May 8, 2010
On Saturday, May 8, 2010, The Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad in conjunction with the Santa Maria Valley Railroad, Amtrak, and the Guadalupe Chamber of Commerce, celebrated National Train Day by hosting public tours of SMVRR Caboose #210 located at the Guadalupe, CA Amtrak Station.
The Caboose was open from 11am to 3pm (for the first time in nearly 20 years). Visitors enjoyed a step back into the railroad history of Guadalupe and the entire Santa Maria Valley. Information about the various railroading activities in the area was available.
See the CCRRF National Train Day press release for information about other Guadalupe and San Luis Obispo activities including train rides from Guadalupe to SLO and from SLO to Paso Robles.
About 150 people boarded the Pacific Surfliner for the trip to SLO and back.
The San Luis Obispo Model Railroad Association set up an HO train layout in the Amtrak station.
Guadalupe's Mayor presented a National Train Day Proclamation!
The Mudskippers provided some excellent tunes!
The Amtrak Surfliner stops at Guadalupe four times a day.
National Train Day
Guadalupe, CA
The Friends prepared a flier about Caboose No. 210. Download by clicking here. (PDF, 174kb)
Here's a YouTube video of NTD at Guadalupe by Dennis Pearson.
Caboose preparation:
Dec 12: Cleanup
Jan 9: Cleanup
Feb 20: Cleanup
Apr 3: Floor repair
May 1: Power wash
Shirley Boydstun of the Rancho de Guadalupe Historical Society coordinated various portions of today's events.
Thanks to Gary (pictured above) for today's pics!
The Lompoc Record ran a nice story: PDF (85K).