Santa Maria Valley Railroad

Santa Maria Valley Railroad
Reporting mark SMV
Locale Santa Barbara County, California
Dates of operation 1911 (1911)–
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Santa Maria, California
Website www.smvrr.com

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad (reporting mark SMV) is a 14.8 miles (23.8 km) shortline railroad that interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad's (former Southern Pacific) Coast Line at Guadalupe, California. As of 2006, the Railroad is owned by the Coast Belle Rail Corporation.

In August 2016, the Friends of SMVRR hosted their annual BBQ at the new Transload facility at 1599 A st. in Santa Maria, signaling in the move from the Betteravia site.

Traffic

The TRC handles 2,000 cars annually (1996 estimate). Commodities hauled include:

Prior traffic included:

Passenger Service

Special passenger service was only offered during World War II on the Air Base branch to transport military personnel to the Santa Maria Army Air Base for training. The Air Base branch was constructed in 1943. Excursions were offered for the first time on the SMVRR in November 2006, continuing into 2007.

History

The SMV was incorporated on July 14, 1911 as the Santa Maria Valley Railway at Los Angeles, California with A. A. Dougherty listed as President.

The first 3.26 miles (5.25 km) of track, from the Southern Pacific connection at Guadalupe to Betteravia Junction, was actually built by the SP in August 1899 to get to a sugar mill. The SP leased the track to the SMV years later. From Betteravia the SMV built to Santa Maria and on to Roadamite. The SMV also had branches running from Stowell to Air Base, Suey to Rosemary Farms and Rex to Gates.

By 1925 the railway traffic had steeply declined and the railway went bankrupt. Captain George Allan Hancock , a principal of the Dominion Oil Company, purchased the railroad for $75,000 at a Sheriff's auction. The railroad was then reorganized as the Santa Maria Valley Railroad in 1926. Until 2006, the railroad was owned by Captain G. Allan Hancock's estate.

The original line ran for 23 miles (37 km), from Guadalupe to Roadamite. The track from Gates to Roadamite was abandoned in 1950.

The last run of No. 21, Captain Hancock's favorite steam locomotive, was in February 1962. Captain Hancock took the throttle one last time. Walt Disney was in the cab with Captain Hancock.

Baldwin 21 currently is undergoing restoration in Astoria, Oregon to be returned to excursion service.


The Union Sugar Beet plant closed in 1993, ending the beet train era.

In 1999 the G. Allan Hancock Estate gained full control of the SMV. The assets of the railroad was sold to Coast Belle Rail Corporation in 2006, ending an 81-year ownership by the Hancock family.

Other than 21, three other steam locomotives are in existence. 205 is nearing completion in the return to Service, also in Oregon, owned by George Lavacott. 100 is also in Oregon, but has not yet entered restoration. 1000 resides on Static Display in Griffith Park at Travel Town.

Timeline

Route

Main Route

Air Base Branch (Santa Maria Army Air Base)

Betteravia Branch

Rosemary Branch (abandoned)

Gates Branch (abandoned)

Motive Power

The present SMV motive power fleet consists of 4(as of March 2016) locomotives.

As of Friday, March 25, 2016, SMV started leasing BUGX #1322, a former Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe (AT&SF) EMD GP7(u), still with the original Blue and Gold Paint Scheme.


The SMV operated five 70 ton switchers and one U6B that were acquired between 1948-1959.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.