Goleta Depot

GOLETA DEPOT The History of a Rural Railroad Station GARY B. COOMBS NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR READERS This is the new digital edition of Goleta Depot: The History Of A Rural Railroad Station. Anyone who would like their own copy of the book may obtain one by clicking here or by visiting the following web address: http://goletadepot.org/_depotbooklinks/redirectlinks.php?redirect=0 You may also use this address for obtaining additional copies – for your- self or for others. (Note: After Oct. 31, 2015, copies of the book will only be available in the non-personalized version.) You may also make a copy of this file for your own archival purposes. Please do not make copies of this file for distribution to others. Doing so is in violation of copyright. The recommended way to read and use this book is as follows: 1. Download the complete file to your computer. 2. To read the book, load the pdf file into Adobe Acrobat, Acrobat Reader, or another dedicated pdf reader application. We do not recommend trying to read the book in your Internet browser using an Acrobat plug-in. You will want to reserve your browser for viewing many of the outside resources that are accessed through the hyperlinks found throughout the book. 3. It is highly recommended that you set your pdf reader for either two-page viewing (View/Page Display/Two-Page Viewing) or two-page scrolling (View/Page Display/Two-Page Scrolling) using the menu at the top of the reader window. Some pdf readers may do this automatically. This is especially important in order to properly view the many graphics that span across ad- jacent pages, as well as to keep lefthand and righthand pages in their proper positions. If you encounter problems with the book, please let me know and I will do my best to correct them. You may reach me via email at: [email protected] I hope you enjoy the book. — Gary Coombs GOLETA DEPOT ACKNOWLEDGMENT This book was made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and by the Deborah Spalding Pelissero and Godwin Joseph Pelissero Publication Fund Additional Project Contributors: The Cederlof Family Reid, Robin & Colter Isabel Friend Newman Rich and Linda Thom Andrea and Bruce Morden Michael and Brenda Gartzke Barbara J. Cornish Bob Kvaas Gary and Barbara Maxwell Eugene G. Allen TITLE PAGE GOLETA DEPOT The History of a Rural Railroad Station GARY B. COOMBS Institute for American Research Goleta, California Copyright © 1982, 2015 Institute for American Research All Rights Reserved. First Edition printed at Kimberly Press, Goleta, Calif. First Printing: November 1982 Second Edition composed digitally in Goleta, Calif. First public draft released in June 2013. Final draft released in Sept. 2015. The History of a Rural Railroad Station v Author’s Notes Like its first-edition predecessor, this new edition of the Goleta Depot book owes its existence to many. It would not exist, of course, without the original 1982 book and all that went into it. Readers are thus encouraged to read the first Author’s Notes, which are repeated on the pages that follow. You will also find there a long list of acknowledgments to those who made contributions to that first edition. On pages 255-256, there is a comprehensive acknowledgment for all of the images that are contained throughout this volume, including those that also appeared in the 1982 book. Special thanks are owed to Charles Lange, who allowed me to use a number of his personal photos of Goleta Depot. These have added immensely to the current volume’s value as visual docu- mentation of the landmark building’s final years along the Southern Pacific tracks. I also want to thank Jean-Guy Dube, who shared his scaled archi- tectural drawings of Goleta Depot for use in the book. These remarkably detailed renderings can be viewed by clicking on my rough floor plan from the first edition, which can be found below onpage 24. This volume contains two pages that recognize and thank all who helped to underwrite the costs of the books. The original list of donors who sup- ported the publication of the first edition is repeated on page 257. Those whose financial support made this new edition possible are listed above, on the page facing the main title. I’m deeply indebted to those who read drafts of the manuscript and provided comments, corrections and constructive criticism. They are Henry Bender, Carla Cabanatuan, Ed Leska, Noel Langle, Bruce Morden and Phyl- lis Olsen. Carla Cabanatuan took on the thankless chore of correcting my gram- mar and variations of style. She came well-prepared for the task. Carla’s first job after receiving her bachelor’s degree in journalism was as copy edi- tor for Model Railroader magazine at Kalmbach Publishing Co. Ed Leska not only read drafts of the manuscript but also helped to eval- uate many of the book’s technical aspects. Whenever something needed testing, Ed was there to lend a hand. Bruce Morden and Henry Bender know more about the Southern Pacific vi Goleta Depot Railroad and its depots than anyone I know, certainly far more than I per- sonally would ever hope to know. Their feedback was of enormous help in making this a much better book. My apologies to both of you for those few instances in which I threw caution to the wind and chose not to follow your sage advice. Bruce has also been an active participant during many of Goleta Depot’s museum years, so he was able to provide additional comments covering much of this later period of the building’s history. The same can be said for Noel Langle and Phyllis Olsen. Noel and Bruce know Goleta Depot and the railroad museum quite well – as longtime volunteers and as officers and members of the Board of Trustees. They were able to apply all of that considerable knowledge and experience in their careful readings of the manuscript. Phyllis has been around longer than Noel and Bruce and her involve- ment has been more intense. For more than 30 years, Phyllis has lived and breathed Goleta Depot and the South Coast Railroad Museum. Her contributions to this narrative, like her contributions to the underlying history, are immeasurable. In contemplating whom to acknowledge here, I was reminded of the dedication in the original book: FOR THE PEOPLE who really wrote the depot story: The men, women and children of the Goleta Valley today and in days past. That same sentiment applies here once again. Now, though, we’ve added another third of a century to that story – and the list of contributors to the Depot saga has grown by many thousands – volunteers, financial contributors, members, well-wishers, visitors and many others. People who have helped to make it all possible and people who have benefitted from what it has meant to save Goleta Depot and to build a museum around it. It has also been a great honor and privilege for me to have played a part in that special story. GBC The History of a Rural Railroad Station vii Author’s Notes [to the first edition] This volume owes its existence to many people. Much credit is due to those organizations and individuals who underwrote the research and manuscript preparation costs. These contributors have received a special acknowledgment on an earlier page.* The members and friends of the In- stitute for American Research also have been essential in supporting the project. My thanks to the many longtime Goleta residents and former Southern Pacific Transportation Co. employees and their families who provided the oral testimony on which much of this book rests: Al Hartnett, Earl and Rose Ann Hill, Mildred Love, Ruth Hammond, Marion Sepulveda, Al San- dal, George Love, Barbara MacLean, Frances Rodrigue, Evelyn Durham, Margaret O Rourke, Charles and Sallie Munro, Mrs. Ralph Hughes, Sue Anderson, E.P. Sandy, Albert St. Clair, Tom Hartigan, Gene Allen, Frank Vasquez, and Chris Christenson. Thanks to the many other fine people who helped in one way or another to find and bring together the information contained in this volume: Larry Sizer, Lucille Christie, Michael Glassow, Greg Knudson, Robert Miller, Susan De Lapa, Ray Baird, Angie Burke, and Linda Dick. Paul Heuston generously devoted countless hours to the project, provid- ing photographic work and technical advice whenever they were required. A considerable debt is owed to Walker A. Tompkins, not only for his ex- cellent foreword, but also for his editorial assistance and his earlier written works on the Goleta Valley — Santa Barbara‘s Royal Rancho, Goleta: The Good Land, and Fourteen at the Table — which proved to be indispensable sources for much of the general material on local history contained in this volume. Encouragement and assistance was lent by Steve Sullivan, longtime bu- reau chief of the Santa Barbara News-Press, whose interest in the depot spans more than a quarter-century. The newspaper’s generous loan of key * This acknowledgment of financial contributors to the first edition is now located on page255 . viii Goleta Depot pictures made by staff photographers over the years also helped make the book possible. Finally, I want to thank Phyllis Olsen, assistant director of the Insti- tute for American Research, for her help in collecting the oral accounts and written materials on which the book is based, for her successes in obtaining financial underwriters, and for other assistances far too numerous to mention. In order to improve the readability of the depot history, I have not in- cluded references to all of the many source materials used in its preparation.

Load more