Western Roads Wednesday

It is Wednesday, December 25, 2019, Christmas Day. I couldn't find a Christmas photo to post so I thought that I would post photos of the San Leandro Historical Railway Society's (SLHRS) Depot. I took these photos a couple of days ago with my phone.

These are unusual photos because the parking lot in front of the Depot was completely empty. There are usually several cars parked in front. This prevents us getting a clean photo of the Depot.

This Depot was built in 1898 by the Southern Pacific Railroad to serve San Leandro, California. San Leandro is directly across San Francisco Bay from San Francisco and borders on Oakland, CA to the south. The SLHRS purchased the Depot from the Southern Pacific in 1988 and moved it into San Leandro's Thrasher Park in December 1988. The building was completely refurbished by the SLHRS between 1989 and 1991. A John Armstrong designed Southern Pacific HO layout was built inside the Depot during the next 10 years. The SLHRS started construction of the G&O garden railroad in the weed convered lot behind the Depot in 2008. The SLHRS now has three model railroad displays - the original HO display and the G&O in the garden which consists of both G and 3 rail O gauges.

I wish everyone on the forum a wonderful holiday season and healthy and happy new year. NH Joe

An empty parking lot in front of the Depot is very unusual.

This is a closer view of the Depot's left side. This side of the building houses a small railroad museum with many artifacts. As would be expected, most of the items are from the Southern Pacific railroad.

The SLHRS is in the process of replacing the front porch steps. The bottom landing that was redwood has been replaced with concrete. This is a 4,000 project.

This is a photo of the center and right side of the building. The center of the building houses the HO display. The right side houses the work shop and HO staging yard.

This is the right side as seen from Orchard Avenue. San Leandro was an agricultural town until the 1930's and 1940's. Most of the town's land was planted with fruit trees. The main town fair is the Cherry Festival.

This is the back of the building. The children's display is directly behind the gate. The yellow / gray building in the far distance is an unused Delmonte Foods warehouse. The grey building on the right is a private home. The 80 foot long wood fence between the Depot and the home is scheduled for replacement in 2020. This is expected to cost $5,000.

Here is another view of the back of the Depot. The G&O display can be seen inside the gate.

Here is a view of the working train order signal in front of the building. The signal arms are connected to manual levers inside the Depot's office. They can be moved using the levers. Trains used to stop at San Leandro for orders. The Delmonte Foods warehouse can be seen in the distance.