| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Ventura County, California |
| Dates of operation | 1898–1995 |
| Successor | Southern Pacific |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 16 miles (26 km)[1] |
The Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad gave Ojai, California, a connection to the national rail network Pacific Coast Line at Ventura Junction. Ventura Junction was located at Southern Pacific Railroad milepost (MP) 397.3 a short distance west of Ventura station. The railway required grades as steep as three percent following the Ventura River upstream through Chrisman, Wadstrom, Ortonville, and then turning east through Mira Monte into Ojai.[2] The line completed by Captain John Cross in 1898 became a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1899. The first passenger train reached Ojai (then called Nordhoff) on 12 March 1898. Trains leaving Ojai at 07:20 and 16:00 made passenger stops at Grant (near Rotary Community Park), Tico, Las Cross, and Weldons before turning around at Ventura to return to Ojai at 13:00 and 20:15. Southern Pacific operated only one daily passenger train during the summer months;[3] and all passenger service ended in the early 1930s.[4]
Sources of freight included the Ojai Olive Company olive oil extraction plant built near the Ojai depot in 1901, and the Ojai Orange Association citrus packing house built on the east side of Bryant Street about 1910. The packing house was handling from 15% to 20% of the Ventura County citrus production before World War II,[5] and a Shell Oil refinery near the Ventura River shipped refined petroleum products from the Ventura Oil Field.[2]
- ^ "Capitalists Purchase Ojai Valley Railroad". Los Angeles Herald. XXIX (84): 3. 1901.
- ^ a b Oliver, Robert. "The Ojai Branch". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
- ^ Wenig, Ed. "The "iron horse" came to the valley in '98". Ojai History. Ojai Valley Museam. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
- ^ Salcedo-Chourré, Tracy (2001). Rails-to-Trails: California. Guilford, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press. p. 165. ISBN 0-7627-0448-9.
- ^ Doerner, Pat Clark. "Historic Context Statement for the City of Ojai" (PDF). City of Ojai, California, Historic Preservation Commission. Retrieved 25 January 2019.