Railroad Turntable to Arrive Today
A railroad turntable from 1909, possibly the longest and highest load ever to be transported by train in the United States, will make its way from the Santa Paula depot to the Fillmore & Western Railway about noon today.
The Santa Clara River Valley Railroad Historical Society and the city of Fillmore bought the piece of track, which is 150 feet long and 96 feet high, for $16,000 from a town north of Toronto. The 90-ton chunk of metal has been traveling from Canada for about a month and will soon find its home at the Fillmore & Western Railway by Central Park.
The turntable is used, much like a lazy Susan, to swivel trains around to face them in another direction.
The railway’s owner, Dave Wilkinson, is an old-time train connoisseur and collects aging engines and other railroad parts at the Fillmore station.
The Fillmore railway’s trains are used for murder mystery tours and as a backdrop in many Hollywood movies, railway spokesman Ross Olney said.
Once the turntable is hoisted off the train Saturday, crews will begin digging a huge hole in the ground to lay the track so it can be put to use.
To celebrate the turntable’s homecoming, the railroad society will be selling barbecue sandwiches and tickets for train rides.
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