NNG: F&W still running, Silverton aids CA fire fight!

Per their homepage, the F&W was operating this weekend -

In spite of the huge 'Thomas' fire nearby, which was named after Thomas Aquinas College – near its point of origin – and for not our favorite little blue loco, air quality near Fillmore and Santa Paula remains good (it was fine here in eastern Ventura yesterday & today) and the railroad itself has not been directly affected by the fire.

The F&W will be running their 'Santa Shopper', 'Dinner with Santa' and 'North Pole Express' trains as planned, the latter beginning this coming Thursday evening, December 14.  A New Year's Eve party train, departing Fillmore at 7:30 p.m. on December 31 is also on the schedule — see the F&W website at [www.fwry-blog.com] for details, or phone 805/524-2546.

More good news from the F&W 'news' page: The Ventura County Transportation Commission and the F&W reached an agreement last September which will allow the railroad to continue to operate indefinitely.

On the down side, I received the very sad news earlier this week from SCRVRRHS president Ron Lewis that the home of Dave & Tresa Wilkinson, owners of the F&W, was among those lost during the first night of the fire.  No details were provided, other than that no-one was hurt, but the home – along with Dave's huge collection of railroad memorabilia – was a complete loss.  Dave & Tresa lived only a mile or two up the canyon from where the fire started, and two or three miles east of the K. B. Hall ranch (see [ngdiscussion.net]), which was also damaged by the fire.

- Russ

p.s. (Added 17/12/10.16:45)  My daughter Cindy (Jackelopette here on the NGDF) just sent me a link to a fairly accurate current map of the SoCal fires:  see [firemap.sdsc.edu]. Just move the map around to the area in which you are interested, zoom in as necessary, and bear in mind that the heavy smoke blowing west interferes with the satellite's sensors and shifts the 'hot spots' on the map a mile or two east of their actual locations.  (My own home is located about a mile below the lower edge of the Thomas Fire perimeter in east Ventura, just below the '6' of the Highway 126 symbol.)

pps1. (Added 17/12/11.11:25)  Jackelopette sent me a link to an even better map this morning; no ArcGIS account setup needed to view this one: [goo.gl]

pps2. (Added 17/12/12.12:45)  Jackelopette reports that her mom saw 'a Silverton engine' in Casitas Springs yesterday.  That's a Silverton FIRE engine – not a locomotive, and Fritz says it's probably from Silverton OREGON as so far as he knows all of Silverton COLORADO's engines were still at home as of 12/13/17 . . .   (Casitas Springs is a small village on Hiway 33 between Ventura and Ojai, where Johnny Cash lived for several years.  I heard that his home on the hillside above the town was lost to the wind-driven fire on Tuesday last week, but Cindy says the house itself is still standing and that only some outbuildings were lost.)



Edited 10 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2017 12:02PM by Russo Loco.