SANTA PAULA, Calif. — After departing Fillmore in a disagreement over use of a city-owned rail yard there, the Sierra Northern Railway, Ventura Division, has moved its operational headquarters some 9 miles west to the former Santa Paula Hay and Grain facility on 12th Street in Santa Paula.
The move was effective as of July 1.
“We are pleased to partner with Santa Paula Hay and Grain and the city of Santa Paula to develop our new base of operations,” Sierra Northern President Kennan Beard said in a press release. “We are looking forward to integrating ourselves into the community.” Ventura Division manager Matt Blackburn said the “4,000-square-foot shop and 1.5 acres of yard are an excellent fit for the needs of the railroad.”
The railroad anticipates expansion of facilities for passenger excursions, movie and television shoots, RailBike rentals, and freight and transload operations.
Sierra Northern holds a 35-year lease from the Ventura County Transportation Commission on 30 miles of right-of-way between Ventura and Piru, Calif. It initially located in Fillmore, which had been home of the line’s previous operator, the Fillmore & Western, but the railroad and city were unable to agree to terms for use of city facilities.
When the railroad announced its departure from Fillmore in June, Blackburn said, “It is unfortunate that the city does not want to continue to work with us as this means a loss of excursion operations for the residents of Fillmore” [see “Sierra Northern’s Ventura Division forced out of city-owned yard …,” Trains News Wire, June 2, 2022], while the city claimed in a press release that the railroad would not agree to contract language “preventing Sierra Northern Railway from doing anything with the property that would bother the neighbors.”
