Friends of the Tehachapi Depot (FOTD)

Our Mission Statement

The mission of Friends of the Tehachapi Depot, through the operation of the Tehachapi Depot Railroad Museum, is to educate the public on the history and impact of the railroad in our community and geographic area. We promote the story of the people who built and continue to operate this major thoroughfare of commerce, which is the nation's second transcontinental railroad. Our all volunteer staff is dedicated to the successful operation of our historic depot museum facility, maintaining the artifacts and continuously improving displays, and providing an interactive learning experience for our local and worldwide visitors. We practice diversity and inclusion in our operations and our workplace.

To continuously and persistently enhance our ability to tell the history of railroading by developing new exhibits, expanding our research capability, improving our community outreach, and furthering the excellence of our volunteers.

We value our volunteers – they are the most important part of our organization. They are highly regarded, well trained, and receive deserved recognition and rewards for their service.

We value our visitors – they are welcomed, treated with respect and kindness. The better we treat them the greater our rewards.

We value the continuous Improvement of our museum – we strive to always improve our displays, our services, and our artifacts.

We value our members. We provide them with excellent benefits and training programs to enhance the experience of our visitors.

We value our community. We strive to be the best ambassadors for Tehachapi area visitors.

We value everyone regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality, disability, or membership in any other legally protected group. Discrimination has no place in our organization.