Rail Festival to Mark City’s Past
Fillmore’s rich history will be on display this weekend at the Rail Festival, a two-day event hosted by the Santa Clara Valley Railroad Historical Society.
Last year, the festival attracted nearly 14,000 people. Some came to see antique trains, including a 1906 steam engine, while others became willing victims of an old-fashioned train robbery.
While merely a quaint part of Fillmore’s present, train travel was a main source of transportation in the city’s past.
The society puts on the festival every year to ignite memories of a time when railroads snaked across Ventura and Los Angeles counties, said Rick Swanson, spokesman for the society.
“We lose sight of how we got here,” he said. “Los Angeles County used to look like our valley 60 years ago.”
The festival’s slogan, “It’s time to take the train,” was taken from a 1950s railway ad campaign designed to lure passengers back on the tracks.
The festival will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Central Park, Central and Santa Clara avenues.
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