To Shiny Rails

A handful of us toured the electrified portions of the Pacific Coast Railway under the very capable leadership of Kevin. All the photos are here.

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 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

The Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad toured the Betteravia Branch of the railroad today. The line was constructed from Guadalupe in the late 1800s to serve the Union Sugar Mill in Betteravia. We visited three stations along the way – Iremel, Bragur, and Barsug – which were primarily beet dumps. We also visited the Green Canyon Trestle, did a quick run of the Betteravia townsite tour, and toured Caboose #210 at the Guadalupe Amtrak station. Check it all out here: http://friends-smvrr.org/140222.html

The 2013 Central Coast Railroad Festival is “in the bag”. It was a jammed pack weekend of activities, and I think I got to fewer venues than ever myself this year as there was so much happening. Anyway, photos are indexed here.

The second annual Santa Maria Valley Railroad Business Special ran last weekend from Los Angeles to Seattle. Dad and I went again this year along with Vickie and Lynn! Didn’t take any photos this year (too busy with business and enjoying myself), but last year’s photos will do the trick: http://jf2.com/120809/ (the weather was much better last year for photos, too). This year’s group is pictured below. Don’t miss the SMVRR drumhead!