Talk:Ventura County Railroad

Locomotives
Need to discuss rr locos

Moved from the article
This is unreferenced, so I moved it here: --NE2 05:10, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

The VCY traces its history and construction back to January 1902 when the Bakersfield and Ventura Railway was formed at Fillmore, California. The railway proposed to build from the Southern Pacific Railroad's "Brownstone Spur" at Fillmore, along Grand Avenue and to Sespe Canyon's entrance at Devil's Gate. Building a route from Oxnard (Ventura County) for the 84 miles to Bakersfield would be a significant feat across very mountainous terrain.

Proposed routes
In April 1902 surveys were made for a route north from Oxnard to the town of Maricopa in Kern County. The route would go through the Sespe Mountains to Mutah and Lockwood Valleys, then along the Cuyanne River to Cuyama and then to Sunset (known today as Maricopa, see Sunset Railway).

In 1903 the railway made even grander plans, building a railroad north from the San Fernando Valley through Calabassas Pass to a location called Triunfo.

The railroad also called for building a route from the San Fernando Valley to Fillmore by way of Grimes Canyon.

From Sunset (Maricopa) the railway wanted to construct a railway line up the west side of the San Joaquin Valley to Pacheco Pass. At Pacheco Pass the route would enter northwesterly into the Santa Clara Valley and across the hills to Santa Cruz. Even today, Pacheco Pass remains one of the proposed routes of the California High Speed Rail Commission between San Francisco-Los Angeles.

Abandoned expansion plans
Plans were put into play but little progress was actually made. When the railway finally opened for traffic on July 4 1905 at Port Hueneme, the railroad only reached Oxnard. In 1911 it was clear the railway would never reach Bakersfield. The Bakersfield & Ventura Railway dropped "Bakersfield" from its name and was renamed the Ventura County Railway.