I just received a copy of A View From the Ridge Route, Volume IV by Bonnie Ketterl Kane, from the Ridge Route Historical Society. It covers mining in the Fraser Mountain, San Emigdio and Lockwood areas. I'll summarize the information when I have had a chance to read it, but the short of it is that there was quite a bit of mining activity in the high country along the Ventura County/Kern County border, close to the projected route of the B&V. This could provide the basis for some nice industrial activities on my projected B&V model railroad.

There is also a short but intriguing quote from an article in Bakerfield newspaper in 1902: "The residents of this section are most interested in the construction of a railroad from this valley to the coast..." A reference to the original plans for the B&V, or just wishful thinking?