CoastRail 2020


Saturday, October 3, 2020
CANCELLED

This year's CoastRail kickoff as well as the Central Coast Railroad Festival are cancelled. Let's look forward to 2021!

A few hours of railroad photography and videography presentations.

This year's theme:
Vintage Trains

CoastRail contact (generally): CoastRail@SLORRM.com


The Schedule That Would Have Been


10AM-? (PDT)

- Presentations
Not necessarily in this order:

  • "Swanton Pacific Railroad" by Charlie Crabb. This presentation will be on the history of the 1/3 scale steam locomotives that were built for the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exhibition and how the locomotives ended up at the Swanton Pacific Railroad (Facebook, Wikipedia) in Davenport, California. Any one interested in 100-year old 1/3 scale replicas of the Baldwin 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive will want to attend.
  • "Elephants on Rails: The Sunset of Steam in Zimbabwe" by Mike Massee. Mike presents a look at the last vestiges of cape gauge (3ft 6in) mainline steam in Zimbabwe, formerly the British colony of Rhodesia. Here in this Southern African country the Beyer Garratt articulated locomotive reigned supreme from 1926 until recent events shifted freight traffic away from the railway. Come take a journey to this breathtaking and often misunderstood country with a complicated and rich history.
  • "Riding the Royal Gorge Route Railroad" by Jamie Foster. Take a trip on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad as photogrpahed by Jamie. In 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt described it best as "the trip that bankrupts the English language!" The Royal Gorge, known as the "Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River," was one of the highlights on the route through the Rockies on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The route was constructed in the 1870s (in the midst of a "railroad war") and ran passengers until the 1960s. In 1989 it merged with the Southern Pacific Railroad then with the Union Pacific in 1996. In 1997, the UP sold the 12-mile line to the current operator.
  • "Surf and the Southern Pacific" by John Roskoski. An entertaining and informative video presentation with a bit of railroading for just about anyone - the rail historian, local history buffs, and steam and diesel enthusiast. It presents the history of the SP Surf Depot from 1900 to its closing in 1985.
  • "CB&Q 1960s Steam Excursions" by Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer. One series will start at CB&Q's Chicago Clyde Yard roundhouse and finish back at the roundhouse.



  • "Southern Pacific in San Luis Obispo in the 1980s" by Mark Hornbeck. Pending confirmation of new date.




  • "The Little Engine That Could" by Brent MacGregor. A photo summary of locomotive switchers from the 1940s.
  • "Railroads, Oil, and Southern California" by Tom Zehnder.
  • "Lionel Collectors Club of America Convention" and "Railfanning at Tehachapi" by Jack Hutchinson.