page_title: Swanton Pacific Ranch
section_title: Swanton Pacific Railroad
hierarchical_section_title: Swanton Pacific Ranch / Swanton Pacific Railroad
caption_attribution_description: English: This picture was taken by myself (Jesse Golden) at Swanton Pacific Ranch.
context_page_description: Swanton Pacific Ranch is a 3,200-acre ranch in Santa Cruz County, California, outside the town of Davenport. The ranch is owned and operated by California Polytechnic State University for educational and research in sustainable agriculture. The ranch encompasses rangeland, livestock, and forestry operations for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and comprises a significant part of the community of Swanton.
context_section_description: The 19 in (483 mm) gauge Swanton Pacific Railroad was constructed in the 1980s by Albert Smith. This miniature railway is scaled to 1/3 standard size with four miniature steam locomotives built by Louis MacDermot for the Overfair Railway. The Overfair was originally part of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 which was an official celebration of the completion of the Panama Canal.   However, after the exposition, the Overfair Railway did not have much success. The locomotives were stored on MacDermot's estate and would not run again until the 1980s.  Al Smith had previously worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad and decided to purchase the locomotives from an auction because of his love of railroads. In 1979 he began laying the rails along Scotts Creek with the help of volunteers. Today the railroad is maintained and run by the Swanton Pacific Railroad Society which is connected with Cal Poly. It attracts many visitors, especially railfans, who volunteer to support its on-going operation.
caption: Railroad system at Swanton Pacific Ranch
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