Santa Susana Depot | |
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General information | |
Architectural style | Stick/Eastlake |
Location | 6503 Katherine Road, Simi Valley, California |
Coordinates | 34°15′39″N118°39′40″W / 34.2607°N 118.6611°W Coordinates: 34°15′39″N118°39′40″W / 34.2607°N 118.6611°W |
Completed | 1903 |
Owner | Rancho Simi Parks and Recreation Department |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Southern Pacific Railroad |
Santa Susana Depot is a train station building located near the Santa Susana Pass in Simi Valley, California. Originally located on Los Angeles Avenue at Tapo Street, [1] the depot opened in 1903. [2] The station was named after the Santa Susana Mountains at the east end of the Simi Valley. [2] The Southern Pacific Railroad used the double-"N" spelling of Susanna on the depot sign facing west, and the single-"N" spelling of Susana on the sign facing east. [2] The Santa Susana Tunnel opened the next year, reducing the distance and transit time between Montalvo and Burbank on the Coast Route linking Los Angeles and San Francisco. Plans and construction for the building were based on Southern Pacific Railroad standard design Two Story Combination Depot No. 22. [3] The depot served the community of Rancho Simi as a passenger station, telegraph office, and freight depot where farmers could deliver crops for shipping and pick up farming equipment delivered by the railroad.
Due to lessening passenger traffic and changes in the shipment of freight, Southern Pacific closed the station in the early 1970s, leaving Santa Susana Depot empty and destined for demolition. The County of Ventura purchased the depot from the railroad for $1.06. In May 1975 the building was divided into three parts and moved by truck to county property two miles east of the site it was built on. The County of Ventura designated the building Landmark #29 in January, 1976. [4]
The current Simi Valley station for Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink's Ventura County Line is located one mile east of the original Tapo Street depot location.
The current location is next to the same railroad right of way it once served. The building sat abandoned for several years suffering vandalism, and arson caused fire damage. [5] A nonprofit organization was formed to restore the building and ready it for public use in conjunction with the Rancho Simi Parks and Recreation Department.
The museum was opened to the public in 2000. [6] The depot building now houses a railroad museum, an HO scale model railroad layout, and a public meeting room. The museum focuses on railroad history in the region and has many artifacts and historic photos on display. [7] Along with the railroad-related features, the museum also has a collection of materials related to the nearby Corriganville Movie Ranch. The railroad layout models the coast route between Los Angeles, California, and Portland, Oregon, with scenery that targets the early 1950s. The Santa Susana Railroad Historical Society designs, maintains and operates the layout. Both the museum and the model layout are open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. with the exception of holidays.
Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley.
The Metrolink Ventura County Line is a commuter rail line serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, in the Southern California system. The line is the successor of the short lived CalTrain commuter rail line.
The Santa Susana Pass, originally Simi Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Simi Hills of Southern California, connecting the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth, to the city of Simi Valley and eponymous valley.
The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States.
Rancho Camulos, now known as Rancho Camulos Museum, is a ranch located in the Santa Clara River Valley 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east of Piru, California and just north of the Santa Clara River, in Ventura County, California. It was the home of Ygnacio del Valle, a Californio alcalde of the Pueblo de Los Angeles in the 19th century and later elected member of the California State Assembly. The ranch was known as the Home of Ramona because it was widely believed to have been the setting of the popular 1884 novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson. The novel helped to raise awareness about the Californio lifestyle and romanticized "the mission and rancho era of California history."
Rancho Simi, also known as Rancho San José de Nuestra Señora de Altagracia y Simí, was a 113,009-acre (457 km2) Spanish land grant in what is now eastern Ventura and western Los Angeles counties granted in 1795 to Santiago Pico, founder of the Pico family of California. After Santiago Pico's death in 1815, the Rancho was regranted to Santiago's sons Javier Pico and his two brothers, Patricio Pico and Miguel Pico by Diego de Borica. The name derives from Shimiji, the name of a Chumash village in the Simi Valley for thousands of years before the Spanish arrival.
The Coast Line is a railroad line between Burbank, California and the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly along the Pacific Coast. It is the shortest rail route between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Chatsworth station is an intermodal passenger transport station in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth, California, United States. It is served by Amtrak intercity rail service, Metrolink commuter rail service, Los Angeles Metro Busway bus rapid transit, and several transit bus operators.
Simi Valley station is a passenger rail station in the city of Simi Valley, California. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to San Diego and Metrolink's Ventura County Line from Los Angeles Union Station to East Ventura stop here.
Camarillo station is a passenger train station in Camarillo, California. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner between San Luis Obispo and San Diego and Metrolink's Ventura County Line between Los Angeles Union Station and Ventura–East station stop here. It is located at the foot of Ventura Boulevard at the intersection of Lewis Road, and is underneath the US Highway 101 overpass. The first Camarillo depot was at this same location until Southern Pacific ended passenger service.
The Oxnard Transit Center, originally known as the Oxnard Transportation Center, is an intermodal transit center in historic downtown Oxnard, California. As a transit hub, the station serves Amtrak and Metrolink trains as well as local and regional buses. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, Amtrak's Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle, Washington, and Metrolink's Ventura County Line from Los Angeles Union Station to East Ventura stop here.
The names Southern Pacific Depot, Southern Pacific Railroad Station, Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, and variations, apply to a number of train stations operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad:
The Old Santa Susana Stage Road, or Santa Susana Wagon Road, is a route taken by early travelers between the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley near Chatsworth, California, via the Santa Susana Pass. The main route climbs through what is now the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, with a branch in Chatsworth Park South.
Simi Valley is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is 40 miles (65 km) from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The city sits next to Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, and Chatsworth. As of the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 126,356, up from 124,243 in 2010. The city of Simi Valley is surrounded by the Santa Susana Mountains and the Simi Hills, west of the San Fernando Valley, and northeast of the Conejo Valley. It grew as a commuter bedroom community for the cities in the Los Angeles area, and the San Fernando Valley when a freeway was built over the Santa Susana Pass.
The Santa Susana Tunnel is a railroad tunnel that connects the Simi and San Fernando valleys in Southern California. The tunnel is credited with saving considerable time and distance between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The tunnel is 7,369 feet (2,246 m) long and runs through the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains. The tunnel is located beneath the Santa Susana Pass.
Santa Susana is a former railroad town located mostly within the City of Simi Valley. A small portion of the community, outside the Simi Valley city limits to the south of the Ventura County Metrolink rail line, is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP). The community is in the eastern part of the Simi Valley.
Tapo Canyon is a series of canyons and a wildlife corridor in the western Santa Susana Mountains, north of Simi Valley in Ventura County, Southern California. It's the main filming location of the well-known TV show Little House on the Prairie in the 1970s.
Mount McCoy is a 1,325-foot-high peak in Simi Valley, California known for its characteristic 12 foot white cross on the top. There are numerous trails leading to Mount McCoy, which sits in a 200 acres (81 ha) nature area operated by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District (RSRPD), while the cross and its immediate surroundings are owned by the Simi Valley Historical Society. By 1813, the cross on Mt. McCoy was a landmark for the Friars and others in the Simi Valley.
The Ventura County Historic Landmarks & Points of Interest consist of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods designated by Ventura County Cultural Heritage Board as historic landmarks and points of interest in Ventura County, California. The county board of supervisors created the Cultural Heritage Board in 1966 and in August 1968, two sites were designated: the Faulkner House near Santa Paula; and the Edwards Adobe in Saticoy. The scope was established to include the entire county: both cities and the unincorporated areas. The cities of Fillmore, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Simi Valley, and Thousand Oaks have the county Cultural Heritage Board advise them and those designations are listed here. The cities of Moorpark, Ojai, Santa Paula, and Ventura established their own separate historic designation systems with the City of Ventura Historic Landmarks and Districts developing into an extensive list. The Port Hueneme Historical Society Museum houses historical artifacts, photographs and information on the history of the Hueneme area. The museum is in the Hueneme Bank Building.
Lang Southern Pacific Station is a former Southern Pacific railway station located in Soledad Canyon near the eastern end of Santa Clarita, California. On September 5, 1876 the first railway to Los Angeles was completed at this site. The Lang Southern Pacific Station was designated a California Historic Landmark on May 22, 1957.