Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVRR): History

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad
A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of Coast Belle Rail Corporation

History

The Santa Maria Valley Railroad was started in 1911 by an English oil Syndicate to haul oil and asphalt from Roadamite to Guadalupe. The SMVRR reached Santa Maria on October 7, 1911 and was completed to Roadamite on November 5, 1911. G. Allan Hancock purchased the SMVRR in 1925 and was the president of the railroad until he passed away in 1965. At that time, his widow Marian took over the railroad along with Sue Sword, making the SMVRR one of the few railroads in the history of American railroading to be controlled by women.

Captain Hancock developed the SMVRR into one of the nation's best-run and best-equipped short line railroads. By 1925 there were five shippers in Santa Maria and nine in Guadalupe. More fresh vegetable shipments would originate from the Santa Maria Valley that year than from any other shipping point in the nation. The fresh produce business continued to grow and in May 1927 Santa Maria was among the nation's top shippers.

In August of 1948, the first General Electric 70-ton diesel electric locomotive arrived. Five more GE diesel engines arrived from 1948 to 1952. The SMVRR was one of the last railroads in the west to run steam locomotives. The last run of No. 21 was on February 24, 1962. Captain Hancock took the throttle and Walt Disney rode in the cab. [Pictured at left and above.]

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the SMVRR continues to haul sugar beets and is also a large shipper of oil. In August 1993, Holly Sugar closed down and oil production would decline in the valley. The loss of the sugar refinery and decline in the oil business was a blow to the car-loadings for the SMVRR. The Rosemary Trust took over full control of the railroad in 2000 and the current management brought new customers and new car-loadings back to the SMVRR.

The SMVRR continues to be the Transportation Gateway for the Central Coast, shipping and receiving products such as aluminum, asphalt, farm machinery, fertilizer, frozen vegetables, lumber, steel, plastic pellets, and other industrial products from Santa Maria to Guadalupe, where we interchange with the Union Pacific Railroad, connecting Santa Maria with the entire North American Continent.

In October 2006, the SMVRR was purchased from the Hancock family by the Coast Belle Rail Corporation. The Hancock family is pleased to have arranged this sale to the Coast Belle Rail Corp. because they too, have vision, imagination and passion for the long term aspects of servicing the Santa Maria Valley.

Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad. Interested in the history of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad? Want to know how a modern freight railroad operates? Or would you like to volunteer for our special events? The Friends of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad is a non profit organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement, an interpretation of the historical aspects of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad. The Friends organization also provides members with railroad experience and educational opportunities such as dinner train excursions, speeder excursions, and open house events.

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