Steam locomotives, these wonderful works of mechanical showmanship still amaze me when I see them in transportation museums or in old movies and photos. Steam has been replaced with the sleek lines of diesel-electric power on the railroads and a red light and a radio transmitter have replaced the stately caboose.

The railroad came to Lompoc near the turn of the last century. Prior to the arrival of the iron horse real horses and wagons were used to bring freight and passengers into the newly established town of Lompoc. Before the arrival of the modern railroad it took many days and sometimes weeks before small increments of mail and valuable freight could reach our community.

Teamsters would push their teams over the rutted trails, through the sagebrush and along tracks on the Burton Mesa across the Santa Ynez River from coastal docks at Lompoc Landing and Surf, or over the San Marcos Pass and through the Gaviota Pass from points south to Lompoc. Although the life was difficult and often punctuated by cold, rainy weather, uneven muddy roads or broken equipment the freight was finally delivered in small lots after several days travel.

The trip from Santa Barbara and points south through Gaviota was so arduous that a stage stop was built at Las Cruces (where Highway 1 meets US 101) to allow drivers, passengers and horses to rest. Remnants of this roadhouse can still be seen along the frontage road near Gaviota Creek. When travelers arrived this became a busy place with food and drink being served to both animal and man as needed repairs were made to the wheeled carts.

The railroad changed all of that with cars that could transport several tons of goods and scores of people in one trip. Trips from Los Angeles or San Francisco that once took several days were reduced to a day or less. When the railroad arrived in Lompoc it was equal to the advent of the airplane or space travel in the later part of the century!

During the construction of the bridge at Ocean Park a town known as "Bridgeport" sprang up complete with saloons, boarding houses, shops, post office and service buildings. Baroda was a little to the east and it also had its share of saloons and other businesses. When the bridge was complete the rowdy construction hands and camp followers moved on but the "town" remained for several decades to house railroad workers and their families. The children were reportedly transported to school by the railroad in a limousine!

Once the main line was completed along the coast local businessmen and railroad officials determined that a spur-line was needed between Surf and Lompoc to exploit the growing seed, farming and diatomaceous earth mining industries. Heavy equipment was needed at the mines; farm equipment by the farmers; and, the products of these enterprises by the rest of the world.

The Daylight Limited, a popular passenger service, passed through Surf, which was known as "Lompoc Junction" prior to 1920, regularly. It descends from a number of Southern Pacific trains that plied the California coast. Beginning in 1901, the Coastline Limited operated as a day-coach train running from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 14 hours and 45 minutes. The Shoreline Limited was an all-parlor car train that was inaugurated in 1906, appealing to the well-heeled traveler.

An entry on train schedules for the Southern Pacific "Morning Daylight" for Surf stated that: "(The) Town is well-named for the foamy breakers seen from the Daylight windows. Grand panorama through here of mountain and seashore, Surf is junction for Lompoc, agricultural center 10-miles east." The trains ran on time in those days and #98 arrived from San Francisco at 2:21 PM while #99 from Los Angeles arrived at 11:49 AM daily.

Soon the settlement began to flourish and grow as the demand grew for the products of Lompoc. The filtration value of diatomaceous earth was essential to many industries and flower seeds were a highly desirable addition to the homes and business property of people throughout the world. Soon row crops and the now famous pinquito beans were being sold to markets in other cities.

The spur line starts at Baroda (now a rail siding just west of the Ocean Park entrance). A bridge was built to cross the Santa Ynez River in the late 1870's to allow horse drawn wagons to safely cross the river and travel to Lompoc Landing. Some of the pilings can still be seen in the river. Some remnants of Bridgeport, a boomtown for railroad bridge builders can still be seen on the north shore of the estuary.

Soon we pass Huyckville, which began as a ranch in 1875. Soon a half-dozen other families joined Andrew Huyck and a small settlement sprang up out of the flat meadow. The small community lasted until 1924 when it was sold to a developer who filed plans for the community of Aloha near Surf. This town site is still registered with Santa Barbara County although the lot sizes are very small by today's standards.

The rail line from Surf arcs across the farm fields passing the vegetable packing sheds and turning towards Laurel Avenue near the intersection of Union Sugar and Highway 246. It must have been quite a sight for the farm hands to see the daily arrival of huffing-puffing steam engines dragging cars loaded with freight or passengers behind them.

Tracks finally enter the town site at Laurel Avenue and "Z" Street. Here they begin their journey through the heart of the city. The first siding is near the old "Lompoc Lumber" yard and the bean processing plant between "V" and "R" Streets. Once a very busy complex of warehouses and industrial buildings, the area, except for the bean warehouse is largely vacant today.

Pinquito beans are still processed in a warehouse near "R" and Laurel. These are the beans that made the Santa Maria Style barbeque famous. Soak these little beans overnight, then, cook at a boil for a couple of hours. Add spices, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, some meat and simmer for another couple of hours. Join on a plate with garlic bread, salad and some tri-tip and you have a meal fit for a king! A nice nap is the preferred dessert.

Pinquito beans were highly regarded during WW I. They were so important that a squad of soldiers equipped with metal helmets, leggings and rifles guarded the warehouse day and night. It is also rumored that one of the prominent members of the community had one of these little beans mounted on a tie tack and referred to it as the "diamond of the valley".

Next we pass the "Whistle Stop", a small tavern and grill. It is rumored that the place got its name from engineers who would toot the whistle as they passed. Several stories are told concerning the antics associated with this watering hole. One tale has two local women "catching the train" near "H" Street and riding it to the Whistle Stop, where the train slowed to let them off. At the time it seemed quite funny, but it was very dangerous and they could have been seriously hurt.

Another has the train stopping while one of the crew grabbed a few sandwiches that were made up by the cook. Trainmen frequented the tavern in their off-hours and probably made arrangements to pick up lunch on their way out of Lompoc to the main line for switching duties.

Near Laurel and "F" once stood a two-story wooden railroad station. The station served freight and passenger service and the stationmaster and his family lived upstairs. The Lompoc station was built in 1901 and finally met its end in 1972.

You can almost hear the squeal of children as the train rumbled into town belching steam and coal smoke! And, you can hear their mothers complaining as the grit from the coal fired boiler landed on freshly washed clothes which they had hung out to dry. The screech of brakes and clanging of the bell heralded the final arrival of engine #1374 as the train pulled into the station.

As the porters helped women and children from the train several men could be seen unloading freight onto wagons and carts for delivery into town. As the conductor checked his bill-of-lading the stationmaster acknowledged the freights arrival.

Several cars were then shuttled into the "White Hills" siding between "D" and "A" as the engineer and fireman ready the engine for its return trip to Surf. The brakeman throws the switches to route the cars onto the siding and disconnects several of them destined for the mines in Miguelito Canyon. Now the switcher can move the cars to their final destination.

At "A" Street the tracks split with one going to the old Grefco Plant and the other following a curved route to Miguelito Canyon and into the World Minerals Celite mine property. This track produces the largest volume of traffic for the railroad today as tons of bulk products are moved from the mine to large consumers.

The prominence of the railroad has significantly diminished in the last 50-years. Once the dominant method for transporting goods, its service has now been replaced by the more versatile 18-wheeler. Trucks are now responsible for moving 95% of the freight into and out of Lompoc. Passengers can still stop at Surf "well-named for the foamy breakers", but it is a small bus that will bring them to town and deposit them at a small plastic bus shelter instead of a depot.

The slow moving throb of a diesel engine and a electronic bell and horn can still be heard along Laurel Avenue as bulk freight cars squeak and screech as they are shuttled into and out of town, but the grand old days of the railroad and its importance to Lompoc have passed with time.