Western Railroad Discussion > Etiwanda Pacific Electric Station restoration

Well PE and depot fans, the city of Rancho Cucamonga (the incorporation of Alta Loma, Cucamonga, and Etiwanda in the mid 70s) has started restoring the Etiwanda depot and turning it into a museum. The Etiwanda depot, along with Alta Loma and Rialto were built by the PE in 1914. The depot are all of the same basic design with just a flip-flop of the floor plans. The Etiwanda depot was the only one built wit a "bell tower". The Etiwanda and Rialto depot still survive, with the Rialto depot being used as a Mexican restaurant off of Riverside Ave and the tracks (which are still being used for a couple of miles to serve a lumber yard).
As I drove down Etiwanda ave. past the depot this morning I couldn't help but notice the construction crews and a hazmat team working in and around the depot. I stopped and talked to the foreman in charge who was nice enough to let me wander around the place taking pictures. He would have let me inside but I didn't have work boots and a hard hat. I really didn't want to go inside just yet as they were in the process of demoing the offices and false ceilings that had been built by a lumber company that leased the building for many years. I even got a chance to talk to the Architect who is in charge of the project. He says the depot is going to be restored completely to it's original state. What was quite interesting though was the depot is not owned by the city of Rancho Cucamonga, but by SANBAG, which is an entity of San Bernardio County. The city of Rancho is footing the bill though. The topper was that if this project goes well, the city wants to build an exact replica of the Alta Loma depot (about 4 1/2 miles west of Etiwanda) which was torn down in the early 80s. Hope you enjoy the pics, and I'll be keeping my eye (and camera) open for further updates.-BMT

1. The south-west end of the depot (passenger waiting area).

2. The freight dock end on the east end.

3. Inside the freight dock end.

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Some more.-BMT

4. North side of waiting room.

5. South side waiting room doors (could that be the original PE gray paint?).

6. A set of wheel stops on the north side loading dock track.

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This Fairbanks Morse scale was quite a surprise. I'm not sure if it was for weighing rail cars or for truck and trailer loads. This area was a wine grape growing area so it could have been use for weighing crops before shipping by rail. These pics are it for now, but will post updates as they progress with the restoration.-BMT

6. The overall scale.

7. Kind of a narrow house for the scale.

8. The scale is still in good shape.

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Another reference to the project is:

http://www.pacificelectrictrail.org

Jim Baker

It's good to see that the depot is being restored. I assume by the map on Pacific Electric Trail web-sight that the trail will be completed past this depot to the I-15 frwy. It was a shame that the Alta Loma and Upland depots were demolished, but knowing how rr's are about old buildings and the liabilities they present, it was not unexpected. Here is a shot of the San Dimas Local on it's e/b trek on 1/16/88 going by the Etiwanda depot in somewhat better condition, albeit occupied by the now evicted lumber outfit.

KC - never saw red cars here

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Wow! Thanks for taking the time to shoot these B. The scale looks exactly like the ones at Dolores and Long Beach yards, except for the scale house. IIRC, the scale at the 8th st yard was also a F-M.

V

SLOCONDR

Thanks for those pics BMT, I'm glad there saving all that. The scale is really cool.

GRNDMND Wrote:
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> It's good to see that the depot is being restored.
> I assume by the map on Pacific Electric Trail
> web-sight that the trail will be completed past
> this depot to the I-15 frwy. It was a shame that
> the Alta Loma and Upland depots were demolished,
> but knowing how rr's are about old buildings and
> the liabilities they present, it was not
> unexpected. Here is a shot of the San Dimas Local
> on it's e/b trek on 1/16/88 going by the Etiwanda
> depot in somewhat better condition, albeit
> occupied by the now evicted lumber outfit.
>
> KC - never saw red cars here


Nice pic, Kevin. If you have any more of the area, I'd sure like to see them. The trail ends just a little east of the depot. The architect I talked to said it took them a long time to get the lumber company out of the depot.-Brian

Brian I'm calling your MOP and telling him what you do on your day
off!! And Kevin, nice shot!! I probably chased that line for years
either on purpose or by accident and never saw a train.

Rich

Great photos Brian and Kevin. I have a pic of the Ettiwanda station from the mid-90's that is probably next in the queue for my next slide-scanning session. And what few pics I have of SP trains on the Baldwin Park branch are all on the western side, probably after the mid-section around Claremont was embargoed.

Thanks for sharing,

Rich

Are they going to run trains by here again? Also, what are those wheel chocks connected to? Is there freight tracks still there? Thank you, Charles

cforssi Wrote:
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> Are they going to run trains by here again? Also,
> what are those wheel chocks connected to? Is there
> freight tracks still there? Thank you, Charles

The wheels stops are connected to rail. This is the end of the spur on the north side of the depot that comes in from the siding which you can see in GRNDMND's pic next to the depot on the south side. The spur still runs the length of the depot out to where it tied into the siding. I was going to get a pic or two but the hazmat clean up truck and trailer was parked on top of it.
The architect that I spoke to is trying to convince the city to put a section of track in where the siding was and maybe building a replica Red Car to be place on it. Maybe something like this shot from an OERM calendar.-BMT

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Brian, Rich and Rich...Thanks for the comments. I too have been from one end to the other of this line when it was still in service but only caught trains on rare occasions or didn't have a camera with me. Towards the end, a lot of the moves were only on weekdays and sometimes the return move was in fading light or in darkness. During that period my place of employment was next to the UP & SP mainlines not the BP Branch so you know what got photoed the most. However, residing in Upland definitely had me on the lookout for movement along the former PE. I was fortunate with what I did shoot.

KC

Here's a shot of the local from 1990 that srlerxst sent me via e-mail some time ago.-Brian

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Nice photo shot. The station still looks used back then. Nice chemtrail up in the sky. I did not know they were spraying back then. How many tracks were on the side of the old photo? Looks like a major mainline. This is a nice photo! Thanks again, Charles

Great to hear the restoration is underway! I've wondered about the depot's fate.
For a number of years, the diamond shaped "PE" (lightning bolt) tiles have been missing from the Etiwanda depot. I would assume that they will be reproduced. If so, I hope they make extras and make them available to collectors. The Rialto depot still has all it's tiles which could certainly serve as a pattern for reproductions.
Anyone know what the tiles are made of? I would assume copper judging by their patina.

George,
Rialto,Cal.

cforssi Wrote:
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> Nice chemtrail up in the sky.

Contrail (condensation).


TCS - righteous depot pics guys.

GEOANGEL Wrote:
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> Great to hear the restoration is underway! I've
> wondered about the depot's fate.
> For a number of years, the diamond shaped "PE"
> (lightning bolt) tiles have been missing from the
> Etiwanda depot. I would assume that they will be
> reproduced. If so, I hope they make extras and
> make them available to collectors. The Rialto
> depot still has all it's tiles which could
> certainly serve as a pattern for reproductions.
> Anyone know what the tiles are made of? I would
> assume copper judging by their patina.
>
> George,
> Rialto,Cal.

The PE tiles are missing from the sides of the depot but on the west end, one of the diamonds is patched over and the Architect for the project is hoping the tile is still there. If not they are going to make castings from the Rialto depot. As to reproductions for sale, I'll have to throw that idea at him. That would be pretty cool and might help financing part of the depot restoration.-BMT

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Coincidentally, Mr. Cavanaugh's shot of SP GP9 3784 in the SPSF Kodachrome merger scheme is really cool because those are the colors of Etiwanda High School.