Swanton Pacific Railroad

Nearly three weeks ago, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire tore through the Swanton Pacific Ranch and heavily damaged the Swanton Pacific Railroad. Many of the structures on the property were damaged or destroyed, including the Red House, Roundhouse, Car Shop, and Al’s house. The only remaining structures on the railroad property are the Machine shop, College Station, Carnegie Bridge, and four standard gauge cabooses. Three of the steam locomotives build by Louis M. MacDermot for...Continue reading

Swanton Pacific Railroad on NBC Bay Area News . . . The story mentions that Charlie Crabb is the new director of the railroad. He had previously been our director. The railroad bylaws require that our director be employed by Cal Poly, and when Charlie recently retired, we found a new director who also oversaw the Swanton Pacific Ranch. After the fires those two jobs were too big so Charlie came back on board (had to put in the train pun) and he's been instrumental in getting our story in the news. Thanks, Charlie - great to have you back! https://www.nbcbayarea.com//hope-is-historic-rail/2367797/

The Mercury News article about CZU fire at Swanton Pacific Ranch and Swanton Pacific Railroad has also been published in the SLO Tribune The Sacramento Bee The Modesto Bee Merced Sun-Star The Fresno Bee East Bay Times among others, thanks to Pulitzer-prize-winning writer Robert Salonga https://www.mercurynews.com/author/robert-salonga/ Let's hope that we get more great news coverage when the railroad reopens!

Swanton Pacific Ranch and Railroad in the San Jose Mercury News. Ranch Director Brian Dietterick and Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences (@CalPoly.CAFES) Dean Andrew Thulin interviewed among others, with intent to rebuild: We’re not starting at square zero, Dietterick said. I know this community well. It’s one of the most cohesive groups I’ve ever been around, and will be coming up with a plan of action, especially when the chips are down. Andre...w Thulin, dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences, said the next weeks and months will be about assessing what can be salvaged. He, like Dietterick, is also pondering what new research opportunities may come from the fire and its impact on the land. We’ve got a lot to think about, he said. But we will rebuild the ranch. I can tell you that. https://www.mercurynews.com//historic-swanton-pacific-ran/

More recent photos of the railroad. There's a photo of a deer in the grass at the train station, which is nice to see. https://twitter.com/NorCal_Stri/status/1299274314450006021 https://twitter.com/NorCal_Stri/status/1299273371708915713 https://twitter.com/NorCal_Stri/status/1299272892073435138 https://twitter.com/NorCal_Stri/status/1299272432331583488... https://twitter.com/NorCal_Stri/status/1299271795384619008 https://twitter.com/NorCal_Stri/status/1299253750528225282 Additionally, Santa Cruz County has a damage assessment map:https://www.santacruzcounty.us/Fir/DamageAssessmentMap.aspx and you can see how quickly the fires spread from a NASA fire map by looking at individual days: https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/

Cal Poly has established a Swanton Pacific Railroad Recovery Fund. It is exciting news that the University is committing to the future of the Swanton Pacific Railroad! Make sure you select the Swanton Pacific Railroad Fund on the drop-down menu https://crowdfund.calpoly.edu/project/22001/donate and click on this link to download the membership form and become a member and receive railroad updates and the newsletter: content-calpoly-edu.s3.amazonaws.com//SPRR%20Membership%2...0 Here is a message from Cal Poly and below are before/after images of the Al Smith House and the remains of the car barn at the railroad. - - - The CZU Lightning Complex fire swept through Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch on Aug. 19 and 20, destroying much of the Ranch and its structures. Access to the Ranch is still restricted due to ongoing spot fires, downed power lines, and sink holes and requires Cal Fire escort. A full assessment of the damage will take weeks and even months to fully identify. What we do know is that important structures including the Al Smith House, Seaside School House, Red House, Archibald House, Staub House and yurts, Cal Barn, Little Creek House, Car Barn, rail cars, Roundhouse and Car Shop have all been destroyed. The Green House, Long Barn, Bunk House, Railroad Machine Shop, Train Station, full-size cabooses and picnic grounds appear undamaged at this time. While the locomotives did burn, we will evaluate at a later date whether they can be restored. All staff and students were able to evacuate safely. We are grateful that no one was injured and that all livestock were safely transported from the ranch. While much is still unknown, we do know that the Cal Poly community is resilient. Structures were destroyed, and programs halted, but the heart of what we do every day remains strong. When alumnus Al Smith (Crop Science, ‘44; M.S. Agricultural Education, ‘56), credited founder of Orchard Supply Hardware, donated the Swanton Pacific Ranch to Cal Poly in 1993, he did so with one simple request that it be preserved as a working ranch and living laboratory dedicated to Learn by Doing educational opportunities and that the remaining large redwood be left untouched. Today, Swanton Pacific Ranch is a model for the practice of informed land stewardship and sustainability. The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences stands by that commitment. Our thoughts go out to those who also suffered losses in this fire and the many other fires that continue to ravage California. We will work closely with both our Cal Poly family and our partners in the surrounding Santa Cruz community to rise up, rebuild, and grow from the ashes. For now, we are focused on the immediate needs of those Swanton staff, faculty and students impacted by the fire.

Please read the letter below from the desk of the Swanton Pacific Railroad Society President, Geoff Tobin. Note that the reason California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo is mentioned is that the railroad's founder, the late Al Smith, donated his 3200-acre Swanton Pacific Ranch to the Cal Poly Corporation in 1993. Al Smith also provided an endowment fund specifically for the railroad. (To learn more about Al Smith, search for his name on this Facebook page.) The...Continue reading

A message from the Swanton Pacific Railroad Society President, Geoff Tobin: As the new President of the Swanton Pacific Railroad Society I would have liked my first message to our membership and the public to have been on a subject of good News. I am sure all of you have seen images of our facility after the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire passed through. In spite of the devastation there is hope to rebuild. Roundhouse fires happen and the locomotives that have gone thro...ugh them have run again. For those interested in donating money to our rebuilding efforts, we hope to be able to accept that money at some time in the future. The Railroad is only a part of the of The Swanton Pacific Ranch and the Ranch has been devastated by this fire as well. Dean Andrew J. Thulin and our former Director Charlie Crabb are scheduled to visit the Ranch on Tuesday, 25 August, 2020, to inspect the damage. There are decisions that the University will be making that may have a great impact on the railroad. Until we know what those decision are, it is not appropriate to accept any financial contributions. At this time, The Railroad Board is working on preliminary planning for salvage operations. The rebuilding will begin after the cleanup is done and that will take many volunteer hours and extensive fundraising. We had been hoping to restart our regular work weekends this fall with guidelines on how to get multiple people working on projects with social distancing, masks and other consideration for the health and welfare of our volunteers due to the virus. That is not going to happen. I must ask that unless you are specifically requested to come help with the salvage operation PLEASE DO NOT COME TO VISIT THE RAILROAD. We will let the membership and public know when it is both safe and appropriate to visit and come get your gloves dirty. Right now, we all have more questions than answers. As we learn more about the situation, we will continue to post updates and photos on this forum, as well as our web page. Please stay tuned. Thank you for your support, Geoff Tobin President Swanton Pacific Railroad Society California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo SPRR.calpoly.edu https://www.facebook.com/SwantonPacificRailroad https://www.facebook.com/pg/SwantonPacificRailroad/community/ https://www.youtube.com/user/SwantonPacificRR

With the #czulightningcomplex fires still burning, it has not been safe for any of our volunteers to verify the status of the buildings, rolling stock or the extent of the damage. Local photographer for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Kevin Painchaud, sent us these photos detailing some of the damage. We know the 1914, 1913, and 1500 steam locomotives were in the roundhouse during the blaze, along with the Motorcar and hood assembly for the 502 diesel. The 1912 is in Wyoming undergo...ing restoration not related to the fires. The 502 diesel is currently in the Machine Shop that appears to be unharmed. The Car Shop is a metal building with a metal frame however the adjoining Car Barn is a wood frame with metal siding and has been damaged, the condition of the rolling stock inside the Car Barn is unknown at this time. We do not know how far the fire burned onto the property or the condition of College Station or the Ed Carnegie Bridge. At this time we ask everyone to stay safe and not attempt to enter the railroad property - let the fire fighters do their job! As more information becomes available it will be posted on this page. -Molly https://www.kevinpainchaud.com/

Another photo of a locomotive surrounded by the remains of the roundhouse which burned during the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire #CZULightningComplex You can learn more about the railroad on this page and also the website, which provides the volunteer calendar, past newsletters (members receive current newsletters, that's why there aren't any posted from 2019 now), and membership information: https://sprr.calpoly.edu/home. learn more about the photographer, Kevin Painchau...Continue reading

Photos of devastation at the roundhouse from the wildfires in Santa Cruz County #CZULightningComplex Fortunately, the 1912 locomotive is safe as it is undergoing restoration Wasatch Railroad Contractors (the locomotive on the right was unpainted prior to the fire)

We've been getting some unconfirmed bad news about the status of the railroad due to the CZU fire #CZULightningComplex ravaging Santa Cruz County, which has 0% containment. The railroad is located near a fire station, so it is in the best location from a safety perspective. We'll post definitive news when we receive it.

Yesterday at the railroad we had a group of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) College of Engineering students working on their track sensor cart they designed and built. The card will allow us to automatically measure track gauge. Can you guess who the student is in this photo? Our next volunteer days are January 12 and 13. Guests and prospective volunteers are welcome on other days by appointment.

Swanton Pacific Railroad welcomes volunteers young and old and in between! Our next volunteer days are November 10 and 11. Visitors and volunteers are welcome to drop in on volunteer days and by appointment (we often have seasoned volunteers on hand at other times).

Here's a new six-wheel truck being built by Ed Carnegie for our heavy haul car. People with all talents who want to learn or teach are welcome to volunteers. Our next volunteer days are November 10 and 11. Visitors and volunteers are welcome to drop in on volunteer days and by appointment (we often have seasoned volunteers on hand at other times).