Santa
Maria Valley Railroad - (en)
The Santa Maria Valley Railroad (AAR reporting marks SMV) is a 14.8
mile shortline railroad that interchanges with the Union Pacific
Railroad's (former Southern Pacific) Coast Line.
The SMV interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad (former Southern
Pacific) at Guadalupe, California.
The SMV is owned by the G. Allan Hancock Estate and the Marion Mullin
Charitable Trust.
Traffic
The TRC handles 2,000 cars annually (1996 estimate). Commodities
hauled include:
Asphalt
Fertilizer
Fresh and Frozen Food products
Gypsum wallboard
Lumber
Machinery
Petroleum Products
Plastic
Scrap iron
Prior traffic included:
Beer
Sugar and Sugar beets
Passenger Service
Special passenger service was only offered during World War II on the
Air Base branch to transport military personnel to the Santa Maria
Army Air Base for training. The Air Base branch was constructed in
1943.
History
The SMV was incoporated on July 14, 1911 as the Santa Maria Valley
Railway at Los Angeles, California with A. A. Dougherty listed as
President.
The first 3.26 miles of track, from the Southern Pacific connection at
Guadalupe to Betteravia Junction, was actually built by the SP in
August 1899 to get to a sugar mill. The SP leased the track to the SMV
years later. From Betteravia the SMV built to Santa Maria and on to
Roadamite. The SMV also had branches running from Stowell to Air Base,
Suey to Rosemary Farms and Rex to Gates.
By 1925 the railway traffic had steeply declined and the railway went
bankrupt. Captain G. Allan Hancock [1], a principal of the Dominion
Oil Company, purchased the railroad for $75,000 at a Sheriff's auction.
The railroad was then reorganized as the Santa Maria Valley Railroad
in 1926. To this day, the railroad is owned by Captain G. Allan
Hancock's estate.
The original line ran for 23 miles, from Guadalupe to Roadamite. The
track from Gates to Roadamite was abandoned in 1950.
