A New Chapter: Goleta Depot, 1975-Present
| 1977 | Goleta Valley Historical Society announces it will be unable to continue with plans to save Goleta Depot, the community’s most visible landmark. |
| Vandals and looters attack the abandoned building during the late 1970s. | |
| 1979 | Goleta Beautiful initiates its own depot preservation effort. |
| 1980 | Goleta Beautiful creates Goleta Depot Committee. Core five members are Gary Coombs (chairman), George Adams, Eugene Allen, Raymond Baird, and Phyllis Olsen. |
| 1981 | Land-ownership suit by Kellogg heirs against Southern Pacific railroad is settled. Depot building is offered to Goleta Beautiful. |
| “Friends of Goleta Depot” established (May) amidst lengthy fund-raising campaign. “Depot Dispatch” newsletter issue #1 published (June 5). | |
| Building relocated to Lake Los Carneros County Park in dramatic day-night move (Nov. 18-19) | |
| 1982 | Fund-raising continues. Institute for American Research sponsors first spring fundraiser, the “Asphalt Regatta” (April 24). |
| Building is revitalized and reborn during year-long reconstruction and restoration. | |
| Goleta Depot is dedicated as Santa Barbara County Landmark No. 22 in formal re-opening ceremony (Oct. 10). | |
| Chamber of Commerce, Audubon Society, Institute for American Research become paying tenants. Waiting Room and Freight Office are first museum areas. | |
| 1983 | Depot and County lease are transferred to Institute for American Research (March). |
| Native Sons of Golden West designate building a landmark (Nov. 19). | |
| First “Depot Day” celebrated (Oct 9). | |
| 1984 | Goleta Depot’s waybill box recovered from Goleta Lemon Assn. |
| 1985 | Work on model-railroad exhibit commences with grant support from Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation. |
| Standard-gauge mainline and house-track are laid in front of depot (Last-spike ceremony held Oct. 6). | |
| Plans for permanent 7.5-inch gauge miniature railroad around grounds grow out of popularity of rides on temporary track during third Depot Day (Oct. 20). | |
| 1986 | Museum acquires S.P. bay-window caboose No. 4023. |
| 1987 | Staff leads first elementary-school class field trip via Amtrak (April 23) to San Luis Obispo. |
| Museum’s one-third-mile miniature railroad is completed to celebrate Santa Barbara Rail Centennial. | |
| 1988 | Museum plays key role in inauguration of Amtrak’s San Diegan train service to Santa Barbara (June 26). |
| Museum receives first of many General Operating Support Grants from Institute of Museum Services. | |
| 1989 | Volunteers build handcar for rides at museum. |
| Museum acquires original Goleta Depot ticket box for Freight Office display. | |
| Earl and Rose Ann Hill establish Children’s Program Fund. | |
| Museum initiates annual participation in Summer Reading program of Santa Barbara Public Libraries. | |
| 1990 | Theater opens (Jan.; later named “Gandy Dancer Theater”). |
Museum honored at White House awards ceremony (May 18). | |
| Shed for handcar and miniature-train storage is completed. | |
| 1991 | New name, “South Coast Railroad Museum at Goleta Depot” adopted (April 11). |
First annual holiday-season “Toy Trains and Teddy Bears” exhibit is assembled. | |
| 1992 | Weekday miniature-train rides initiated (March). |
| Depot exterior repainted with over $20,000 in grant funds from Santa Barbara Foundation and County of Santa Barbara. | |
| 1993 | First “Easter Bunny Express” event held (April 10). |
| First “Holiday Train” event (Nov.-Dec.). Renamed “Candy Cane Train” in 1994. | |
| Miniature railroad is named “Goleta Short Line” (Dec. 15). | |
| 1994 | Santa Barbara Bank & Trust underwrites inaugural “Free Rides for Moms” event (May 7). |
| Planning commences for interpretive program aboard Amtrak’s Coast Starlight. | |
| 600 feet of track added to Goleta Short Line. | |
| 1995 | Goleta National Bank sponsors first “Free Rides for Dads” (June 18). |
| 1996 | Goleta Depot is featured in “Great American Railroad Stations” book by Janet Greenstein Potter. |
| Accessibility study of museum programs and facilities is funded by Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation. | |
| 1997 | House track extended by 22 feet to allow repositioning of caboose. |
| Spring fundraiser becomes “Great Goleta Rail Race” (May 17). | |
| 1998 | Grounds ravaged, several trees lost in El Nino storms. |
| Coast Starlight Interpretive Program begins (May). | |
| Major improvements to museum grounds completed with grants from Santa Barbara Foundation, Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation and La Vista Foundation. | |
| Museum participates in Goleta Amtrak Station opening (Sept. 19). | |
| 1999 | Inaugural “March Madness” means free miniature-train rides throughout the month. |
| 2001 | Museum celebrates Goleta Depot’s 100th Anniversary. |
| 2002 | Goleta Depot is placed on the National Register of Historic Places (Jan. 18). |
| Concrete walkway added to the west side of the museum property, creating a 360-degree pedestrian route around the museum grounds. | |
| Second passenger-boarding location for the miniature train, the “Westside Station,” added along the new walkway. | |
| 2006 | New handcar-ride passenger-boarding platform completed. |
| New Visitor Center opened. | |
| 2007 | New shed for the handcar completed. |
| 2008 | Hundred-year-old Southern Pacific safe is donated to museum by Amtrak. The safe was moved to the museum on Nov. 18, 2008, the 27th anniversary of the relocation of Goleta Depot from trackside to Lake Los Carneros Park. |
| 2021 | Museum proudly celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Goleta Depot’s relocation to its current home, marking four decades of preserving this historic landmark. |
Chronology of Goleta Depot, Part 3: Goleta Depot: The Southern Pacific Years, 1901-1975