The wait was worth it! Saugus Train Station Museum Opens Phase 1

After five years of hard work by a team of truly dedicated people, the Saugus Train Station Museum in the Santa Clarita History Center opened to the public on Saturday, July 26. The station will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. every Saturday from now on.
The crowd was small but enthusiastic. Carefully preserved artifacts and vibrant works of art were on display, telling the story of the Southern Pacific Railroad and its influence on the Santa Clarita Valley and its growth.
Some people think that historic buildings are always restored back to how they looked the day they opened, but that’s not always the case. The Southern Pacific (Saugus) Depot was built in 1888, but the SCV Historical Society chose to depict the period between 1917 and 1958, when the station was the most active. Carpenter Cesar Chavez re-created the service counters that set the Agent’s office apart from the baggage and the passenger waiting rooms. Visitors to the station can see items that were used by our station agents servicing passing trains, as well as the busy Railway Express Agency office that delivered packages all over the country.
Some of the people visiting remember the summer night in 1980 when the depot was sawed in two and trundled down then San Fernando Road (now Railroad Avenue) from its original location across from the Saugus Café to its permanent home in the History Center in Hart Park and enjoyed seeing pictures and items from the move on display.
This is Phase 1 of the opening of the station; Phase 2 will feature an exhibit of the hospitality services offered to passengers by Southern Pacific, including items from the Pullman Porters and examples of the dishes and holloware used in the dining cars. Phase 3 centers around the freight room, which will be home to interactive exhibits such as a simulator that will mimic riding on a passenger train and other large-scale displays. This progress depends on the success of fundraising and getting grant money. You can help by making a donation when you visit!
The difference between the “old” train station and today’s museum is authenticity and hyperlocalism. In preparing the station for visitors, it took a village. Historians like Jean-Guy Dubé made sure that Leon Worden used official Southern Pacific RR colors when he painted the station interior; retired SP engineer Michael Jarel examined each artifact to make sure it is true to the railroad line (later purchased by Union Pacific) that serviced the Santa Clarita Valley; Archivists Eva Gritz and Madison Traylor handle every item in our collection with proper preservation techniques; volunteers like Guy Horanberg, Tim Burkhart and Michael Owston fix and build things and Barbara Martinelli recruits and trains docents to share our history stories. We’re proud of our history-telling team.
Learn more about the SCV Historical Society by visiting their website at www.scvhs.org.

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