Bakersfield & Ventura Model Railroad

Doing some online research, I discovered a reference to another model Bakersfield & Ventura. This one was a track plan published in the Model Railroad Planning annual in 2016. I immediately ordered a copy, which I received yesterday. The other B&V was designed by Bryon Henderson, and built by Larry Kedes. The concept is similar to the John Armstrong San Joaquin & Southwestern track plan in his book, 20 Custom Designed Track Plans. It assumes a route from Ventura, following the real-life Ojai branch of the Southern Pacific, then continuing north along the route of Highway 33 -- different routing than what I am assuming based on my research. Because the owner wanted connections with the Union Pacific as well as AT&SF and SP, the concept also assumes that UP acquired an early, real-life shortline that ran from LA to Santa Monica, then also gained control of the Hueneme, Malibu and Port Los Angeles through Malibu to Oxnard. The track plan is focused on the coastal portion ...

As originally proposed, the Bakersfield & Ventura would have run from a connection with the Southern Pacific at Fillmore, about 25 miles from Ventura, to Maricopa on the Sunset Railroad, about 40 miles from Bakersfield. The Sunset has an interesting history in itself and would make an interesting subject for modeling -- see information about it here:  https://www.abandonedrails.com/sunset-railroad . In reality, the B&V built about 10 miles of track from an SP interchange in Oxnard (near Ventura) to the harbor at Port Hueneme, with plans to eventually build its own line from Oxnard to Fillmore. This line, now known as the Ventura County Railroad, continues in operation today. The real world B&V served two communities, Port Hueneme and Oxnard, including some passenger street operations in Oxnard. If the extension to Fillmore had been built, it would have passed through the farming community of Saticoy and the larger town of Santa Paula before reaching Fillmore. This is ea...

Designing a model railroad layout is always a tradeoff between many factors -- ratio of track to scenery, switching vs. mainline running, point-to-point or continuous running -- but most of all, what will fit in the available space. As I think about starting a new B&V, I've been contemplating what appeals to me, personally. I've designed and built a dozen or so layouts of all sizes and configurations, and helped design, built, and operate on club layouts and friends' layouts, so I have a pretty good sense of what I like. That doesn't mean that what I like is "right" or "better" than someone else's preference. You do you, I do me. Not what an article in a model railroad magazine, much less a Facebook post, says is the best way to do things. That said, when I am operating my own layout, I like seeing trains run through reasonably realistic scenery BUT I don't find it satisfying watching them go around in circles (again, I'm not judging ...

So, after a lot of research, studying of maps, driving of back roads, and assorted flights of fancy, here's the concept for my version of the B&V: On the brink of bankruptcy, the B&V was rescued by an investment by the Santa Fe, which saw an opportunity to establish a "back door" into the Los Angeles area. That permitted the line to be built as originally envisioned: From the SP interchange at Fillmore, into the mountains to the Lockwood Valley, then along the Cuyama River to the San Joaquin Valley, where it connected with the Sunset Railroad, co-owned by the SP and Santa Fe. The line was also extended from Fillmore to the SP (now UP) interchange in Oxnard, connecting with the (real-world VCRy) line to Port Hueneme. I'm not 100 percent sure exactly where the proposed line was supposed to run. Articles I've read say up Sespe Creek to Sespe Hot Springs, then north and over the ridge to Mutah Flat; beyond there I'm not sure how it was supposed to get to t...

I'm in the early stages (February 2022) of my second effort to model the Bakersfield & Ventura Railroad, as it might have been if history had been a little different ... or maybe as it is in some other parallel universe. There's more information on the real-world B&V in my other Bakersfield & Ventura blog  https://bakersfieldandventura.blogspot.com/  so I won't go into too much detail here, but in brief: The B&V was a proposed southern California railroad line that would have run from ... wait for it ... Fillmore to Maricopa. To be fair, Fillmore is not far from Ventura, and Maricopa is not too far from Bakersfield. The line would mostly have carried agricultural and petroleum-related freight between the southern San Joaquin Valley and the harbor at Port Hueneme, giving farmers and businesspeople a more direct and less expensive way to get their products to market.  In 1907, the company bought a small streetcar line in Oxnard, extended it to serve a couple...

Engine #58 is one of two Consolidations on the road and is the mainstay of operations (its twin is still in the box but will be put into service once I get a new layout built). These are Bachmann engines with the original tender replaced by a Bachmann SP-style Vanderbilt oil tender. The only other modification was to shave off the "smoke deflector," or whatever it's supposed to be, on the back on the cab roof. They're fitted with TCS DCC modules. This unit has obviously been lettered for the Bakersfield & Ventura and given some weathering. SD&AE #104 My B&V Consolidations were inspired by San Diego & Arizona Eastern #104 and her sister engines. I believe 104 was purchased second-hand from the SP, but SD&AE had a couple of nearly identical engines that they bought new. #104 was probably the first steam engine I ever saw up close. It was on display for many years at the San Diego County Fairgrounds. It's now at the Pacific Southwest Railroad Muse...

Over the weekend, I started building a 16” x 64” diorama.  I’ve been pretty inactive in the hobby for about 15 years. Now that I’m nearing retirement I’m thinking about building another small-to-medium layout (4 x 8 island to as large as a 9 x 15 U-shape). At this point, I’m debating whether to stay with HO (I have a lifetime accumulation of HO equipment) or switch to On30 (I really like the heft and detail, and I’m a sucker for old-time narrow gauge trains). The diorama is meant as a warm-up for that.    I wanted to get a feel for building track and one or two structures in O scale, and try out some new construction techniques, like foam construction and Sculptamold instead of plaster. I plan to hand lay the track, to see if my eyesight and patience as still up to it. The finished product will provide a place to display some of my On30 equipment and do a little photography. It will mostly live on a shelf in my garage/train room, but will be lightweight enough to move out...