The 1880s were a boom period for Southern California and in July of 1880, the California Southern Railroad was formed to build a rail line from National City north and eastward to San Bernardino, then on to a connection at Colton and eventually make its way to Barstow, California. The California Southern Railroad is a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.

 

Construction began in 1881, and continued northward through San Luis Rey (now the city of Oceanside) to Fallbrook and through the Temecula Canyons, then onto Big Laguna (now Lake Elsinore), and Pinacate, near what is now known as Perris. The track was eventually laid to connect to the city of Colton through the Cajon Pass. Although the track was completed fairly quickly by the railroad, the railroad did not heed the warnings of the local inhabitants about our southern california dry washes. As we know, the canyons can become become a raging torrents of water, but the railroad built through the canyon anyway. The line was completed to Fallbrook on January 2, 1882, then to Temecula in March of 1882.

 

Two years later, in February 1884, there was a huge storm bringing heavy rains, washing out 2/3 of the track through the Temecula Canyon. The storms brought boulders crashing down on the track and the train was unable to get through. Two thirds of the main line through the canyon were washed out and Railroad ties could be seen floating as far as 80 miles away in the ocean!

 

The famous "Frog Wars" of 1883 at Colton Crossing, almost stopped the completion of the rail line to Barstow. A frog war is a dispute over allowing competing rail lines to cross one another. The Southern Pacific Railroad refused to let the Southern Pacific cross its track..

 

Portions of the original line are still in use today as some of the busiest rail freight and passenger routes in the United States.
 

In 1889, the Santa Fe underwent a major overhaul consolidating the California Southern, California Central and Redondo Beach Railway companies into the Southern California Railway. The Santa Fe finally purchased outright the holdings of the Southern California Railroad on January 17, 1906, ending the railway's subsidiary status and making it fully a part of the Santa Fe Railroad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city of PERRIS is named in honor of Fred T. Perris, chief engineer of the California Southern Railroad.

In 1895 the small village of Lane's crossing was named Victor (later changed to VICTORVILLE) for the Southern California Railroad's General Manager, Jacob Nash Victor. The City of Barstow was named after William Barstow Strong, former President of the Atchinson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe.

Follow these LINKS for more History of the California Southern Railroad:

Temecula Railroad: http://www.cityoftemecula.org/Temecula/History/TemeculaRailroad.htmCalifornia
Southern Railroad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Southern_Railroad
Frog Wars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton_Crossing
The Colton Crossing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colton_Crossing
Victorville: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorville,_California
Perris: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perris,_CaliforniaInteresting