RailFest 2015:Looking Toward the Future

It’s almost time for RailFest 2015, an event that attracts thousands of visitors annually and takes place at Central Park in Fillmore with trains also departing from Santa Paula on the weekend of April 25 and 26 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. “Looking Toward the Future” is the theme of this year’s Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society’s (SCRVRHS) RailFest, co-sponsored by the Fillmore & Western Railway. 

This is SCRVRHS’s annual opportunity to demonstrate its charter as a nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve the history of the old Santa Paula Branch Line. Most of the Festival proceeds benefit the nonprofit, its railroad restoration efforts, and a Roundhouse/Railroad Interpretive Center. 

This event attracts thousands of visitors annually, and SCRVRHS’s President Ron Lewis invites everyone to participate in this year’s RailFest, explaining that the only cost to get in to see all the stuff is “just the gasoline to get there.” 

Following in the SCRVRHS tradition to provide Southern California with a family fun event, Lewis said that “for a buck or two you can take a ride on a speeder … down the tracks along Highway 126 and back. It’s all open air. It’s fun, it’s not expensive, and you can do it as many times as you want.” Speeders are little cars that were used in maintenance in the railroad up into the early ’60s.

RailFest will also offer displays from various railroad-related organizations, including model railroads, Operation Lifesaver, and arts and crafts vendors. People representing various nonprofits societies of the Heritage Valley will be there as well, such as Women in Railroading, Rancho Camulos Group, Topa Topa Flywheelers, and many others who wish to provide more information about what there is to do in Santa Clara Valley. You’ll also find pony rides, turntable demonstrations, ball-toss games, and SCRVRHS’ very own Locomotive Tri-Tip Bar-B-Que at the event.