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Exhibits
Rolling stock
Railroad rolling stock includes locomotives, freight and passenger cars, and non-revenue cars such as cabooses and maintenance-of-way cars. Exhibited outdoors, available for viewing any day and time, are one of the first all-steel tank cars, a gondola enlarged to carry sugar beets, a flat car, a 1920s café-lounge car, a bay-window caboose, and a small diesel switching locomotive used at a local army base during World War II. (The café-lounge and caboose interiors are open only on Saturdays.)
Pacific Coast Railway
The Pacific Coast Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railway built in 1873 on the Central Coast of California. The original 10-mile line from Avila Beach/Port Harford to San Luis Obispo was later expanded southward to Santa Maria and ultimately Los Olivos, with branch lines east to Sisquoc and west to Guadalupe. At its peak, the railroad was 76 miles long. After decades of competition with the Southern Pacific Railroad, the PCRy ceased operation in 1941.
Santa Maria Valley Railroad
The Santa Maria Valley Railroad is a 14 mile shortline railroad that connects customers in Santa Maria with the Union Pacific Railroad in Guadalupe. They transport agricultural equipment, energy products, frozen vegetables, as well as materials for manufacturing and construction. Learn more about their history and their current operation at our exhibit.
Track Display
Railroads build and maintain track and signals using a variety of equipment and tools. A sampling of these tools and Maintenance-of-Way vehicles is on display in the museum.
Southern Pacific
Connections History
The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Santa Barbara in 1887 (from the south) and Santa Margarita in 1889 (from the north) but it wasn’t until 1894 that the railroad reached San Luis Obispo from the north and 1901 when the Coast Line was finally complete from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Learn more about these accomplishments by viewing our museum exhibit or visiting our “5 Year Wait” (building over the Cuesta Grade) and “The Gap” (completing the Coast Line) pages.
Amtrak – Virtual
Coast STARLIGHT Ride
Sit back, relax, and watch beautiful Central Coast scenery pass by your train window. Take a trip heading north over the Cuesta Grade from San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles or ride south along the Pacific Ocean through Vandenberg Space Force Base as you head to Santa Barbara. Your virtual trip is included in museum admission.
Amtrak – Interactive Locomotive Cab SIMULATOR
Sit down at the controls of this Amtrak Locomotive and operate this train over some of the Amtrak routes in California. You’ll see and hear the operation of a modern diesel locomotive or an old time steam locomotive.
Communications and Signals
Safe and efficient train movements depend on communication and signal systems. These systems have changed dramatically over the years. At the museum you can send a telegraph message, listen to dispatcher instructions over radio, and watch trackside and crossing signals come to life.
