South Coast Railroad Museum

The South Coast Railroad Museum in Goleta, California is a showplace for the Goleta Depot, a preserved 1901 Southern Pacific Railroad train station. The museum also features the Goleta Short Line, a 7+1⁄2 in (190.5 mm) gauge miniature railroad, a Southern Pacific caboose, and a model train set in a panorama of the cities of Goleta and Santa Barbara, California.^[1]

South Coast Railroad Museum

Goleta Depot, part of the museum
Location	300 North Los Carneros Road Goleta, California
Coordinates	34°26′32″N 119°51′10″W
Type	Railroad museum
Website	Official website

The depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the California Register of Historical Resources.

History

The Southern Pacific closed the Goleta passenger train depot in October 1973. Various preservation efforts led to the depot being physically moved to its current location at Lake Los Carneros County Park in November 1981. After 11 months of restoration, a dedication ceremony of the Goleta Depot as a Santa Barbara county landmark took place on October 10, 1982.^[2]

Ownership of the Goleta Depot was subsequently transferred from the preservation society that had had the depot moved, to the Institute for American Research, to develop the site as a living museum in 1983.^[2]

A new train station with a concrete platform and open-air shelter opened nearby in 1998 for Amtrak trains.^[3]

Nearby attractions

The South Coast Railroad Museum is located next to Lake Los Carneros with walking trails and bird watching, the historic Stow House at Rancho La Patera, and other points of interest.^[4]

See also

• History of Santa Barbara, California
• List of museums in the California Central Coast
• National Register of Historic Places, List of Properties in Santa Barbara County, California

Further reading

• Lawler, Nan (1981). "Closing the Gap". Railroad History. Bulletin 145: 87–105.
• Myrick, David F. (1987). "Santa Barbara County Railroads: A Centennial History". Noticias. 33: 22–71.
• Potter, Janet Greenstein (1996). Great American Railroad Stations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 466–467.
• Sullivan, Steve (1986). "Goleta Depot: A Tribute". In Gary B. Coombs (ed.). Those Were the Days: Landmarks of Old Goleta. Goleta, Ca.: Institute for American Research. pp. 35–44.
• Tompkins, Walker A. (1966). Goleta: The Good Land. Goleta, Calif.: Goleta Amvets Post No. 55.