After passing through the Carrizo Gorge on its way to the Imperial Valley, the railroad comes to a siding in what is now the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. A large steel water tower supported by wooden timbers stands as a monument to the era of steam powered railroading. Nearby are some foundations and debris from the section house. At one end of the siding there’s a loading ramp. To the north is a former dolomite quarry. A few miles south is Dos Cabezas spring, which once supplied water for the tank.

I first saw the tower in July 1975. It was in much better condition then -- the wooden ladder was still largely intact, as where the guy cables and the spout weights. The spout itself was already missing at that time. Since then a lot of the black paint has worn away, replaced by rust. Vandals have cut the guy cables and stolen the lead spout weights. The ladder is almost completely gone, and recently the tank and a phone box were defaced with a lot of really ugly graffiti.

I’ll post more as time permits. Last updated March 30, 2016.

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