Brief Chronology
July 1911, Santa Maria Valley Railroad incorporated
August 1911 Material arrives in Santa Barbara aboard the steam schooner "Yellowstone" transported via SP to Betteravia, construction begins
October 1911 First train to Santa Maria
November 1911 Completion of line to Palmer
1913 Two additional locomotives purchased, original loco scrapped
1917 SP buys $91,000 worth of common stock
1921 SP sells some of its shares
1925 Railroad goes into receivership, sold at auction for $75,000 to Captain G. Allan Hancock
1928 PCY discontinues passenger service to Guadalupe
1926 Union Sugar Mill closes
1934 Union Sugar Mill reopens
1936 $7,000 profit posted
1941-2 Three additional locomotives acquired, Airbase branch, wartime passenger traffic
1948 First diesel purchased - GE 70 ton #10
1950 Tracks removed from Gates to Roadamite
1962 Last run of Number 21 (last steam on the SMVRR)
1965 G. Alan Hancock dies, his wife Marian Mullen Hancock becomes president, with Sue Sword, general manager
1986 Holly Sugar purchases Union Sugar, taking over operation at Betteravia
1994 Holly (Union) Sugar mill closes
1997 Union Sugar mill demolished
2000 Sue Sword retires as president of the SMV with 52 years "working on the railroad"
2002 Remaining right-of-way east of Highway 101 abandoned
2006 Purchased by the Coast Belle Rail Corp. from the descendants of G.A. Hancock family. More…
2007 Trackage removed from Miller Street Yard. More…
September 8, 2008 The SMVRR moves its offices from the downtown freight depot building to the site of the old Union Sugar mill in Betteravia. More…
September 30, 2008 The SMVRR move out of the downtown yard is complete. More…
Articles
Surviving Steam
Recent Ed Morse pictures of #100 and #1000. More…
SMVRR Roster
A 1-page PDF summary of SMVRR equipment.
Santa Maria Times Video
About the new SMVRR headquarters location. Video
Blacksmith Shop
A rare look into the steam era. More…
MOW Carts
The MOW carts recently got an extreme makeover. More…
No. 70
SMVRR's No. 70 began life on the A&O. More…
Rice Siding Removed
Preserved rail dates back to 1878. More…
Steam Equipment
The enginehouse contains numerous pieces of heavy machinery for maintaining steam locomotives. More…
Betteravia
The Betteravia brochure (PDF, 170kb) provides a glance into what the Betteravia townsite looked like "back in the day".