The Ventura County Railroad is a
class III railroad subsidiary of
Genesee & Wyoming, connecting the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
in
Oxnard
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
to
South Oxnard and
Port Hueneme. It began operations in 1998 under
RailAmerica, leasing its lines from the Ventura County Railway , owner of lines first opened in about 1905 that have remained independent of larger carriers. The railroad serves industrial areas including the
Port of Hueneme
The Port of Hueneme in the city of Port Hueneme, California, United States, is the only deep water harbor between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. Located in Ventura County on the Santa Barbara Channel, the port complex not only se ...
and Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center at
Naval Base Ventura County.
Origin
Before
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
port facilities were developed, Port Hueneme seemed a viable competitor; and VCRR's earliest predecessor, the Bakersfield and Ventura Railway, was incorporated in February 1903 to build a railroad from Port Hueneme to
Bakersfield
Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
via
Santa Paula and
Piru Canyon. Construction began in 1907 with a main line from Port Hueneme up C Street in Oxnard, plus a westerly branch to Patterson Ranch and a easterly branch to DeBo, Petit, and Round Mountain (now on the campus of
California State University Channel Islands). It was reorganized as the Bakersfield and Ventura ''Railroad'' in June 1908 with the Oxnard line moved to A street. A
railway turntable was constructed at the intersection of First and A Streets in Oxnard where gas motor cars were turned on their six to eight daily round trips
until passenger service was abandoned in January 1927.
[Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Edition, Kalmbach Publishing, 1996, pp. 321-322]
Passenger service
The company also owned two coach trailers. Car number 003 was used as a standby switching locomotive after passenger service was abandoned.
[
]
Steam era
The property was again sold in June 1911 to the Ventura County Railway, which had been incorporated in May in the interests of the American Beet Sugar Company (renamed American Crystal Sugar Company
American Crystal Sugar Company is an agricultural cooperative specializing in the production of sugar and related agri-products. American Crystal is owned by nearly 2,800 shareholders who raise approximately one-third of the nation's sugarbeet ac ...
in 1934), which owned a beet sugar factory at Oxnard. The railroad brought carloads of beets to the factory from surrounding farms; and Port Hueneme packing houses provided 1200 carloads of lemons, 200 carloads of beans, and 75 carloads of box boards annually. World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
development of the Ventura County naval base enabled the line to avoid abandonment as trucks took over shipment of agricultural commodities.
Locomotives
Diesel era
Martin V. Smith purchased the line in 1958. The Ventura County Railroad, organized by RailAmerica to lease the line, began operations in September 1998. The Oxnard Harbor District acquired the Ventura County Railway Company LLC in 2003 with Ventura County Railroad continuing to operate the line.["Municipal Service Review: Oxnard Harbor District"]
''Ventura Local Agency Formation Commission'' (September 19, 2007)
Traffic
The railroad's main commodities are new automobiles, petroleum products and wood products. The VCRR hauls approximately 2,000 carloads annually.
Motive Power
* One EMD GP15-1
* On
EMD GP7DE
(rebuilt from an EMD GP7U EMD may refer to:
Finance and commerce
* Emerging market debt
* Earnest money deposit, in the United States, a security deposit, especially for real estate
Medicine
* Electromagnetic diaphragm
* Electromechanical dissociation
* Emergency me ...
)
* One EMD GP38-2
References
External links
Ventura County Railroad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ventura County Railroad
California railroads
RailAmerica
Railway companies established in 1998
1998 establishments in California