San Joaquin County Points of Interest
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South Wing
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North Wing
3 December 2012
(Click Photos to Enlarge)
1025 East Main Street
Stockton
Built c1910
Destroyed by fire 2017
Western Pacific Railroad (WPRR) was a regional railroad from 1910 until its acquisition by Union Pacific Railroad in 1982.
From 1949 until 1970, the fabulous passenger train California Zephyr stopped at this Mission Revival depot.
The depot closed in 1970.
When we photographed it in 2012, it was abandoned and derelict.
From 1949 to 1970, Western Pacific operated the California Zephyr between Oakland and Salt Lake City. The train continued to Denver (operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad) on to Chicago (operated by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad).
West of Winnemucca, Nevada, the California Zephyr passed through Gerlach, Portola, Keddie, Oroville, Sacramento and Stockton before arriving at the Oakland depot where a ferry service was available to San Francisco. This route followed the Feather River Canyon over the Sierra Nevada mountains.
The California Zephyr is now operated by Amtrak. The route west of Winnemucca was changed to the transcontinental Central Pacific Railroad route through Reno and the Donner Pass.
The Feather River Route still hauls freight for the Union Pacific Railroad and allows the occasional charter train excursion.
The depot was destroyed by fire on 18 June 2017. According to a post on TrainOrders.com:
"The old WP depot in Stockton recently suffered a devastating fire, caused by homeless squatters living inside the building. Most of the roof collapsed into the interior of the building, leaving most of the walls standing. City inspectors have deemed the building too far gone and too unsafe to attempt any kind of restoration, and have thus ordered the building to be demolished."