Saving Lives While Exploring an Abandoned Train
Welcome to The Abandoned GOAT CANYON TRESTLE Train
Location: California
This is entry number 12 of my urban exploration blog. Click here to go read the last ones!
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The Video
The Property
Built in 1919 from the vision of John Speckles, this railroad was built for $18 million and was known as "The Impossible Railroad," because of its sheer size and the difficulty of the terrain. We would learn on this day what it meant to be prepared.
Getting Past Security
We asked some locals for directions to this spot and they told us that there might be some Border Patrol roaming the area to keep people off of the train tracks. Apparently this place used to be open to the public, but for one reason or another they decided to end that. So, for those of you who may want to check this place out, just remember that you might get fined for being there.
To those of you who are fellow explorers and you're thinking of checking this place out, I have to advise you that during the summer months it is absolutely unsafe to be walking out there for hours like we were. Even with the water we brought it wasn't enough.
That being said, if we hadn't been there a couple of guys that gotten lost in the desert might have died before they were able to find help. We were in the right place at the right time. Read on for the story.
The Spoils
As we rounded a bend we came across the train, just baking in the 100 degree heat. I pulled myself into the back of the first car and started immediately snapping photos. I knew that the longer we were out there, the hotter it would get. We arrived at about 1PM to the train and began filming our music videos that we had come to film.
Jumping around and sweating profusely while out in the desert is not considered the safest thing to do, but the cool breeze that flowed through the train helped significantly. It made it tolerable.
I'm obsessed with shots of trains taken out of the windows and have taken my fair share of those photos on the Alaskan Railroad. You should definitely read the blog from my adventure to Alaska if you haven't. I wanted to take a few window photos at this spot. If you'd like a print of any of these photos you can pick one up in my PRINT SHOP.
Now, I'm not sure who this baby belongs to, but I have seen it on many of my California adventures. I must find out who the tagger is so I can explore with them one day.
Some of the signs in the train looked brand new. I'm not sure when or why this train was abandoned here, but what I've heard was that the train came from Mexico and was unable to travel any further into America and it was left here at the end of the tracks.
There are eleven tunnels along the train tracks, but we were mostly there to explore the train and all its glory so we stuck around this area.
