Owens River Valley Railroad

The Owens River Valley Railroad was proposed when the people of Bishop felt slighted by the fact that the Carson and Colorado (later Southern Pacific) narrow gauge bypassed the town of Bishop. The ORVRR was proposed to run from Laws to Bishop. It was intended to be an electric line, with provisions to standard gauge the line if Southern Pacific decided to standard gauge the Slim Princess. Although grading was started, the line was never completed. More information is available in Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California - Volume One.

Owens River Valley Railroad - Model Version

Eventually my model of the ORVRR will be narrow gauge and set in the late 1950s - early 1960s. To get started though, I'm modeling it in standard gauge, set in the early 1970's - the assumption being that SP standard gauged their line in the late 60s and the ORVRR followed suit. To get much track on a 4' x 8' table you need lots of twisting and climbing, so I'll start with a section serving the mines in the Tungsten City Hills.