South Bay Historical Railroad Society, Inc.

Hi Everyone. Today we are sharing a lousy photo that will make a big difference for all our members once we can reopen. During the shutdown, we have updated the network infrastructure at the Depot, including our Wi-Fi network. We now have a fast, mesh Wi-Fi network that can handle dozens of members using their phones to control trains. We look forward to seeing everyone back as soon as it's safe :)

Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad Friends & Family: This week’s devastating fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains has greatly impacted a family member organization of th...e BJWRR. Located north of Davenport, the Swanton Pacific Railroad was established by former BJWRR board member and Orchard Supply Hardware President, Al Smith. The Swanton Pacific is a 19inch gauge railroad (one inch wider than the BJWRR) using equipment originally built for the Pan-American Exposition held in San Francisco in 1914/1915 (our own Bill Mason carousel was also featured at this same exposition). The Overfair Railway was designed, built and owned by Louis MacDermott, who later became a close friend of Billy Jones. In the later stages of this life, MacDermott moved himself, five steam locomotives and dozens of passenger cars to Billy’s Los Gatos cherry orchard. The 1 inch gauge difference in the equipment precluded the use of the larger Overfair locomotives at the ranch but a few of the passenger cars were successfully modified - the same design continues to be used by our railroad. After Louis died, Billy reluctantly sold the Overfair equipment to several separate parties. Associated with Billy Jones for many years, Al Smith fondly remembered the Overfair equipment at Billy’s ranch. Using funds from the sale of OSH to WR Grace, Smith bought the 3,200 acre Swanton Ranch and acquired all of the Overfair equipment from several parties. The Overfair equipment was at last reunited under one owner. With friends, many of whom were active Billy Jones’ volunteers, Al began his own railroad, the Swanton Pacific, in the early 1980s. Prior to passing, Al donated both the Swanton Ranch and the railroad to Cal Poly (his alma mater) and provided a large endowment to cover continued operational expenses for both. Since that time, the railroad has been run by volunteers as the 'Swanton Pacific Railroad Society' under the Cal Poly umbrella. The recent fire damage images of the Swanton Pacific Railroad and other locations are disheartening. Over the decades, our own little two-spot has burned in two roundhouse fires. With community support, she has been able to rise like a Phoenix to the delight of her supporters. We are confident the same will happen with our Swanton Pacific family and will be at the ready to assist as work parties are coordinated. Please follow our dear friends Swanton Pacific Railroad and thank you Ken Middlebrook for your words and Mike Massee for the photo.

This program was mentioned in the recent SBHRS members virtual meeting:

This slide show features dozens of slides that were recently scanned for the SBHRS archives.

Our HO and N Scale layouts are two of many featured in this video that one of our members published yesterday. See if you recognize any of the scenes: https://youtu.be/iRcSxFKcoqo

Since we cannot put on our Spring Open House event today and tomorrow, we are bringing the Model Layouts to you here: https://youtu.be/-tcYj4Bh2ds

The South Bay Historical Society's Spring Open House event has been canceled due to the current situation with Coronavirus.

One of our members got to see a very interesting piece of history last October.

More true today than ever!

Many of our members also belong to the National Model Railroad Association. The NMRA has been instrumental in setting standards for both manufacturers and modelers for decades so that when a consumer goes to buy a model, it will work with other equipment he or she already owns. The NMRA holds a national convention every year to give modelers a chance to congregate, talk about techniques, learn new skills, and visit with each other over the course of a week. At the end of the ...week, the National Train Show is held in a large space locally, and manufacturers, modular layout groups, and the general public are all invited to share information about all of the above. 2019's NMRA National Convention and Train Show was held in Salt Lake City, UT back in July. The SBHRS's own John and Cydney Abatecola made the trip and documented the event in a video that was published to YouTube today. You can see it here: https://youtu.be/76QLoJCx4js

This unusual military train came through Santa Clara on the afternoon of March 5, 2018. We don't get a lot of military trains, and certainly don't see much BNSF power on this line! Photo: John Abatecola

Check out this video about our HO Scale layout!