(rshsdepot) Redding, CA

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Links:
http://cfapps.redding.com/photo/index.asp?PhotoName=20020312toplo007a.jpg
(current photo of depot)
http://www.trainweb.org/wendy/redding/13681_08.html  (another contemporary
photo)
http://www.snowcrest.net/marnells/redding.htm  (aerial view)

Group wants to fix up depot
Union Pacific approves first phase of project

Kimberly Bolander
Record Searchlight

March, 12 2002 - 2:52 a.m.

Benches, flowers and a fresh coat of paint are planned for Redding's train
depot, thanks to a Shasta County group that has railroad owners on board
with the idea.
And if Union Pacific Railroad pitches in, passengers may even get a
restroom, waiting room and vending machine, the railroad's Redding special
agent Randy Anderson said Monday.
"Union Pacific does try to work with communities in being a good neighbor,"
Anderson said.
The railroad company operates an office at the Yuba Street depot, but that
building is not open to passengers awaiting Amtrak's trains.
Amtrak's locomotives only come through Redding in the early morning, said
Wally Haas, director of the Shasta Cascade Rail Preservation Society.
"At 2 o'clock in the morning it can be bitter cold, waiting for the train
that's four hours late," Haas said.
The 60-some member society wants to repaint the peeling 1920s structure, add
planters with trees and flowers, fill in potholes, add outdoor benches and
perhaps temporary, portable toilets, Haas said.
Small improvements would make a big difference to waiting passengers, Haas
said.
"Most people will sit in their car, if they've arrived that way," he said.
"If they've been dropped off by taxi, all they can do is stand."
The Shasta Cascade society has sought to beautify the depot and give
passengers a safer place for more than a year, Haas said. In a meeting last
March with the city, Shasta County Supervisor Molly Wilson, Amtrak and Union
Pacific representatives, society members were told they had to meet a few
requirements before changes could be made, he said.
Union Pacific has recently given the green light to some exterior sprucing
on its property - phase one of the project, Anderson said.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad sent two architectural engineers to
Redding on Friday to look over the depot and make suggestions for
improvements, he said.
"That's a milestone, to have a couple of guys sent out from Omaha to look at
the place. That was something I never even imagined would happen," Anderson
said.
Also being considered is a decorative fence. It would run alongside the rail
line and keep waiting passengers at a safe distance from approaching trains,
he said.
The railroad will fix a sagging roof on the depot's building, he added.
If the exterior cleanup goes well, Union Pacific will consider phase two: a
proposal to upgrade the depot's interior, making it open to waiting
passengers, Anderson said.
The building's single restroom would need to meet requirements for the
disabled and be open to both genders.
There is also talk of adding a digital information board, so people waiting
for a train know its estimated time of arrival, Anderson said.
A security guard for the Redding Area Bus Authority's station, which is set
between the tracks and California Street, could lock and unlock the depot's
doors at night, Anderson said.
However, Union Pacific hasn't committed to any dollar amounts on the
interior proposal, he said.
"We're not getting into a whole lot of details with phase two, because we
want to get over the hurdle with phase one," Anderson said.
The city of Redding is probably willing to contribute "a modest amount"
financially, said Deputy City Manager Kurt Starman.
"It's always been the city's position that it is Union Pacific's and
Amtrak's responsibility to keep up the train depot and make it comfortable
for passengers," he said.
Amtrak officials could not be reached Monday.
But the company's representatives have said Amtrak is not willing to help,
Anderson said.
Instead, he said, they suggested solving the problem by simply not stopping
in Redding.
He knows of no plan to end train service to Redding, he said.
So far, the society has garnered $100 from one Cottonwood contributor to fix
up the depot, Haas said with a laugh. The group hopes to solicit the
business community and local government further, he said.
Plus, he said, there's the society's many skilled volunteers who are willing
to help.
"I think we picked up on what the community had been talking about for a
long time - that there wasn't a decent waiting area for Amtrak passengers,"
Haas said. "And we said, 'Let's see if we can't do something about it."'
Reporter Kimberly Bolander can be reached at 225-8339 or at
kbolander_@_redding.com.

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #314
*******************************

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org