Santa Maria Valley Railroad Museum
Would you like to help preserve the history of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad by becoming a volunteer? Beginning on Saturday October 24, we will be conducting docent/volunteer orientation sessions for anyone interested in learning more about the Railroad Museum and the history of the SMVRR and current railroad industry. These sessions will be “Open House” style where we will discuss our plans for the museum and how to be involved by becoming a volunteer.
We are looking for people with a variety of interests and skills from docents to equipment restoration to research to cataloging to event planning. If you have an interest in becoming a volunteer, stop by the museum on Saturday October 24 anytime between 12:00 noon and 4:00 pm. Future orientation dates will be announced later.
The Friends reopened the Santa Maria Valley Railroad Museum on October 3rd as part of the Central Coast Railroad Festival. After acquiring the museum assets earlier this year, we kept it closed until a much-needed decluttering, cleaning and some repaint of the interior of the boxcar could take place. We now have an exhibit space that we can welcome visitors into and learn about the Santa Maria Valley Railroad both past and present. We have ten panels on display depicting the history of the SMVRR during various eras with more to come. Our plan is to continue to develop the exhibits and display artifacts to make visiting an educational experience. Those who stopped by got a real sense of our vision for the museum. For those of you couldn’t make it by on October 3rd, we’ll be open again on the 24th of October.
The Santa Maria Valley Railroad Museum is located on S. Miller St. in Santa Maria between the Transit Center and the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Office. You can park in the parking lot just east of the Transit Center via a driveway off of Boone Street. The address of the parking lot is 532 E. Boone Street, Santa Maria, CA 93456. Enter this address into your navigation app (such as Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps) and it will take you to the entrance to the museum parking lot.
On display at the museum are the following pieces of Santa Maria Valley railroad history:
Steam Locomotive 0-4-0T #1 (ex-CRI&P #84) - built by Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad
Built 1884 - acquired by Union Sugar Company (Betteravia) in 1904 - sold 1908
Box Car - Sacramento Northern #2346 - built by Mt. Vernon Mfg. Co.
Built late 1919 - early 1920
Wooden Caboose - Santa Maria Valley Railroad SMV #180 - built by St. Louis-San Francisco Railway
Built 1936 - acquired by SMVRR in mid-1950s - retired 1962
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