Editorial: New life for an old depot

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005 | 8:20 a.m.

In the not-so-distant past, visitors to the Mojave National Preserve southwest of Las Vegas would likely stumble upon the Kelso Depot by accident. The building served coal-fired Union Pacific Railroad trains as a stopping point midway between Las Vegas and Barstow, Calif. The depot was built in 1924 and it was the center of a boomtown during World War II, as minerals essential to the war effort were loaded onto trains there.

In 1986, long past the day when it had any practical use, the depot closed. But the federal government saved it from demolition in 1991 and slowly, almost imperceptibly, began restoring it to serve as the preserve's visitors center. In recent weeks it has opened to visitors -- Thursdays through Sundays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. -- and has a grand opening scheduled for March, when it will be open seven days a week. The depot, furnished now with original and acquired artifacts, and complete with a bookstore and theater, is about a two-hour drive from Las Vegas -- south on Interstate 15 past the state line to Cima Road, and southwest past Cima to Kelso.

The National Park Service, the agency responsible for the rehabilitation, has more plans for the old depot, including a children's museum. Preserving our Western heritage is valuable from many aspects, including education. We hope the restored depot brings a lot of life back to Kelso.