LANDMARKS / COUNTY HISTORICAL SITES : Railroad Depot on Track for Renovation

* HISTORY: The Santa Susana Southern Pacific Railroad Depot operated in central Simi Valley from March, 1903, until it was closed in July, 1974. The building was later moved to east Simi Valley, where work is under way to turn it into a museum.

* LOCATION: Santa Susana Park, 6503 Katherine Road in Simi Valley.

* HOURS: The building is closed to the public, but members of the Santa Susana Model Railroad Club often work on projects on Wednesday evenings and Saturdays. For more information, contact the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District at 584-4400.

The Santa Susana Southern Pacific Railroad Depot was opened near the intersection of Tapo Street and Los Angeles Avenue in March, 1903. Without trucks or a freeway from the San Fernando Valley, virtually everything was brought to Simi Valley on the railroad.

“Up to probably 1960, everything came by train. Simi Valley was a sleepy farming community until then, with some cattle, orange groves and walnut trees,” said Walt Griffin, president of the Rancho Simi Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 1978 to help the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District with fund raising.

But times changed and the depot gradually became used less. In July, 1974, Southern Pacific closed the depot. Two months later, the building was sold to the park district for $1.06.

In the fall of 1975, the depot was moved to Santa Susana Park in east Simi Valley and it was designated a Ventura County historical landmark in January, 1976. The park district spent about $25,000 to move the building and grade the new site, officials said. The Rancho Simi Foundation plans to turn the depot into a railroad museum. The project’s first step, adding restrooms, is expected to begin this summer. By fall, the building should be open on weekends, Griffin said. The Rancho Simi Foundation has collected about $7,000 toward the project’s $70,000 cost, Griffin said. Foundation fund-raisers hope the museum will be open in three to four years.

Now, the depot houses an 800-foot model railroad layout. Members of the Santa Susana Model Railroad Club have constructed the miniature track that winds through two rooms and reflects the area between Burbank and Port Hueneme during the 1940s and 1950s, when walnut groves and orange trees marked the landscape.