Impact - Railroad Depot
Walter, dazed and groggy after being callously attacked by his wife's lover, aimlessly strikes out on foot.
Then ... He stumbles upon a rural rairoad depot with a sign reading Junction City.
... in 1970... disregard the depot's movie name - this was filmed at the Southern Pacific depot at Santa Susana in Southern California, on East Los Angeles Avenue near Tapo Street (map). Built in 1903, it remained in service until it was closed down in 1963. The photo below taken in 1970 captured its neglected state seven years after it closed.
... and Now, determined railway lovers saved the depot from demolition and moved it to a new location, below, not too far away on Katherine Road near Kuehner Drive in Simi Valley (Santa Susana was incorporated into Simi Valley in 1969), where it has been lovingly restored as a museum. This map shows the depot's original (red marker) and new (blue marker) locations.
Then ... He asks the station master when the next train leaves for San Francisco but is disappointed to learn it won't be until the next day.
... and Now, below, the depot today looks exactly as it did then. More information on the museum is available here.
Then ... He makes a phone call to check on his attacker who had claimed to be Walter's wife Irene's cousin. When he discovers he was not a relative at all the whole murder plot becomes clear. As he leaves the station we see a building across Los Angeles Avenue bearing a partially obscured name - Santa Susana Cafe.
... in the 1930s ... the vintage photo below, most likely from the 1930s, shows this same cafe, then known as Long's Place. To its left, visible also in the movie view above, was Hinkle's Place, a saloon run by teetotaler Clark Hinkle.
... and Now, not there any more, the cafe and saloon used to be where Xpress Lube at 4560 East Los Angeles Avenue, Simi Valley now sits.
... in 1940 ... this photo, looking southeast across the Santa Susana airport, serendipitously included the depot (large arrow) and the cafe and saloon opposite (small arrow). (The airport has since been suburbanized and the street that replaced the runway is called ... Runway Street).