Goleta Depot Dispatch, Vol. 20, No. 1 — Spring 2000 Page 1 Newsletter of the South Coast Railroad Museum Volume 20, Number 1 — Spring 2000 Easter Bunny Visits April 22 Wood-Claeyssens Foundation ticle that appeared Dec. 5, along with a nice photograph of the couple. Both are Coast It’s almost spring — time for the Easter Gives $2,000 Grant Starlight guides and also staff the museum Bunny Express to make another scheduled — Perry in the model-railroad exhibit and stop at the museum. This year’s event, the The Wood-Claeyssens Foundation has awarded the museum a $2,000 capital Pat as depot agent. 8th annual, will be Saturday, April 22, from In January, the Lorentzens also became 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. By that date, as an added improvement grant. The funds will be used to repaint the the museum’s newest trustees, by action of attraction, the museum grounds should be the Board. ablaze from thousands of blooms of poppy second-story exterior of Goleta Depot. and nasturtium. Perry and Pat Lorentzen Festive egg-shaped tickets — one of “March Madness” Returns many Easter Bunny Express hallmarks — Thanks To Goleta Nat’l Bank will provide entry to There’ll be free rides on the Goleta a wealth of fun activi- Short Line throughout the month of March, ties, including visits to thanks to sponsor Goleta National Bank. Wabbit-Twacks Station Last year’s inaugural “March Madness” (to board the fanci- event was so popular that it led to all-time fully-decorated minia- record turnouts both for March and for the ture train for a ride entire first quarter. Total train ridership around the museum reached 1,483 for the month. grounds); Harvey’s To accommodate these larger crowds, House (where a cookie the ride schedule will be expanded through- Did You Know? and beverage await); Easter-Bunnyville (to out the month. The train will run Wednes- Goleta Depot will celebrate its 100th meet the Easter Bunny and select an egg day through Sunday (with the addition of birthday next year. Don’t miss the party! surprise); Jack-Rabbit Junction (to enter a draw- Thursday to the regular lineup) and from In fact, the museum is planning a year- ing for some marvelous gifts); and What’s 1:15 to 3:45 (increasing weekday hours to long centennial celebration to mark the oc- Up Dock (to collect another event souvenir). match those on the weekends). casion. We hope you’ll join the festivities. The ticket price is $3 for children and This month-long activity is part of the Of course, the construction of the adults, alike. Tickets will be available during museum’s continuing commitment to make community landmark was only one of a long the event until 3:30 p.m. Or, they may be its programs and activities available to the series of events leading up to the comple- purchased in advance during regular mu- widest possible audience. tion of the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Coast seum hours (Wed.-Sun., 1-4 p.m.). Please plan to attend. And, be sure to Line linking Los Angeles and San Francisco. Hot sandwiches and other refreshments tell your friends, family, teachers and others This March 15, for example, marks the will be available for those wishing to enjoy about March Madness at the railroad museum. 100th anniversary of the commencement lunch or an afternoon snack during the of track-laying west from Ellwood. (SP’s line event, thanks to support from the Goleta Lorentzens Picked As Area from the south had reached Santa Barbara Lions Club. in 1887, but the trackwork stalled in the Go- Hop aboard the Easter Bunny Express on “Volunteers Of The Week” leta Valley, where the end-of-track remained April 22 (Rain date: 4/29). It promises to Museum volunteers Pat and Perry for over a decade. be another hare-raising eggs-perience for the Lorentzen were chosen “Volunteers Of By March 29, 1900, the new rails had whole family! The Week” in a Santa Barbara News-Press ar- (continued on page 2) Page 2 Goleta Depot Dispatch, Vol. 20, No. 1 — Spring 2000 Joseph A. Hieke (Volunteers). Museum Honored With South Coast Railroad Museum New Junior Engineers Club members Institute for American Research include Sam Calvert, Nicholas Ford and “Goleta Pride” Award Sarah Michele Rasmussen. The South Coast Railroad Museum was Board of Trustees recognized as recipient of the “Goleta Pride David Chapman June 28 Program Profiles Award for the month of January. The award, Art Flores which recognizes excellence that contributes Kip Kramer Montecito Barons toward community betterment, is co-spon- Noel Langle “Montecito’s Hilltop Barons” will be the sored by Goleta Beautiful, the Goleta Val- John C. Locke subject of a talk and slide presentation by ley Chamber of Commerce and the two Pat Lorentzen popular local lecturer and historian Neal Goleta-based Rotary clubs. Perry Lorentzen Graffy. The program will be held on Wed., In November 1998, Museum Director Bruce Morden June 28 at Goleta Library, 500 North Gary Coombs was a Goleta Pride Award Jim Staples Fairview Avenue, beginning at 7 p.m.. recipient. The program focuses on five men — Richard D. Thom The award sign greeted museum visitors. their backgrounds, families, and magnificent Officers — 2000 hilltop estates — who adopted Santa Bar- bara and, through their philanthropy, dra- Rich Thom, President matically improved local health care, en- Noel Langle, Vice-President hanced community schools, preserved our Jim Staples, Secretary beach fronts, and helped rebuild the city Kip Kramer, Treasurer after the 1925 earthquake. Profiled are: C.K.G. Billings of Union Senior Staff Carbide and his estate Asombrosso; George Gary B. Coombs, Ph.D., Director Owen Knapp (Arcady, President of Union Phyllis J. Olsen, Asst. Director Carbide); Frederick Forrest Peabody (Solana, President, Arrow Shirts), David Gray (Graholm, Vice-president,, Ford Motor Co.,) and Publisher William H. Cowles (Eucalyp- (continued from page 1) tus Hill). Volunteer News reached west from Goleta as far as Eagle Neal Graffy is Santa Barbara County’s most prolithic historical lecturer, present- The latest additions to the corps of Canyon, and on April 7, the first construc- museum volunteers include Patricia tion train pulled into Naples. In May, the ing almost 40 talks in 1999 alone. His repetoire covers a wide range of historical Edgerton and Ed and Jonee Grat, who are 661-foot-long bridge over Dos Pueblos training to become Coast Starlight guides. Canyon was completed while track-build- subjects — from Santa Barbara street names, to the Flying ‘A’ Film Studio, to the lavish In February, Eva Scheel completed her train- ing from the north had reached Alegria, four ing and is now a full-fledged Coast Starlight miles west of Gaviota. Potter and Arlington hotels, to the neigh- borhoods of Mission Canyon and San guide. Future issues of the Depot Dispatch will Joe Hieke, another new volunteer, has share additional details on the events lead- Roque, among several others. His local-history writings have appeared been sharing the model-railroad exhibit with ing up to the completion of SP’s Coast visitors and recently completed the training Route and the building of Goleta Depot. in Santa Barbara Magazine, the Santa Bar- bara Independent, and publications of the to operate the miniature train ride. (While You may also view a more complete chro- at work, Joe is a sleeping-car attendant nology on the museum’s internet web site: Santa Barbara Historical Society and Santa Barbara Trust for Historical Preservation. aboard Amtrak’s Los Angeles-to-Chicago www.goletadepot.org. There are also a num- Southwest Chief.). ber of publications that tell the Coast Route A former member and chairman of the story, including Southern Pacific's Coast Route Santa Barbara County Landmarks Commis- by John Signor and Nan Lawler’s Closing The sion, Graffy remains active with a number Gap, a booklet available in the museum’s of local history organizations, including the Goleta Depot Dispatch: Newsletter of the Trackside Shop. Santa Barbara Corral of Westerners and E South Coast Railroad Museum. Special thanks to Bruce Morden for Clampus Vitus. The program, which is part of the Published quarterly by the Institute for his help both with this article and in pre- American Research, 300 North Los paring the web-site chronology. museum’s Continuing Lecture Series, is free and Carneros Rd., Goleta, CA 93117-1502. open to members and the general public. Neal Graffy will be on hand to answer ques- To contact us: Welcome New Members Phone: 805-964-3540; tions and meet with attendees following his FAX: 805-964-3549 New museum members include Patty presentation. Refreshments also will be E-mail: [email protected] and Terry Bliss (Milepost 100), George served after the program. Web-site: www.goletadepot.org Thorpe (Contributing), Gabor and Julie Dobos (Active), and Patricia Edgerton and Goleta Depot Dispatch, Vol. 20, No. 1 — Spring 2000 Page 3 Members and Friends Share Bank Sponsors Free Rides Pat Lorentzen, William O. McKeag, Dr. and Mrs. John McKee, Robert W. Personal Treasures in for Moms and Dads Miesbauer, Kathleen Miller, Jo Millett, Year-End Display On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14, all Isabel Friend Newman, George and Vie moms visiting the museum will be treated Obern, Godwin and Deborah Pelissero, Goleta Depot’s Waiting Room was to free rides on the Goleta Short Line, com- Sally Pierce, Lee and Suzanne Polansky, again alive with the holiday spirit thanks to pliments of Goleta National Bank. Trains George and Helen Potter, Ed and Judy those members who loaned keepsake items will run continuously from 1:15 until the Savage Family, Tallant and Nancy Smith, to complete the “Toy Trains and Teddy Bears!” last train pulls out of the station at 3:45.