Roadamite Field Trip
   Marian Hospital from the Rosemary Farms area.    The SMVRR curved through this gate into the Phillips 66 plant on Battles.  Gates.  The backyard at Cottonwood Canyon Winery.    Roadamite overview.   Entering the Roadamite loading rack location.   Standing on and looking along the SMVRR right-of-way.    Just ahead of the group is the southeastern most point of the SMVRR.  Standing on and looking along the right-of-way.   Standing at the level of an oil tank.  A washout between the right-of-way we're standing on and the right-of-way over beneath the left side of the far tree.    The concrete foundation pieces have been forced up by trees that weren't there when the buildings were constructed.  The right-of-way went straight across the photo at the line indicated.  Palmer, on the Pacific Coast Railway.  Classic fill (left) and cut (right) as the right-of-way goes across the picture in the middle.  The Sisquoc Depot is now a home.  Across the road from the school at Sisquoc facing northwest.  We had a great lunch at the Garey Store: manly deli sandwiches, chips, and drink.    From inside the Garey Store we had a great view west to where the railroad ran along the base of the hill in the distance.  Even at lunch, Kevin could not stop pointing things out.    At Suey Junction (Battles and Depot), Kevin points to the switch where the Sisquoc branch took off from the main on the PCRy. |
 This orange track block marks the eastern most point of today's Santa Maria Valley Railroad.   Cottonwood Canyon Winery offers a view of the old SMVRR right-of-way across the vineyard in the tasting room's backyard.  Roadamite oil tanks. Kevin hands out a packet to all attendees that includes old photos and maps of the trip. These are copyrighted materials used momentarily for educational purposes (that's why we don't post the packet on the web). If you want a copy, you've got to come along.  At Roadamite, we're standing on the level of the tracks looking up at a level where the tanks were located.  We found old ties...  Chunks of concrete with re-bar impressions...  And oil remnants.   Ties and pipe elbows.  The railroad is quite over here, and the remnants have nearly faded away.     The old Sisquoc Depot is just east of here on Depot Street.  At the Garey Store.      One of Kevin's big discoveries while preparing for this field trip was an old map photo that actually showed the layout of the wye at Suey Junction. |