This abandoned railway was a branch from the Santa Fe's Fullerton-San Diego line. It headed northeast for couple of miles and then turned southeast for a few miles. It served packing houses at stations called Myford, Browning, Frances and Kathryn, named (it is believed) for family members of early business owners. The spur also had a separate branch to Tustin.
These lines survived at least as late as the 1960s and the spur lasted until the mid-1980s. At one time it had a girder bridge across the Golden State Freeway, complete with Santa Fe heralds, but that bridge was removed when the freeway was widened. The section near the junction with the San Diego line is private property and is used as an underground utility corridor. The central portion is completely obliterated with residences. The end of the line, between Frances and Kathryn, can still be traced with a paved path.
Santa Fe S4 1536, built by American Locomotive Company in 1953, retired in July 1977 and acquired by Texas and Northern as their 34, a caboose and a box car gave me my first unexpected train ride.
In my early days of railfanning, I would ride my bicycle to the Santa Ana station and on February 10, 1973, after a good rainstorm, the local crew saw me and asked if I would like to go for a ride that would take a couple of hours. Since I had nothing better to do, I said "yes please" and the conductor lifted my bicycle into the caboose and I followed. He told me to sit in the cupola as he had some paperwork to do before departing. I saw the brakeman throw the switch to the siding and a moment later, our train started moving.
The conductor told me we would run down the siding to Irvine and wait for San Diegan 75 to pass us at 90 MPH so we rolled down the siding with me in heaven enjoying the view from the cupola. We crossed Red Hill Avenue, the twin blimp hangers came into view and we slowly approached a red signal and stopped at Tustin, Milepost 179.5. Down the track, I could see a headlight which approached rapidly and it was a thrill to be standing still when Train 75 blew by us and the caboose shook. The crew went through the switch and we pulled out onto the main line, then the switch was re-thrown and we rolled west a short distance before stopping.
A few minutes later, the brakeman threw a switch and with the caboose leading, we entered the Irvine Spur, slowly travelling north through the orange groves and minutes later, crossed the Santa Ana Freeway on a bridge under which I had always travelled until today. We made our way north to Browning, Milepost 180.8, then turned right through more orange groves and by Myford before rolling through Frances at Milepost 183.1. It was a really enjoyable experience, especially as knew this branch line would not be here for too much longer as houses were beginning to be built and the groves removed.
We reached Kathryn at Milepost 183.9 and the crew pulled up and cut off the caboose in order to spot the box car. I watched all this activity and it was a thrill to see the Alco chug by with the engine's unique sound. All too soon, the car was spotted and the Alco chugged by before reversing to collect the caboose. The crew then climbed down from the engine and had a short meeting before we returned the way we came to Browning, but stopped. The conductor then informed me we were going to make a side trip into Tustin just for the heck of it. The switch was thrown and again, with the caboose leading, we proceeded west into Tustin and once we arrived, the crew walked over to a store and I was just enjoying my caboose experience.
Once the crew returned, we journeyed back to the Fourth District and after the switch was thrown, we went back to Irvine, where we waited for the switch to be thrown before returning to Santa Ana. We arrived onto the house track and the conductor unloaded my bicycle and I detrained all smiles. I thanked all the crew and rode home, a happy young railfan with an incredible story to tell.
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