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Escondido Subdivision

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A Sprinter train departing Oceanside Transit Center
NCTD route map. The Escondido Subdivision is shown in light blue.

The Escondido Sub is a 22-mile (35 km) branch railway line between Oceanside, California, and Escondido, California, in the North County region of San Diego County.[1] It is primarily used today by the Sprinter hybrid rail and local freight trains serving Escondido industries late at night, after the last Sprinter train of the day is taken out of service.

History

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The line was built in 1888, along with the Surf Line, which is the main line it connects to on its western end and serves as the only rail connection between San Diego and Los Angeles. The line formerly served Santa Fe trains, with passenger trains operating until 1946.[2] The North County Transit District, which operates local public transit services, purchased the line from the Santa Fe Railroad in 1992, to operate passenger rail service, which started on December 28, 2007.[3] Before passenger service could start, the tracks of the branch were re-laid with new stations and an elevated loop constructed to Cal State San Marcos station, in preparation for the Sprinter.

Local Santa Fe (later BNSF) freight trains continued to operate over the line until 2008, when the service was contracted out to Pacific Sun Railroad; this practice ended on October 1, 2020, when PSRR's contract with BNSF expired. For a very short amount of time, NCTD used Coaster Equipment for track repairs. In 2020, the Pacific Sun railroad stopped service, and freight operations on the line were given back to the BNSF Railway, which also operates freight service on the connecting Surf Line.[4]

Historic station stops

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Key: Open Closed
Municipality Station mi (km) Services Opened Closed
Oceanside Oceanside 99.3 (160)
1984 (oldest station 1886)
Coast Highway 100.2 (161) Sprinter March 9, 2008 (March 9, 2008)[5]
Crouch Street 101.5 (163)
El Camino Real 102.9 (166)
Rancho Del Oro 104.1 (168)
College Boulevard 105.5 (170)
  • Sprinter
  • Bus transport NCTD Breeze: 315, 318, 323, 325
Melrose Drive 107.5 (173)
Falda[6][7][8][9][10][11] ATSF services (formerly) 1913[6] or earlier Between September 1936[11] and January 1937[12]
Vista Vista Transit Center 109.1 (176)
  • Sprinter
  • Bus transport NCTD Breeze: 302, 303, 305, 306, 318, 332, 334, 632, 634
 March 9, 2008 (March 9, 2008)[5]
Vista[6][13][14][15] ATSF services (formerly) 1913[6] or earlier 1946
Civic Center–Vista 110.1 (177) Sprinter March 9, 2008 (March 9, 2008)[5]
Buena Creek 112.4 (181)
Buena[6][13][14][15] ATSF services (formerly) 1913[6] or earlier Between September 1936[11] and January 1937[12]
San Marcos Palomar College 115.1 (185)
  • Sprinter
  • Bus transport NCTD Breeze: 304, 305, 347, 445, 645
 March 9, 2008 (March 9, 2008)[5]
San Marcos Civic Center 116.4 (187)
San Marcos (former) ATSF services (formerly) 1913[6] or earlier Between May 1935[10] and September 1936[11]
Cal State San Marcos 117.2 (189)
Richland ATSF services (formerly) 1913 or earlier[6] Between 1926[7] and 1928[8]
Escondido Nordahl Road 119.2 (192)
March 9, 2008 (March 9, 2008)[5]
Escondido Transit Center 121.3 (195)
Escondido (former) ATSF services (formerly) 1888 1946

References

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  1. ^ SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation.
  2. ^ Burge, Michael (March 10, 2008). "Passenger train sprints into service". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on April 22, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "Full speed ahead for San Diego's SPRINTER". Progressive Railroading. January 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  4. ^ "Digest: BNSF to take over route operated by California short line". TrainsMag.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e "SPRINTER Fact Sheet" (PDF). North County Transit District. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 13, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Time of Trains, Sleeping Car Schedules, and Other Information" (PDF). October 20, 1913. p. 33. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). February 7, 1926. p. 46.
  8. ^ a b "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). August 15, 1928. p. 54.
  9. ^ "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). December 3, 1933. p. 34.
  10. ^ a b "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). May 12, 1935. p. 34.
  11. ^ a b c d "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). September 1, 1936. p. 34.
  12. ^ a b "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). September 1, 1937. p. 51.
  13. ^ a b "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). July 11, 1937. p. 53.
  14. ^ a b "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). April 17, 1938. p. 53.
  15. ^ a b "The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables" (PDF). June 11, 1939. p. 53.


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