Hanford, CA

Amtrak and the state of California are slowly but surely abandoning or extensively remodeling every historic station along its passenger routes within the state. While it is good that more funding is being put into passenger service and station rehabilitation, it is unfortunate when those rehabilitations extensively alter the appearance of an historic building. Such was the case at Hanford, last surviving example of a San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Ry. brick depot. Most SF&SJV depots were frame, but Bakersfield, Tulare, Visalia, and Hanford were given brick stations of this general style. By the mid-1970's, only Hanford remained. The depot had a covered freight dock under the same roofline as the rest of the building. When the depot was "restored" in 1992, the covered area was bricked in, the freight section was completely rebuilt, and numerous other external and internal modifications were made. This 1996 view shows the results. While the present structure is no doubt more practical for present-day operations, it is unfortunate that the modifications couldn't have been made with an eye toward preservation and a somewhat lighter touch.

Hanford, CA

Amtrak and the state of California are slowly but surely abandoning or extensively remodeling every historic station along its passenger routes within the state. While it is good that more funding is being put into passenger service and station rehabilitation, it is unfortunate when those rehabilitations extensively alter the appearance of an historic building. Such was the case at Hanford, last surviving example of a San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Ry. brick depot. Most SF&SJV depots were frame, but Bakersfield, Tulare, Visalia, and Hanford were given brick stations of this general style. By the mid-1970's, only Hanford remained. The depot had a covered freight dock under the same roofline as the rest of the building. When the depot was "restored" in 1992, the covered area was bricked in, the freight section was completely rebuilt, and numerous other external and internal modifications were made. This 1996 view shows the results. While the present structure is no doubt more practical for present-day operations, it is unfortunate that the modifications couldn't have been made with an eye toward preservation and a somewhat lighter touch.

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