The Los Angeles District (LAD) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recommended SRI to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Company as a cultural resource management firm capable of facilitating the permitting process for their 15.9-mile Third Main Track (3MT) Project in San Bernardino County. SRI was retained to perform geoarchaeological investigations to identify buried archaeological sites in the project area of potential effects (APE) and to review and revise the Class III survey report that had been prepared for the project by another consulting firm. This firm’s report had been rejected by USACE and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The 15.9-mile project is located in Cajon Pass, which is situated between two major east-west-trending mountain ranges (the San Gabriel and the San Bernardino Mountains) that create a rugged barrier between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert. Cajon Pass facilitates passage through these mountain ranges and has served as a major transportation corridor for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Since the early 1900s, BNSF had maintained two rail lines through Cajon Pass, but because of expanding commerce and the difficulty and steepness of the terrain, the pass had become a bottleneck for train passage. In response to the needs of commerce, BNSF proposed adding a 3MT through Cajon Pass. The proposed project was prioritized by Congress. SRI was asked to work as quickly as possible so that BNSF could meet their proposed schedule.

Project principals prioritized staff scheduling to meet BNSF’s needs; within 1 week after SRI was retained, geoarchaeological testing within the APE was complete, and an interim report was submitted to the client and agencies for review. The geoarchaeology program had identified two buried sites (CA-SBR-425/H and CA-SBR-12569/H) for which data recovery was recommended; USACE, the United States Department of the Interior (USDI) Forest Service (a responsible party), and SHPO concurred. SRI prepared a treatment plan to guide data recovery and concurrently reviewed the Class III survey report prepared by another company. SRI identified several data gaps and research inadequacies in the report; ultimately, a new literature review and Class III survey of the 15.9-mile alignment was required to document resources adequately in the APE. SRI’s archival research resulted in the identification of four buried historical-period railroad stations. The Class III survey resulted in the recording of 94 features associated with the historical-period BNSF railroad (CA-SBR-6793H). This segment of the railroad had been previously determined eligible for listing in the NRHP, and SRI determined that features associated with the railroad should be documented as a multiple-property group.

Twenty-three features that were considered contributing elements to the multiple-property listing were documented according to HAER standards. (HAER is the national historical engineering documentation program of the National Park Service [NPS] and provides engineers, preservationists, and the interested public with comprehensive data on the historical, technological, and cultural significance of structures.) As a component of the HAER documentation, David De Vries of Mesa Technical (under contract to SRI) took large-format photographs of the 23 elements contributing to CA-SBR-6793H. All of the 94 features associated with CA-SBR-6793H were recorded on Building, Structure, and Object forms, and the site form for CA-SBR-6793H was updated. In addition to identifying and documenting the 94 features associated with CA-SBR-6793H, SRI’s Class III survey identified and recorded 11 archaeological sites within the APE. As quickly as possible, BNSF obtained cultural resource clearance to work in all areas of the APE, with the exception of the 2 archaeological sites where SRI was performing data recovery. In addition to tasks previously mentioned (conducting geoarchaeological investigations, archival research, and a Class III survey; preparing a HAER; and carrying out data recovery at CA-SBR-425/H and CA-SBR-12569/H), SRI was retained to monitor all grubbing and clearing and much of the construction excavation for the project. Monitoring resulted in the discovery of intact features associated with Upper Keenbrook railway station. SRI prepared and implemented a data recovery plan to recover the information potential of this site. All portions of this project are complete.