- Pacific Coast Railway
The Pacific Coast Railway is a defunct RailGauge|36 narrow gauge railway in the
Central Coast of California . Not to be confused with the Pacific Coast Railroad Company, a tourist operation in nearbySanta Margarita ,California , nearAtascadero which has operated since 2000.Originally a 10 mile (16 km) link from
San Luis Obispo toAvila Beach andPort Harford , it later built southward toSanta Maria andLos Olivos , with branches toSisquoc andGuadalupe .Although much of the line's traffic was agricultural freight, the development of oilfields in the Santa Maria valley gave it much business, and probably extended its life considerably.
An interesting feature, unusual for a narrow gauge railway, was that the Santa Maria to Guadalupe branch was electrified.
Timeline
* 1873 Horse-powered, RailGauge|30 gauge tramway opened between Port Harford and Avila Beach.
* 1876 Line extended to San Luis Obispo, as RailGauge|36 gauge steam-powered San Luis Obispo & Santa Maria Valley Railroad, with the backing of thePacific Coast Steamship Company .
* 1881 SLO&SMV and Pacific Coast Steamship Company absorbed into Oregon Improvement Company.
* 1881 Line extended from San Luis Obispo to Arroyo Grande.
* 1882 Line extended to Santa Maria and Los Alamos.
* 1882 SLO&SMV reorganized as Pacific Coast Railway.
* 1887 Mainline reaches Los Olivos, furthest extent.
* 1901 Oil drilling begins east of Santa Maria.
* 1906 Electrified branch built west from Santa Maria to serve sugar beet industry, to plant at Betteravia.
* 1909 Electrified branch extended to Guadalupe.
* 1910 Branch built east from Santa Maria to Sisquoc, to serve growing oilfields.
* 1928 End of electric operations.
* 1936 Mainline abandoned south of Los Alamos.
* 1937Branchline s from Santa Maria abandoned.
* 1941 All service abandoned.External links
* http://www.smvrhm.org - Santa Maria Valley Railway Historical Museum
* http://www.slorrm.com - San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum
* http://www.csrmf.org - California State Railroad Museum, which has restored PCRy caboose No. 2.References
* Best, Gerald (1964). Ships and narrow gauge rails; the story of the Pacific Coast Company. Howell-North.
* Westcott, Kenneth & Johnson, Curtiss (1998). The Pacific Coast Railway: Central California's Premier Narrow Gauge. Benchmark Publications.
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