A Rich Rail Heritage

Pictured at right is an original painting commissioned and owned by Jon Aldrich of Aviation Antiques, used by permission. Click on the picture for a larger version. The plane is being piloted by owner Capt. Hancock as it flies over Hancock's SMVRR No. 21 steam locomotive! The piece was done by Michael Boss, a reknowned transportation artist whose research and accuracy on locomotive and aerial images has many followers, and is titled "Santa Maria Schedule 1933".

Railroads have operated in the the Santa Maria Valley since the 1800s. The Pacific Coast Railway, which connected San Luis Bay to San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, and Los Olivos, built branches extending east to Garey Ranch and Palmer, and west to Betteravia and Guadalupe. The latter was operated for a few years as a trolley route to Guadalupe.

By 1911, the Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVRR) was extended from the Betteravia area to Roadamite in the hills near Sisquoc where an oil refinery was located.

In 1925, oilman and real estate developer Allan Hancock bought the SMVRR along with the oil fields at Roadamite and ranch land in the eastern portion of the valley.


One of the SMVRR cabooses sits at the depot in Oceano, CA in the summer of 2004.

• Introduction
• Narrative
• Modern Operations
• Modeling
• Important Dates
• UP Short Line Directory Description of the SMVRR
• Recommended Reading