SAN DIEGO -- It has been 20 years in the making, but within weeks freight trains could once again connect San Diego and the Imperial Valley through the Carrizo Gorge.

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DESERT TRAIN LINE See Images Of Desert Train

Geoff Sherman and his crew have been laboring to reopen Carrizo Gorge, the largest curved wooden trestle in North America that was destroyed by vandals 20 years ago.

First built in 1919 by John D. Spreckles, the line closed in 1984 when several tunnels collapsed.

"The hard part's done. They got all the heavy rock out of the way and now they're digging the last of the debris," Sherman said.

In the eerie light, specks of blue granite drift through the air as work crews begin to mark the tunnel and begin lining up the road bed for the steel rails.

Once the line is open, the ultimate goal is to tap into the agricultural wealth on the other side of the mountain in Imperial Valley. A contract to haul sand for cement companies will be the first out of the valley but there is virtually no limit.

"Just about anything that comes by rail could come over this line -- fuel, lumber, food, construction materials -- just about anything," Sherman said.

In a few weeks, the impossible railroad may just be possible again.

If there are no delays, the first freight could roll out of Plaster City, Calif., through the Gorge and into San Diego in late February or early March.