Western Railroad Discussion > City of Fillmore, CA asks Sierra Northern to leave station/yard..

From Trains.com:

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/sierra-northerns-ventura-division-forced-out-of-city-owned-yard-in-fillmore-calif/

Also, as posted on FB from the Santa Paula Times:

FILLMORE KICKS OUT TRAIN?

The City of Fillmore has asked the Sierra Northern Railway to leave the historic station area, according to an SNR press release
The Santa Paula Times is awaiting comment from Fillmore City Manager David Rowlands.

According to the June 1 press release:

Effective immediately the Sierra Northern Railway, Ventura Division, an FRA-regulated common carrier railroad, has been asked to move out of the Fillmore railyard by the City of Fillmore, CA.
The property is owned by the city. “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 who for so many years grew up around the trains,” said Matthew Blackburn, Sierra Northern Railway Ventura Division Manager.

The Sierra Northern Railway, Ventura Division operates 30 miles of railroad right-of-way owned by the Ventura County Transportation Commission as provided for in a 35-year lease. The company and its predecessors have hosted a variety of excursions, freight operations, and filming locations for dozens of motion picture and television productions

The company is in the process of pursuing relocation to another online community. Normal Sierra Northern Ventura Division business will continue as usual.
The company anticipates the reintroduction of excursion trains and railbike adventures originating from the new facility in the near future.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/22 10:07 by PasadenaSub.

There has got to be a back story for this move!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/22 07:14 by TomPlatten.

I don't have a good feeling about this entire line and the new railroad.   If they were going to make a go of it, it would have happened by now.    I hope I'm wrong...

 

You have to wonder if the City of Fillmore wanted an increase in what they were being paid to use the station and the yard and the Sierra Northern folks called their bluff and said no.

I'll bet the mortgage that the city of Fillmore wants more money.   The Reading and northern pulled out of jim thorpe bc the city fathers wanted  to tax excurion train fares  as an "amusement ride"    So many of these ciies think every operation within their jurisdiction is a cash cow that they should get a bigger slice of.    They should be happy for the tourism $$, but instead, they are greedy.   If there are businesses that benefit from tourism in Fillmore, they will let the city know what they think of this power play.

Other factor is high price of land in CA these days.  SO developers could be offering the city a ton of money for the land.  Developers will destroy anything to make a buck. 

Maybe it do to there not running passengers trains like they said they were going to?

Posted from Android

Thanks Brother Rich (PasadenaSub) for bringing this important news to our collective attention.  The area between Central Avenue and Mountain View Street encompassing the Fillmore Depot and some of the railroad's ancillary tracks is a definite boon to tourism in Fillmore.  Any visitor to the area is naturally drawn there.  The area also features the turntable and equipment of the Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society.  To not have the railroad based at that site seems counter-intuitive.

If the Sierra Northern Ventura County Division has to move its base of operations, I would love for it to be to Piru.  However, I doubt there is enough room there.  I suspect it will be Santa Paula as there appears to be plenty of room at that location.  As others have speculated, the City of Fillmore may change their mind if there is an economic benefit to them.

In the run-up to the awarding of the contract to operate the line to Sierra Northern, many of us were focused on the Ventura County Transportation Commission (A County Agency).  It didn't occur to me that one of the cities served by the railroad would throw a wrench into the works.

Gary Sugg
Glendora, CA
(Brother of PasadenaSub)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/22 19:19 by WP921.

Here it is from the City

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

---

Thx for the news release. 

IDK.....I guess we'll see what happens.   Sure doesnt paint SN in a good light, but ive never met a city manager that was trustworthy, either.
"The truth is out there"

Yes they did pull out of Jim Thorpe... After about a month the city relented...

My understanding of the Lease and Operations Agreement by and between Ventura County Transportation Commission ("VCTC") and Sierra Northern Railway ("Railway") is that the Railway has the right to conduct railroad operations on the line and it also has complete access to all VCTC property within the right-of-way, including through downtown Fillmore and incorporating the Storage Yard east of Mountain View Street.  At places, the right-of-way is quite wide, so after considering this, I do not think the City of Fillmore has any desire to acquire and sell the land upon which the Storage Yard is built, for the simple reason they do not own the land.  The land upon which the Fillmore Storage Yard is built is owned by the County of Ventura, administered by VCTC, and under a 35 year lease to the Railway, subject to renewal.

I have edited my earlier post accordingly and removed any reference to speculation on land acquisition by the City of Fillmore.

Gary Sugg
Glendora, CA

 

pdt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thx for the news release. 
>
> IDK.....I guess we'll see what happens.   Sure
> doesnt paint SN in a good light, but ive never met
> a city manager that was trustworthy, either.
> "The truth is out there"

I'd point out that, in CA at least,  a city manager serves at the direction and will of the elected City Council.  After 50+ years of working with city managers in countless cities,  I can count on one hand those who I would consider subpar for one reason or the other.   The majority were people of the highest caliber and ethical standards.

pdt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Reading and northern
> pulled out of jim thorpe bc the city fathers
> wanted  to tax excurion train fares  as an
> "amusement ride"  

Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railroad excursions are currently being operated on the Reading & Northern out of Jim Thorpe.  

https://www.lgsry.com/

Our city manager is excellent and I'd consider the letter to be reasonable. The Sierra, true to
their own intersts, will work their side of the street. That's as diplomatic as I can put that.

Out

That's a sad news. I had the chance to visit Fillmore in 2012 while in LA area and I could take a ride in the passenger train. It was a nice day. Hope they can have an agreement to keep the passenger trains running.

Posted from Android

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1