A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies along a continuous route. Although Europe is crisscrossed by railways, the railroads within Europe are usually not considered transcontinental, with the possible exception of the historic Orient Express. Transcontinental railroads helped open up unpopulated interior regions of continents to exploration and settlement that would not otherwise have been feasible. In many cases they also formed the backbones of cross-country passenger and freight transportation networks. Many of them continue to have an important role in freight transportation and some like the Trans-Siberian Railway even have passenger trains going from one end to the other.
Calexico is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about 122 miles (196 km) east of San Diego and 62 miles (100 km) west of Yuma, Arizona. Calexico, along with six other incorporated Imperial County cities, forms part of the larger populated area known as the Imperial Valley.
Mexicali is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,000 inhabitants on both sides of the United States-Mexico border. Mexicali is a regional economic and cultural hub for the border region of The Californias.
U.S. Route 99 (US 99) was a main north–south United States Numbered Highway on the West Coast of the United States until 1964, running from Calexico, California, on the US–Mexico border to Blaine, Washington, on the U.S.-Canada border. It was assigned in 1926 and existed until it was replaced for the most part by Interstate 5. Known also as the "Golden State Highway" and "The Main Street of California", US 99 was important throughout much of the 1930s as a route for Dust Bowl immigrant farm workers to traverse the state. Large portions are now California State Route 99 (SR 99), Oregon's Routes 99, 99W, and 99E, and Washington's SR 99. The highway in Washington connected to British Columbia Highway 99, whose number was derived from that of US 99, at the Canada–US border.
The San Diego and Arizona Railway was a 148-mile (238 km) short line U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. It linked San Diego, its western terminus, with El Centro, its eastern terminus, where passengers could connect with Southern Pacific's transcontinental lines, eliminating the need to first travel north via Los Angeles or Riverside.
The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company is a short-line American railroad founded in 1906 as the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) by sugar magnate, developer, and entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by many engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved, the line was established in part to provide San Diego with a direct rail link to the east by connecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad lines in El Centro, California.
The New River flows north from near Cerro Prieto, through the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, into the United States through the city of Calexico, California, towards the Salton Sea. The river channel has existed since pre-historic times. The river as known today formed from a levee failure and massive flooding that filled the Salton Sea.
Mexico has a freight railway system owned by the national government and operated by various entities under concessions (charters) granted by the national government. The railway system provides freight and passenger service throughout the country, connecting major industrial centers with ports and with rail connections at the United States border. Passenger rail services were limited to a number of tourist trains between 1997, when Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México suspended service, and 2008, when Ferrocarril Suburbano de la Zona Metropolitana de México inaugurated Mexico's first commuter rail service between Mexico City and the State of Mexico. This is not including the Mexico City Metro, which started service in 1969.
The Ferrocarril del Pacífico is a former railroad line of Mexico that operated from Nogales, Sonora to Guadalajara, Jalisco via Mazatlán, Sinaloa.
The Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico was a railroad subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Mexico, operating from Nogales, Sonora, to Mazatlán, Sinaloa. The Sonora Railway was constructed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between 1879 and 1882. In 1898 the Santa Fe leased the Sonora Railway to the Southern Pacific in return for the latter railroad's line from Needles to Mojave, California. This arrangement continued until December 1911, when the Southern Pacific purchased both the Sonora Railway and the New Mexico and Arizona. The following June, the Sonora Railway became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Mexico."
The Ferrocarril Sonora–Baja California is a former railroad line of Mexico that built the line from Mexicali, Baja California, to Benjamín Hill, Sonora in 1948. It interchanged with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Calexico, California, and with the Ferrocarril del Pacifico in Benjamin Hill, Sonora. Before 1960, The SP-controlled Inter-California railroad provided trackage rights for the SBC from Pascualitos to the International Border. SBC took control of that part after the demise of the Inter-Cal.
Ferrocarril Mexicali y Golfo was a railroad line in Baja California, Mexico, established in 1901. Within a few years a controlling interest in the railroad was bought by the American Southern Pacific Railroad company. The line eventually built was a predecessor to the Ferrocarril Sonora – Baja California. In 1929 the Mexicali y Golfo was reorganized as the southern line of the Inter-California Railway, under the name Ferrocarril Intercalifornia del Sur.
The 2010 Baja California earthquake occurred on April 4 with a moment magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII. The shock originated at south of Guadalupe Victoria, Baja California, Mexico.
The 1940 El Centro earthquake occurred at 21:35 Pacific Standard Time on May 18 in the Imperial Valley in southeastern Southern California near the international border of the United States and Mexico. It had a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It was the first major earthquake to be recorded by a strong-motion seismograph located next to a fault rupture. The earthquake was characterized as a typical moderate-sized destructive event with a complex energy release signature. It was the strongest recorded earthquake to hit the Imperial Valley, and caused widespread damage to irrigation systems and led to the deaths of nine people.
Calexico–Mexicali is a transborder agglomeration in southeastern California and northwestern Baja California with its center being the border between the sister cities of Calexico and Mexicali. The agglomeration lies within a large geologic region known as the Salton Trough with the city of Calexico located in the Imperial Valley on the United States side of the border, and Mexicali located in the Mexicali Valley on the Mexico side of the border.
'Batáquez' , 'Estación Batáquez' or 'Ejido Monterrey' , is a locality Mexican of the Valley of Mexicali, in the municipality from Mexicali, Baja California. According to data from INEGI, it is located at coordinates 32 ° 32'58 north latitude and 115 ° 04'15 west longitude and had 1,121 inhabitants in 2010. Despite being a small locality, Batáquez has local importance since it is head of the municipal delegation of the same name.
The Imperial was a night train of the Rock Island Rail Road and the Southern Pacific. It operated from Chicago to Los Angeles, via Kansas City (Missouri) and Tucumcari.
The 1915 Imperial Valley earthquakes were two destructive shocks centered near El Centro, California on June 22. The earthquakes measured 6.25 and occurred nearly one hour apart at 19:59 and 20:57 PST. Both shocks were assigned VIII (Severe) on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. Heavy damage occurred in the areas of Mexicali and El Centro, amounting to $900,000. At least six people were killed in the earthquakes.
Ciudad Morelos (Cuervos) is a town in the Mexicali Valley, a municipal demarcation that belongs to the municipality of Mexicali, in Baja California, Mexico. Founded on 20 October 1909, it is considered one of the most important communities in the valley, the second most populous, according to the number of inhabitants reported in the 2020 census, which amounted to 9,572 people.
