Short Line Enterprises[3] was a company that provided railcars for use in movie productions.[4][5][6][7] They came to Fillmore in 1991 to use the rail line and eventually added tourist and dinner trains.[8]
The railroad operated a year-round tourist train and offers numerous special events, including the Railroad Days Festival, the Pumpkinliner, Christmas Tree Trains,[9][10][11] the North Pole Express, and the Day Out with Thomas. The normal schedule involved weekend excursions, dinner trains, murder mystery trains, barbecue trains, and shopping excursions to nearby Santa Paula.[12][13][14][15]
Fillmore and Western Railway tracks. The ex-Canadian turntable is being installed just on the other side of the buildings on the left of the photograph.
The rail yard is located adjacent to the restored city hall in downtown Fillmore and is part of the revitalized section of the city rebuilt after the extensive damage caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake that brought down the facades of many nearby businesses. A vintage 1906 80-ton turntable bridge originally installed in Capreol, Ontario, was purchased from the Canadian National Railway by the Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society (SCRVRHS) and was installed in a newly constructed pit on February 7, 2007. The turntable allows not only turning of locomotives and cars but also access to planned facilities on tracks in the narrow yard area. This area is planned to be the center of a proposed railway heritage park complex that will also feature a roundhouse and a Railroad Interpretive Center Museum.
The Sierra Northern Railway became the contract operator of the line in December after approval by the Ventura County Transportation Commission.[40]
Rolling stock
The majority of F&W rolling stock was acquired from four major studios: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros, and MGM. The rolling stock and right-of-way were frequently used for the filming of television series, motion pictures and commercials and as a locale for private and commercial still photography.
The railroad also owned the two full-size steam locomotive props that were built for The Lone Ranger (2013).[42] They are not working steam locomotives (and never were), being propelled instead by diesel engines located in their tenders.[43] The larger of the two (named "Constitution" in the film) has been used in several other productions, including Westworld and The Good Place.
The majority of the locomotives, rolling stock and other assets were acquired by Sierra Northern after the lease of the rail line ended.[44] Three pieces of equipment, including the S6, a passenger car, and the body of a Pacific Fruit Express reefer, were sold to Virginia and Truckee Railroad in Virginia City, Nevada in February 2022.[45] GP35 #3501 was sold to SMV and the "Jupiter" prop and one of the prop coaches from The Lone Ranger, as well as the GP35 prop from Inception and the prop cab from Unstoppable were sold to Volo Auto Museum.
