Issue Number 93 – Fall 2025 San Luis Obispo, California www.slorrm.com!
Coast Mail
News from the San Luis Obispo
Railroad Museum
Open Saturdays from 10:00 to 4:00. Other times for
groups by arrangement. 1940 Santa Barbara Avenue.
RIP office work continues!
This spring the Albany & Eastern Railroad
in Oregon’s Willamette Valley used former
Santa Maria Valley Railroad No. 205 to move
freight cars. The beautifully restored, 101-year-
old Baldwin 2-6-2 normally rests during the week
and hauls passenger cars for excursions on week-
ends. These views, from a YouTube video by Pac-
ific Rail Productions, are in Lebanon, Oregon.
The loco looks particularly small compared with
the “excess height’ boxcar immediately behind it.
Former SMVRR steamer
pulled freight in Oregon!
might need to walk along their trains, possibly in darkness.
paths used ropes to tow boats along rivers and canals. A stand-
Pacific Common Standard Plans, 1984).
search functions have been hit or miss.
!
!
TOW!PATH!
New corporate status and
new power for SMVRR!
This GP-38-2 diesel-electric locomotive came to
Guadalupe as part of Union Pacific’s regular
service to that interchange point. This photo
caught it in a BNSF train crossing the desert.
The Santa Maria Valley Railroad received a
locomotive that’s new to it in June. Its color
scheme reflects SMVRR becoming part of the
OmniTRAX family of short lines several months
before. OmniTRAX operates 33 short-line rail-
roads throughout the United States, including
the Stockton Terminal & Eastern in California.
Ted Van Klaveren is working on the repair-in-place office, not in
it. He and fellow volunteer Mike Burrell have been busy inside it,
too, but not on paperwork. The indoor view shows a mannequin.
Central Coast Railroad Festival!
Join us October 4 for a celebration of railroading in our region:
special presentations, food, music, and exhibits installed since
last year. The Museum’s website will be updated with its latest
scheduled activities. Other organizations will have events at other
venues, October 3 - 5, with the full listing on the CCRRF web page.
Coast Mail is published quarterly by
the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum.
© 2025. All rights reserved.
Documents Available
Anyone may access the Museum’s
Bylaws, Collections Policy, Develop-
ment & Operations Plan, Code of
Conduct, and other documents at
slorrm.com. Or request a paper copy
via the contact information above.
SLORRM Coast Mail Number 93 Fall 2025 Page 2!
Our Mission
Promote California Central
Coast railroad heritage through
community participation, educa-
tion, historic preservation, and
equipment operation.
Contact
Telephone (message) 805 548-1894
email: info@slorrm.com
website: www.slorrm.com
Mail: 1940 Santa Barbara Avenue
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Museum Store
To raise funds, the Museum offers
several items for sale on-site and
online: T-shirts, hats, belt buckles,
mugs, enameled pins, embroidered
patches, and engineer hats. On the
website click on About, then Gift
Shop. We also have an eBay site for
a wider range of items.
Become a member
Membership provides opportune-
ities for anyone interested in today’s
railroads, railroad history, train tra-
vel, artifact restoration, or model rail-
roading. Membership benefits include
free Museum admission and a 10%
Museum Store discount.
Annual dues: Individual $40;
Family $65; Sustaining $100. Life
member single payment: under 62
$1,000, 62 and over $600. Junior
memberships (ages 12-18) for model
railroaders are available; contact
our Model Railroad Superintend-
ent for details.
You can join at the Museum, by
mail, or online. Download application
forms from the Museum’s website
and mail payment. Or you can join
online by clicking Membership and
using PayPal.
Timetable
Board of Directors meetings
are scheduled for September 9, Octo-
ber 14, and November 11, at 6:00 p.m.
They are held at the Museum.
You can participation remotely.
Contact info@slorrm.com
for help
with remote participation.
Special Presentation
Building the Railroad Over
Cuesta Grade
Saturday, September 13, 11:00
Included with admission
Annual photo contest
Send us your best photos featur-
ing Central Coast railroading, include-
ing miniature and model railroads.
Details on our website under About.
In this publication product or corporate
names may be registered trademarks.
They are used only for identification or
explanation without intent to infringe.
Museum supporters
The Museum would not exist and
improve without the support of many.
In this edition we recognize:
Don and Jill Arlow, and the
Donald M. Hanesworth Trust, for
financial contributions;
Michael Cook for helping keep
the parking and landscape areas
near the Freighthouse tidy, and for
being an informal docent outside our
regular public hours.
Board of Directors
Peter Brazil Mike Burrell
Stephen Cake Jim Chernoff
Alan Estes Greg Jackson
Brad LaRose Ted Van Klaveren
Crew List
President ..................... Brad LaRose
Vice President................Peter Brazil
Museum Manager........... Alan Estes
Curator/Restoration .. Brad LaRose
Treasurer/Insurance ...... Dave Rohr
Exhibits ............................. Gary See
Operations .................... Peter Brazil
Events/Fundraising ............. vacant
Model Railroad ... Andrew Merriam
Membership ....................... Gary See
Digital Media Coordinator Gary See
Webmaster ................ Jamie Foster
Secretary, Archivist/Librarian, News-
letter Editor ............... Glen Matteson
(newsletter@slorrm.com)
The museum is a 501(c)(3) non-
profit, educational organization,
staffed entirely by volunteers.
Corrections and additions
The Summer Coast Mail incor-
rectly reported that the Southern
Pacific long-bed pick-up truck was
bought by the railroad. Instead, it
was leased through an intermed-
iary. It was assigned to the S.P.
Water Service Department, and used
by John Martin in San Jose, Cal-
ifornia. It’s the only S.P. pick-up of
any model known by us to exist.
More Coast Mail Online
Mongolian imitator, spring switches
Also, the Summer edition article
on our reciprocating rail saw incor-
rectly said that torches are used to
cut rail only for salvage. That’s gen-
erally true, because a torch doesn’t
leave a smooth surface and its heat
can compromise the steel’s quality.
But as we see above, new rail being
laid from a rail train on Union Pac-
ific’s Canyon Subdivision is being cut
with a torch. Before being bolted to
another section of rail, the end will
probably be recut with a saw. If the
joint will be electrically welded, it
certainly will be precisely saw cut.
This view from a YouTube video by
Pacific Rail Productions shows newly
offloaded rail being cut with a torch.
No more “Union Pacific?”
On July 28 Union Pacific stated
its intent to acquire Norfolk Southern.
The new name Union Pacific Trans-
continental Railroad would reflect an
American first. Regulatory approval is
needed. Major US railroads BNSF and
CSX are expected to request conces-
sions to preserve competition. More to
come in the Winter Coast Mail.
SLORRM Coast Mail Number 93 Fall 2025 Page 3!
The closer a model railroad feature is to its corres-
ponding full-size feature, the more prototypical it is.
The spring switch shown above operates prototypically,
allowing “trailing point” moves to pass through without
being set to the expected position. The Central Coast
Model Railroaders installed the spring switch here
(above) and at another spot to allow many miles of
track to be condensed into the space available within
the Freighthouse, while facilitating the continuous run-
ning of trains during public hours.
More on spring switches on page 6 (online).
Low fares from Atascadero
A prototypical operation !
In May workers associated with underground fiber-
optic facilities were active near the Museum’s standard-
gauge display track. It’s reassuring to know they follow-
ed what must be standard safety protocol: place a
removable derail with a red sign and a beacon between
any rolling stock and the work location (above). Don’t
let the rusty rails give you a false sense of security.
Of course the cars on the display track move very
rarely, and when they do our volunteers keep close
watch all around, flagging when advisable.
And yes, the yellow ramp with a flange angled to
divert any errant cars away from the active track is
called a derail, not a derailer. Permanently attached
but operable derails are common on spurs and sidings
where private operations occur or where a slope down
toward the main track could accelerate a runaway. The
team track south of the Museum has one (below). They
may also be used at movable bridges and where rail
vehicles with different federal safety standards operate
with time-of-day separation. For bridges, the bridge
tender can control the operable derail electrically. For
connections between light rail and standard rail
systems, a dispatcher’s remote approval is typically
required to set the derail for clear passage.
Regardless of situation, the conclusion is that a slow,
controlled derailment is better then a collision.
Any track, any direction,
any time
Brad LaRose photo
You can’t board a passenger train at Atascadero these
days, but for many years it was not only possible but
encouraged. The newspaper ad above is from 1933. At
the US general rate of inflation since 1933, those two
cents would be about 49 cents in 2025. San Luis Obispo
to Los Angeles by coach seat on Amtrak’s Pacific Surf-
liner is about $54 (midweek in May), so a real bargain.
In late May, to accommodate work on un-
derground fiber optic cables, we removed ties
and a rail from the Museum’s standard-gauge
display track (above). We stored them until
they can be reinstalled. Museum president
Brad LaRose worked with the telecom contract-
ors to arrange for ballast that will more
than replace what was disturbed.
Utility work under a rail line is not un-
usual. Southern Pacific’s tracks and the 1943
depot were built over one of the city’s first
sewer mains connecting the Terrace Hill
area with lower ground to the west. Several
years ago the city decided to replace the pipe
in a better location. Pits were dug beyond
the tracks on the east and west sides, a hole
was bored between the pits, and the new pipe
was jacked into place.
The Museum did something similar on a
smaller scale to connect its solar panels with
the Freighthouse, avoiding trenching through a
walkway with colored concrete and a road.
Simplify, simplify, simplify
So said Henry David Thoreau, in advising people how to
improve their overly complicated lives in the mid-1800s.
The Summer Coast Mail covered a suspension of the rule to
stop and inspect trains when trackside detectors sound an
alarm. Such a detector operates north of Cal Poly, at Union
Pacific mile 244.8. For trains passing without a defect such as
an over-heated axle bearing, its automated voice used to say by
radio transmission it’s location, “no defects,” the train’s number
of axles, the train speed, and ending with “detector out.” For
defect-free trains, the Southwest Railcam audio feed, based at
the Museum, now reveals only “UP detector mile two-four-four-
point eight.”
Why the simplification?
1. In-cab displays, event recorders, and Positive Train
Control technology monitor and report much of the information
covered by the previous detector routines.
2. With the Union Pacific dispatcher in Omaha, Nebraska,
authorizing the local, midafternoon moves of north- and south-
bound Coast Starlights as well as the Pacific Surfliner, radio
traffic could become congested. As your editor overhead years
ago, “You got walked on by the talking detector.” To translate: a
conversation between a locomotive engineer and the dispatcher
was preempted or distorted by the detector’s automated voice.
SLORRM Coast Mail Number 93 Fall 2025 Page 4!
Source: Union Pacific RR
Above, Union Pacific’s wayside detectors in the southwestern U.S.
Wheel temperature detectors (green squares) are newer and more
common than hot box (axle end) detectors (gray dots). As U.P.
upgrades traffic control systems, it’s also replacing hot box detect-
ors. Acoustic bearing detectors (red triangles) can usually reveal
bearing problems before they overheat.
WILD stands for wheel load impact detectors (black triangles); they
respond to flat spots on wheels, which can damage rails and
further damage wheels. Wheel profile detectors (yellow spots) use
lasers to monitor wheel treads and flanges. There’s one in northern
California and one in southeastern Arizona. Heavily worn wheel
profiles tend to “pick” switches, allowing one set of wheels to follow
the through route and one the diverging route –never a good idea.
Several locations have more than one type of detection. Car and
locomotive wheels, and many other components, are inspected at
many other locations, such as yards and shops, in addition to the
devices listed above that monitor trains as they roll by. Increas-
ingly, devices onboard cars and locomotives monitor components
and report via “the internet of things” to engineers and technicians.
Something’s missing
Below, the pit west of the tracks, south of the
San Luis Obispo depot, that a city contractor
dug several years ago to facilitate installing a
new sewer main without disturbing the active
tracks. Cutting main tracks is a disruptive last
resort. When it must be done, all personnel,
equipment, and materials are arranged for a
“work window” that’s as short as practical.
Our sympathies for a fellow heritage organization
SLORRM Coast Mail Number 93 Fall 2025 Page 5!
“Pepsi can” at San Luis Obispo!
On June 14 Amtrak’s General Electric locomotive No. 160, in the
paint scheme known among fans as the Pepsi can helped bring the
southbound Coast Starlight into town (second engine above). Your
editor avoids both Coke and Pepsi, but thinks this is among the most
attractive schemes Amtrak has used –not a fan of the “whale profile”
(third unit above) or of whatever one might call the newest Chargers.
The bold, angled strokes of the Pepsi scheme seem more assertive.
Rail equipment, especially passenger cars and locomotives, are
decidedly horizontal and rectangular, which are not reflected by the
swoopy designs that were popular for a while. No. 160 commem-
orates Amtrak’s 50th anniversary, which was in 2021. The view above
is a cropped screen shot from the Southwest Railcams’ installation at
the Museum. The video records for 12 hours, so if you missed some-
thing in that time frame you can go back and look for it, or replay
something of interest.
A Pepsi style also looks good thrumming across the Asian steppe
(below left), from a YouTube video by Mongolia Now.
At right above is a straight-
forward paint scheme captured
by Thomas Scalf.
Right, Jerry Britton’s Online
Services found a broadside of
the whale scheme.
On August 5 restoration team volunteers
Jim Livingston (left) and Bob Wilson (right)
used two torches to heat a bent stirrup step
on the Museum’s flatcar. Restoration lead
and photographer Brad LaRose pounded
the heat-softened step into shape with a
sledgehammer.
Marty Bernard photo
The stars truly aligned in the scene at left.
Lead locomotive No. 510 is decades older
than the one in the Pepsi scheme, but
originally wore that same pattern (photo
below, at Los Angeles in 1992)
Mount Rainier Scenic Rail-
road’s wood trestle (left),
possibly the longest owned
by a US heritage railroad,
burned in June. For infor-
mation on rebuilding help
contact:
info@mtrainierrailroad.com
Restoration progress
Southwest Railcam at San Luis Obispo,
pointed southeast, got a more clear angle
of No. 160 in the lead for the northbound
Starlight on June 15 (below).
!
SLORRM Coast Mail Number 93 Fall 2025 Page 6!
Spring switches and their cousins!
The Spring Coast Mail featured a photo of the Museum’s recently
installed “spring switch signal.” To appreciate the convenience of a
spring switch and why it warrants a special trackside signal, we
need to consider track switches and rail traffic control in general.
The Coast Route was a largely single-track line with passing
sidings about eight miles apart. A dispatcher issued written author-
izations for train movements, transmitted by telegraph. A typical
order would be for a timetable eastbound (geographic southbound)
freight train to enter the siding at Honda and wait there until
passage of the westbound (northbound) Coast Daylight.
The freight train would stop with its locomotive close to the west
switch of the Honda siding. A head-end brakeman would climb down
from the cab and align the switch for the siding. He would then
climb back into the cab. The train would pull through clear of the
switch, stopping with its caboose a short walk from it. The rear
brakeman would get down from the caboose, return the switch to its
through position, and get back in the caboose.
The Coast Daylight would come roaring by.
The head-end brakeman, having stood on the ground to inspect
the westbound train, would put the east Honda switch in its
diverging position. The freight would pull through the switch,
stopping with its caboose on the main.
The rear-end brakeman would get down, line the switch for the
through route, and get back on the caboose. The train would then
continue toward Los Angeles.
Half of this activity would be avoided if the train leaving the
siding could simply roll trough the east Honda switch without it
being operated by hand.
The moving point rails of conventional switches are held firmly
in one position or the other, to avoid the awful consequences of some
train wheels taking one route and some the other route. A spring
switch allows low-speed train movements to push the point rails to
the position other then the one the switch is set for, with the rails
moving back to the set position after passage of the wheels.
Above left, the indicator for a manually operated Southern Pacific
spring switch; a red circular disk is seen edge-on. Above right, top,
photo of instructional model showing switch in “through” position.
Above right, bottom, switch in “diverging” position. The point rails
always move in unison. At a siding, through is for passage along the
main track; diverging is to enter or leave the siding.
GAP
DIVERGING
Clearly, safe and efficient movement of
the spring switch point rails depends on the
strength and reliability of the spring mech-
anism. As retired Southern Pacific and
Metrolink civil engineer Michael McGinley
noted in a post consulted for this article,
there are two types of mechanisms. A coil
spring moved the point rails back to the
through route after passage of each wheel. A
piston had enough delay to allow the wheels
of two axles in a typical truck (wheel
assembly) to pass through before moving back.
In the illustration at left, a train move-
ment from left to right is called a facing-
point move. A movement from right to left is
called a trailing point move.
A train on the through route making a
trailing movement through a switch unex-
pectedly, manually set for the diverging
route could damage the point rails and the
spring mechanism. A train on the through
route making a facing move, expecting the
spring switch to be in its default through
position but manually set for diverging, could
approach the switch too fast and enter the
siding, perhaps occupied by another train.
Various types of illuminated signals dis-
playing color lights or symbols were meant
to prevent such mishaps. In some, green ind-
icated the switch was set for its default posi-
tion, yellow for the position corresponding to
compressed springs, and red for neither, as
when a piece of rock ballast stuck in the gap
prevented proper operation. The letter “S”
indicated the switch with a default through
position was manually set for the siding.
With expanded Centralized Traffic Con-
trol (CTC), where switches are operated re-
motely by dispatchers, spring switches on
the Coast Route are becoming extinct.
A variable (also called “flop-ever”) switch’s
point rails can be trailed through in either
position and they stay in the most recently
forced position. A self-restoring switch is
electrically powered and linked with signals
and track circuits to automatically reset to
the through route after a train has pro-
ceeded through it.
Below, looking face-on at the head of the
Museum’s spring switch signal.
GAP
THROUGH