Western Railroad Discussion > Tehachapi depot fire

The old Tehachapi depot has been in the process of being restored for about the past year or so, and was almost complete. This morning as I came to work I was rerouted around the depot and the downtown crossing, and it looked as though the depot was at least partially burned, if not to the ground. No pictures because no time to stop. Too bad if it is gone. It was going to be the centerpiece of the downtown renewal, and was expected to draw a fair number of visitors to the area.

Historic Tehachapi train depot suffers significant damages in blaze
The Bakersfield Californian | Friday, Jun 13 2008 8:54 AM
Last Updated: Friday, Jun 13 2008 8:54 AM

A two-alarm fire ripped through a historic Tehachapi train depot Friday morning, causing more than $1 million in damage to property and contents, fire officials said.

“The loss to community cannot be measured,” said Capt. Jim Eckroth with the Kern County Fire Department, in a statement.

Twenty-four firefighters responded to the fire at 3:08 a.m. on the 100 block of West Tehachapi Boulevard. The large wooden structure was fully engulfed when they arrived.

It took firefighters 76 minutes to control the blaze. Rail service on the adjacent tracks was stopped briefly to put out the fire.

Erected in 1904, the depot is one of more than 60 built between 1896 and 1916 using a standard Southern Pacific Railroad design known as Plan No. 23. Only six are left, according to firefighters.

It is also one of the few buildings that remained standing after the 1953 Tehachapi earthquake. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Union Pacific Railroad handed over the keys to the depot to the city in 2005. It was under renovation to be used by the city for commercial and retail space, firefighters said.

What a shame. Thanks for the information. I hope it wasn't arson.

Sad news indeed. Tehachapi is REALLY proud of their heritage; hopefully they will rally to re/build it again.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

Ive just had some pictures mailed to me, the entire building has gone, just one wall (by Green Street crossing) remains!.

A VERY VERY sad day for Tehachapi and rail history.

Colin Marsden
43197

Rebuild it!

Such a sad time. It WILL be rebuilt. We will move forward.

Bob Westover
"Tehachapi Above Cable"

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djansson Wrote:
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> Rebuild it!

Thank you for volunteering to pay for it. About 2 million should just about do it.

Two million??? That building isn't a two million dollar job... it ain't that big. If someone takes a bid for two million, they are pocketing a whole bunch of it.

Those pictures...wow....thanks for posting them.

Not much left to rebuild from

Wasn't this the usual method the SP used for closing depots? There seemed to be a large number of "suspicious" fires involved, either shortly after the depot was closed, or during proceedings to close the depot. Of course, it might just have been the wooden construction...

Million or two to rebuild? It probably cost the railroad about $500. to build it in the first place!

Scott Wrote:
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> Two million??? That building isn't a two million
> dollar job... it ain't that big. If someone takes
> a bid for two million, they are pocketing a whole
> bunch of it.

Haven't priced building materials lately, have you?

My God-- totally speechless. This has to be arson ... if so, it's just sickening. All that hard work for nothing.

We'd just gone by the depot last month and they were doing a wonderful job. I snapped a few photos, looking forward to the grand opening. This is so sad, and on Friday the 13th, no less (which is usually a lucky day for our family). My condolences to the community.

Elrond L.

Just crushing news. After a long day of railfanning on the Hill with friends, the Depot was a great place to chase the meal at Kelcy's with some frosty beverages as the trains rolled by well into the night.

RIP.

Hey there, they build those things out of redwood down there (i.e. $$$)?
How authentic should it be?

Here are some images I just took of the Tehachapi Depot. A sad day indeed.

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More images of the Tehachapi Depot fire.

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Well it burned once and SP rebuilt it, the City can do the same, I sure hope they insured it.
Being in charge of Life-Safety at work I wonder if they had fire sprinklers installed, I can't believe anyone would go to the expense of a total wooden building restoration without them.
Ed

Very sad an "Suspicious" at the same token.