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 easy terrain in the coastal plain and along the Santa Clara River Valley. Santa Paula and Fillmore, even in the early 1900s, were well-established towns supported by agriculture and the early oil industry.
Sespe Hot Springs: About 15 miles north of Fillmore along Sespe Creek is Sespe Hot Springs. There was once a road to the hot springs from the east, but even that is gone today. There were discussions from time to time
about building a resort here, one of which included building a monorail from Fillmore -- this was around 1920. If the railroad had been built, I assume the resort would have become a reality. This would have justified running passenger trains at least this far up the line. In the photo, the B&V line would have entered the picture from the right, and continued up the canyon at the rear.
Mutah Flat: I don't know exactly how the B&V proposed to cross the ridge north of the hot springs.
There is a hiking trail, the Johnson Ridge Trail, that starts north of the hot springs and goes to Mutah, so perhaps the railroad would have gone that way. At any rate, Mutah Flat is on the other side of the ridge and can be reached by a fairly good dirt Forest Service Road, Grade Valley Road, which comes in from Lockwood Valley Road. Mutah Flat is named for an early settler who had a ranch in this area. It is said that he was a horse thief who stole horses down to the south near Los Angeles, brought them up to this remote location, then later drove them north to Bakersfield or out to Santa Maria to sell. And presumably, vice-versa. There was never any kind of a settlement here other than that, but I assume the railroad would have at least put a fuel and water stop here, and maybe a small town would have grown. There was some limited lumbering around the area, and small-time gold prospecting, so on my line maps I've located a small lumber mill here, as well as occasional agricultural traffic. The picture shows the very attractive valley at Mutah, which remains much as it appeared 100 years ago.
Stauffer: On a branch or narrow gauge line, anywhere from two to five miles from Lockwood (depending on exactly where Lockwood is), Stauffer was a real town that housed and supported miners who worked in three fairly large borax mines in the hills on the south side of Lockwood Valley at the base of Mount Pinos.
Scheideck: About 20 miles west of Lockwood, on a side road off Lockwood Valley Road, is the little outpost of Camp Scheideck, which consists of a hundred-year-old bar and grill and a couple dozen vacation cabins, adjacent to the Reyes Creek Forest Service campground. It's mile or so off the likely route of the B&V, but I've included it as a station on my route map anyway. Reyes might be a better name. The Reyes family were early settlers in the area; there's a creek and a mountain named for them, and Jacinto Reyes, a descendant of the original settlers, was the first Forest Service ranger assigned to the area.
Maricopa: The small town was once a stop on the real-world Sunset Railroad and was the stated destination of the projected B&V. From here, the Sunset Railroad connects to the Santa Fe (now BNSF) and the SP (now Union Pacific) near Bakersfield. I imagine that in the era modelled, the 1950s, the B&V has trackage rights to Bakersfield. Nearly all of the Sunset is now gone. Photo shows the very substantial Sunset Railroad depot.
North of Fillmore, it's a different story. There are no towns and only a few small communities along the route until you get to the other end at Maricopa. I'm assuming that if the railroad was built, some of the small outposts that where there in 1905-1910 would have grown. Here are the towns along the imaginary B&V:
about building a resort here, one of which included building a monorail from Fillmore -- this was around 1920. If the railroad had been built, I assume the resort would have become a reality. This would have justified running passenger trains at least this far up the line. In the photo, the B&V line would have entered the picture from the right, and continued up the canyon at the rear.
There is a hiking trail, the Johnson Ridge Trail, that starts north of the hot springs and goes to Mutah, so perhaps the railroad would have gone that way. At any rate, Mutah Flat is on the other side of the ridge and can be reached by a fairly good dirt Forest Service Road, Grade Valley Road, which comes in from Lockwood Valley Road. Mutah Flat is named for an early settler who had a ranch in this area. It is said that he was a horse thief who stole horses down to the south near Los Angeles, brought them up to this remote location, then later drove them north to Bakersfield or out to Santa Maria to sell. And presumably, vice-versa. There was never any kind of a settlement here other than that, but I assume the railroad would have at least put a fuel and water stop here, and maybe a small town would have grown. There was some limited lumbering around the area, and small-time gold prospecting, so on my line maps I've located a small lumber mill here, as well as occasional agricultural traffic. The picture shows the very attractive valley at Mutah, which remains much as it appeared 100 years ago.
From Mutah, the sources I have found so far don't say exactly where the railroad would have gone, except that it would eventually have reached the Cuyama River (which would probably be called a creek anywhere but southern California). The most logical route in reality would probably be north along the present route of Grade Valley Road, but I've taken advantage of the ambiguity to route my version of the B&V northeast along Mutah Creek to Piru Creek, then continuing along Piru Creek to Lockwood Creek.
Lexington: At the confluence of Lockwood Creek and Piru Creek, there's a Forest Service campground called Sunset Campground. In the 1880s, this was the site of a small community called Lexington. A promotor spread a rumor that a large gold deposit, a "mother lode," had been discovered, and that a boom was sure to follow; he laid out a townsite and sold lots. It's not clear if he actually owned the land he was selling, and in any case, the mother lode didn't exist, the boom never happened, and the promoter disappeared with the money. A few cabins and a store were built and survived for a few years. There's nothing left of it today. In my alternate history, a small trackside community survives in the 20th Century, serving farmers and small-time miners, as well as hunters and fishermen.
From Lexington, the line continues north up Lockwood Creek.
Long Dave Canyon: The alleged mother lode was a myth, but there were several small gold mines on Frazier Mountain north of Lockwood Creek, and old topo maps show a mill in the canyon along this stretch of Lockwood Creek. There was a mine a few miles away up a side canyon called Long Dave Canyon. It would be interesting to model the mill and a small, basic mining railroad (I'm thinking 2-foot gauge with a little tank engine and a few side-dump mine cars) running up to the mine. Maybe something I'll do as a micro-layout in On30 one of these days. If I model this part of the line in HO, I'll include the mill with either an HOn30 line disappearing into the background, or perhaps a cable line.
If the B&V followed Lockwood Creek north, it would have reached Lockwood Valley. Lockwood Valley Road runs east-west along the north side of the valley. Lockwood Creek crosses the road two or three miles west of the site of the borax mines at Stauffer, though in reality, the railroad would more likely have stayed on the south side of the valley.
Lockwood: This is where I have located a division point on the line. It's not quite half way, but continuing north from here the going is much easier than the route from here to Fillmore, so this would be a good place to refuel, rewater, and maybe change crews. And there is plenty of room in this area to build a yard and service facilities. From this point, I assume that either a standard gauge branch line, or a narrow gauge feeder, would run northeast to serve the borax mines at Stauffer and perhaps continue to serve smaller mines and sawmills to the east. Lockwood will probably be the centerpiece of my HO railroad, with a small freight yard, locomotive servicing facilities, the branch line or narrow gauge interchange to Stauffer, and a thriving little town.
It's confusing, because there seem to have been two different locations called Stauffer, one near present-day Adams Trail, near the Frazier Mine, and another a few miles east at what is now Seymour Canyon Road, at the Russell Mine. The picture is from a couple of decades after the mines ceased operation, and I think shows the Russell Mine in the background. The building in the foreground is identified in another picture from the same collection as the post office.
Ozena: Where Lockwood Valley Road meets Highway 33, near where the Cuyama River turns from running east-to-west, to south-to-north, there's a Forest Service fire station and a campground, as well as a few cabins. The original Reyes ranch was located near here.
Ventucopa: From Ozena, the railroad would run through the Cuyama Valley, where there is a fair amount of agriculture, and to to north, some oil wells. Ventucopa is around the middle of the valley. The name is a combination of Ventura and Maricopa. With 100 people, it's the biggest town in the area.
Cuyama: The last sort-of town before Maricopa is Cuyama, population 57. New Cuyama, a few miles west, was established in the 1950s to house employees working in the oil fields, and is considerably bigger than the old town. In one version of my alternate history, this is a division point: One line runs west from here to Santa Maria, and another goes east toward Bakersfield.
Maricopa: The small town was once a stop on the real-world Sunset Railroad and was the stated destination of the projected B&V. From here, the Sunset Railroad connects to the Santa Fe (now BNSF) and the SP (now Union Pacific) near Bakersfield. I imagine that in the era modelled, the 1950s, the B&V has trackage rights to Bakersfield. Nearly all of the Sunset is now gone. Photo shows the very substantial Sunset Railroad depot.
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