View source for Santa Paula Branch Line

{{Short description|Railway corridor in California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Santa Paula Branch|collapsed=y}}
[[File:DSC6254x4 (15228314923).jpg|thumb|A [[Fillmore and Western Railway]] excursion operating over the Santa Paula Branch Line in 2014]]
The '''Santa Paula Branch Line''' is a railway corridor in [[Ventura County, California]]. It connects [[Saugus, Santa Clarita, California|Saugus]] and [[Santa Paula, California|Santa Paula]] through the [[Santa Clara River Valley]], though the route east of [[Piru, California|Piru]] is out of service. It opened for traffic by the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]] in 1887. Since 1995 the line has been owned by the [[Ventura County Transportation Commission]].

== History ==
[[File:Twisted Tracks.jpg|thumb|Flood-twisted railroad track is from the [[St. Francis Dam]] Flood on March 12–13, 1928. Track pictured is between Castaic Junction and Piru. ]]
[[File:Southern Pacific LA access.png|thumb|left|Map of the Southern Pacific Railroad's different routes into Los Angeles from the north]]
The track is a [[standard gauge]] railroad constructed in 1887 by the Southern Pacific Branch Railway Company (a company controlled by and later absorbed into the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]]) through the [[Santa Clara River Valley]] in [[Ventura County]], California.<ref>{{Robertson-Western Railroad|p=240}}</ref> This line was originally part of the [[Coast Line (UP)|Southern Pacific's main line]] between [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]] and [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] before the shorter [[Montalvo Cutoff]] was built through the [[Santa Susana Mountains]] in 1904. [[California State Route 126|State Route 126]] follows roughly the same route from [[Ventura, California|Ventura]] to [[Santa Clarita, California|Santa Clarita]]. Much of the line was destroyed by flooding from the [[St. Francis Dam]] failure in 1928.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 14, 1928 |title=Loss in property likely to exceed $7,000,000 |page=3 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/95259236/st-francis-dam-collapse-page-3/ |access-date=January 8, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}}</ref> The track was used extensively by Southern Pacific as late as the 1950s to haul [[citrus]] from packing houses at the communities along the [[Santa Clara River (California)|Santa Clara River]].  The eastern end of the line terminates in [[Piru, California|Piru]] as storm damage in 1979 severed the eastern end of the line to [[Saugus, Santa Clarita, California|Saugus]] in [[Los Angeles County]]. Southern Pacific formally abandoned the line in 1983.<ref name="Coast-84">{{Cite news |date=June 1984 |title=Coast Line History |work=The Ferroequinologist |url=http://slorrm.com/images/coast_line_hist.pdf |access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref> In 1995, the [[branch line]] was purchased from Southern Pacific by the Ventura County Transportation Commission.<ref name="McLeod2014">{{Cite news |last=McLeod |first=Jean |date=July 23, 2014 |title=Western Railway, VCTC still at odds over track maintenance, lease |work=The Fillmore Gazette |url=http://www.fillmoregazette.com/front-page/western-railway-vctc-still-odds-over-track-maintenance-lease |access-date=August 19, 2018}}</ref>

The [[Fillmore and Western Railway]] rented the line starting in 1991. The company operated excursion trains as well as hosted trains for film shoots. Fillmore and Western's lease agreement expired after June 30, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Request for Proposals for An Operator of Rail Service on the Santa Paula Branch Line |url=https://www.goventura.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ITEM-10A_REQUEST-FOR-PROPOSAL-FOR-SPBL.pdf |access-date=December 23, 2020 |publisher=Ventura County Transportation Commission}}</ref> The final scheduled excursion trip was on June 26.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Garcia |first=Sid |date=June 28, 2021 |title=Future of beloved Fillmore & Western Railway in Ventura County uncertain |agency=ABC7 |url=https://abc7.com/fillmore-trains-and-western-railway-company-ventura-county-commission/10832039/ |access-date=June 28, 2021}}</ref> In 2021, [[Sierra Northern Railway]] signed a 30-year lease to operate over the Santa Paula Branch Line.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Alex |date=July 13, 2022 |title=Sierra Northern Moves to Santa Paula {{!}} Railroad company leases former hay and grain building |agency=VC Reporter |url=https://www.vcreporter.com/news/sierra-northern-moves-to-santa-paula-railroad-company-leases-former-hay-and-grain-building/article_1043f70a-c30e-5493-bee5-d05c12e859da.html |access-date=January 7, 2023}}</ref> They will also maintain the rail line.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=December 8, 2021 |title=Ventura County approves deal for new Santa Paula Branch Line rail operator |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/santa-paula/2021/12/18/ventura-county-transportation-sierra-northern-railway-santa-paula-branch-line/6507640001/ |access-date=February 22, 2023 |website=Ventura County Star |language=en-US}}</ref> During the first year of operation, they ran one train a week and continued pursuing the filming business.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Messera |first=R. |date=January 23, 2023 |title=Washed-out bridge on Southern California short line could cost $1.5 million to replace |language=en-US |work=Trains |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/washed-out-bridge-on-southern-california-short-line-could-cost-1-5-million-to-replace/ |access-date=January 24, 2023}}</ref> A section of the bridge over [[Sespe Creek]] washed away on January 10, 2023, during the [[2022–2023 California floods|extended rain storms that hit California]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilson |first=Kathleen |date=January 20, 2023 |title=Debris in Sespe Creek may have undermined railroad bridge supports during storms |language=en-US |work=Ventura County Star |url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2023/01/20/repairs-to-broken-fillmore-train-bridge-could-cost-1-5m/69822832007/ |access-date=January 24, 2023}}</ref>

== Future use ==
Transportation planners in the Southern California region have been studying the feasibility of restoring the eastern end of the line between Santa Paula and Santa Clarita in order to establish [[Metrolink (California)|Metrolink]] service, at least since 1991.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Green |first=Nick |date=January 25, 1997 |title=Santa Clara Valley Training for Future |agency=[[LA Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-01-25-me-21988-story.html |access-date=December 22, 2020 |quote=A 1991 study estimated the cost of upgrading the route for passenger service at between $70 million and $90 million.}}</ref> This would require bringing existing track up to passenger standards, adding passing sidings and acquisition of new right-of-way for track between the current eastern terminus of the line located just west of [[Interstate 5 in California|Interstate 5]] (I-5) and Metrolink's [[Antelope Valley Line]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dyson |first=Paul |date=February 28, 2007 |title=RailPAC President's COMMENTARY: Why I oppose the plan to reopen the Santa Paula Line |url=http://archive.railpac.org/issues/president/200608p.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228065417/http://archive.railpac.org/issues/president/200608p.html |archive-date=February 28, 2007 |access-date=August 19, 2018 |website=Rail Passenger Association of California |via=archive.org}}</ref>  The new line would also require construction of a bridge over the south fork of the [[Santa Clara River (California)|Santa Clara River]] and an [[Level crossing|at-grade crossing]] or a [[flying junction]] at [[San Fernando Road]]. This line would have the potential to relieve some of the current commuter load on the I-5 corridor between [[California State Route 126|State Route 126]] and [[California State Route 14|State Route 14]] as well as providing future commute options for [[Newhall Ranch, California|housing development]] in northern [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles County]] and Ventura County communities in the [[Santa Clara River Valley]].

== Rail trail ==
Segments of the line in Santa Paula, Fillmore, and Piru are paralleled by the Santa Paula Branch Line Recreational Trail.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kelly |first=Peggy |date=October 29, 2010 |title=Groundbreaking held for SP Branch Line Recreation Trail |agency=Santa Paula Times |url=https://santapaulatimes.com/news/archivestory.php/aid/21891/Groundbreaking_held_for_SP_Branch_Line_Recreation_Trail.html |access-date=January 8, 2023}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Rail lines in California]]
[[Category:Transportation in Ventura County, California]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1887]]
[[Category:Southern Pacific Railroad lines]]