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Articles Footlose
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Editor's
note: One of the highlights of our career in
publishing was a visit to Railfair in
Sacramento. It was held at the California State
Railroad Museum and was certainly an event to
remember. We hope Railfair continues. The Railroad
Technology Museum at the Southern Pacific
Railroad Sacramento Shops Momentum
Builds with Completion of Reconstructed Transfer
Table In late 1999,
the Museum secured a lease from Union Pacific
Railroad on the complex's two main structures,
the Boiler Shop and Erecting Shop. These
cavernous structures both date from the days
when steam locomotives were built and repaired
at the Sacramento Shops. Portions of the
massive, brick Erecting Shop date from 1869 and
SP predecessor Central Pacific Railroad (CP). As
such, the Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops
include the only surviving CP structures
standing when America's first transcontinental
railroad was completed. In early 2000,
the Museum completed moving its restoration
facilities into the former Boiler Shop. In order
to fully occupy the Erecting Shop with
full-sized locomotives and cars, however,
reconstruction of the Transfer Table&emdash;a
bridge-like structure that allows access to the
many "work bays" within the Erecting
Shop&emdash;has been essential. Construction of
the Transfer Table began during mid-2001, and it
was completed in spring 2003. This $500,000
project has been funded through State Parks
Deferred Maintenance allocations and a major
fundraising campaign conducted by the CSRM
Foundation in 2000-2001. The completed
Transfer Table now allows access to the Erecting
Shop for the Museum's collection of historic
railroad locomotives and cars. Stored outside
for years, these historic items&emdash;many
awaiting restoration&emdash;are considered a top
priority for conservation by the Museum. Many of
the locomotives and cars will become exhibits
within the new Railroad Technology Museum,
showcasing over a century of technological
development and innovation in the railroad
industry. Restoration and
maintenance activities for the Museum's
collection of full-sized locomotives and cars
have been conducted since 2000 in the complex's
Boiler Shop. In December 2002, the latest
project&emdash;refurbishment of a 1920s vintage
coach with a Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad
heritage for operation on the Museum's excursion
railroad, the Sacramento Southern&emdash;was
completed at the facility. Construction of the
Transfer Table has also taken place in the
complex's Boiler Shop, given its proximity to
necessary tools and expertise. Ongoing
maintenance of the Museum's operating steam and
diesel locomotives takes place in the Boiler
Shop, along with maintenance of the Museum's
coaches and converted freight cars which
regularly carry school groups in spring and
fall, and families during the summer. The
necessary support systems for the Museum's
operating railroad&emdash;track materials,
specialized machinery, and wayside and at-grade
crossing signals&emdash;are built and maintained
here as well. Also under way is a railcar
conservation project for another State Park,
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park,
attesting to the Shops' ability to provide
skills and tooling for a variety of
activities. Background The Railroad
Technology Museum (RTM) was envisioned in
the very first planning documents created to
guide development of the California State
Railroad Museum. Planning for the RTM began in
the mid-1980s, following completion of CSRM's
flagship, the 100,000 square-foot Railroad
History Museum in Old Sacramento. Intended to
complement that facility, the RTM would convert
a portion of the 44-acre historic Southern
Pacific Sacramento Shops site into a dynamic
cultural attraction. The ambitious
project would increase the drawing power of
Sacramento as a cultural and tourism
destination, and provide a unique focal point
for surrounding Downtown Railyards and
waterfront redevelopment efforts. Originally
envisioned at a waterfront location south of Old
Sacramento, the Railroad Technology Museum is
much better suited for development in the former
Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops. This adaptive
yet historic re-use project would preserve the
very structures that best commemorate and
celebrate the history and technology of
railroading in California. It would benefit
the Museum's commercial and residential
neighbors&emdash;including Old Sacramento, the
Union Pacific Railroad, and the City and County
of Sacramento&emdash;and help spur redevelopment
of the Railyards in a positive, historically
appropriate manner. The spacious railroad shop
buildings would house CSRM's collection of
historic locomotives and railroad cars, plus
formal museum exhibit galleries interpreting
railroad engineering and technology. Children would
have the opportunity to explore fundamental
physics and engineering principles through
hands-on, interactive exhibits. Through the use
of sectioned locomotives, scale models,
interactive displays, oral histories, and other
interpretive techniques, the Museum and its
staff would educate the public about steam and
diesel locomotion, track structure design and
wheel interface, the importance of the Shops and
its labor force in the development of
Sacramento, and the relevance of railroads in
helping meet the transportation challenges of
the future for California and the United
States. Another
significant aspect of the Railroad Technology
Museum is the opportunity for the public to
regularly view ongoing restoration work.
Previously, this important aspect of the
California State Railroad Museum's work has been
conducted offsite, not accessible to the public.
The ability to watch artisans working "real
time" on steam and diesel locomotives, wooden
and steel railroad cars, and other types of
projects has significant informational and
educational value. The facility could easily
support curriculum-based educational programs
for teenagers and young adults. Vocational
educational programs could be established in
conjunction with ongoing renovation work,
offering new skills training and
development. To this end, the
Sacramento City Council in late 1999 voted
unanimously in support of the concept of
locating the Railroad Technology Museum in the
former Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops. The
Railroad Technology Museum portion of the
project is estimated to cost approximately $25
million. Development of other existing
structures within the historic Shops complex are
being discussed with the Union Pacific Railroad
and railyard developers, as well as other
cultural organizations potentially interested in
the site. Benefiting the
Community The Railroad
Technology Museum represents a unique
opportunity to secure public stewardship of the
oldest (and for a time, largest) industrial
complex west of the Mississippi River, which for
80 years was also the Central Valley's largest
employer. It would create an urban museum
complex contiguous with the Old Sacramento
Historic District, itself internationally known,
and its location and appeal would help foster
surrounding transit-oriented
development. The Railroad
Technology Museum would benefit the community in
numerous ways. As the region's largest employer
for decades, the Southern Pacific Sacramento
Shops fundamentally influenced the development,
concentration, and growth of many ethnic groups
in Sacramento and the Central Valley. Ethnic
diversity and community pride will be
demonstrated through ongoing study and
exhibition focused on the thousands of workers
once employed in the Shops. The California
State Railroad Museum is uniquely equipped to
foster the preservation and appreciation of
California's rich railroading heritage. The
Museum's primary mission is to preserve key
railroad heritage resources, and make them
available to the widest possible audience.
Assisting the Museum (a unit of California State
Parks) in its mission is the California State
Railroad Museum Foundation, a non-profit
organization chartered to raise and manage funds
on behalf of the Museum and to provide a variety
of additional support services. Operated by
California State Parks with assistance from the
non-profit CSRM Foundation, the California State
Railroad Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New
Year's Day. Widely regarded as North America's
finest and most-visited railroad museum, the
complex of facilities includes the
100,000-square foot Museum of Railroad History
plus the reconstructed Central Pacific Railroad
Passenger Station and Freight Depot, 1849 Eagle
Theatre, and Big Four and Dingley Spice Mill
buildings in Old Sacramento State Historic Park.
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California
State Parks, with the support of the California
State Railroad Museum Foundation, continues to
make progress toward placing the Railroad
Museum's next phase in the historic Southern
Pacific Sacramento Shops complex. Located
adjacent to downtown Sacramento, the Shops are
one of North America's most important industrial
heritage sites. Proposed for the site is the
Railroad Technology Museum (RTM), a major
expansion of the California State Railroad
Museum.