Goleta Depot Dispatch, Vol. 31, No. 2 — Summer 2011 Page 1

Newsletter of the South Coast Railroad Museum Vol. 31, No. 2 — Summer 2011 Museum Store Now Online! It’s our pleasure to announce that “Stow House” Booklet Back In Print there is now an online version of the museum’s Trackside Shop. It’s easy to In 1986, the museum’s assistant director, find the online store from links on the Phyllis Olsen, wrote a history of Stow House, museum’s homepage, or you can go our neighbor to the east. It was published that year directly to the store using this address: in a book entitled Those Were The Days: Landmarks http://goletadepot.org/catalog/ Of Old Goleta. Phyllis’ Stow House essay was so At the online store you will find a popular that it was later reprinted as a booklet. The selection of store merchandise, with booklet has been out of print for several years. an emphasis on Goleta Depot gifts & Now, thanks to support from the Goleta Valley souvenirs, our local history publications, Historical Society and the museum’s Deborah and Goleta lemon labels. Spalding Pelissero and Godwin Joseph Pelis- Several new and returning products sero Publication Fund, the booklet is available are also being featured at the online once again. It may be purchased through the his- store. All of these can be found in ar- torical society or at the museum’s Trackside Shop, ticles throughout this newsletter issue. including the online version or at the museum, You can also use the online store to where you may also buy a copy of Those Were The renew your membership (Save a stamp!), Days: Landmarks Of Old Goleta and other books and or to purchase gift memberships for oth- booklets from our Publications In Local History Series. ers. Donations can also be made through the online store, including payments for Goleta Depot’s Own Seeds! special fundraisers such as the Year-End There have been nasturtiums growing on Appeal and Spring Fundraiser, as well the museum grounds for many years. Now, as general-purpose donations and gifts. you can purchase your own authentic Goleta Payments at the online store can be Depot Nasturtium Seeds in the Trackside made with major credit cards, or through Shop, either at the museum or online. The a PayPal account. cost is only $2.95 for a packet of about two The online store is SSL protected, dozen seeds. which means that all transmissions, Nasturtiums are a popular choice for chil- including any sensitive information, are dren, new gardeners, and fun family projects encrypted for your security. because they are so easy to grow. Complete planting and care instructions can be found on the back of the seed packet. The colorful packets (right) make these Goleta Depot Nasturtium Seeds a great little keepsake gift. Page 2 Goleta Depot Dispatch, Vol. 31 , No. 2 — Summer 2011

South Coast Railroad Museum Goleta Valley Beautiful “Rotary Day” & Father’s Day Institute for American Research Preservation Award Received Collide in 2011 To Great Effect Board of Trustees Goleta Valley Beautiful’s annual The decision to hold this year’s Rotary “historic preservation” award has been Day event on Father’s Day turned out Ron Bruns Joan Hanna given to Goleta Depot. The presenta- to be an inspiration. More free train Ralph Kornahrens tion was made during the organiza- and handcar rides, over 200 in all, were Noel Langle tion’s 37th annual awards ceremony on given to museum visitors than during any David Sanchez, Ph.D. May 1. Board President Noel Langle Rotary Day in recent memory. Roger Wells accepted the award on behalf of the The event is sponsored annually by Board of Trustees. the Rotary Club Of Goleta Noon- Officers — 2011 Previously, our organization received time. Noontime Rotary members who Noel Langle, President two “Goleta Pride” awards, which were assisted with the rides this year included Joan Hanna, Vice-President bestowed by then-named Goleta Beau- Paul Cowan, Mike Gartzke, and Walt Roger Wells, Secretary & Treasurer tiful, the Goleta Valley Chamber of Stephens. Rotary Day, which began as Commerce, and the Goleta Rotary a Father’s Day event back in 2001, was Senior Staff clubs. In 1997, Museum Director Gary Gartzke’s creation and has been shep- Gary B. Coombs, Ph.D., Director Coombs received the award; three years herded by Mike ever since. Phyllis J. Olsen, Asst. Director later, the South Coast Railroad Museum, A debt of gratitude is owed to Mike, itself, received a Goleta Pride award. and to his fellow Rotarians, for their The association between Goleta De- creativity, volunteerism, and financial pot and Goleta Valley Beautiful is a long support of the museum and of this one. Indeed, the campaign to save the popular addition to our annual calendar Museum Volunteers Assist With landmark building began as a core Go- of events. leta Beautiful project. Back in 1981-82, Another “National Train Day” when the Goleta Depot Project was in Volunteers from the museum’s Trails full swing, Goleta Beautiful gave regular Sellable Goods Needed For & Rails guide program staffed a National “Depot Friend Of The Month” awards Park Service/Anza Historic Trail table to a long list of volunteers, community RR Days Freight & Baggage Sale as part of Amtrak’s National Train Day organizations and businesses, and finan- Ed Leska and Tony Ramirez are celebration. The event was held May 7 cial contributors who collectively led the collecting used goods for the Goleta at Los Angeles Union Station. Event or- way in the campaign’s eventual success. Railroad Days “Unclaimed Freight & ganizers estimated attendance at 10,000. Among the first to receive the award Baggage Sale” in September (see page Those participating on behalf of the were Depot Committee members 4 story). museum included Carla Cabanatuan, Raymond Baird, Phyllis Olsen, Railroad-related items are espe- Nancy Johnke, Esther Velarde, and George Adams, and Gene Allen. The cially desirable, including model- Ed Leska. names of the other Depot Friend Of The train supplies, toys, books, videos, National Train Day celebrates Amer- Month award recipients can be found and memorabilia. Also needed are ica‘s love of trains. It features family- in the archives of this Depot Dispatch household goods, tools, and general- friendly activities including musical en- newsletter: http://goletadepot.org/ purpose items. tertainment, rolling-stock tours, exhibits, museum_dispatch.php If you have items to donate, please VIP appearances, drawings for trips and contact Ed Leska (805/964-7335 or other prizes, and souvenir giveaways. [email protected]). Please do not Welcome, New Members leave items at the museum without Don and Kathy Chalfant are new notifying us in advance. Thank you. Associate Life members. Don and Kathy have been museum members This Issue Sponsored By and volunteers for a number of years, Goleta Depot Dispatch: Newsletter of but it’s heart-warming to have them the South Coast Railroad Museum. renew their support at the Associate Published quarterly by the Institute for American Research, 300 North Los Carroll Life level. Jim Hall and Gary and Carneros Rd., Goleta, CA 93117-1502. Fran Rosenberg are new Active To contact us: members. Emmett Duncan and Phone: 805-964-3540; Plumbing Evan Harwin are new additions to FAX: 805-964-3549 the Jr. Engineers Club. E-mail: [email protected] and Maintenance, Inc. Web-site: www.goletadepot.org It’s great to have you aboard! Goleta Depot Dispatch, Vol. 31, No. 2 — Summer 2011 Page 3 Museum Organizes Two-Car Vintage Rail Trip The museum led its firsttwo-car vintage rail excursion on June 4. Bill and Debbie Hatrick’s Overland Trail was filled with passengers from Santa Barbara Bank & Trust’s Our Gang travel group, with Museum Director Gary Coombs providing onboard commentary. Next door was Rod Fishburn’s Colonial Crafts carrying a general-public group, including many museum members and volunteers. The one-day roundtrip followed the museum’s regular Santa Barbara-to-San Luis Obispo route, although many of the Colonial Crafts passengers chose to board and detrain in Goleta. A few seats are still available for our Nov. 12 trip aboard the Overland Trail. The cost is $59 per person ($55 for museum members). All other 2011 excursions are sold out. For information, or to make your reserva- tions, call the museum, 805/964-3540. Kathy Leska took this photo of the Colonial Crafts parlor.

New Museum Schedule VOLUNTEER NEWS Effective July 1, the museum returns Trails & Rails Guides-in-Training Osollo. They will be joining spring- to a five-day schedule. The museum will Sarah Byelick, Nancy Revlin and term intern Laura Frank who will be open Wednesday through Sunday, John Wright have completed three continue with us during the summer. from 1 to 4 p.m. training trips aboard the Coast Star- Another spring intern, Annalise The Goleta Short Line miniature- light. All three will now begin one- , says she hopes to return O’Neil train ride will operate all five days. Free on-one training, working with a single to the museum during the coming senior guide and actively participating school year as a volunteer. rides will continue on Fridays, thanks in the program presentation. Jamie Rosenberg has completed to the continuing support of Fairview The museum has two new UCSB his GSL conductor training and is Car Wash. interns, Kelsey Ulrich and Gabriel now tackling the engineer’s course.

Newsletter Archive Ready On CD Best Wishes, Raph! We must now bid a fond farewell to Rapha- The first 30 years of the Depot Dis- ella Banholzer-Donati, the museum’s faithful patch newsletter, from 1981 through administrative assistant. Raph has been with 2010, are now available on CD through the museum for two years, serving also as shop the Trackside Shop, both online and at clerk and Goleta Short Line train-ride engineer- the museum. All 136 issues, spanning conductor. 474 pages, are contained in a single Along the way, Raphaella had her name digital file, which may be viewed us- lengthened — owing to her marriage to Frances- ing Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader or an co Donati — and her mane shortened. Severly! Many of us practically held our breaths waiting equivalent program. Included on the for her hair to recover its length. CD are all of the photographs and other illustrations contained in the You may still see Raph at the museum, at least original printed newsletter. Many images are in full color. The first 21 issues during July, as she feature the original goldenrod color of those early printed copies. That has expressed an color was chosen to try and replicate the depot’s “Colonial Yellow” exte- interest in coming rior. The paper changed to white when photo use became more common. back for a time as The CD contains two versions of the newsletter file. A smaller ver- a volunteer. sion is for ease of use; the larger file provides enhanced readability and We will miss image quality. Both files are fully searchable, which makes them perfect her youthful en- for finding names or recovering bits of information. ergy and her won- The CD will be of special interest to anyone who is saving the printed derful smile. newsletters, who has been a museum member for a number of years, or who have an interest in local-railroad history or Goleta history. The cost Raph with shorter is only $9.95 plus tax. hair, Spring 2011 Page 4 Goleta Depot Dispatch, Vol. 31 , No. 2 — Summer 2011 Depot Day & RR Days Join Forces In 2011 This year, we’ve decided to try something different. Instead of Auction Items & Services Needed separate Goleta Railroad Days and If you or your business have new items, Depot Day events, the two will be collectibles or valuable services that you combined into a single weekend, would like to donate to the Depot Day Silent Sept. 17-18. Auction, please contact Asst.Director Phyl- The goal is to try and bring lis Olsen at the museum (805/964-3540 or together all of the different at- [email protected]). Thank you. tractions from the two events: the silent auction and speeder-car Depot Day Silent Auction rides, for example, from Depot Day — joining the steam-train rides, model-train displays, and steam-engine exhibition, along with other unique activities from Railroad Days. Speeder Rides There will also be some all-new attractions, in- cluding the unveiling and use of a locomotive Handcar Rides bell from the museum’s collec- tions, which is now undergo- ing restoration. The next Depot Dispatch issue, which is scheduled for early September distribution, will have all of the details. If you just can’t wait, please visit the Goleta Railroad Days website — http://goletara- Photo credits & information: Depot Day Silent Auction (Mu- ilroaddays.org — which has seum staff photo, Depot Day 2001); Speeder Rides (Museum staff photo, Depot Day 2002); Handcar (Jamie Foster, GRRDZ 2010); information and lots photos Model Trains Everywhere (Jamie Foster, GRRDZ 2009); Steam- from previous events. Be sure Train Rides (Jamie Foster, GRRDZ 2010); Operating Live-Steam to visit the “GRRDZ” website Exhibition (Jamie Foster, GRRDZ 2009). regularly, especially after about Aug. 1. There will be different activities Operating Live-Steam Exhibition and attractions taking place on differ- ent days and at different times over the event weekend. Keeping up with the schedule, as it develops, is your key to ensuring that you won’t miss your personal event favorites. Model Trains Steam-Train Rides Everywhere!