Welcome to the
Oakhurst Railroad!
Updated September 2016
Announcements:
1)
Look for the Oakhurst Railroad in the July 2016 issue of Model Railroader!!!!
2)
Visit and “like” the Oakhurst Railroad page on Facebook (Oakhurst
Railroad page on Facebook) to
see more photos and location information and to see the latest news on
operating sessions.
3) See the new G-gauge 40 ft x 50 ft garden railroad adjacent
to the HO scale layout!
4) The Oakhurst Railroad will particpate in the local NMRA
Convention on Septmber 21st and 25th. There will be an Open House/Layout tour on
Sunday September 25th from 12-4:30 PM and BOTH layouts (HO and
G-gauge) will be operating!
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 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
Check me out on Facebook
Check out the Oakhurst Railroad page on Facebook
Updates (2015-2016)
1) The 25th Operating
Session was held on May 1, 2016 and the 26th Session on June 11,
2016.
2) The Oakhurst
Railroad participated in SoCal Ops (http://www.socalops.com/)
on June 8-12, 2016
3) The Oakhurst
station building and most of the businesses in Oakhurst have been replaced with
Campbell kits, specifically altered to fit in their locations. Fantastic structure modeler Bob Grech constructed and detailed them for me and they turned
out great!
Updates (August 2013)
1) The Oakhurst
Railroad was open for visitors as part of the 33rd Narrow Gauge
Convention (http://www.33rdnngc.com/) on Saturday August 31st
Updates (April 2013)
1) New Heislers #1 and #3 have been added to the Oakhurst Railroad (old Climax #1 and old Heisler #3 have been retired)
2) 6th Operating session was conducted on April 20th
Updates (June-Oct
2012):
1) Layout diagrams updated
2) Many visitors for my 50th Birthday Party. Thanks for coming by!
3) 5th Operating Session was held Friday June 29th at 6:30 PM. If you are interested in participating in future sessions, please contact me.
4) All locomotives, except old # 1 have been converted to oil burners. Only #1 is still a wood burner.
(photo
by Bob C.)
Updates (March 2012):
1) Upgraded material in Schedule and Operations link
2) Updated photos in upgraded Logging Areas link
3) Built a Rio Grande Models Ltd. McGiffert loader. It is now working at Camp #3.
Updates (October-December
2011):
I rearranged and greatly improved the logging rigging at Central Camp using pulleys and other hardware from Rio Grande Models Ltd and grey Berkshire Junction E Z Line. It was difficult to get good photos of the rigging, but take a look. I have installed a high line and a log loading rig. Also built a craftsman steam donkey kit and added it to the scene.
Updates (Sept 2011):
1) Check out the new Oakhurst Railroad page on Facebook
2) Three formal operation sessions were held in July, August, and September 2011. They were a great success, at least judging by the comments of the operators. If you are interested in participating in a future operating session please contact me.
Helix and Construction Photos: Construction and Helix
Map and Track Plan (finally updated Oct 2012): 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:
Photobucket:
http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n183/mkbradley_photos/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=542&id=1067838506&l=3dcbd0fb98
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 pictures taken by a visitor at the February 2011 Open House tour:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayer8ha/sets/72157625999022931/show/
Link to photos of the OLD 16 foot x 16 inch Oakhurst Railroad:
Link to the model railroad club where I am the superintendent of the Sequoia Pacific logging branch:
Los Angeles Model Railroad Society (website)
Los Angeles Model Railroad Society (Facebook)
Our local model railroad group led by Bob Chaparro. He organizes model railroad tours:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Model_Railroads_Of_Southern_California/
Link to the actual Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad in Fish Camp:
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). (Yes, I actually finished this on! It took 3 years …)
13) Newell Deane, Dorothy, “Sierra Railway”, 1960.
14) Kreig, Allan, “Last of the 3 Foot Loggers”, 1962.
15) Johnston, Hank, “Railroads of the Yosemite Valley”, 1963.
16) Johnston, Hank, “Railroads to the Minarets – The Story of the Sugar Pine Lumber Company”