To Shiny Rails

Karl and Stephanie got married today. At Bitter Creek. Wonderful event at all levels, and Bitter Creek itself was lookin’ golden. The reception/dance area got to show off the two new trolley cars and the deck built between them. Very cool. More photos: http://bcwrr.org/140705.html

About 30 friends joined us at the railroad headquarters in Betteravia for a Santa Maria-style (tri-tip and chicken) Friends Fundraising BBQ Social from 11am to 2pm. Lunch included beans, garlic bread, drinks, and dessert. We celebrated summer and the upgrades and updates to the Santa Maria Valley Railroad’s locomotives! With the railroading getting busier and busier, there may not be too many more opportunities to get quite this close. The day’s activities included Kevin leading a group of Friends on his ever-popular tour of the Betteravia Townsite. All the photos: http://friends-smvrr.org/140614.html

I tagged along with Matt to a Safe Food in SLO event in Santa Margarita today to promote food safety awareness and raise money for Jack’s Helping Hand. And lo’ and behold if the park venue wasn’t adjacent to the coast mainline! I got some shots of a passing auto rack train and a Coast Starlight with three PVs on the rear. All the photos: http://JF2.com/140517/

I gave a talk on rail safety today on behalf of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad at the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum’s National Train Day Celebration. Took some photos, too: http://slorrm.com/140510.html

I took on a new project… Webmaster for the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum. We started with a complete redesign and we’ll see where it goes from there…

We had a great time today at the Fillmore & Western Railway in Fillmore, CA. Those who arrived way too early got to spend a little time shopping in the gift shop railcar and strolling around the areas where equipment was parked. At 11:30am or so we boarded the “Weekend Scenic Train Ride” bound for Santa Paula with what seemed like unending citrus and avocado in between. The train stayed in Santa Paula about 75 minutes giving everyone plenty of time to do a little of the town. The only stop on the way back was at the Loose Caboose Garden Center, home of all manner of koi, birds, turtles… Well, you’ll see in all the photos: http://friends-smvrr.org/140322.html