| Santa Maria Valley Railway Historical Museum |
| Santa Maria Valley Railway Historical Museum |
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This section of the web site will share the construction and operation of an HO model of railroading activities in the Santa Maria Valley area. The model will eventually be on display at the Museum's location in the Santa Maria Town Center Mall. The modelers work every Friday evening at the Museum starting at 7:00pm. Stop by and check it out! MODEL RAILROAD PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Construct a scale model railroad layout, depicting railroading in the Santa Maria Valley, to be built and operated by museum members for its educational and recreational value to members and the public. DESIGN CONCEPT: The layout will be of a modular design, with a module or group of modules depicting a particular scene or locale, such as the Santa Maria yard, the Guadalupe yard, Betteravia sugar mill, Battles petroleum facility, etc. The modules will be interconnected to form the operational layout. This modular design will allow flexibility in the overall size and configuration of the layout as floor space dictates. The modular design further allows for the possible public display of a completed module at public venues other than the museum site such as the Great American Train Show, the Discovery Museum, and the Santa Barbara County Fair. THEME: The primary focus will be the Santa Maria Valley Railroad operations from Guadalupe to Santa Maria, the Southern Pacific operations at Guadalupe, and some depiction of the Pacific Coast Railway. ERA: The time period to be modeled will generally be the steam/diesel transition from 1945 to 1965. The Santa Maria Valley Railroad acquired its first diesel locomotive in 1948 and continued using steam locomotives until 1961. SPECIFICATIONS SCALE: HO TRACK: Code 70 Micro Engineering TURNOUTS: No. 6 minimum Micro Engineering TURNOUT CONTROL: Tortoise slow motion switch machines MINIMUM RADIUS: 36" TRACK POWER: digital command control system |
3rd Annual Modelers Meet at the Mall, February 25-26, 2006. 2nd Annual Modelers Meet at the Mall, February, 2005. Guadalupe Yard; Downtown Building: July, 2004. Modelers Meet at the Mall, February, 2004. DCC Goes Live, August, 2003. More Layout Pictures, Late June, 2003. Yard Area Nears Completion, June, 2003. A school group visits, April 25, 2003. Rounding Out the Ends, March, 2003. Ready for the Front Window, January, 2003. Guadalupe Exchange Progress, December, 2002. Guadalupe Exchange Progress, May, 2002. Guadalupe Exchange Begins, April, 2002. Yard Progress Continues, February, 2002. Yard Progress Continues, January, 2002. Blacksmith Shop and Water Tower, December, 2001. Development Above and Below, November, 2001. Second Yard Section, October, 2001. Yard Track In Place, September, 2001. |