINK IT WAS )

    FROM CHICAGO TO DETROIT THEN TO TORONTO

    TORONTO & RETURN VIA C N THEN I BOT A CADILLAC AND DROVE BACK TO MANITOBA

    I WISH I HAD KEPT BETTER RECORDS OF THIS TRIP WITH ITS MANY MANY INTERESTING AND OUT OF THE ORDINARY HAPPENINGS

    ALL THE RAILROAD PEOPLE I MET WERE JUST AS FRIENDLY AND HELPED ME TO GET A RIDE IN THE ENGINES

    EARL E
    SYMONDS
    BOX 146
    SANDY LAKE,MB R0J 1X0

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