
When I catch the trolley at downtown San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot, I often walk through an outdoor passageway that separates the hundred year old train station’s enormous waiting room from it’s original baggage terminal. The latter building was converted years ago into an interesting space used by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD).
Recently, while strolling through the passageway, I paused to examine three eye-catching graphics created by the museum to promote one of its current exhibitions. Two of the images incorporate old train posters from San Diego history, which I find to be very cool. I thought you might enjoy a look!
MCASD’s exhibition titled “John D. Spreckels and The Impossible Railroad” concerns a railway project undertaken a century ago by one of San Diego’s most prominent entrepreneurs and benefactors. Perhaps Spreckels’ greatest accomplishment was to complete the logistically difficult San Diego & Arizona Railroad, our nation’s southernmost transcontinental railroad route. I haven’t visited the exhibition, but according to what I’ve read it utilizes interesting visual devices to demonstrate the near impossibility of building Spreckels’ railroad, which had to wind around and over deep mountain gorges. (Spreckels was also responsible for a large network of electric streetcars which traversed San Diego decades before our modern day trolleys.)



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Your site here should inspire other people to research their own cities – I’ll bet they’d be surprised at what they find! You do San Diego proud!
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Thanks! This world is an infinitely fascinating place!
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Why was Spreckels called the “Impossible?
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Spreckels’ railroad project was thought to be an impossible undertaking, because of the mountainous terrain east of San Diego. A really huge and spectacular trestle was completed to traverse Carrizo Gorge, which is in today’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
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