Announcement Email

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October 22, 2024

Content

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SMVRR Open House and Friends BBQ Photos

Check out the photos from the Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVRR) Open House and the Friends of the SMVRR BBQ held August 17, 2024. Here are the Open House / BBQ photos. By the way, don't forget that the submission deadline for the Friends of the SMVRR Photo Contest is November 1, 2024.

Festival Garden Railway Video and Photos

Paul Patterson, one of our Festival model layout tour railroaders, has created a video of his layout, the S&P Californian Garden Railway, complete with AI-generated music. Could be a first! Paul is part of the California Central Coast Garden Railroad Society (CCCGRS). The S&P features a 1/5-scale version of Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific Barn, a miniature train station and passenger platform, and the towns of Succulent, Fountain, Willow, and Solvang. The lower loop has over 150 feet of track and two reversing loops. The upper loop has over 150 feet of track and S-curves traveling through giant redwood trees and miniature Alberta Spruce trees. Here's Paul's video. And here's Paul's HO layout, too. The CCCGRS has separately posted a few photos from the Festival.

Rail Route Guides Available (Free)

Don't miss any of the sites to see from the train along the Coast Line from Santa Barbara to Paso Robles. We have two Rail Route Guides available, one for Paso Robles to San Luis Obispo and one for San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara. The sites include (in north to south order) the tunnels along Cuesta Grade, Horseshoe Curve, the CA Men's Colony, Stenner Creek Trestle, Cal Poly, Conoco-Phillips Refinery, an oil shale mine, Vandenburg Air Force Base with a 3-mile runway and numerous launch pads, Honda Point, Jalama Beach, Point Conception, and Refugio State Beach. And more! The route from Paso to SLO is done on the Coast Starlight. The SLO to Santa Barbara leg can be done on either the Coast Starlight or the Pacific Surfliner.

What U.S. Flag Flew at the Golden Spike in 1869?

At the time, when a few of us from the SLO Railroad Museum were at the Golden Spike 150th Anniversay Celebration (of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad) at Promontory Summit on May 10, 2019, we didn't pay much attention to the 20-star flag that was flying over the proceedings. Had we stopped to consider such things, it may have dawned on us that in 1869 the U.S. flag had 37 stars, not 20. Your editor even took a picture of the 20-star flag on the pole high above the crowd that day in 2019 without giving it any thought. So what gives? Well, as the story goes, no one thought to bring a large 37-star flag on the actual Golden Spike day, May 10, 1869. However, a gentleman in the crowd, a 21st Infantry man, happened to have with him his family's 20-star flag from 1819. So those running the event flew it! 150 years later, the organizers of the 150th Anniversary Celebration chose to use the 20-star flag as well, just as it happened, and in that man's honor. Read and see a little more on your editor's "U.S. Flags" website.

Area Railroading Opportunities

There's a plethora of railroading going on in our area (broadly speaking, in some cases). Check out this Index of Area Railroading. Be sure to check with any of interest to you to verify their open status and schedules.

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Do you have a Central Coast railroad-related event or news item to add to our next broadcast email? It's free! And it doesn't have to be part of the Festival itself (could be any time throughout the year). Email the details to: addevent@ccrrf.com. The next issue will likely be in a month or so.

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portion of an n-scale layout