The Tehachapi Depot Railroad Museum prepares to reopen.
Closed for nearly a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Friends of the Tehachapi Depot, along with its uniformed docents, will offer free guided tours explaining Tehachapi’s place in local railroad history. Each visitor will be warmly greeted while maintaining social distancing protocols. Reopening and tours are scheduled to commence Saturday, April 10.
“It’s been over a year since our museum was last open, but now Kern County restrictions have lifted to the point where we are able to reopen for our visitors,” newly-installed president Steve Smith last week.
The museum will initially be open weekends only in April and May. Then, beginning in June, if all goes well, it will be back to its normal schedule of five days per week, Thursday through Monday.
“Our staff will be following state COVID guidelines to keep our visitors and volunteers safe. We will initially limit the maximum number of visitors at any one time to 10, groups of up to five,” Smith said.
All visitors and volunteers must wear a mask, and the museum can provide them. The museum has also developed a rigorous cleaning and sanitizing protocol.
“We are fortunate to have a group of dedicated, trained volunteers to guide our visitors through our museum’s displays and tell the story of railroading in the Tehachapi Pass,” Smith said.
“We are looking forward to our reopening and hope all railroad fans come visit us!”
The Tehachapi Railroad Depot Museum is located at 101 W. Tehachapi Blvd. For more information, call 823-1100.