Santa Maria Valley Railroad and OmniTrax Partnering for Local Rail Revitalization
Jarrod Zinn
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – A railway corporation has entered into its first partnership with a company that owns the Santa Maria Valley Railroad.
They want to revitalize and expand rail deliveries.
The Santa Maria Valley Railroad (S.M.V.R.R.) has been in operation for well over a century, and is a key component to the functioning of our local economy.
From fertilizers for our farmers to produce, rail transport can be significantly more cost effective than highway transport in diesel-powered trucks.
“We’re able to buy contracts as a savings to us and then as a savings to our, to our customers also,” says David Iliff, with Santa Maria Valley Crop Service.
Two companies, Omni-Trax and Coast Belle Rail Corporation, are now looking to get Santa Maria rail services back on track, with a new partnership.
“This is Omni-Trax’s 29th Railroad, and they own railroads across the country. Of the 29 railroads, we are the first to go in partnership. That’s usually an acquisition. And so this is their very first partnership,” says S.M.V.R.R. president Rob Himoto.
Coast Belle is the local company, owned by the Himoto family.
Rob Himoto is the president of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad.
They hope to revitalize existing railways, and even reactivate a currently-inactive line.
“Locally owned, you still have the same staff, they won’t bring their staff in. They really like how we run the railroad. So we will continue to run the railroad as is, with just more resources,” says Himoto.
This abides by the wishes of the rail system’s founder, Captain George Allan Hancock, who purchased the railroad out of receivership one hundred years ago, and built industries based upon it.
“Been working with the railroad since the eighties. They’re really good to work with. Tanker cars are pretty expensive just to sit and not be moving. So the supplier, they want them emptied as quickly as possible and then shipped back to them. And Santa Maria Valley Railroad’s been very helpful in that regard,” says Iliff.
As gas prices remain high at this time, Himoto says rail delivery is a viable alternative, as one rail car can handle the equivalent of 3-5 truck loads, removing those trucks from the highways, in effect.