Monthly Program

The Friends meet 2nd Wednesdays of the month at various locations. Not every month, so watch the schedule at left. We meet at 6:00pm, usually at a location where you may order dinner. The program will start about 6:30pm. Visitors are welcome to participate in these meetings and presentations, but only Members of the Friends of the SMVRR may join tours, operations, etc. on railroad property.

Please RSVP to 805-614-7093.

Workin' on the Railroad

Friends meet the 2nd Saturday of each month at the railroad headquarters in Betteravia around 9:00am to actually work on the railroad. Tasks range the gamut from weed control to flangeway clearing to signal maintenance to development of displays, and everything in between. Must be a Friends member to participate, and some tasks require qualifications.
Upcoming activities:

Events

December 17, 2011

Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad Holiday Christmas Lunch and Excursion. Starts at 11:00am. BBQ lunch at 11:30am for $10.00 and an excursion afterwards to around 2:00pm. The railroad is much busier, so this may be the last opportunity to ride on our line. Photos...

October 8, 2011

Friends/SMVRR will be exhibiting at the SLO Freight House as part of the Central Coast Railroad Festival (CCRRF).

September 17-18, 2011

Goleta Railroad Days. Photos...

August 13, 2011

Roadamite Field Trip. Tour the rights-of-way of the SMVRR east of Santa Maria, and the PCR's nearby RoW as well. Limited seating, contact Kevin. Confirmed participants will meet at 10am at the Souza Center, 708 South Miller Street (near the old roundhouse). Photos…

July 9-10, 2011

Saturday the 9th: Speeder Run. More…
Sunday the 10th: SMVRR 100th Anniversary Ceremonies (on SMVRR website).

May 7, 2011

National Train Day at the Guadalupe Amtrak Station. Caboose #210 will hold an Open House among other activities. More…

April 9, 2011

MOW Speeder Run. A great time was had by all, again! See More…

December 9, 2010

Our Special Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad Holiday Program will be held on Thursday December 9th at the Santa Maria Valley Railroad Offices in the Betteravia Industrial Park. Our program kicking off the 100th anniversary of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad and the 5th year of operation of the Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad will feature a slide show presentation at 6pm of events of the past 5 years and future projects and plans for the Friends. Dinner will be prepared by the employees of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad for $12 and will be served from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. Catch the Santa Train following dinner. More…

November 20, 2010

Join us for a chartered trip from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo and back aboard the Overland Trail private car! $60/person. The train (Surfliner) departs Santa Barbara at 10:15am and arrives back in Santa Barbara at 4:31pm. A lite tailgate lunch is included in the $60 and will be provided at the SLO station. Transportation to/from Santa Barbara before/after the charter is not included. It is possible to take the early Surfliner from SLO and return by the late Surfliner at the end of the day. Limited seating on the Overland Trail; first paid, first served. Here are the photos from the trip.

October 10, 2010

The Friends will hold an Open House at Caboose #210 at the Guadalupe Amtrak Station as part of the Central Coast Railroad Festival. More…

July 24-25, 2010

Friends supported the SMVRR exhibit at Goleta Railroad Days. Photos are here (on smvrr.com).

July 11, 2010

On Sunday July 11th the Santa Maria Valley Railroad held a 99th Anniversary Celebration at the Betteravia Industrial Park. There were tours of the rail facilities and displays starting at 10:00. A BBQ lunch featured a Santa Maria style BBQ tri tip, SMVRR beans, and garlic bread for $10.00 starts at 11:30. In the afternoon there were fundraiser Motorcar rides from Betteravia to the interchange track at Guadalupe to benefit the Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad, the non profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad. The Motorcar Operators West ran a speeder excursion that day and they began arriving from their morning run at about 11:30. The Company Store was open where you could buy official SMVRR apparel and other souviner items. Photos are here (on smvrr.com).

May 8, 2010

National Train Day, at Guadalupe. More…

April 10-11, 2010

Motorcar Operators West (MOW) Speeder Run on the SMVRR. Plan now to help out! Speeder operators should see the MOW web site for status and details. More…

November 14-15, 2009

Motorcar Operators West (MOW) Speeder Run on the SMVRR. Plan now to help out! See the last speeder run. Speeder operators should see the MOW web site for status and details. More…

October 28, 2009

SMVRR and Friends host lunch and tour for Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society guests. More…

October 8-12, 2009

The Friends will be participating in a number of the Central Coast Rail Road Festival (CCRRF) activities. Let us know which ones you'd be interested in joining.

August 1-2, 2009

Goleta Railroad Days. Friends had a booth there. More…

June 6, 2009

Two excursions. More…

April 4, 2009

MOW Speeder Run on the SMVRR. April 5th at Bitter Creek Western RR with the speeder group. More…

February 14, 2009

Valentine's Day Excursions on the La Condesa. More…

December 6, 2008

Santa Claus Train.
Santa Claus will be making a special trip on board the Santa Claus Excursion on the Pullman Observation Car La Condesa! Departures: 1:00 p.m., 2:15 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. Adults $20. Children 12 and under $15. Excursion includes a photo of your children with Santa Claus on board the La Condesa and hot chocolate and cookies after the excursion! See the pictures.

November 1-2, 2008

NARCOA/MOW Speeder Run on the SMVRR. More…

August 31, 2008

Friends help at the Pacific Coast Railroad. More…

July 26, 2008

Last Excursions from the Downtown Yard. More… (on the SMVRR web site).

April 5, 2008

2nd Annual Speeder Run on the SMVRR. See last year's. See how Friends participated.

February 14, 2008

Friends have private Valentine's Day dinner trip. More….

December 2, 2007

Friends assist with SMVRR customer Christmas party on the La Condesa. More…

November 17, 2007

La Condesa work party. More…

November 10, 2007

"Mini" Speeder Run on the SMVRR. More…

October 6, 2007

The Friends help the SMVRR hold an Open House at the Depot during Grapes and Grains coinciding with the railroad's first year anniversary of being owned by the Coast Belle Rail Corporation.

Schedule

February 8, 2012

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. "Advances in Railroad Technology".

January 11, 2012

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. "Recent Shortline Success Stories" (Rob).

December 14, 2011

Regular progam at Petra's canceled. See December 17th event (below on right).

November 9, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. A report from the CA Shortline Railroad Association meeting last week, an update on other shortlines, and an update on SMVRR operations (Rob).

October 12, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. Overview of Central Coast railroading opportunities, including photos from the Railroad Festival weekend (Jamie).

September 14, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. Report from the Union Pacific's Shortline Conference in Omaha.

August 10, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. SMVRR and the Jones Street Corridor: Present and Future.

July 13, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. "SMVRR Update" by Rob and Al.

June 8, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. "Signals" by Gary See.

May 11, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. The CA Short Line Railroad Association (CSLRA) and its Reno UPRR Special.

April 13, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. Freight Cars: Ownership, Inspections, Repairs, Reporting Marks...

March 9, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. "Railroad Crossings, Public and Private Partnerships"

February 9, 2011

Wednesday, 6pm, at Petra's in SLO. "How Companies become Railroad Customers: Getting into the System"

No January meeting.

December 9, 2010

Friends Santa Train and BBQ Dec 9th. More…

November 11, 2010

Canceled. See you December 9th!

October 14, 2010

Central Coast Railroad Festival slide show; 4th anniversary of SMVRR current ownership

September 9, 2010

Railroads: the Green Way

August 12, 2010

"SMVRR: Meet Me on Facebook", Matt Regusci

June 10, 2010

"Railroad Financials 101" by Rob Himoto

May 13, 2010

"White Hills" by Bruce Morden.

April 8, 2010

"Safety" by Mary and James.

March 11, 2010

"Surf" by John Roskoski.

January 14, 2010

"Air Brakes" by James Andrews. More…

December 10, 2009

"Track Warrants" by Virlon, and Friends Holiday Party at the SMVRR. More…

November 12, 2009

Report on the CA Shortline Association meeting and Pacific Harbor Line tour.

October 8, 2009

SLO Farmers Market. We'll join in with the rest of the Central Coast Railroad Festival folks at their opening night activities in San Luis Obispo.

September 10, 2009

Track: maintenance and inspection. More…

August 13, 2009

Chapel Cars. Jamie Foster and Barry Hague presented slides and a talk about chapel cars. See pictures from their June 6, 2009 chapel car event.

July 12, 2009

SMVRR's 98th Anniversary. Staff, Friends Members, and their families had a birthday party at the railroad. More…

July 9, 2009

Hand signals by Virlon Smoot

June 11, 2009

SMVRR Locomotives. Tour of the SMVRR locomotives, featuring a talk about how a locomotive works and explanation of the mysterious machinery behind the doors of the GE 70 ton locomotive. More…

May 14, 2009

Maintenance of Way Equipment. Tour of the MOW equipment used by the SMVRR to maintain and build railroad track. Demonstration of MOW equipment by the SMVRR MOW Gang.

April 9, 2009

Walking Tour of Betteravia. The first phase of a walking tour of Betteravia. This short easy walk features buildings nearby the SMVRR corporate office.

March 12, 2009

Operation Lifesaver. Operation Lifesaver presenter Bill Schertle will lead this presentation about making communities safer at railroad crossings and railroad right of ways.

February 12, 2009

SMVRR in the 1950s and 1960s. A peek at the Santa Maria Valley Railroad in the 1950's and 1960's when Captain Hancock was still at the throttle and the SMVRR was one of the busiest shortline railroads in the west.

January 8, 2009

SMVRR Track System. Presentation of the present 14-mile mainline track system of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad. Sidings and spurs and present day operations.

December 11, 2008

Betteravia Industrial Park; Santa Train pictures.

November 13, 2008

Private railcars, by Dave Rohr.

October 9, 2008

Friends' Open House at the railroad's new "Digs" at the Betteravia Industrial Park (site of the old Union Sugar mill). More…

September 11, 2008

Recapping in pictures the SMVRR since being sold to Coast Belle Rail in 2006. Rob's slides (PDF, 7mb).

August 14, 2008

Cancelled. Watch for details on new location for Fall meetings.

July 10, 2008

All about the Freight Depot (PDF, 3.5mb)

June 12, 2008

History of the electric railways which ran in Santa Maria, by Hal Madson

May 8, 2008

How the Central Coast will benefit from the SMVRR, by Rob Himoto

April 10, 2008

Railroading in a Santa Maria Third Grade Classroom, by Jamie Foster. See the AASRR web site.

March 13, 2008

Speeders, by Bill Schertle

February 14, 2008

Cancelled (Valentine's Day)

January 10, 2008

1980s Slides of Local Railroading, by Karl Hovanitz

December 13, 2007

Holiday Dinner and Dessert, $6 at 6pm.

November 8, 2007

All about the La Condesa.

October 28, 2007

Fall Train Fest at the Bitter Creek Western RR - a fundraiser for the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum.

October 11, 2007

Brad LaRose will talk about current activities at the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum.

September 30, 2007

Depot Day at the South Coast Railroad Museum in Goleta. 25th annual Depot Day commemorating the preservation of the Goleta Depot from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. This is also their annual fundraiser. Address: 300 North Las Carneros Road, Goleta. Phone (805) 964-3540. Website: www.goletadepot.org

September 29, 2007

Clean Up Day at the Historic Santa Maria Valley Railroad Freight Depot.

September 13, 2007

Bob Orach and Ray Deutsch will talk about the community vision for the downtown area, including Jones Street and the rail yard.

August 9, 2007

Steam! And a tour of the Blacksmith Shop.

July 12, 2007

Dave Basquet talks about the plans to develop an ethanol plant in Betteravia.

June 14, 2007

Hal Madson talks about the history of Betteravia.