Cajon Pass; NOTR, US 66/91/395 and I-15

[Max Rockatansky]

Yesterday I spent some time in Cajon Pass tracking old highway alignments.  I hiked part of the National Old Trails Road alignment on Forest Route 3N45 and the abandoned portion on Pacific Crest Trail in Crowder Canyon.  I drove the former expressway segment of US 66/91/395 on Cajon Boulevard (feels weird to see it open all the way to San Bernardino again) and of course I-15.  The NORT alignment apparently was in use until 1930 until it was replaced by the early US 66 alignment over Cajon Summit.  I though the NOTR alignment was especially interesting since it crossed four rail grades in such a short span.  I'll have my historic alignment maps up later and of course blog, for now the photos are ready to go:

https://flickr.com/photos/151828809@N08/sets/72157708659721744

[nexus73]

Now imagine the Joad family, being shown the expressway section cut down to one side with two lanes due to some sort of time displacement.

"Why did you move to California?  After you came, everyone left.  The Dust Bowl covered all the country!"

That set of photos made for a cool afternoon drive on the net.  Loved the dirt path being all that was left of the route.  You did good!

Back in 1975 I had to drive to Victorville from March AFB to deal with a traffic ticket.  On the south side of the pass it was raining like crazy.  Get on the other side and there you go, clear skies.  What a dramatic change of weather that was!

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

Now imagine the Joad family, being shown the expressway section cut down to one side with two lanes due to some sort of time displacement.

"Why did you move to California?  After you came, everyone left.  The Dust Bowl covered all the country!"

That set of photos made for a cool afternoon drive on the net.  Loved the dirt path being all that was left of the route.  You did good!

Back in 1975 I had to drive to Victorville from March AFB to deal with a traffic ticket.  On the south side of the pass it was raining like crazy.  Get on the other side and there you go, clear skies.  What a dramatic change of weather that was!

Rick

If I recall correctly wasn't Grapes of Wrath set in the late 1930s?  A somewhat close approximation to modern I-15, or least route over Cajon Summit would have been in use by 1930.  US 91 and US 395 would have been extended through Cajon Pass by then as well.  US 466 I felt should have been mentioned in the book, I want to say that it incorrectly stated that US 66 went to Bakersfield.

[nexus73]

GoW was set in 1931 as I recall.  Several excellent highway scenes are to be seen in that movie.

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

GoW was set in 1931 as I recall.  Several excellent highway scenes are to be seen in that movie.

Rick

1931 would have been the year the last of the rail overpasses along the new alignment of US 66 would have been constructed.  Didn't the first dust bowl occur in 1934?  I seem to recall the book was purposely vague on an exact date. 

[nexus73]

GoW was set in 1931 as I recall.  Several excellent highway scenes are to be seen in that movie.

Rick

1931 would have been the year the last of the rail overpasses along the new alignment of US 66 would have been constructed.  Didn’t the first dust bowl occur in 1934?  I seem to recall the book was purposely vague on an exact date. 

Looks like I recalled the wrong year.  1934 was the first of the droughts which resulted in the Dust Bowl.  GoW the movie came out in 1940.

That narrow rail overpass style can be seen on the original US 101 approaching Lakeside from the south.  There is a 10 MPH curve warning sign there too. 

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

Prepared some Cajon Pass maps for the upcoming blog on the historic highway alignments through the area.  Of particular interest is the huge contrast between the route of the NOTR and early US 66 on the Cajon Pass Toll Road alignment compared to the 1930 US 66 realignment.  The alignment of the NOTR and early 66 through Crowder Canyon is very intriguing to me given it is almost entirely washed away aside from the ruins of the 1914 bridge and some stray asphalt.

X0 Cover by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X1 Upper Cajon Pass by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X2 Middle Cajon Pass by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X5 Cajon Pass USGS 1908 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X6 Cajon Pass 1918 State Highway Map by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X7 Cajon Pass 1935 Division of Highways by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X8 1938 State Highway Map by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X9 1948 State Highway Map by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

X10 1964 State Highway Map by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[Max Rockatansky]

Blew up a lot of the maps listed above after I got some feedback from some US 66 and NOTR people on Facebook.  The new maps are located on the blog below and on my Flickr page under the Cajon Pass album.

Finished up the blog regarding the history of transportation in Cajon Pass.  The last time I broached the subject of Cajon Pass years ago it was more of a footnote in a US 66 California series.  This time around I wanted to focus more on the overall history of road transportation through Cajon Pass much akin to the "Legend of the Ridge Route" blog did a couple months ago.  There has been some welcome feedback that has been incredibly helpful in development of the maps posted in this blog in terms of tracking down time frames of the National Old Trail Road, Legislative Route Number 31 and early US Route 66.  I wanted get something more comprehensive out there for Cajon Pass that covered road facilities such as; the Mormon Road, Los Angeles-Salt Lake Trail, Cajon Pass Toll Road, US Route 91, US Route 395, LRN 59, California State Route 2 and California State Route 138.  Any additional feedback or helpful historic alignment information is welcome, if you have anything relevant or clarifying I'd gladly cite you in any updates. 

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/05/cajon-pass-cajon-pass-toll-road.html

[mrsman]

Haven't read through the whole post yet, but I'm liking the map of the NOTR from 1916.  Especially considering the first few pages are helping to confirm the routings of some of the highways we are discussing in the US 66 1935 thread. Very good find.

[Max Rockatansky]

Haven't read through the whole post yet, but I'm liking the map of the NOTR from 1916.  Especially considering the first few pages are helping to confirm the routings of some of the highways we are discussing in the US 66 1935 thread. Very good find.

That was a solid find, suffice to say the NOTR seems to have documented their route in great detail.  I highly suspect that the true answer on the move to Cajon Summit was that work began in 1916 but was completed in 1918.  It would seem odd that the NOTR would be so quick to shift the alignment after it had dumped so much money into paving Cajon Pass by 1914.  I suspect the State creating LRN 31 played a huge part in moving the alignment to a more gentle grade on Cajon Summit.

[Max Rockatansky]

More evidence that the Cajon Summit route wasn't complete by 1916, this 1917 CSAA map shows the original Crowder Canyon alignment.  I don't think a clear determination of the alignment switch can be made without some clearer documentation from the era (which is hard to come by):

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~289517~90061476:Automobile-highway-map-of-Californi?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%20highway;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=13&trs=232

Also of interest this 1924 Rand McNally Map shows the New Santa Fe Trail and National Park-to-Park Highway also routed over Cajon Pass.

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~201769~3000698?qvq=q%3Acalifornia%20highway%3Bsort%3APub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No%3Blc%3ARUMSEY~8~1&mi=32&trs=232