The herald., 1898-03-13
THE OJAI VALLEY ROAD
A PRoPITIoUs OPENING EN-
JoYED YESTERDAY
ELooUENcE AT NoRDHoFF
Capt. Cross Pioneers a Jolly Party
Along the Line Which Opens Up
the Valley Beautiful

the Valley Beautiful
March IL, 1898, will go down in the history
OF the DIAL valley as the greatest time ever
known In that place, and well it may, for
1t means to the residents the dawning of a
new era of prosperity, the ful.illment of
prsbably their greatest desire since the
section first began to be Inhabited The
new Ventura and Ojai Valley railroad,
which gives to the residents Of the latter
place the opportunity of easy coinmunica-
tion with the outside world and the means
with which to compete with more centrally
located producers, was formally opened
yesterday, and the entrance of the first
trains was made an occasion of celebrat lion,
III which all Of the valley people and hun
dreds of their ncighbors joined with gen.
uinely grateful delight
The people most directly benefited were
not the only ones who took part, however,
Tor quite 4 delegation from this city en-
soyed the hospitality of Capt. John Cross.
the organizer and promoter of the new
road. To nearly all, the valley was in the
nature of a revelation, and. while its repu-
tatlon for beauty has been made nation
al, few of the local party had previously
visited the section or realized its character
1t was a representative gathering of
friends of Capt. Cross which met at the
Arcade depot in the morning and took
special car on the regular sos Santa Bar
bara train for the trip to the new country
The ride to Ventura, through the San Fer
nando and Santa Clara valleys. was en-
5oyed and passed quickly. At Ventura the
car was detached and rccoupled to the
Ventura and DIAL Valley train, preparatory
to starting over the new line. The people
of Ventura, which is the southern terminus
of the little 16-mile road, had caught the en-
thusiasm, too, and, though large excur
sion to NordhOff, the terminus of the road
In the Ojai valley. had left early in the
morning, a second large crowd stood wait
ing on the platform to join the celebrators
In the valley above.
There were numerous strange coinci-
dences connected with this. the formal,
opening Of the road. the most notable be-
ing that Of the date. Exactly eight years
before. on March 12 1890, Capt. Cross had
participated in the celebration of the COM
pletion of the Terminal railway into Pasa-
dena by similar demonstrations as those
of yesterday. That line had been con-
structed by Grant Brothers. who, togeth-
er with ]. A. Cashion, built the Ventura
and DIAL line for Capt Cross. Then. too,
the same engine crew which ran the Ter
minal engine directed the forward engine
which yesterday pulled the train of cars
up the steep grade. +. w. Madison ham
died the throttle and ]. s. Redfern fired the
locomotive.
A railroad is not a strange thing to
the people of Ventura. but the presence of
locomotive passing up San Antonio can
yOn, by the Ventura river to the valley
was. and all along the route the people
stood and watched the train as it went
whirling around the curves or sped along
the straight stretches of track. A grade
Is encountered almost the instant the train
leaves Ventura, and it gradually steepens
as the valley is approached. At one place
the grade is 16 feet to the mile. which is
nearly as heavy as that on the Teha chapi
trip. For some miles the road runs in the
center of the canyon, and then for awhile
hugs the hills. where the precipitous sides
above and below tell the tale of expensive
and heavy blasting. There are some deep
cuts, too. through which the train echoes
as 1t rolls by. New as is the line .'its char
acteristic sections have been named by the
construction crews. Peach cut is a
short passage through a HILL so called be-
cause couple of this variety of trees
stood directly in the survey line and had
to be sacrificed TO the right of way, while
the blackest cut is called adobe" as the
gang encountered a stratum of this dirt.
"Deviis gulch'' is one of the features of the
line and Is bridged by heavy three-storied
trestlework, 50 feet in height. which is the
highest of the kind in this section. Per-
haps one of the most striking features
of the entire line is the work done on the
curves. They are perfect, and the prac-
uced trainmen were delighted with the
way they had been banked. The longest
curve has been called capt. Cross horse
SHOE" and 1t is well named. The roadbed
rides YER smoothly.
Two Interesting things are to be seen on
the west side of the route one being big
grapevine, the second largest in the state.
and the other some stone quarries which
have recently been opened The stone re-
sembles the red sand material used in con-
structing the court house.
The canyon leading to the valley. as well
as the valley itself. is well stocked with
live oaks. and, in addition to the picturesque
part OF these trees, they will prove source
of much revenue, as already 24o carloads of
the wood have been contracted for by Los
Angeles and Santa Barbara parties.
1t was in 1891 that the preliminary sur
vey was made for the road, but.
owing to lack of financial back
Ing, Capt. Cross. had to give up the
scheme indefinitely. About two years ago
the Ventura people tried to interest the
OJaf people in a scheme for "A narrow gauge
line, but Capt Cross stepped in with a
plan to build standard gauge and he
succeeded in reaching satisfactory un-
derstanding. On the 18th of last August
work was begun. and was finished on the
1lth of March, at a cost of about $24O. .0OO or
$2OO.OO0 and there is bond issue of 500 900.
Shortly after the Devils gulch is passed
the crest of the grade Is mounted and Ojai
valley bursts into view This valley is
about six miles long and two miles wide.
And situated about midway is the town of
Nordhoff, named after Chas. Nordhoff. Il
correspondent of the New York Herald.
who first wrote of the beauties of the
place In his paper and eastern magazines
within SIX miles of the town are the Matil-
iJa and other springs. In the valley are
grown oranges, deciduous fruits and some
grain. The Santa Ana valley, distant a
rev miles from another portion of the rail-
road, will also be opened by the new line
The arrival of the noon train, bearing
capt. Cross party, was the occasion of a
Dig demonstration. At the depot site were
several hundreds of people, who cheercd
ana waved flags and handkerchiefs as the
crowd disembarked. The Ventura band
was IN attendance, and reception commit
tee. composed of Messrs F.. p. Barrows
John Carne, g. w. Chrisman, Joseph Ho-
bart, K. p. Grant, ]. X. Cries, w. /. Rice
b. +. Spencer and S. d. Thacher. met the
party. An escort of a mounted company Of
boys from the Casa dc Piedro went in front
Of the procession of carriages in which
Capt. Cross party was driven to the Oak
Glen cottages or private residences. where
lunch was served. After this tbe naon1o