Sacramento's Southern Pacific Shops

Sacramento's Southern Pacific Shops

Author: Kevin W. Hecteman

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2010-05-10

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 1439640157

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In 1862, the Central Pacific Railroad was founded and began building eastward from Sacramento as part of the transcontinental railroad. This required a shop capable of keeping the railroads equipment in running order. So in 1867, in the swamps just north of town, the Sacramento shops were born. For well more than a century, this massive complex kept the Central Pacific and its corporate successor, the Southern Pacific, operating smoothly. For many decades, the shops were the largest employer in the Sacramento area, employing carpenters, painters, draftsmen, boilermakers, electricians, clerks, upholsterers, and others. The shops forces designed, built, and maintained locomotives, freight and passenger cars, and other railroading equipment. The complex closed in 1999. Most of the area, popularly known as the Railyards, is set for redevelopment. The California State Railroad Museum handles maintenance and restoration of its collection in two of the shops buildings and plans to develop a Railroad Technology Museum on the site.


Old Sacramento and Downtown

Old Sacramento and Downtown

Author: Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2006-06-21

Total Pages: 134

ISBN-13: 1439631123

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The discovery of gold launched an unprecedented rush of humanity to Californias Sierra foothills. Many of those miners and minerals flowed as naturally as the waterways into a settlement that grew where the American and Sacramento Rivers meet. The Sacramento River, the main traffic artery between the mines and San Francisco Bay, was soon flanked by a burgeoning Embarcadero and commercial district that became Sacramento City in 1849. Paddlewheel riverboats, like the New World, carried goods, passengers, and great wealth. Besting all jealous rivals, Sacramento became the state capital, and a wealthy merchants residence was transformed into the governors mansion. Today downtown and Old Sacramento, a 28-acre state historic district, are thriving, graced by such treasures as the restored State Capitol Building, the art deco Tower Bridge, and scores of historic structures and attractions like the Leland Stanford Mansion and the California State Railroad Museum.


Southern Pacific in the Bay Area

Southern Pacific in the Bay Area

Author: George H. Drury

Publisher: Kalmbach Publishing Company

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780890242742

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A collection of photos of operations in the 1940s and 50s from the files of Trains magazine. A few short intro essays and long captions provide mechanical & historical detail. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.


Wicked Sacramento

Wicked Sacramento

Author: William Burg

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1467140597

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In the early 1900s, Sacramento became a battleground in a statewide struggle. On one side were Progressive political reformers and suffragettes. Opposing them were bars, dance halls, brothels and powerful business interests. Caught in the middle was the city's West End, a place where Grant "Skewball" Cross hosted jazz dances that often attracted police attention and Charmion performed her infamous trapeze striptease act before becoming a movie star. It was home to the "Queen of the Sacramento Tenderloin," Cherry de Saint Maurice, who met her untimely end at the peak of her success, and Ancil Hoffman, who ingeniously got around the city's dancing laws by renting riverboats for his soirées. Historian William Burg shares the long-hidden stories of criminals and crusaders from Sacramento's past.


Sacramento Southern Railroad

Sacramento Southern Railroad

Author: Kevin W. Hecteman

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738569864

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The Sacramento Southern Railroad was born into a famous railroad family and a busy railroad town in July 1903. The mighty Southern Pacific, which controlled the new line from the outset, built south from Sacramento along the eastern bank of the Sacramento River into the delta's rich farmland area. At its zenith, the line was about 31 miles long, serving the communities of Freeport, Hood, Locke, Walnut Grove, and Isleton. Trains on what became known as the Walnut Grove Branch hauled pears, sugar beets, asparagus and other products from the agricultural region's packing sheds and canneries. Competition from trucking and damage from flooding took a severe toll on the railroad, and the Southern Pacific largely abandoned it by 1978, but a portion lives on as a labor of love.