I was going to ride the northbound Coast Starlight detour on Tuesday March 22, 2011, so did my usual Pacific Surfliner 562 trip to Solana Beach before heading to Los Angeles Union Station for the trip.
The storm which shut down the Coast Line north of Goleta was leaving Southern California as I returned north on Pacific Surfliner 567 which I took to Los Angeles. There I walked over to the Coast Starlight for some pictures after I visited Subway to get some lunch.
The storm has left.
The Coast Starlight awaited its departure time. I was then told the train would go via its normal route. Not wanting to go now, I went down to the south end of the platform and ate lunch while I waited for Pacific Surfliner 774 to arrive to take me home to Santa Ana. Upon arrival, I learnt that the Fillmore Railfest was this weekend and they would be running their steam engine which I had not ridden. I tried to find a friend who wanted to go but had no luck so I bought a ticket online for the 9:00 AM steam trip and planned to go by myself.
Fillmore Railfest 2011Fillmore and Western Railway History
The Fillmore and Western Railway is a railroad owned by the Fillmore and Western Railway Company. The company operates on track owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission. The majority of F&W rolling stock was acquired from three major studios: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros and MGM. The rolling stock and right-of-way are frequently used for the filming of television series, motion pictures and commercials and as a locale for private and commercial still photography. Visitors to Fillmore often see filming activity as well as sets and support equipment at the company's rail yard and along the tracks between Santa Paula and Piru.
The F&W has been used in more than 400 movie, television and commercial shots. Movies shot on the railroad include "Throw Momma from the Train", "Three Amigos", "Seabiscuit", "Get Smart", "Rails & Ties" and "Race to Witch Mountain". Television series "CSI", "NCIS Los Angeles" and "Criminal Minds" have used the railroad for location shooting. The railway also featured in the documentary series "Mystery Diners" as "itself".
The railroad also operates a year-round tourist train and offers numerous special events, including the Railroad Days Festival, the Pumpkinliner, Christmas Tree Trains, the North Pole Express and the Day Out with Thomas. The normal schedule involves weekend excursions, dinner trains, murder mystery trains, barbecue trains and shopping excursions to nearby Santa Paula.
HistoryThe track is a standard gauge railroad constructed in 1887 by Southern Pacific Railroad through the Santa Clara River Valley in Ventura County, California. This line was originally part of the Southern Pacific's main line between San Francisco and Los Angeles before a shorter route was built through the Santa Susana Mountains in 1904. State Route 126 follows roughly the same route from Ventura to Santa Clarita. The track was used extensively by Southern Pacific as late as the 1950s to haul citrus from packing houses at the communities along the Santa Clara River. In 1989, the branch line that connects at its west end to the Union Pacific at Montalvo in Ventura was purchased from Southern Pacific by the Ventura County Transportation Commission. The eastern end of the line now terminates in Piru as storm damage in 1979 severed the eastern end of the line to Saugus in Los Angeles County.
Short Line Enterprises was a company that provided railcars for use in movie productions. They came to Fillmore in 1991 to use the rail line and eventually added tourist and dinner trains.
The Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society will present its sixteenth annual Santa Clara River Valley "Railfest 2011" on March 26th and 27th. This year's Railfest theme is "Steam Returns to Fillmore". The Railfest has become a regional event. The center of activities will be held in Central Park in Fillmore, California. This year Railfest 2011 will be featuring a fully operating & restored Baldwin 1913 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive 14. This locomotive, a 2-8-0, will be powering the "Railfest Special Event" train as well as diesels pulling the "Scenic Excursions" to Santa Paula. Railfest 2011 hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. Admission and parking are free; however, there is a charge for the railway excursions.
I arose early and left at 6:00 AM, driving north on Interstate 5 with no delays to California Highway 126, which I took west to Fillmore. I parked my car and walked to the event, finding they were still setting up. I decided to see what I could photograph this morning.
Mock-ups used in the movies were here for visitors to see.
West Horizon Railway movie prop which was used in "Inception".
Cab of locomotive 1206 from "Unstoppable".
Cab of locomotive 767 used in the same film.
Santa Fe caboose 999570 built by American Car and Foundry in 1927 as Santa Fe 1584 lettered "Blueridge Railroad".
Southern Pacific bay window caboose 1732 built by International Car in 1965.
Fillmore & Western concession baggage 3884, nee Santa Fe 3884, built by Pullman-Standard and the railroad in 1962, which houses the Heritage Valley Station.
Fillmore Western Railway caboose 25322, ex. Union Pacific 25322, nee Union Pacific 2722 built by the railroad in 1955. It was retired in 1986 and sold for scrap to Purdy Metals at Mojave, then sold to Short Line Enterprises, Ltd. and moved to their Newhall Ranch Movie Train operation at Castaic Junction on the upper end of the former Southern Pacific Santa Paula Branch. In 1990, it was moved to Piru then a year later to Fillmore, before being sold in January 1997 to Fillmore & Western Railway. It was then transferred to Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society and stored at Santa Paula. In 2021, it was sold to private party and moved to site near Cable (near Tehachapi).
Southern Pacific business car 99 "Houston" built by Pullman in 1926.
Southern Pacific bay window caboose 1298 built by American Car and Foundry and the railroad in 1949.
This train will take the people going to Santa Paula later this morning.
Fillmore & Western F7A 100, ex. Maryland Midland 100, exx. Winchester and Western 100, exxx. Rails Diversified 410, exxxx. Metra 410, exxxxx. Chicago and North Western 410, nee Chicago and North Western 4068A. It was built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949.
Cotton Belt bay window caboose 63 built by International Car in 1968.
Southern Pacific box car 667808, builder and date unknown.
The 80 ton turntable built in 1906 originally installed in Capreol, Ontario, was purchased from the Canadian National Railway by the Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society and was installed in a newly constructed pit on February 7, 2007.
Union Pacific sleeper 1205 "National Embassy" built by Pullman-Standard in 1955. Owned by the Pacific Railroad Society for a few years, it was later put on display outside the Miramar Resort Hotel in Santa Barbara before being moved to Fillmore in 2000.
Pacific Fruit Express refrigerator car 11403 built by the railroad in 1957.
Santa Fe caboose 999474, nee Santa Fe 530 built by the railroad in 1949.
A steam engine movie prop that was for sale.
The other end of the diesel train had Fillmore and Western 1059 on it and was later going to Santa Paula. Next to it was Fillmore and Western 101.
Fillmore Western F7A 101, ex. Maryland Midland 101, exx. Winchester and Western 101, exxx. Rails Diversified 413, exxxx. Metra 413, exxxxx. Chicago and North Western 413, nee Chicago and North Western 4083A. It was built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949.
Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14, nee Duluth and Northeastern 14, built by Baldwin in 1913 and acquired in 2000, was the reason I was here today.
Southern Pacific caboose 1119 built by the railway in 1942.
Fillmore Western GP35 3501, ex. Arizona and California 3501, exx. Conrail 2262, exxx. Penn Central 2262, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 2262 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1964.
An wooden outside-braced car of unknown origin.
Canadian National baggage-express car 9283 buit by National Steel Corporation in 1958.
Canadian National 14 section kitchen-tourist car 72911 "Point Lance", nee Canadian National 2241 built by Canadian Car and Foundry in 1919.
The other engines at Fillmore.
Another wooden outside-braced box car of unknown origin.
Two more wooden box cars.
KNSD tank car 230055.
Passenger Support Car; history unknown.
Southern Pacific open platform observation car 131 "Los Angeles" built by Pullman in 1926 as "Balboa".
Ventura County S-6 11, ex. Southern Pacific 1277, nee Southern Pacific 4641 built by American Locomotive Company in 1955.
Two more of the Fillmore & Western engines including Short Line Enterprises S-6 1040, ex. Salt Lake, Garfield and Western DS4, exx. Southern Pacific 1207, nee Southern Pacific 1040 built by American Locomotive Company in 1955.
I went and picked up my ticket then walked over to catch Fillmore and Western 14 coming out to meet its train.
Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14 came out from its storage area and stopped.
Fillmore & Western 2-8-0 14. I returned to where I had been.
The engine came out to switch onto its trainset for our trip at 9:00 AM.
Fillmore & Western 14 then reversed to its train.
The engine coupled to its train then pulled down to a stop while the crew finished preparing the engine for this morning's first run.
The train came out so everyone could board for our 9:00 AM steam trip.
The conductor gave a hand signal to spot the train.
With the train now spotted, we were ready to board.
