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Alvin All-Star Railroad (AASRR)

5/15/03
Dress Rehearsal

Two first grade classes visited the Alvin All-Star Railroad this afternoon as a dress rehearsal for the Open House later this evening. These four little tikes are clearly intrigued by the trains. There are four centers set up for today's "show and tell": the HO layout, short stories, final reports, and realia. Pictured above is one of the Alvin All-Star Railroaders sharing his short story with some first grade visitors (not pictured) while two classmates wait their turn. Note also the railroad crossing bell on the left which, when sounded, indicated it was time to rotate to the next station. An AASRR crew operates a train on the yard side of the HO layout for some of our first grade visitors. Part of the project involved each student choosing and studying a building or structure from Santa Maria history. Many of their pictures of these buildings were on display on the wall. Also, note the white board with the simple schematic of Guadalupe-Betteravia-Santa Maria with the map of our layout superimposed to show relationships. Here's a long view of the sugar mill area.

Above, one of our all-female crews studies the switch settings by the Union Sugar Mill in preparation for some movement. The ability to handle the realia was appreciated by third and first graders alike. Two Santa Maria Valley Railroad (SMVRR) GE 70-ton switchers sit back to back just outside the enginehouse. Here's a long view of the yard side of the layout. We added a new framed print to the SMVRR painting (below). This one (upper) is a vision of a Pacific Coast Railway depot in Santa Maria. Note the corner of a Union Sugar bag visible in the upper left.