— Education —
Collection
Rolling Stock
Our current rolling stock consists of the following (click on each to learn more):
Southern Pacific Wooden Box Car
Southern Pacific Wooden Caboose #244
La Cuesta Lounge-Diner Passenger Car
Southern Pacific Cupola Caboose #1886
Southern Pacific Beet Gondola Car
Railroad Tools and Equipment
A variety of tools and railroad MoW (maintenance of way) equipment is on display in the museum:
Southern Pacific MT-19A Inspection Motor Car
Southern Pacific’s Pacific Motor Trucking Trailer
Northwest Motor Company Speeder
History and Stories
Union Switch and Signal (US&S) H-2 Searchlight POT Signal
A Five-year Wait for the Train (building a railroad over Cuesta Grade)
Another Seven Years to Close “The Gap” (from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara)
San Luis Obispo Dairy Industry
Santa Maria Valley Railroad Facts
Research Library and Archives
The Research Library and the Archives focus on Central Coast railroad development and operation, including Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Amtrak, Pacific Coast Railway, and Santa Maria Valley Railroad.
Our research library has about 650 books and sets of magazines. Most focus on the railroads that served the Central Coast. Some cover historical aspects throughout territories served by those railroads or nationwide topics. Library items are generally produced by entities that publish material for public use.
The Archives contain reports, correspondence, standards, plans, manuals, employee and public timetables, and photographs. These items are generally produced by the railroads, regulators, or suppliers for their own use.
All Library items and many Archives items are cataloged in a searchable database. We hope to make the database publicly accessible soon.
Library and Archives items normally may be used only by prior arrangement at the museum. The museum has separate opportunities to buy or borrow publications related to railroads and railroad modeling.
