(rshsdepot) Perris, CA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Press-Enterprise.
 
Please go to 
_http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_W_strain30.45cfd76.html_ 
(http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_W_strain30.45cfd76.html)  for  video and photos.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Rails revived: Historic train depot reopens in Perris
 
06:56 AM PDT on Thursday, October 30, 2008
 
By JULISSA McKINNON
The Press-Enterprise 
 
For the first time in decades, a loud whistle announces a steam locomotive  
rolling to a stop at the historic Santa Fe Railway station in downtown Perris. 
 
After 10 years of fundraising, planning and renovations, the historic train  
station at 4th and D streets is open to the public again. 
 
But in this new chapter, the depot will no longer serve as a hub for  
shipping potatoes or other crops. Instead, city leaders hope the train depot  will 
become an attraction for train enthusiasts and history buffs, especially  once 
the Perris Valley Historical Museum sets up its exhibits in January.  

The $1.5 million depot renovation is just one piece of a much larger plan  to 
refurbish the city's entire downtown, which includes renovating D and other  
streets and building a Metrolink commuter train station near the intersection 
of  C and Second streets. When all is done, the historic train depot should be 
 surrounded by Metrolink parking. 
 
"The idea is to have the modern (improvements) next to the historic, and  
keep the railroad nature of Perris," said Dave Stuart, the city's special  
projects manager who has shepherded the station remodel since the city jumped  into 
the project almost a decade ago. "To attract higher-end developers and  
investors you need to fix up your streets, streetscapes, historic anchors and  
buildings." 
 
About 100 people turned out to celebrate the grand re-opening of the depot,  
sitting at shaded tables in near-100-degree heat to hear tributes to the 
city's  longstanding ties to the railroad. 
 
Among the crowd sat Lloyd Higginson, Perris' last station master who  staffed 
the Perris depot for 20 years until it shut down in 1972. 
 
Higginson, 86, now lives in Cloverdale, a rural town in northern  California. 
He recalled how the summer potato harvest always brought bustling  times at 
the station, when agricultural crops were the area's main product.  

Only then would he get extra help at the station as workers toiled to ship  
out dozens of boxcars brimming with potatoes, typically eastbound, Higginson  
said. He recalled frequently working until 2 or 4 a.m. to make sure the loads  
left on time. 
 
Perris Mayor Daryl Busch officially dedicated the depot to Higginson,  
gifting him with a plaque from the city. 
 
Higginson retired after a 43-year career with the railroad that, in  addition 
to Perris, took him to Rialto, Corona, Riverside and Arlington. 
 
"It was one of the better jobs," he said, as his wife and two adult  children 
sat nearby. "The pay was good. It brings back a lot of memories.  Several of 
my brothers worked in the railroad. My father worked in it for  fifty-some 
years." 
 
Today, people still make a living from the railroad. Others work on trains  
for fun. 
 
Linc Reed-Nickerson is one of several volunteer engineers who make a hobby  
out of cleaning and caring for the antique trolleys and trains housed at the  
Orange Empire Railway Museum located about 1 ½ miles south of the depot. 
 
"It feels like an extension of the museum," Reed-Nickerson said of the  
refurbished depot. "It gives us a destination instead of riding out and shoving  
back. People can ride the trains out here now." 
 
Reach Julissa McKinnon at 951-375-3730 or _jmckinnon_@_PE.com_ 
(mailto:jmckinnon_@_PE.com)  
 
(http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_W_strain30.45cfd76.html) 
**************Plan your next getaway with AOL Travel.  Check out Today's Hot 
5 Travel Deals! 
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212416248x1200771803/aol?redir=http://travel.aol.com/discount-travel?ncid=emlcntustrav00000001)

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

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

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1797
********************************

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