Keenbrook

In 1950, Keenbrook was a thriving location at milepost 66.3, 15 miles north (“east”) of San Bernardino, on the First District of Santa Fe’s Los Angeles Division. In 2005, the location, at which essentially nothing remains except the tracks and an unprotected road crossing, is known as Old Keenbrook, and is on BNSF’s Cajon Subdivision, with intermediate signals just south of the former Keenbrook location, at milepost 67.3. The location is on the west side of the Cajon Creek valley, at a place where the tracks are heading northwest (going upgrade), just south (railroad “west”) of the big curve to the northeast that will cross the San Andreas Fault at Blue Cut. In 1950, the major highway through the pass, US 66, runs along the same general route as the railroad, only on the east side of Cajon Creek. South of the big curve and narrowing of the valley, the fault line runs parallel to road and railroad, east of the road.

In its heyday, Keenbrook was a watering station for trains headed upgrade, as well as providing east and west crossovers between the main tracks. There was a 115-car siding on the east side of the main tracks.

[Los Angeles Division Time Table No. 138, September 24, 1950.]

Water flowed under the two bridges at Cajon the year around. The creek flowed above ground in only a few [apparently] random places. The creek surfaced about a thousand feet above the east bridge at Cajon and stayed above ground until it disappeared about the middle of the siding at Keenbrook. Only during heavy rain did water flow under the bridge at the east end of Devore. The creek picked up a little volume at Blue Cut from water flowing out of Lost Lake in Lone Pine Canyon. [Don Sheets]

There were four structures at the upper end of Keenbrook, all on the west side of the tracks: a Depot, a Treating Plant, a Tank #1, and a Tank #2. A spur track from the siding ran north behind the two tanks and treating plant.  The siding began at the south end of Tank #2.  Between the siding and the eastward main was Water Column #1, a 10" Sheffield water column. On the east side of the tracks, further south, were two section houses. Tank #4 was on the west side of the passing siding. In the middle had been Tank No. 3 (removed in 1943).

The Keenbrook track diagram on page 34 of “Cajon, a Pictorial Album” shows a building identified as the “former depot” on the west side of the main lines, opposite the “pumper's house.” This is exactly the area shown in the photo from John Signor now posted as the 4th photo under the historical photos section on Ted York's website:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cajonpass52/Historicalprototype.htm
The turnout just ahead of the F unit's nose in the photo is the heading-out switch from the Keenbrook siding, and just beyond it is the crossover between the two main tracks. Unfortunately most details of the former depot are obscured by the water treating plant just beyond the vertical tank on the left ("Tank no. 1" in the referenced diagram). The building to the right of the tracks in that photo, next to the westbound Geeps, is the pumper's house, with the former depot directly across the tracks from it. The diagram doesn't show an "agent's house," but maybe that became the pumper's house when the depot was closed. [Andy Sperandeo]

There was a short spur leading north off the north end of the Keenbrook siding, and another one leading south off the south end.  The north spur ran behind the water treating buildings, as Andy said, so I assume that chemical supplies for treating water would occasionally be spotted there (but what kind of car?).  I don't know of any specific function of the spur at the south end of Keenbrook, except probably for dropping off bad-order cars. [John Thompson]

Besides being a water stop Keenbrook had a passing track where eastbound freights - all extras - could clear first-class schedules.  The uphill spur at Keenbrook ran alongside the water treatment plant.  There would have been no need to spot tank cars of water there, however, as water was supplied by a pipeline from the well at Cajon. [John Thompson]

 In November 1938, the Keenbrook siding had not yet been extended south, so it still ended just below the lower water tank.  Also, the spur track at the south end had not been built yet.  By the time of the Jack Delano photo of lower Keenbrook in March 1943, that spur track had been added, but the siding had not yet been extended. I think the siding was extended (south) between 1943 and 1945 (and certainly before 1951), because the white-on-black 1945 track diagram in the back of Chard Walker's "Cajon -Rail Passage to the Pacific" appears to show the south spur as further north than the end of the siding. Looking at the 1951 track diagram, it's clear that the south spur and south water tank at lower Keenbrook were a considerable distance from the extended south end of the siding after WW2, and the south crossover was also moved just south of the end of the siding. [John Thompson]

Water from the Cajon well, just southwest of the middle of the ten-degree curve on the eastward track, was supplied to the large tanks at the east and west ends of the siding as Keenbrook in addition to filling the tanks at Cajon.  A pipeline carried the water downgrade by gravity from the Cajon well to Keenbrook. [Chard Walker]

Keenbrook was once also a terminal for trains bringing special tours up to a resort that lay just over the hill from Keenbrook, in the Lytle Creek area. [Al Bowen, from “CALIFORNIA HISTORIAN", Winter 1997---"When the Train Stopped at Keenbrook"]

General Layout

These details are taken from the circa 1939 Keenbrook plat. Starting at the north end of Keenbrook and moving south, we find these structures listed:

On the west side of north Keenbrook:

On the east side of north Keenbrook:

The west side of middle Keenbrook has no structures, as it's against a hillside.

On the east side of middle Keenbrook:

The east side of south Keenbrook has no structures.

On the west side of south Keenbrook:

Track layout and Gradient Profile at Keenbrook

Buildings

The northernmost building was the depot. Keenbrook had two 18' X 28' carbodies as a freight and ticket agency depot from 1904 until it was retired and removed in 1953. The depot itself was closed in 1921. [“Coast Lines Depots” via Bill Messecar] The older version of the water service records shows a depot just north (RR east) of the water treating plant, which was just north of the two water tanks at the north (RR east) end of the siding. The depot has an irregular shape, made of two carbodies side-by-side plus two extra rooms sticking out on the north side. The First District Building records list a depot that was 18' x 28' with an 8.3' x 12' addition, made of wood, with 5 rooms.  It lists it as retired and removed in 1953.

The section houses were on the east side of the tracks.  One appears to be a long concrete bunkhouse with the two outhouses behind it (away from the tracks).  Then some way south of that is a regular size section house, also on the east side of the tracks. The Section House was a one-storey building with four rooms, erected in 1905, and had a shingle roof and foundation made of wood with sills 24.2 x 24.2 x 10 ft. The building listed as the Section House in the building records is probably the building south of the concrete bunk house in the middle section of Keenbrook's water service records, on the east side of the tracks (same side as the tool house and bunk house). The section house appears to have been removed in 1941.

The bunkhouse near midway through the siding is noted as a one-storey 10-room structure, erected in 1905, and had a shingle roof and a foundation made of wood with sills (21’ x 14.4’ x 10’). There was also a concrete bunkhouse with a composite roof, single storey with 10 rooms, 21’ x 118.9’ x 8’, erected in November 1919.

In the 1920s, the water records also showed a Pumper’s House straight across the tracks from the Depot; by 1947, this had become a tool house on the east side of the tracks, as Tank #3 was removed in 1943. The building called the Pumper's House on the water service records is probably the one called the Agent's House in earlier years (on the building records). The older water service records show the name Agent's House crossed out on the plat and replaced by the name Pumper's House.  This was 32’ x 36.9’, made from two carbodies in about 1910, with a 7’ x 24’ screened porch added in January 1926. The agent’s house was also retired and removed in 1953.

A tool house, erected in 1907, made of wood with a shingle roof, was 12’ x 16’ x 8’. Three external privies were each 4’ x 5’, made of wood with a shingle roof. There was also a building with two toilets and a bath, made of concrete with a composite roof, 5’ x 11’ x 8 ft., single storey with two rooms, erected in November 1919. The treating house/plant was 18.2 feet wide and 40.5 feet long (along the tracks), frame, concrete floor, shingle roof, built 1906. There were also two 6’ x 7’ wooden sheds, a 5.5’ x 8.2’ wooden shed and an 8.2’ x 10.8’ wooden shed (both removed in 1941), and two 3’ x 4’ wooden “Gas Sheds”. There were also at one time two mail cranes at Keenbrook. The Tool House, Bunk House (used as a Garage), Motor Car House, Concrete Bunk House, 2 Toilets & Bath (behind the concrete bunk house), and two Privies may also have been removed in 1941.

 [Water Service Records for Keenbrook, updated 10-1947, excerpted by John Thompson]
[Water Service Records for Keenbrook, 1920s, excerpted by John Thompson]
[First District Building Records, excerpted by Otto Kroutil and John Thompson]
[“Coast Lines Depots”]

Water Tanks

Tank #1, the most northerly, was, 16' wide by 62.9 feet tall, with a 16' dia x 45' steel treating tank, concrete foundation 22.0' dia x 2.0' deep, erected 1908.  Height increased to 62.85' C-107-44" (1944).

Just south of that is Tank #2, 24' wide by 60.2 feet tall, with a 24' dia x 43' steel storage tank, concrete foundation 30.0' dia x 2.0' deep, erected 1908.  Height increased to 60.24' C-107-44" (1944).

In the middle had been Tank No. 3 (removed in 1943), a 24' dia x 27.8 steel storage tank, broken rock foundation, erected 1906.  Note how short this middle tank was. Near this tank was water column #2, a 10" Otto water column, erected in 1908, removed in 1943. Tank #3 was on the east side of the tracks, just north of the tool house, and the bunkhouse was south of the tool house.  Water column #2 was just north of the tank, between the eastward main and the siding.

Tank #4 was on the west side of the passing siding.  It was 24 feet wide by 45.9 feet tall. with a "24' dia x 30' steel storage tank, natural broken rock foundation, 4" on concrete inside of tank.  Auth. C-186-26.  Height increased to 45.85' C-107-44" (1944). Just south of Tank #4 was water column #3, between the eastward main and the passing siding.  It was a 10" Poage, Style H, with Fenner spout, placed in 1926.

The water tank tops were flat, made of heavy (maybe 3 by 12 inch) timbers laid over an open steel framework.  The boards were about 6 to 8 inches below the rim of the tank.  The tank's ladder went over the rim and down all the way inside the tank.  The boards could be moved aside to lower a painter down to paint the inside walls. [Don Sheets]

 [Water Service Records for Keenbrook, updated 10-1947, excerpted by John Thompson]
[Water Service Records for Keenbrook, 1920s, excerpted by John Thompson]

Watering Operations

Steam freight trains normally stopped on the main track (not the siding) at Keenbrook for water. When an eastbound freight train arrived at Keenbrook, it would normally stop for water on the main track. Whether to stop or not was determined when the train was passing the bridge at Devore. If a rear steam helper did not need to stop for water, it would signal to the front end by waving a lantern (at night) or by waving a flag or whistling (the steam plumes would be visible). This was called “whistling off”—signaling that you didn't need water. If there were two steam helpers on the rear, they both had to whistle off, or the train would stop. Even if they both whistled off, the train might stop if the front engine needed water.

In postwar all-steam days, Don Sheets said the normal arrangement was to have one steam locomotive (the road engine) on the front and two steam pushers ahead of the caboose. Don doesn't recall any mid-train steam helpers. If there was one helper engine on the rear, it was behind the caboose, but if there were two helpers, they were ahead of the caboose, so there would not be too much force on the caboose, twisting it against the rails.

As the train came to a stop at Keenbrook, the lead engine tried to stop exactly at the front plug, but that was hard to do. If the train stopped short of the front plug, the engine cut off and pulled up to the plug by itself. If the front of the train stopped past the front plug, the lead engine would cut off and switch to the passing siding, where it could back down to the plug. (They didn't try to back up the whole train.) Meanwhile, on the rear of the train, if the train was shorter than the distance between the front and rear plugs, the rear helpers would cut off and back down to the plug and take turns getting water there.  If the train was longer, the helpers would have to back down to the siding switch and pull forward on the siding to get to the plug. (Recall that Keenbrook siding was extended south during WW2, so that the lower plug was no longer near the south end of the siding.)

If a passenger train was following the freight, and the freight train crew figured that there was not enough time to stop for water on the eastward main track and still get to Alray siding before the passenger train, then the freight went into the Keenbrook siding to get water there. Then, if the steam locos couldn't reach their plugs from the siding, they would have to switch over to the main track to run to their plugs, being careful to be off the main track when the passenger train was due. When the watering operations were complete, the train left Keenbrook and went on to Alray siding or all the way to Summit.  Cajon siding was too short for many trains.

If there was a 4-unit diesel on the front (and no steam on the front), and steam helpers on the rear, then the front of the train stopped on the curve at Blue Cut, so the rear steam locos could get water from upper Keenbrook instead of lower Keenbrook!  The reason for this was that the engine crew on the diesel could watch the watering operations at the rear, because of the curve there, and know when they were ready to go.

If the rear helpers had “whistled off” at Devore (they didn't need water), and the front steam loco also didn't need water, then they would proceed to Summit without stopping at Keenbrook and cut off the helpers there. The engines could get water when they got down to San Bernardino or Victorville. If the rear helpers had "whistled off" at Devore but then realized that they did need water after all, they would signal this by dragging the train to a halt at Cajon, where they could uncouple and run up the siding to the water plug at upper Cajon (there was no plug at lower Cajon). Or if there were a diesel on the head end, they would stop the train between Cajon and Sullivan's Curve, so that the rear helpers could get water more quickly at upper Cajon! [Don Sheets]

When a train stopped for water at Keenbrook in Cajon Pass, the road engineer could tell when the pusher cut off to back down to the lower standpipe by the needle jiggling in the gauge when the angle cock was closed.  He said the pusher would give "a little toot" when it coupled up again, so the road engineer would know to perform the set-and-release brake test, which the pusher engineer could see on his air gauge. Then the pusher would lean into the train again and wait for the road engine to start pulling.  And of course pusher crews got copies of the clearances, train orders, and messages, so they had a pretty good idea of what the train would be doing in the course of the trip. [Tommy Johnson via Andy Sperandeo]

The article, "Santa Fe Water Treatment Facilities," by M.M. Nelson Jr., in the 1st Quarter 1990 "Santa Fe Modeler," explains that the treatment of water with calcium oxide and sodium carbonate at trackside water treatment plants primarily caused incrustants to precipitate out of the water in the treatment tank.  This both limited scale and other deposits in locomotive boilers and reduced boiler foaming.  Nelson explains that the boiler compound carried on the tender and dropped directly into the tank was an anti-foaming agent, but he doesn't discuss its chemical composition. [John Thompson & Andy Sperandeo]

Engines on the head end of eastward trains were prohibited from using the west water column at Keenbrook. The idea was apparently to keep three or more engines from taking water at the west column, and to keep from stopping trains with the rear end well below the heading-in switch at the Keenbrook siding. [Andy Sperandeo]

The whole watering process typically took about twenty minutes. [Richard Hendrickson]