A TERRITORY DESERT PEAKERS CAN'T ESCAPE!

The fun of a Desert Peaks weekend isn't just with the climb! It also includes access to and from the trailhead, or more often, traillesshead. Frequently, we find we have to traverse parts of the Mojave Desert-notably for visits to peaks between Barstow, Needles, and the Colorado River. This is Santa Fe Territory, for sure! For those non-desert lovers, the auto ride can bring tedium, but to ones familiar with its heritage, it can be an ever-rewarding and non-tiring adventure. The Santa Fe rail route between Needles and Barstow is certainly one desert tradition!. It was built by San Francisco-based Southern Pacific interests and finished in 1881, and in 1911 was acquired by the Santa Fe. It is a continuation of the older Atlantic & Pacific Railway, which ended at Topock on the Arizona side of the River, that company following roughly what was known as the 35th Parallel Railroad Survey. Imagine the intrigue the desert must have held to those old field locators, trying to find the best route westward, with every mile on foot or horseback! Its official handle is The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company--ATSF or Santa Fe for short--alerted in pre-WWII days by Judy Garland, and plies directly between Chicago and LA, along with thousands of miles of other paths. Interestingly enough, its main line never did pass through any of the three cities making up its name. In older times, the Company revered the accented Fe but later abandoned such respect, for obvious English text conflicts. At Barstow, it branches into Mojave for more northerly California destinations, & into Victorville and over Cajon Pass to serve the many southern cities. The ATSF was double-tracked shortly after WWI--an enhancement the other Los Angeles-competing lines must still envy today. ATSF ABCs out here are fun and unusual, and the old in-order Amboy, Bristol, Cadiz, Danby, Essex, Fenner, Goffs, Homer, Ibis, Java, Klinefelter stations or sidings bring wonderment to readers. ater is still scarce at most places along the Needles-Barstow run, termed the Needles District, and even today you may notice sidings with "domestic use" tank cars-filled with the fine Newberry Springs water that has kept this segment of the Santa Fe alive for so many years. Old Highway 66, also known as the National Old Trails Highway, was the first major pavement across the vast Mojave. It closely follows the ATSF path--probably as a safety measure when motordom was still quite an infant. Post-WWII, Nat "King" Cole immortalized its pattern with "Route 66"--as winding, too, from Chicago to LA. There are still fans of the old road, with a current body calling themselves circa "The Friends Of Highway 66 Ass'n." Goffs, as seen on the railroad profile, is the high point between Needles and Barstow. Even today, many big-riggers prefer the easier Old 66 Goffs grade to today's Interstate 40, and though miles longer, use it. But the dream would be to get all eighteen wheelers off the highways and on to the rails, where they belong! Goffs, with its nearby, pristine-bottomed sand washes, also offers fine camping, while train-listening can not be avoided. In very recent years, the ATSF portion below Cadiz (the Cadiz and Ripley Districts) was sold and is now operated as the Arizona & California RR Co, with shops in Parker, AZ. Their green locomotives stand in new contrast to the Santa Fe's blue and yellow, and red and silver livery. There are more than a dozen Desert Peaks in proximity to the Santa Fe, as shown on the accompanying route map. I'll wager, but cannot attest, that from most all of these summits the ATSF right-of-way may be seen. Present Interstate 40 loses some of the best Santa Fe views. If you like zero-population growth, you'll admire Old 66, with its near-goose egg traffic--quite incredible for today's highways! Barstow, with its dilapidated and nearly abandoned, but architecturally celebrated and once elegant Casa del Desierto depot and Harvey House, was named for its 1890s President, Win Barstow Strong.

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