Welcome to the
Oakhurst Railroad!
June 24, 2010
The Oakhurst Railroad is an HO scale model railroad running through the central Sierra town of Oakhurst, California. Although no real railroad ever ran through Oakhurst, the area is rich in logging and gold mining history and several railroads and logging flumes operated nearby. My parents and brothers used to live and work in Oakhurst and I spent many summers there. After about 20 years of planning and dreaming, my son and I built the first 16-foot by 16-inch Oakhurst Railroad in the garage at our previous house in Downey.
In 2004 we were house shopping in the Los Alamitos/Rossmoor area and spotted our new house. I was quick to find the “office” that a previous owner had built into a portion of the garage. My wife Nancy was thinking kid’s playroom/junk room but that idea never had a chance. We made a quick offer on this house and it was accepted. The next day I bothered the sellers by asking to take measurements of the new “train room”. I spent the escrow time planning the track plan and layout arrangement. By the time we moved in, finished unpacking, and fixing a few things, I was ready to start construction of the new Oakhurst Railroad. Within about 3 months, trains were running. About 3 months later, basic scenery was in place. Since then I have slowly been adding details to the layout.
The
Oakhurst Railroad is a two level point-to-point railroad with a helix and an
optional continuous run. For operations,
trains are put together in the Oakhurst yard and then travel to the logging or
mining areas on the upper level. Logs
are taken from Camp 3 or Central Camp to the North Fork sawmill. Cut lumber and mining ore are taken to
Oakhurst for interchange with a Southern Pacific branch line that connects to
the mainline in Fresno. Passenger trains
take guests to and from the Yosemite resort in Wawona.
I hope you enjoy your trip on the Oakhurst Railroad!
Marty Bradley
Recent Updates (March-May 2010)
- 3-Truck Shay #7 (sound equipped) added to roster
- The Oakhurst Railroad converted to Digitrax DCC
- Scarlet Slipper Opens in Oakhurst
- Sierra Railroad #24 2-8-0 Visits
- Tim’s Place Saloon and a Blacksmith Shop have been added in Oakhurst
Scarlet Slipper Saloon has opened in Oakhurst. Thanks to a gift from Orange County master modeler Bob Grech, the famous Campbell kit saloon is now open in Oakhurst. Some local residents thought it was a dance studio. It replaced a set of 2-D building flats. Also seen is Sierra Railroad #24 visiting from another great modeler, Jeff Gorjans and his San Dimas Southern layout.
After the Scarlet Slipper was added, I built two Alpine Division Scale Models kits: A Saloon and a Blacksmith Shop, which can been seen in this picture:
Helix and Construction Photos: Construction and Helix
Map and Track Plan: Track Plan
Layout Grade and Elevation Diagram: Grade Diagram
Station Tour Photos: Station Tour Photos
Locomotive, Passenger Car, and Freight Car Roster: Locomotives and Rolling Stock
Train Schedules and Operations: Train Schedules
Pictures and discussion on how I added a gallows to the Atlas turntable: Turntable Gallows Construction
Pictures of the Railfan Excursion Event and Barbecue: Railfan Excursion Event
Movie Clips: Movie Links using Photobucket Movies.htm
Photos of Logging Areas: Logging
Areas.htm
“Aerial” Photography: High
Angle Photos.htm
Other pictures of the current Oakhurst Railroad:
http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n183/mkbradley_photos/
I’m learning to take better pictures as time goes on, so hopefully the quality of the pictures is improving along with the quality of the railroad …
Link to photos of the old 16 foot x 16 inch Oakhurst Railroad:
Link to the model railroad club I just joined (as a probational member):
Los Angeles Model Railroad Society (website)
Los Angeles Model Railroad Society (Facebook)
Book References:
1) Johnson, Hank, “The Whistle Blows No More – Railroad Logging in the Sierra Nevada 1874-1942”, 1984.
2) Johnson, Hank, “Thunder in the Mountains – The Life and Times of the Madera Sugar Pine Company”, 1995.
3) Johnson, Hank, “They Felled the Redwoods – A Saga of Flumes and Rails in the High Sierra”, 1996.
4) Sargent, Shirly, “Yosemite’s Historic Wawona”, 1979.
5) Wurm, Ted, “Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Railroad – San Francisco’s Water and Power Project”, 2000.
6) Johnston, Jeff, “The MDC Shay Handbook”, 1997.
7) Westcott, Kenneth & Johnson, Curtiss, “The Pacific Coast Railway – Central California’s Premier Narrow Gauge”, 1998. (Turntable)
8) Johnson, Hank, “Short Line to Paradise – The Story of the Yosemite Valley Railroad”, 1971.
9) Ferrell, Mallory, “West Side Pictorial”, 2000.
10) Furlow, Malcolm, “HO Narrow Gauge Railroad You Can Build”, 1984.
11) Coleman, Matt, “The Model Railroader’s Guide to Logging Railroads”, 2008.
12) Bryant, Ralph, “Logging – The Principles and General Methods of Operation in the United States”, 2008 (original printing 1913).