HO scale model railroad that now also has a G-gauge garden railroad branch in the backyard. The Oakhurst Railroad is an HO scale model railroad running through the central Sierra town of Oakhurst, California. Although no real railroad ever ran through Oakhurst, the area is rich in logging and gold mining history and several railroads and logging flumes operated nearby. My parents and brothers used
to live and work in Oakhurst and I spent many summers there. After about 20 years of planning and dreaming, my son and I built the first 16-foot by 16-inch Oakhurst Railroad in the garage at our previous house in Downey. In 2004 we were house shopping in the Los Alamitos/Rossmoor area and spotted our new house. I was quick to find the 8.5 ft x 11 ft “office” that a previous owner had built into a portion of the garage. My wife Nancy was thinking kid’s playroom/junk room but that idea never had a chance. We made a quick offer on this house and it was accepted. The next day I bothered the sellers by asking to take measurements of the new “train room”. I spent the escrow time planning the track plan and layout arrangement. By the time we moved in, finished unpacking, and fixing a few things, I was ready to start construction of the new Oakhurst Railroad. Within about 3 months, trains were running. About 3 months later, basic scenery was in place. Since then I have slowly been adding details to the layout. The Oakhurst Railroad is a two level point-to-point railroad with a helix and an optional continuous run. For operations, trains are put together in the Oakhurst yard and then travel to the logging or mining areas on the upper level. Logs are taken from Camp 3 or Central Camp to the North Fork sawmill. Cut lumber and mining ore are taken to Oakhurst for interchange with a Southern Pacific branch line that connects to the mainline in Fresno. Passenger trains take guests to and from the Yosemite resort in Wawona. I hope you enjoy your trip on the Oakhurst Railroad! Marty Bradley
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