New Tehachapi Depot

Just after sunrise one crisp morning in October, found me at the Tehachapi Depot Museum.



Back on June 13, 2008, The historic 1904 Southern Pacific Depot burned to the ground.



The community of Tehachapi was in the process of converting the old depot into a museum when the fire occurred. They responded in a big way and broke ground to build a new depot using the original plans. Only changes were to bring the plans up to modern codes. In less than a year the New Tehachapi Depot had a Grand Opening.



















On the outside of the museum they have some of their over 50 working railroad signals on display.





On the inside of the museum you will find many artifacts of railroading in the 20th century.

If you ever have the chance to stop off in the neat town of Tehachapi, be sure to take in this very interesting museum. I know I will be back in the near future.

Shasta Dam

On my way south from Oregon, I stopped to take the tour of Shasta Dam. This dam was started in 1937 and was completed in 1945 at a cost of $121 million. It is the key storage facility in one of the world's most elaborate and extensive water development projects - the Central Valley Project. The dam is 602 feet height and 3,460 feet wide. It is 883 feet thick at the base with over 6 million cubic yards of concrete.

Let's take a look:











We took the elevator down the the 13th level and walked through the dam to the face of the spillway.













And then there is the Power House with its five 15-foot diameter pin stocks:

Each of the five generators can produce 142 megawatts of power.

A very impressive facility to say the least.