Robin Bowers had never been to Fillmore and due to the weekend of limited train service south of Santa Ana, we decided to go since it was Fillmore Railfest and their steam engine would be running. I bought tickets online, to be picked up at will call at the Fillmore station and we were all set for the Sunday 10:00 train behind Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14. Robin picked me up at 7:00 AM and we drove to Fillmore, parking in the City Hall lot and started to explore.
Fillmore and Western Railway HistoryThe 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. 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.
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, built by Electro- Motive Division in 1949.
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, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949.
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.
Movie prop "steam" engine used in the 2013 film "The Lone Ranger" as "Jupiter".
Fillmore Southern Pacific station built in 1887.
Two small switchers ride the Fillmore turntable, one is 1004, history unknown and the other is unmarked.
Fillmore and Western RS-32 4009, ex. Chrome Locomotive 4005, exx. Southern Pacific 4009, nee Southern Pacific 7309, built by American Locomotive Company in 1962.
Fillmore & Western GP35 3502, ex. Arizona Central 3502, exx. Conrail 2339, exxx. Penn Central 2339, nee Pennsylvania Railroad 2339, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1965.
Disney "Lone Ranger" Movie Replica 4-6-0 148.
Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14, nee Duluth and Northeastern 14, built by Baldwin in 1913.
Aother film prop, this from 2010's "Inception", which staged a multi-vehicle car chase on the streets of downtown Los Angeles and involved a freight train crashing down the middle of a street. To do this, the filmmakers configured a train engine on the chassis of a tractor trailer. The replica was made from fiberglass molds taken from authentic train parts and matched in terms of color and design.
Southern Pacific caboose 1119 built by the railroad in 1942. I picked up our will call tickets then saw my acquaintance Bob Riskie, retired Amtrak conductor, who joined us in a photo line.
Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14 reversed out of the storage yard and I took off running down to the next grade crossing.
I caught the steam engine as it made its way to the switch.
Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14 then crossed over to its train track.
Fillmore and Western S-6 1059, ex. Ventura County 9, exx. Southern Pacific 1226, nee Southern Pacific 1059, built by American Locomotive Company in 1956.
Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14 reversed to its train.
Coupling the engine to our train. I then saw that my friend Chris Parker had arrived and joined the line for boarding and soon Robin, then Bob and Chris arrived.
The last car was boarded first then the train reversed into the station so the rest of the passengers could board. The four of us rode in the open car behind the steam engine which we were looking forward to!
Departing Fillmore.
Passing those slumbering diesel locomotives.
Stored passenger cars.
Looking back toward Fillmore.
Chesapeake and Ohio dome car 1851 "Chamberlin Dome"m built by Budd in 1948, currently "Starlight Romance".
Southern Pacific Business Car 99 "Houston" built by Pullman in 1926.
Salt Lake, Garfield and Western S-6 DS4, nee Southern Pacific 1040, built by American Locomotive Company in 1955.
Ventura County S-6 11, ex. Southern Pacific 4641, nee Southern Pacific 1277, built by American Locomotive Company in 1955. I saw this locomotive on a sugar beet train in 1976 returning to Anaheim.
Film props.
Amtrak coach/dormitory 39923, nee Santa Fe 549, built by Budd Company in 1963.
Rounding the first curve east of Fillmore.
We went in and out of the tunnel made from containers.
The California Highway 126 grade crossing.
We had left the Fillmore city limits.
Six truss bridges in a field.
Passing through unique countryside on this beautiful Sunday morning.
The railfans were out and about.
Through the orange groves, not around them! A paraphrase of Denver and Rio Grande Western's slogan "Through The Rockies, Not Around Them"
A very beautiful view. We stopped for a photo runby and I made a photo line which contained twelve people who had a clear sight line.
The reverse move.
The photo runby during which Fillmore and Western 2-8-0 14 put on an excellent show of steam. We returned to Fillmore where everyone detrained and the four of us had the complimentary Tri-Tip sandwiches and ate them at a table. Robin and I drove out to Fish Hatchery Road and set up for the caboose train on its return.
Our caboose photo runby just for the two of us. We returned to Santa Ana, fighting the traffic on Interstate 5 but made it home by 2:20 PM, ending another excellent railfan adventure.
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