City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2023-00825 8/15/2023 Public Hearing Item 8.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Historic District Plan and Ordinance Amendment (M22- 006) [Noticed on 08/04/2023]
File ID: 2023-00825
Location: Sacramento Shops Historic District, District 4, Represented by Mayor Steinberg Recommendation: Hold a public hearing and upon conclusion pass a) a Resolution determining 1) the proposed Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan is a subsequent project within the scope of the Subsequent Environmental Impact Report for the Railyards Specific Plan Update, KP Medical Center, MLS Stadium, and Stormwater Outfall Projects (P15-040) (as set forth in mitigation measure 4.4-2 (a)); and 2) the proposed amendments to Ordinance 2016-0047, including the boundary revision to Sacramento Shops Historic District, are exempt from review under CEQA Guidelines sections 15308 (actions taken to protect the environment) and 15061(b)(3) (the common-sense exemption); b) an Ordinance amending Ordinance 2016-047, relating to the Sacramento Shops Historic District, including a boundary revision to the District; and c) an Ordinance adopting the Historic District Plan for the Sacramento Shops Historic District.
Contact: Sean de Courcy, Preservation Director, (916) 808-2796, [email protected], Community Development Department
Presenter: Sean de Courcy, Preservation Director, (916) 808-2796, [email protected], Community Development Department Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Background
3-Resolution Adopting Environmental Findings
4-Exhibit A: Draft Central Shops Historic District Plan 5-Exhibit B: Ordinance Amending Ordinance 2016-047
6-Ordinance Amending Ordinance 2016-047
7-Ordinance Adopting the Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan 8-Exihibit A: Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
9-Draft National Register Nomination
10-Ordinance 2016-047
File ID: 2023-00825 8/15/2023 Public Hearing Item 8.
Description/Analysis
Issue/Detail: Downtown Railyard Venture, LLC (DRV) retained the services of Architectural Resources Group (ARG) to assist with rehabilitation and redevelopment of the historic buildings in the Sacramento Shops Historic District. As part of the redevelopment process, DRV is required to prepare a historic district plan for the Sacramento Shops Historic District and nominate the district to the National Register of Historic Places. The Preservation Commission reviewed the draft Historic District Plan and National Register Nomination at their meeting on March 15, 2023. Comments from City staff and the Preservation Commission have been incorporated into the final Historic District Plan (Attachment 7). After reviewing the draft National Register Nomination (Attachment 9) Staff has prepared an Ordinance amending Ordinance 2016-047 that makes the following changes to the district:
1. Changing the name of the historic district to the Sacramento Shops Historic District,
2. Adopting a Statement of Significance,
3. Establishing a more justified period of significance of 1867-1947, and
4. Revising the boundaries of the historic district so they match the current parcel map and are more consistent with historic preservation best practices and federal guidelines on drawing district boundaries.
Policy Considerations: In addition to being required within City Code Section 17.604.300, the Historic District Plans (HDPs) are consistent with the 2035 General Plan. The Historic and Cultural resources chapter of the general plan includes policies and goals that support actions to maintain and improve historic districts in the City. Policy HCR 2.1.2 calls for compliance with City, as well as state and federal historic preservation provisions, which includes the City Code section set forth above. Policy HCR 2.1.4 requires the City to develop and support regulatory (e.g., appropriate development and zoning standards) and enforcement programs to promote the maintenance, rehabilitation, preservation, and interpretation of the city’s historic and cultural resources. Policy HCR
2.1.13 calls for new historic context surveys as needed.
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations: The draft Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan is specifically focused on the Historic District in the Sacramento Shops of the Railyards. The preparation of the Plan was identified as mitigation measure 4.4-2(a) in the Subsequent EIR for the Railyards Specific Plan Update, KP Medical Center, MLS Stadium, and Stormwater Outfall Projects (P15-040), which can be accessed at
<https://www.cityofsacramento.org/Community-Development/Planning/Environmental/Impact- Reports> Resolution No. 2016-0379; Mitigation Measure No. 4.4-2(a). The Plan complies with the requirements of the mitigation measure and no further environmental review is needed.
The amendments to Ordinance 2016-0047 (Attachment 10), including the proposed boundary revision, fortify the integrity of the historic district by, among other things, ensuring that only those resources that are historically significant are included within the district’s boundary. As the proposed
File ID: 2023-00825 8/15/2023 Public Hearing Item 8.
amendments strengthen the integrity of the historic district, the proposed amendments are exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15308. Section 15308 exempts from review actions that are undertaken to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. Fortifying the boundary of the District ensures that future development of historic resources on the site undergo preservation review as part of the city’s site plan and design review process, thereby preserving the important characteristics of the historic resource.
The amendments to Ordinance 2016-0047 are also exempt from CEQA review under CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
Sustainability: Not Applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: On March 30, 2023, the City of Sacramento’s Preservation Director, in conformance with Section 17.604.220 of the City Code, held a public hearing, reviewed the historic analysis prepared by ARG (Attachment 9) and concurred with a draft statement of nomination and directed staff to prepare a draft Ordinance (Attachment 6) for review and consideration by the Preservation Commission. On May 15, 2023, the Preservation Commission held a hearing and passed a motion recommending the City Council adopt an ordinance amending Ordinance 2016-047relating to the Central Shops Historic District.
Rationale for Recommendation: Staff is recommending the City Council to adopt the Historic District Plan and amend the Ordinance that established the Sacramento Shops Historic District. The Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan is called for pursuant to mitigation measure 4.4-2(a) in the Subsequent EIR for the Railyards Specific Plan Update and will provide staff the tools to better manage growth and development in the Sacramento Shops Historic District. Amending the Ordinance affecting the Sacramento Shops Historic District is consistent with Historic Preservation best practices in that these amendments reflect the latest scholarship and analysis on the historic site, which includes additional research and analysis performed as part of the proposed National Register of Historic Places nomination prepared by Architectural Resources Group.
Financial Considerations: Not applicable.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
Background
The 244-acre Railyards area is located immediately north of the Central Business District, east of the Sacramento River, south of North B Street and west of the Alkali Flat neighborhood. Planning for this area date back to the Central City Community Plan, which was adopted in 1980. A number of other planning documents have been adopted and repealed since that time, including the Railyards Specific Plan, Facility Element of the Railyards Specific Plan, and the Richards Boulevard Area Plan.
Historic District Plan
In 2015, the current applicant, Downtown Railyard Venture, LLC (DRV) acquired the property and proposed a set of changes to the Plan area. These changes resulted in the adoption of a Railyards Specific Plan Supplemental EIR which identified several mitigation measures to avoid or reduce the significance of potential impacts to cultural resources, including the Central Shops Historic District. Mitigation measure 6.3-2 calls for the creation of a Historic District Plan prior to the issuance of building permits within the Central Shops Historic District.
The Housing Crisis Act, also known as Senate Bill No. 330, prohibited local governments from imposing or enforcing design standards after January 1, 2020, that are not objective. To this end, the proposed Historic District Plan includes design standards that are objective rather than subjective.
Ordinance Amending Ordinance 2016-047
The Central Shops Historic District was listed on the Sacramento Register of Historic & Cultural Resources (Sacramento Register) in 2007 under Ordinance 2007‐103, which was repealed in 2016 in order to revise the boundary to exclude the water tower, which is a local landmark. The Central Shops Historic District is now listed in Ordinance No. 2016‐0047 and the water tower is individually listed landmark on the Sacramento Register.
Architectural Resources Group (ARG) has prepared the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) district nomination and has surveyed the site in order to prepare the nomination. Based on the recommended boundaries of the NRHP nomination (Attachment 5), there are discrepancies between the boundaries adopted for the Sacramento Register district (Ordinance No. 2016-0047, Figure 1) and the proposed NRHP historic district boundaries (Figure 2). The current boundaries included properties that do not contribute to the district’s significance because they do not contain contributing resources or character defining features. Pursuant to federal guidelines historic district boundaries should define the limits of eligible resources and exclude additional, peripheral areas that do not directly contribute to the property’s significance.
Figure 1: Boundaries of Existing District Listed on Sacramento Register
Figure 2: Proposed Boundaries of National Register Historic District
The Sacramento Shops, constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and operated in turn by the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, is an industrial district and one of the oldest and most prominent steam-era railroad shop complexes in the western United States. The Sacramento Shops Historic District is significant at the national level for its association with the development and expansion of the American railroad industry, from the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the beginning of the Southern Pacific Company’s mid-twentieth-century transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It is also significant at the local level under as a distinctive example of industrial architecture dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Sacramento Railyards have been referred to by many different names over the years, most of them informal. The name “Sacramento Shops” was used with a high frequency historically, and is not exclusive to either of the railroad companies that owned and operated the complex during the 1867-1947 period. Therefore, Staff is recommending changing the name of the district to the “Sacramento Shops Historic District.”
The amended period of significance begins in 1867, with initial construction of the site, and ends in 1947, by which time the Southern Pacific had initiated a concerted effort to replace its fleet of steam locomotives with diesel locomotives. The “dieselization” of the Southern Pacific’s fleet of locomotives is related to substantial changes in the operation and physical fabric of the Sacramento Central Shops (e.g., the interior remodel of Car Shop No. 3 in 1948 and the removal of the Roundhouse in 1959).
Attachment 2 - Resolution
RESOLUTION NO. XXXX-
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
APPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR THE
SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT PLAN (A MITIGATION MEASURE IN THE
RAILYARDS SPECIFIC PLAN UPDATE SUBSEQUENT EIR) AND DETERMINING THE UPDATE TO ORDINANCE 2016-0047 IS EXEMPT FROM ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW (M22- 006)
BACKGROUND
A. On November 10, 2016, the City Council adopted the Railyards Specific Plan Update (Resolution 2016-0379) and certified the Subsequent Environmental Impact Report for the Railyards Specific Plan Update, KP Medical Center, MLS Stadium, and Stormwater Outfall Projects (P15-040) (“Subsequent EIR”).
B. On March 30, 2023, the Preservation Director reviewed a proposed revision to Ordinance 2016-0047, relating to the Sacramento Shops Historic District (“District”), within the Railyards Specific Plan area, including a proposed boundary revision to the historic district.
C. On April 19, 2023, the Preservation Commission conducted a public hearing, for which notice was given pursuant to Sacramento City Code chapter 17.812, and received and considered evidence concerning the proposed amendment to Ordinance 2016-0047 and adoption of the proposed Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan (the “Project”). The Commission voted to forward to the City Council a recommendation to adopt—1) an Ordinance amending Ordinance 2016-0047; and 2) a Resolution adopting the Historic District Plans for the Sacramento Shops Historic District.
D. On _____, 2023, the City Council conducted a public hearing, for which notice was given pursuant to Sacramento City Code chapter 17.812, and received and considered evidence concerning the Project.
BASED ON THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE BACKGROUND, THE CITY COUNCIL RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council finds that the Subsequent EIR was certified on November 10, 2016.
Section 2. The City of Sacramento was the Lead Agency for the Subsequent EIR.
Section 3. The preparation of the Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan was identified as mitigation measure 4.4-2(a) in the Subsequent EIR.
Section 4. The Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan (attached as Exhibit A) complies with mitigation measure No. 4.4-2(a) as set forth in the Subsequent EIR. No further CEQA review is required.
Section 5. The amendments to Ordinance 2016-0047 (attached as Exhibit B), including the proposed boundary revision, fortify the integrity of the historic district by, among other things, ensuring that only those resources that are historically significant are included within the district’s boundary. As the proposed amendments strengthen the integrity of the historic district by creating district boundaries that achieve greater consistency with state and federal guidelines for drawing district boundaries, the proposed amendments are exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15308. Section 15308 exempts from review actions that are undertaken to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. Fortifying the boundary of the District ensures that future development of historic resources on the site undergo preservation review as part of the city’s site plan and design review process, thereby preserving the important characteristics of the historic resource.
The amendments to Ordinance 2016-0047 are also exempt from CEQA review under CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
Section 7. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15091(e), the documents and other materials that constitute the record of proceedings upon which the City Council has based its decision are located in and may be obtained from the Office of the City Clerk at 915 I Street, Sacramento, California. The City Clerk is the custodian of records for all matters before the City Council.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Exhibit A: Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
Exhibit B: Ordinance 2016-0047
HISTORIC DISTRICT PLAN
Sacramento Shops
City of Sacramento | April 2023
PREPARED FOR:
City of Sacramento
Community Development Department
300 Richards Boulevard, Third Floor
Sacramento, California 95811
www.cityofsacramento.org
PREPARED BY:
Architectural Resources Group, Inc.
Pier 9, The Embarcadero, Suite 107
San Francisco, CA 94111
www.argcreate.com
Table of Contents
1. Physical Description and Boundaries .....................................................5 Existing Condition Photographs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Historic Context ......................................................................................9
3. Period of Significance ...........................................................................17
4. Character-Defining Features ................................................................19 District-Wide Character-Defining Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Boiler Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Transfer Table Pits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Turntable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Erecting Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Car Machine Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Planing Mill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Blacksmith Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Privy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Car Shop No. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Paint Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5. Standards and Criteria ..........................................................................37
1. Design Guidelines for Rehabilitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2. Design Guidelines for Additions to Historic Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3. Design Guidelines for New Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4. Site Features and Landscaping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Appendices ...............................................................................................47 A. Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 B. Common Architectural Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 C. Endnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 This page intentionally left blank.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
5 The Sacramento Shops Historic District comprises
approximately 14 acres located north of downtown
Sacramento, California. The district sits immediately
north of the + rail lines and Sacramento Valley
Station and is otherwise surrounded by acres of
vacant land and recently platted rights-of-way to
the west, north, and east. The district includes a
tight cluster of eight nineteenth-century industrial
buildings and one object (a turntable) that together
constitute the core of what was once a much
larger railroad shops complex. With the exception
of a privy, the contributing buildings are large in
scale, reflecting their historic association with the
construction, repair, and maintenance of railroad
locomotives, freight cars, and passenger cars. Six
of the eight buildings are masonry structures built
in the American round-arched style, which was
a popular choice for industrial, commercial and
religious architecture in the late nineteenth century.
The district’s contributing buildings have generally
undergone only minor exterior alterations since the
period of significance and as a result the Sacramento
Shops Historic District retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance.
Code information:
On December 11, 2007, the city council adopted
Ordinance 2007-103, which added the Central
Shops Historic District (“District”), within the
Railyards project area, to the Sacramento Register.
On November 10, 2016, the city council adopted
Ordinance 2016-0047, which amended the boundaries of
the District and removed the Water Tower, designating
that structure a landmark.
Section One
Physical Description
and Boundaries
Sacramento Shops Historic District boundary, outlined in red 1 3
2 4
5 7
6 8 9
1 - Boiler Shop
2 - Turntable
3 - Erecting Shop
4 - Car Machine Shop
5 - Planing Mill
6 - Blacksmith Shop
7 - Privy
8 - Car Shop No. 3
9 - Paint Shop
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
6 Physical Description and Boundaries
Existing Condition Photographs
Alleyway between Blacksmith Shop (l) and Car Shop No. 3 (r), view north-northwest (ARG 2020).
Planing Mill (l), Erecting Shop (c), Firing Line (front r) and Boiler Shop (rear r), view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
7 Physical Description and Boundaries
Existing Condition Photographs
Planing Mill (l) and Erecting Shop (r), view south-southeast (ARG 2020). Paint Shop, view southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
8 This page intentionally left blank.
Physical Description and Boundaries
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
9 The Sacramento Shops Historic District
reflects the history and development
of the railroad in the American
West, from the construction of the
transcontinental railroad through the
early post-World War II period. The
Central Pacific Railroad broke ground on
the complex in 1867, two years prior to
the completion of the transcontinental
railroad, and by 1869, the Shops were
described as “the largest iron-working
and wood-working establishments in
operation west of St. Louis, or even
Chicago.”1 The complex expanded
the number and range of its facilities
in the decades that followed, earning
a reputation for self-sufficiency,
productivity, and innovation in rolling
stock design. The following historical
context describes the development
and activities of the Sacramento Shops
from the late nineteenth through the
Sect ion Two
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops in 1959 (Historic American Engineering Record, Joshua A. May, 2001).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
10 early twentieth centuries, with a particular focus on the construction, alteration, and evolving use of the extant Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, and Turntable.
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF
THE SACRAMENTO SHOPS: 1861-1885
The Sacramento Shops were established by the Central Pacific Railroad, which incorporated in 1861 and constructed the western portion of the transcontinental railroad between 1863 and 1869. The Central Pacific initially purchased locomotives from suppliers in the eastern United States and contracted locally in Sacramento for assembly and repair, circumventing the need to construct its own intensive shop facilities. However, the railroad quickly recognized the need for expanded facilities, and selected a site comprising approximately twenty acres of former slough along the city’s riverfront.2 Several buildings were constructed during the first phase of development, which began in 1867. Initial efforts were based on plans by a team of Central Pacific employees, including John Woolaver, a draftsman, and Joseph R. Wilkinson, an engineer who would later become the Central Pacific Railroad’s Resident Engineer in Sacramento.3
The first building completed was the “colossal” two-story Planing Mill, which included two wings off of its southern elevation: the larger, eastern wing was used for painting and would later be enlarged to serve as Car Shop No. 3. The smaller, western wing was the Power House (no longer extant), containing a stationary steam engine and shaft system used to power woodworking and machining equipment.4 Following the Planing Mill, the Roundhouse, Turntable, Erecting/Machine Shop, and Blacksmith Shop were completed in quick succession. The Erecting/Machine Shop and the Blacksmith Shop were situated to the south of the Planing Mill, and the semi-circular Roundhouse (no longer extant) was located at the northern end of the early complex. When complete, the Roundhouse contained twenty-nine stalls, twenty-eight of which were equipped to accommodate locomotives and one of which was devoted to office use. A manually-operated iron Turntable was installed immediately south of the Roundhouse and was able to direct locomotives directly into any of its stalls. The core of the present-day Sacramento Shops Historic District, then including the Planing Mill, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Roundhouse, and Turntable, was complete by 1869.5
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY IN THE LATE NINETEENTH
CENTURY: 1885-1900
The founders of the Central Pacific Railroad pushed to expand their transportation holdings in the American West through the end of the nineteenth century, absorbing numerous smaller lines and extending their own trackage throughout California and across the United States. Faced with a complicated management structure, rising expenditures, and declining revenues in the early 1880s, the railroad created a holding company to streamline management and provide a more efficient mechanism for distributing traffic, investment capital, expenses, and profits. The holding company, the Southern Pacific Company, was incorporated in 1884. In early 1885, the Central Pacific Railroad and all of its affiliated lines were leased to the holding company, and all were essentially subsumed under the Southern Pacific Company’s name and corporate identity.
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
11 Over the next fifteen years, the Southern Pacific Company focused on modernizing and integrating its many disparate holdings. The Sacramento Shops, now bearing the name of the Southern Pacific Company, underwent a period of expansion that increased the material capacity and the range of repair work possible on-site.
The Car Machine Shop, which was completed in 1888, was the largest of the new buildings constructed during this period. Also in 1888, the original Boiler Shop (no longer extant) was moved to the western edge of the complex and replaced by a larger building (the present-day, extant Boiler Shop), and the Erecting/Machine Shop was expanded by an addition to its southern elevation. A 40-foot, steam-powered Locomotive Transfer Table was constructed between the two buildings. In 1890, the Pattern Shop annex was constructed off the southern elevation of Car Shop No. 3, and the Paint Shop was expanded by an addition to its southern elevation. In 1895 or 1896, the 56-foot Turntable installed in 1869 was replaced with a 70-foot apparatus that could accommodate new, lengthier rolling stock. Following a major fire on November 7, 1898, the Planing Mill and the Car Machine Shop were rebuilt on their original foundations. A year later, a second-story bridge was constructed between the Car Machine Shop and the Planing Mill.6
THE HARRIMAN ERA AND THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY:
1900-1917
Following the death of Southern Pacific Company president Collis P. Huntington in 1900, nearly fifty percent of the company’s stock was purchased by railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman, who already controlled the Union Pacific and Illinois Central Railroads. By 1901, Harriman had been elected president of the Southern Pacific, and the “Harriman Lines” included approximately 18,000 miles of rail line throughout North America. The massive, sudden increase in rolling stock, coupled with a trend toward larger and heavier locomotives, placed greater demand on the Shops’ repair facilities and prompted a brief, concentrated period of expansion that was primarily focused on the alteration and enlargement of existing buildings. Harriman’s period of ownership over the Southern Pacific also saw the implementation of a set of “common standards,” developed at the Shops in Sacramento and intended to streamline equipment and operations across the Harriman Lines.7
Despite the magnitude of these changes, the Southern Pacific Railroad did not choose to significantly redesign the Shops complex; instead, existing buildings were altered and expanded to accommodate new practices and larger rolling stock, and new facilities were added when no existing building or structure was suited to meet a particular need. In 1904 and 1905, an addition was constructed along the western elevation of the existing Erecting/Machine Shop, effectively doubling the building’s footprint, and the Boiler Shop was widened with a lateral addition across the eastern elevation. In the next year, two additional bays were added to the Paint Shop. The Locomotive Transfer Table between the Erecting/Machine Shop and the Boiler Shop was replaced by an innovative new “pitless” version with a ground-level cap. Additionally, Car Shop No. 3 was largely rebuilt following a major fire in late November 1916.8
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
12 WORLD WAR I AND THE U.S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION: 1917- 1920
The outbreak of World War I in Europe triggered a surge in demand for American- made goods. After the United States entered the war in 1917, employment at the Shops climbed to 2,200 people (including, for the first time, women), and the complex’s output increased substantially. Activity increased when the federal government took possession of all American railroads on December 28, 1917, via the U.S. Railroad Administration (USRA). The complex experienced relatively little change during World War I and the immediate postwar years. Materials were rationed and funds were concentrated on the most immediate needs of the war effort, with the result that improvements were made only where absolutely necessary to meet production requirements. Although the Shops recommenced in-house locomotive construction in 1917, car repairing and manufacturing facilities were the primary focus of war-era expansions and upgrades. Car Shop No. 3, which had been partially destroyed by fire in 1916 and rebuilt in early 1917, was renovated in the same year.
The five northern bays, which had survived the 1916 fire, were replaced with a two-story building in the style of the 1917 rebuild. World War I ended in November 1918 and railroads were returned to private control on March 1, 1920, following the Transportation Act of 1920.9
RECORD YEARS AND CONTINUED EXPANSION: 1920-1929
Following the dissolution of the USRA in 1920, ownership and operation of the Southern Pacific Company returned to the private sector. The flush postwar economy carried the company through the end of the decade; by 1928, the complex encompassed more than two hundred individual buildings and structures and had grown to cover approximately 200 acres. In line with earlier trends of reuse, adaptation, and expansion, many existing buildings were altered in order to accommodate the increasingly large volume of rolling stock produced, repaired, and serviced in the Sacramento shops complex. In 1927, the southern half of the Blacksmith Shop was renovated with the addition of reinforced concrete walls and broad sections of glazing designed to maximize interior lighting and ventilation.10 The boom years also saw a variety of new construction, including a new iron foundry, steel foundry, rolling mill, sawmill (1923), and oxy-acetylene gas plant (1923), none of which remain extant. Some of this construction concerned the Shops’ internal distribution of consumable and recoverable materials such as sheet metal, paints, oils, switches and track bolts, lumber, and bar iron; by the end of the decade, eleven individual “shops” or supply centers, each with their own foreman and subordinate stockmen, were located within the complex. A general store building was constructed at the northern end of the site in 1920. A car materials store was constructed immediately north of the general store in 1928, followed by a paint and oil store in 1929. To the south of the Shops complex, a new passenger depot was constructed between H and I Streets in 1926.11 THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND SUBSEQUENT RECOVERY: 1929-
1941
The stock market crash in October 1929 precipitated a difficult period for the Southern Pacific Company, whose fortunes mirrored those of other American businesses during the Great Depression. Total revenues in 1930 were the lowest Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
13 the company had experienced in a decade, and they continued to plummet through the first part of the 1930s. More than half of Southern Pacific employees were let go between 1929 and 1933, and those who remained received only a fraction of their pre-Depression salaries. As a result of the dramatic decline in employee numbers, many railroad operations had to be temporarily discontinued; the Shops in Sacramento were one of only four Southern Pacific shop complexes that were still operating full five-day shifts by early 1934. Before business rebounded in the early 1940s, the Southern Pacific was forced to reduce train service, abandon hundreds of miles of trackage, and embrace a variety of new machinery and programs intended to cut costs, increase efficiency, and attract customers. The Shops complex experienced relatively little change to its physical fabric during the 1930s due to the economic strain of the Great Depression.12
Historic Context
Paint Shop, view northwest (Historic American Engineering Record, Jet Lowe, 2001). Paint Shop, view west (Historic American Engineering Record, Jet Lowe, 2001).
WORLD WAR II AND WARTIME PRODUCTION DEMANDS: 1941-
1945
Activity at the Shops complex increased in the lead-up to the United States’ entry to World War II; by February 1941, the Southern Pacific’s corporate magazine reported that the facilities were operating six days a week, preparing for anticipated wartime demand. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the country’s subsequent entry into the war, demand pushed the Shops to run their machines for 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The existing workforce, depleted by the draft and competition with other wartime industries, was augmented by returning retirees, teenagers, women, and Mexican nationals. At the height of the war, employment peaked around 7,000 people.13
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
14 Demand for transportation services and products provided by the Shops spiked during the war, but building material and labor shortages precluded any comprehensive improvement programs during the early 1940s. As a result, the basic layout and fabric of complex changed relatively little during this period. In 1942, Southern Pacific replaced the Shops’ 70-foot turntable, installed in 1895 or 1896, with a secondhand 100-foot turntable removed from another facility. The Roundhouse was subsequently enlarged in 1943, and both Transfer Tables were rebuilt to accommodate larger locomotives and cars before the end of 1945. Around the same time, the deteriorated brick walls of the Privy were covered in stucco.14 THE POSTWAR ERA AND THE TRANSITION TO DIESEL: 1945-1960 For the Southern Pacific Company and the Shops in Sacramento, the postwar era was marked by the gradual, but total, transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It was in 1947 that the Southern Pacific first committed to a systematic process of dieselization, analyzing the most efficient approach to the process and creating a timeline for the replacement of its steam locomotives. The company began to operate its first road freight diesel locomotives (SP 6100 through SP 6119) in the same year, demonstrating its commitment to this major transition.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, the Shops complex continued to service steam locomotives while simultaneously reorienting its workflow, converting its facilities, and training its workforce to repair and rebuild an ever-growing number of diesel locomotives. The complex was significantly altered as a result of this shift in technologies. Four bays within the Erecting/Machine Shop had been allocated to diesel maintenance by 1952, and this number increased to seven (plus an eighth for a Historic Context
diesel engine transfer track) by 1953. Car Shop No. 3 was converted for repairing air brakes, governors, and injectors in the mid- to late-1940s and 1950s, and passenger car repair and refurbishment subsequently moved to the Paint Shop. A new painting annex was constructed off this building’s western elevation (it was removed circa 1995). In 1960, with the transition to diesel locomotives effectively complete, the Southern Pacific hired a team of consultants to make recommendations for the reorganization and renovation of the company’s shop facilities. This development marks the conclusion of the transitional phase and the realization of the Southern Pacific’s dieselization efforts.15
DIESELIZATION AND CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION:
1960-PRESENT
By 1960, dieselization of the Southern Pacific’s locomotive fleet was complete, and the Shops in Sacramento ceased virtually all work related to steam locomotive repair and maintenance. This development resulted in extensive alteration to the Shops complex, which had been designed in the steam era and had struggled to accommodate both steam and diesel repair activities during the late 1940s and 1950s. With the aid of outside consultants and inspiration from General Motors’ Electro-Motive Diesel plant in LaGrange, Illinois, the Shops reworked their maintenance facilities to optimize diesel locomotive operations.16 Major changes to the facilities included the demolition of the Roundhouse, which was made defunct by dieselization, in 1959 and construction of a new Engine Parts Cleaning Building in its place; the conversion of the Planing Mill’s first floor to a Roller Bearing Shop, the Boiler Shop to a Truck Shop, and the Blacksmith Shop to a Locomotive Machine Shop; and the erection of the Firing Line.17
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
15 The contemporary era was also marked by the consolidation and reorganization of many American railroads. The Southern Pacific Railroad had formally merged with its longtime holding company, the Southern Pacific Company, in 1955, and in 1959, the Central Pacific Railroad did the same. In 1988, the Southern Pacific Company was acquired by Rio Grande Industries, the holding company for Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, and a year later, the two functionally combined as the Southern Pacific Lines. The Southern Pacific Lines were purchased by Union Pacific in 1996, functionally combining the Southern Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande Western, and other subsidiaries under the Union Pacific name. The Southern Pacific was formally merged into Union Pacific in 1998, and in 1999, the Union Pacific permanently closed the former Sacramento Shops.18
In the 1990s and early 2000s, many of the smaller buildings and structures that comprised the Shops complex were razed, and the landscape was contoured with new drainage swales and berms. In 2012, the rail lines and heavy-rail passenger platforms associated with Amtrak were relocated approximately 1,000 feet north of their historic location, resulting in further modifications to land formerly associated with the Sacramento Shops. Of the original Shop facilities, only the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, Turntable, Firing Line, and a water tower remain extant as of this writing (the Locomotive Transfer Table was reconstructed by the California State Railroad Museum in 2003).19
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
16 This page intentionally left blank.
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
17 The period of significance extends from 1867 to 1947. Initial construction of the nine resources (Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Privy, Car Shop No. 3, Blacksmith Shop, Paint Shop, Erecting Shop, Boiler Shop, and Turntable) occurred between 1867 and 1888, during which time the core buildings, structures, and objects that form the Sacramento Shops complex were completed. The complex continued to expand through the early twentieth century, reaching maximum build-out (approximately 200 acres) by the late 1920s.
Throughout the period of significance, the spatial layout of the Sacramento Shops complex was organized according to the specific type of rolling stock served. New buildings were added as necessary to support shop operations, and existing buildings were occasionally expanded or remodeled to accommodate increased workloads as well as new technologies.
The spatial arrangement of the complex remained fairly consistent until 1947, by which time the Southern Pacific had initiated a concerted effort to replace its fleet of steam locomotives with diesel locomotives. The transition from steam locomotives to diesel technology in the early postwar period was marked by substantial changes in the operation and physical fabric of the Sacramento Shops and is therefore an appropriate end date to the period of significance.
Property Types (from Period of Significance)
▪ Industrial
Architectural Styles (from Period of Significance)
▪ American Round-Arched
▪ Industrial Modern
▪ Industrial Utilitarian
Section Three
Period of Significance
Erecting Shop and Transfer Table, view south-southeast
(ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
18 This page intentionally left blank.
Period of Significance
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
19 the property has been largely devoid of cultivated vegetation. A limited amount of landscaping remained in the form of a few small, employee-maintained gardens and a closely-clipped grass lawn on the Transfer Table runway between Car Shop No. 3 and the Paint Shop.
The Sacramento Shops Historic District is visually characterized by a tightly- organized cluster of large, industrial buildings. The majority of these buildings are constructed of brick in the American round-arched style, although industrial modern and utilitarian forms that employ reinforced concrete, wood framing, and corrugated iron cladding are also represented. The buildings are situated closely together without formal intervening sidewalks or roadways. Historically, railroad tracks would have connected many of these resources. Vestiges of this circulation system may be observed in the Turntable, which is located at the northern boundary of the district and played a significant role in directing steam locomotives to various locations around the complex.
Within the boundaries of the Sacramento Railyard, most open areas represent a loss of historic fabric and should not be considered character-defining features.
For example, the large space separating the Paint Shop and Car Shop No. 3 was formerly a transfer table, used for moving cars between bays in the two buildings The open space surrounding individual shop buildings is generally unimproved and without formal landscaping. The area between and around the buildings was initially planted with nearly three thousand eucalyptus trees—to provide shade to workers, to beautify the property, and in the belief that they produced a natural insecticide that would ward off mosquitoes—but these were removed in the in the early twentieth century due to concerns about the trees' flammability, sensitivity to frost, and deep roots that might disturb the foundations of the complex's numerous masonry buildings. Since that time, Section Four
Character-Defining Features
Alleyway between Planing Mill (l) and Erecting Shop (r), view south-southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
20 The following buildings and objects (with original
construction dates) are located within the
Sacramento Shops Historic District:
▪ Car Machine Shop (1888)
▪ Planing Mill (1869)
▪ Privy (1878)
▪ Car Shop No. 3 (1872)
▪ Blacksmith Shop (1869)
▪ Paint Shop (1873)
▪ Erecting Shop (1869)
▪ Boiler Shop (1888)
▪ Turntable (1868)
▪ Transfer Table (2003) *non-contributing*
Character-Defining Features
Car Machine Shop, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
21 DISTRICT-WIDE CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES
▪ dense urban-industrial character
▪ large, rectangular building footprints
▪ shared architectural features, including brick walls; large wall openings; series of arched, multi-light windows; gabled roofs with exposed trusses and roof monitors ▪ site layout of buildings in close proximity without formal intervening roadways or sidewalks
▪ utilitarian setting without formal landscaping
Character-Defining Features
Pedestrian bridge connecting the Car Machine Shop (l) and Planing Mill (r), view east- northeast (ARG 2020).
Paint Shop, view southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
22 BOILER SHOP
The Boiler Shop (1888) is a utilitarian industrial building that is rectangular in plan and clad with corrugated metal siding and corrugated roofing panels. The single- story wood framed structure consists of a central gabled bay extending the length of the building from north to south and flanked by lower shed bays. A gabled monitor roof sits atop the central bay. The exterior walls are clad in corrugated metal siding and translucent corrugated panels, punctuated by fenestration including metal roll-up doors and a variety of windows.
The interior of the Boiler Shop consists of a single large, open space with a concrete floor, a heavy timber and wrought iron truss system, and exposed wood frame construction. Segments of track extend inward from openings in the east wall, and two overhead cranes are mounted on rails that run the length of the center bay.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ corrugated metal siding
▪ gable roof
▪ shed roof extensions on east and west elevations
▪ window openings
▪ signage
Character-Defining Features
Boiler Shop
Key Plan
West facade of Boiler Shop, view northeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
23 TRANSFER TABLE PITS
The present-day Locomotive Transfer Table (reconstructed in 2003) consists of a moveable transfer table and a stationary runway located midway between the Boiler Shop and the Erecting Shop. The transfer table itself is a narrow, moveable metal platform flanked by a short metal railing. One set of rail tracks extends the length of the platform, allowing the transfer table to accommodate and move a locomotive. A rectangular cab with metal-clad walls and a convex, metal-clad roof is situated near the eastern end of the platform. A steel lattice tower atop the western end of the cab’s roof links the transfer table to an electrical line suspended over the runway.
The transfer table sits on eight pairs of wheels that align with eight steel tracks set into the floor of the concrete runway. The runway tracks lay perpendicular to the transfer table and allow it to slide up and down the length of the runway.
The platform and cab were completely re-built by the California State Railroad Museum in 2003 with new materials.
Character-Defining Features
▪ rectangular concrete bed slightly recessed below ground ▪ footprint measuring 70 feet wide and 544 feet long
▪ location between the Boiler Shop and Erecting Shop
▪ four sets of parallel slots and rail
Character-Defining Features
Transfer Table Pits
Key Plan
Locomotive Transfer Table, view south-southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
24 TURNTABLE
The Turntable (1868) comprises a circular pit with a central pivot point on which a narrow steel span may be rotated. The concrete-lined pit measures approximately 100 feet in diameter and features a curved, vertical retaining wall around its perimeter. The deck of the steel span, which extends the diameter of the pit, contains a single set of tracks flanked by metal railings; a small plywood cab is located at one end. An open, pointed arch constructed of steel latticework straddles the center of the span, directly over the pivot point below, and connects the apparatus to several overhead electrical lines. Two short stretches of track extend from the edge of the pit in a westerly direction; these have been truncated beyond approximately 230 feet.
Character-Defining Features
▪ circular shape
▪ concrete pit
▪ tracks
▪ steel framework
▪ table metal cab
Character-Defining Features
Turntable
Key Plan
Turntable, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
25 ERECTING SHOP
The Erecting Shop is a single-story building constructed in the American round- arched style. It is composed of two distinct structures that share a common wall, and is the largest building within the District. The older, eastern half (1869) is of masonry construction and has a metal-clad gambrel roof with a wide gabled roof monitor.
The newer, western half (1905) is of steel frame construction with brick infill and has a metal-clad gabled roof with a gabled roof monitor. Fenestration includes arched, multi-light wood windows and arched, corbelled door openings.
The interior of the Erecting Shop has a concrete floor and features exposed brick walls with no interior walls or lateral load resisting frames. The interiors of each portion of the structure are distinguished, and differentiated, by the exposed roof trusses. The eastern half features wood and wrought iron trusses that rest on a center truss stop atop cast iron columns, and the western half has a riveted, steel Fink truss atop steel columns. Rail segments extend into the building interior.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ brick walls
▪ steel framing
▪ metal gable roof over the Engine Rebuild Shop and Component Rebuild Shop ▪ metal deck roof of the Erecting Bays
▪ parallel roof systems
▪ gambrel roof at north end
▪ gabled clerestory with multilight windows
Character-Defining Features
Erecting Shop
Key Plan
South facade of Erecting Shop, view north.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
26 ▪ exterior articulated bays with arched multilight windows and brick pilasters ▪ brick moldings
▪ shallow stepped cornice
▪ double-hung windows with cast iron sills
▪ large rectangular windows and articulated bays at east end ▪ gambrel roof at north end
▪ gabled clerestory with multilight windows
▪ exterior articulated bays with arched multilight windows and brick pilasters ▪ brick moldings
▪ shallow stepped cornice
▪ double-hung windows with cast iron sills
Character-Defining Features
Erecting Shop
Erecting Shop interior (ARG 2020).
Detail of cast iron post in Erecting Shop (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
27 CAR MACHINE SHOP
The Car Machine Shop (1888) is a three-story, unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. The 9-bay by 3-bay rectangular building has a corrugated-clad gable roof with metal roof decking and a gabled roof monitor. The Car Machine Shop is immediately north of the Planing Mill and is quite similar to it stylistically.
The Car Machine Shop’s walls consist of load-bearing brick pilasters set atop a concrete foundation. Fenestration includes arched corbelled wood windows with divided lights and brick sills in all facades; wood hinged doors and metal roll-up doors at the first story bays of the east and west facades; and three wood hinged doors on the north and south facades. The first story of the building’s interior is a single, open space with exposed brick walls and multiple sections of trackage in the concrete floor. The second story is divided into several rooms by wood-framed partition walls.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building with four principal elevations ▪ gabled roof form with gabled clerestory running length of the ridge line ▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ corbelled brick arches over door and window openings
▪ brick sills
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, with fixed upper sash, operable lower sash, on first story
Character-Defining Features
Car Machine Shop
Key Plan
Car Machine Shop, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
28 ▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, operable
on second story
▪ wood door, hardware and strap hinges (south
elevation)
▪ corrugated metal roof
▪ roof vents, conical caps
▪ tracks
▪ vent grilles
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and
bolts
▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot
hinge), other hinges and hooks attached ladder
▪ gabled wood bridge connection to Planing Mill
▪ signage
Character-Defining Features
Car Machine Shop
Pedestrian bridge connecting the Planing Mill (l) and Car Machine Shop (r), view west-southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
29 PLANING MILL
The Planing Mill (1869) is a three-story unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. It is located immediately south of the Car Machine Shop and is quite similar to it stylistically. The building is rectangular in plan with a concrete foundation, brick walls, and a corrugated-clad gable roof with metal roof decking. Fenestration includes arched corbelled wood windows with divided lights; wood hinged doors in the east facade; and a metal sliding door in the west facade.
The first story of the building’s interior is a single, open space with exposed brick walls, wood trusses with steel tension rods, and a concrete floor. The second story has wood flooring and is divided into multiple rooms by wood-framed partition walls. An enclosed wood pedestrian bridge with steel bracing connects the second story of the Planing Mill to the Car Machine Shop.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building
▪ gabled roof form with gabled clerestory running length of the ridge line ▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ corbelled brick arches over door and window openings
▪ brick sills
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, with fixed upper sash, operable lower sash, on first story
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, operable on second story Character-Defining Features
Planing Mill
Key Plan
Planing Mill, showing former location of Power House, view northeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
30 ▪ corrugated metal roof
▪ roof vents, conical
▪ tracks
▪ vent grilles
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and
bolts
▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot
hinge), other hinges and hooks
▪ attached ladder
▪ gabled wood bridge connection to Car Machine
Shop
Character-Defining Features
Planing Mill
Planing Mill door, view north-northwest (ARG 2020). Planing Mill window, view north-northwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
31 BLACKSMITH SHOP
The Blacksmith Shop (1869) is a single-story, rectangular-in-plan structure that is representative of the Industrial Modern style. It is located between the Erecting Shop and Car Shop No. 3, to the south of the Planing Mill. The northern half of the building features a gabled roof and gabled roof monitor with flat roof portions to the north and east, and the roof of the southern half of the building consists of one large gable with a gabled roof monitor. Exterior walls consist of cast-in-place concrete walls with articulated piers and formwork markings. Fenestration on all four elevations consists of multi-light industrial steel sash with operable horizontal pivots and concrete sills.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ concrete walls with articulated piers, formwork markings ▪ steel industrial sash windows, multilight, with horizontal pivot, operable ▪ concrete sills
▪ gabled roof with gabled clerestory
▪ corrugated metal siding in gabled end
▪ roof vents, conical
▪ original door, wood, hardware and strap hinges
▪ roof vents
▪ attached ladder
▪ remnant signage
▪ original door, wood, hardware and strap hinges
▪ roof vents
▪ attached ladder
Character-Defining Features
Blacksmith Shop
East facade of Blacksmith Shop, view southwest (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
32 PRIVY
The Privy (1878) is a three-story, unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. It is located to the southwest of the intersection between the Planing Mill and Car Shop No. 3, and it is connected to the Planing Mill by an uncovered wood pedestrian bridge. The building is rectangular in plan and features brick walls clad in stucco, a corbelled Brick cornice, and a gable roof. Fenestration includes arched, wood, double-hung windows with divided lights and projecting sills and arched doorways on the north and south facades. In the interior of the building, each of the Privy’s three stories is divided into two north-south rooms. Along the common partition walls, each room includes nine toilet stalls with a single sink at the southern end.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building with four symmetrical elevations ▪ gabled roof form
▪ boxed metal eaves
▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ stucco finish
▪ corbelled brickwork at cornice
▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ recessed door and window openings
▪ projecting sills
▪ wood-framed, multilite, operable sash windows
▪ connection to Planing Mill, wood-framed decking
▪ louvered vents in gable ends
▪ cast iron tie ends, bolts
Character-Defining Features
Privy
West and south facades of Privy, view east-northeast (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
33 CAR SHOP NO. 3
Car Shop No. 3 (1872) is a two-story unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. The building is roughly rectangular in plan and abuts the south wall of the Planing Mill. It features brick walls and a double, divided-light roof monitor with low-pitched gabled roof and parapet. Fenestration includes arched door and window openings filled with multilight wood windows and wood hinged doors, as well as two suspended, gravity-operated steel fire doors on the south facade.
Brick firewalls divide the interior of the building into three segments. The northernmost segment has been divided into two stories, while the southern two segments are single, double-height spaces.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ double clerestory with low-pitched gabled roof and parapet ▪ lower level masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers
▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ tower, hipped (pyramidal) roof, with corrugated sheet metal siding ▪ wood “keystones” with painted numbers at each bay
▪ corbelled brick arches over door openings
▪ brick sills (west elevation)
▪ narrow lancet windows
▪ protective cast iron plates over sills
Character-Defining Features
Car Shop No. 3
East facade of Car Shop No. 3, view west-southwest (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
34 ▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, two-over-two double-hung ▪ wood-framed, multilight, clerestory windows
▪ wood sash windows, multilight (west elevation)
▪ wood doors, large, squared openings, with diagonal framing ▪ construction and inset doors (west elevation)
▪ concrete lintels (west elevation)
▪ corrugated metal roof and wall sheathing at elevator tower ▪ roof vents, conical caps
▪ exterior metal wall sheathing at second floor
▪ projecting fire walls, brick
▪ freestanding, gabled south wall, brick, with ghosted features and infilled arched door and window openings ▪ suspended, gravity-operated steel fire doors (south elevation) ▪ attached ladder
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and bolts ▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot hinge), other hinges and hooks Character-Defining Features
Car Shop No. 3
South facade of Car Shop No. 3, view north (ARG 2020).
West facade of Car Shop No. 3, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
35 PAINT SHOP
The Paint Shop (1873) is an unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style and is the easternmost of the Sacramento Shop buildings. The rectangular-in-plan building has a concrete foundation, brick walls, and a complex roof combining gabled, hipped and flat portions. Fenestration includes arched, multilight windows with brick sills, industrial sash windows, and large arched door opening between brick pilasters, many of which have been retrofitted with metal roll-up doors, non-historic windows, and non-historic personnel doors.
The building interior has exposed brick walls, a concrete floor, and open roof trusses.
The northeastern corner of the building comprises a two-story structure that has been internally divided into several office spaces. Most of the interior is devoted to three open spaces, corresponding to the southern portion of the building, the western portion of the building, and the two gables south of the two-story office portion.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building with four principal elevations ▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ arched original door with hardware and strap hinge (west elevation, southernmost bay)
▪ corbelled brick arches over door and window openings
▪ “keystones” with painted numbers at each bay
Character-Defining Features
Paint Shop
Paint Shop, view west-southwest (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
36 Character-Defining Features
Paint Shop
▪ brick sills
▪ roof, multi-planed, gabled, hipped and flat
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows
▪ vent grilles
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and bolts ▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot hinge), other hinges and hooks ▪ tracks
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
37 Section Five
Standards and Criteria
1. DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR REHABILITATION
FOUNDATIONS
1.1 Preserve existing stepped brick footings.
1.1.1 Maintain exposed stepped brick footings. Avoid regrading that would obscure existing exposed stepped brick footings.
1.1.2 Repoint and repair masonry units as required to maintain the size, color, texture, bonding pattern, and shape of the stepped brick footing. Where individual units are deteriorated beyond repair, provide new bricks that match existing masonry units in type, color, texture, size, shape, bonding pattern, mortar joints, and compressive strength.
EXTERIOR WALLS
Masonry
1.2 As a character-defining feature of the Sacramento Shops Historic District, brick masonry walls should be preserved and rehabilitated where required, including repointing, repair of individual masonry units, reconstruction of missing details, patching, and cleaning.
1.2.1 Repointing: Match repointing mortar to the existing mortar in strength, composition, and color. A mortar analysis shall be performed to provide a basis for matching the original mortar.
1.2.2 Brick Repair: Repair holes in bricks with patching mix. Patching mix to match existing marony units in color and texture. Do not apply patch materials over existing masonry joints.
1.2.3 Replacement: Replace missing or heavily spalled bricks in order to maintain the stability of the walls. Where replacement bricks are necessary, match existing masonry units in type, color, texture, size, shape, bonding pattern, and compressive strength.
▪ Note: In some locations, previous brick repair and replacement was executed inappropriately. Remove brick and mortar in these areas.
1.2.4 Cleaning: Clean bricks of biological growth and overpaint.
1.2.5 Reconstruction: Where areas of original brick details are missing (stepped brick at gable ends and door/window surrounds, corbels, etc), reconstruct to match adjacent profiles
1.2.6 Abandoned anchors shall be removed or treated with a rust-inhibiting coating to prevent them from corroding and expanding.
1.2.7 Where structural reinforcement of the exterior masonry walls is required, locate reinforcement at the wall’s interior to preserve the historic building’s exterior appearance.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
38 Standards and Criteria
Stucco
1.3 Historic stucco on the Privy’s exterior shall be preserved in-place. Do not cover brick that has been exposed from spalled/deteriorated stucco.
1.3.1 Repair wide cracks by routing or cutting out the damaged area and patch with a stucco mix. New stucco mix must match historic stucco in color, composition and finish texture.
1.3.2 Remove soiling using the gentlest means possible, beginning with testing of low-pressure water-only methods, followed by pH neutral detergents. If any areas are unable to be cleaned without altering the original color or texture of the historic material, leave soiling to remain.
Concrete
1.4 Preserve historic exterior concrete walls and articulation in place and rehabilitate where required as follows:
1.4.1 Repair areas of damaged, cracked, or spalling concrete with a restoration-grade concrete repair mix matching the original material in permeability, color, texture, and tooling.
1.4.2 Remove soiling using the gentlest means possible, beginning with testing of low-pressure water-only methods, followed by pH neutral detergents. If any areas are unable to be cleaned without altering the original color or texture of the historic material, leave soiling to remain.
Corrugated Metal
1.5 As a character-defining feature of numerous buildings in the Sacramento Shops Historic District, preserve corrugated metal roofing and siding and rehabilitate where required.
1.5.1 Retain corrugated metal roofing and siding where not deteriorated beyond repair.
1.5.2 Repair small punctures and pinholes or severely rusted areas with patches to prevent leaking.
1.5.3 Where over 20% of the roof/siding area is deteriorated, replacement in-kind is permissible. Replacement corrugated metal sheets must match the existing in size, color, and finish.
OPENINGS, DOORS, AND WINDOWS
1.6 Treatment of historic large openings must be based on historic documentary or physical evidence. Where large openings were infilled with solid doors or left open, new fenestration shall have minimal framing emphasizing the opening as a void in the wall.
1.6.1 Where large openings are repetitive across one or more facades of an existing historic building, infilled fenestration shall be consistent across all openings to emphasize the original rhythmic design.
1.6.2 Preserve historic doors and windows within original large openings.
1.7 Where historic openings have been altered, infilled or are no longer extant, restoration based on physical or historic documentary evidence is acceptable but not required. Any new interventions in existing openings must not be identical to or in extreme contrast with the rest of the building in scale, design, materials, color and texture.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
39 1.8 Wood-framed, multilite sash windows are character-defining features throughout the historic buildings within the district. Preserve these windows in place and provide repairs as physical conditions warrant.
1.8.1 Carry out all repairs to match an existing historic window in size, configuration, operation, materials, profiles, details, and finish.
1.8.2 When replacing damaged or missing glass panes, match new or salvaged glass to existing historic glass in type, color, texture, and dimensions. Loose, cracked, or missing glazing putty shall be replaced.
1.8.3 In-kind replacement of extensively deteriorated or missing window components may be necessary, but replacement of the window in its entirety should be avoided. If replacement of the entire window is necessary, the new replacement window shall match the visual characteristics of the historic window based on physical and/or historic documentary evidence.
1.9 Steel sash windows are character-defining features and shall be preserved in place or repaired according to the following criteria:
1.9.1 Carry out all repairs to match an existing historic window in size, configuration, operation, materials, profiles, details, and finish.
1.9.2 When replacing damaged or missing glass panes, match new or salvaged glass to existing historic glass in type, color, texture, and dimensions. Loose, cracked, or missing glazing putty shall be replaced.
1.9.3 When renewing paint coatings on steel components, all corrosion shall be removed and the metal shall be coated with a rust-inhibiting primer before applying a finish coating.
1.9.4 In-kind replacement of extensively deteriorated or missing window components may be necessary, but replacement of the window in its entirety is to be avoided. If replacement of the entire window is necessary, the new replacement window shall match the visual characteristics of the historic window based on physical and/or historic documentary evidence.
1.10 Preserve and repair extant historic doors, including door hardware.
ROOFS
1.11 Roof monitors are a character-defining feature of the Sacramento Shops Historic District. Preserve existing roof monitors in their entirety, maintaining clerestory windows.
1.12 Preserve existing skylights in place. If new program uses do not allow natural light, retain existing skylights so they are visible from primary views and infill as required on the interior.
1.13 Preserve and repair existing corrugated metal roof panels. Where deteriorated beyond repair, replace existing corrugated metal roof panels with new panels to match existing in size, color, details, and finish.
1.14 Preserve existing character-defining roof appurtenances (vents, chimneys, etc.).
1.14.1 Consider existing roof appurtenances for reuse with new HVAC systems.
Standards and Criteria
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
40 Standards and Criteria
1.14.2 Locate new roof appurtenances out of public view.
1.15 Consider on-site solar technology only after implementing all appropriate treatments to improve the energy efficiency of the building and after analyzing whether it can be used successfully and will benefit the building without compromising its historic character or the character of the site or the surrounding historic district.
1.15.1 A solar device shall be installed in a location on the site or on a non-historic building or addition where it will have minimal impact. The device shall be installed on the building only after other locations have been investigated and determined infeasible.
1.15.2 Install a low-profile solar device so that it is not visible from the public right of way. Prioritize installing on a flat roof or a secondary slope of a roof, out of view from the public right of way. The devices shall be set back to take advantage of a parapet or other roof feature to screen solar panels from view.
1.15.3 Solar devices are to be installed in a manner that does not damage the historic roofing material or negatively impact the building's historic character. Installation of a device shall be reversible. Use solar panels and mounting systems that are neither identical in color nor in extreme contrast with the historic roof. Mechanical equipment associated with the photovoltaic system shall be installed out of view from the public right of way.
1.15.4 Solar roof panels are to be installed horizontally, flat or parallel to the roof, to reduce visibility.
1.16 Locate new roof-mounted equipment out of public view
1.17 To ensure overall roof form and thickness is preserved, maintain the historic building eave thickness and detailing when repairing or altering an existing historic roof.
1.17.1 Where roof assemblies are required to be thicker than existing due to insulation requirements, the dimensional change where visible at the eaves and gable ends shall be minimal.
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AND DETAILS
1.18 Preserve and repair character-defining features. Where character-defining features are deteriorated beyond repair, replace them in kind to match the existing in size, shape, materials, finish, color, and texture.
1.19 Refer to the list for each individual contributing building and the entire Sacramento Shops Historic District previously in this document.
SIGNAGE AND LIGHTING
1.20 Preserve and restore historic signage and lighting whenever possible.
1.20.1 Historic signage on all visible facades of the building shall be maintained and preserved, when not damaged beyond repair, including painted wall signs and “ghost” signs that may be located on secondary side or rear facades.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
41 1.20.2 Repair, rather than replace damaged historic lighting or signage. Where necessary, replace only parts of historic light fixtures and signage that are deteriorated beyond repair.
1.21 Design new signage or lighting to preserve, complement or enhance the architectural composition and features of the building and the overall character of the historic district.
1.21.1 New signage or lighting shall be designed as an intergral part of the building facade and composition.
1.21.2 Signage and lighting shall be placed to enhance, and where possible, fit within existing architectural features. Designs that block or obscure character-defining features are to be avoided.
1.21.3 Signage and lighting shall be designed to be in proportion and scale with the building in order to avoid dominating the building's appearance.
1.21.4 Sign materials shall preserve or complement the style and character of the building and historic district.
1.21.5 Sign colors shall complement the colors of the building.
1.22 When installing new signage or lighting, avoid damaging any character- defining feature during installation.
1.22.1 Carefully route wiring conduit to avoid damage to architectural details and to be concealed from view as much as possible. Place wiring between the brick courses and recesses to reduce the visibility.
Standards and Criteria
1.23 Design signage and lighting that is pedestrian-oriented and at a human scale.
1.23.1 Signs shall be legible when viewed from the sidewalk.
1.23.2 The placement of signage shall follow historic patterns of sign placement in the historic district.
1.24 Design illumination levels to achieve a complimentary balance between the architecture of the building, character of the historic district, and the design of the sign itself.
1.24.1 The use of shielded and focused light sources that direct light toward a sign or onto the ground is recommended.
1.24.2 High intensity light sources that overpower the building or street edge are discouraged.
1.25 Consider the effect of new exterior lights on the historic environment.
1.25.1 Select fully shielded exterior light fixtures that emit no light upward and are dark sky compliant.
1.25.2 When installing Light Emitting Diode (LED) light fixtures and bulbs, select “warm-white” or filtered LEDs to minimize blue light emission.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
42 Standards and Criteria
2. DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR ADDITIONS TO HISTORIC
BUILDINGS
PLACEMENT
2.1 Do not obfuscate the historic building form by locating the addition flush with an existing façade.
2.2 The historic building’s footprint and overall form must be readily discernable from any new addition.
ORIENTATION
2.3 Locate new additions parallel or perpendicular to historic buildings to maintain the district’s overall axis.
2.4 Exterior walls or elements that are curved or angled are not recommended.
PARKING
2.5 No substantial parking areas are anticipated within the district boundary.
2.6 Locate loading zones or parking spaces away from the pedestrian zone.
SCALE AND MASSING
2.7 An addition to an existing historic building shall be subordinate to the historic building.
2.7.1 Consider using a hyphen to connect an addition to provide a distinction between the new construction and historic building.
2.8 The building addition shall be comprised of simple, rectangular forms characteristic of the Sacramento Shops Historic District.
2.9 The height of an addition must not exceed the height of the existing historic building.
2.10 Rooftop additions, which add height and habitable space to the existing building’s roof and alter the profile of character-defining roofs, are not permitted.
ROOF FORM
2.11 The roof form of the addition must be in extreme contrast with the roof lines of the existing historic properties.
2.11.1 Consider utilizing shared architectural roof features, including gable roof construction or long roof monitors.
2.11.2 Consider using the same roof pitch as the existing historic building.
2.12 The roof of the addition must not overwhelm or compete with the existing historic building’s roof.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
43 FAÇADE COMPOSITION
2.13 The addition shall be designed so that its facades retain similar proportions, fenestration patterns, and level of articulation as the historic building without emulating a historic style.
2.13.1 Consider utilizing bays and/or openings of similar scale and proportion to those present in historic buildings within the district.
2.13.2 Consider incorporating window and door datum lines from the existing historic building.
2.14 Employ basic articulation methods in the design of the addition’s facades, including building walls offsets, changes in material, horizontal and vertical details, and other simple architectural design elements utilized in the historic building.
2.14.1 Applied ornamentation shall be minimal.
2.15 The new design, architectural features, and details shall be modest so as not to detract from the historic building.
2.16 Avoid copying the style of the historic building exactly or using conjectural features that may create a false sense of historic value or change the style of the building.
EXTERIOR MATERIALS
2.17 Use exterior materials that are neither identical nor in extreme contrast to the materials present in the historic district. Materials not found in the district may be considered.
Standards and Criteria
3. DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR NEW BUILDINGS
BUILDING PLACEMENT
3.1 New buildings are to be located to maintain the dense urban-industrial character of the district.
3.2 Where new construction is adjacent to historic construction, establish 30’-0” minimum wide pedestrian alleys.
ORIENTATION
3.3 New buildings are to be located on axis with historic buildings in the district.
PEDESTRIAN ACCESS
3.4 Provide pedestrian access to public rights-of-way without altering character- defining features of historic buildings within the district. Pedestrian alleys are acceptable rights-of-way.
PARKING
3.5 No substantial parking areas are anticipated within the district boundary.
3.6 Loading zones and parking spaces are to be located away from the pedestrian zone.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
44 Standards and Criteria
SCALE AND MASSING
3.7 New construction’s scale and massing shall be compatible with the scale and massing of existing buildings in the district and comprised of simple, rectangular forms consistent with the historic district.
3.8 New construction within the historic district must be less than 24’-0” in height.
ROOF FORM
3.9 The roof form of new construction shall be neither identical to nor in extreme contrast with the roof lines of adjacent historic properties.
3.9.1 Consider utilizing shared architectural roof features, including gable roof construction or long roof monitors.
3.9.2 Additional industrial roof construction types may be considered.
FAÇADE COMPOSITION
3.10 Design the building so that its facades, particularly its primary façade, retain similar proportions, fenestration patterns, and level of articulation as other existing buildings in the district.
3.10.1 Consider utilizing bays and/or openings of similar scale and proportion to those present in historic buildings within the district without emulating a historic style.
3.10.2 Consider incorporating window and door datum lines from adjacent historic buildings.
3.11 Though a new building should reflect the utilitarian aesthetic of adjacent industrial properties, employ basic articulation methods, including building walls offsets, changes in material, horizontal and vertical details, and other simple architectural design elements.
3.11.1 Applied ornamentation should be minimal.
ENTRANCE(S)
3.12 A new building’s entrance shall be understated and utilitarian in appearance, in line with the typically modest entrances of adjacent historic industrial buildings.
3.13 An entrance may be articulated through simple architectural details, such as a canopy.
EXTERIOR MATERIALS
3.14 Use exterior materials that are neither identical nor in extreme contrast to the materials present in the historic district. Materials not found in the district may be considered.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
45 Standards and Criteria
4. SITE FEATURES AND LANDSCAPING
4.1 Landscaping shall be minimal and informal to avoid being in extreme contract with the utilitarian setting.
4.2 While new trees are desired for sunshading, do not locate new trees to conceal historic facades or immediately adjacent to historic buildings.
Placement shall reflect the industrial nature of the buildings and connection areas and plazas between the buildings.
4.3 Streets, alleys, and sidewalks shall be in compliance with the Sacramento Railyard Design Guidelines.
4.4 Refer to the Sacramento Railyard Design Guidelines for guidelines regarding buildings constructed near public plazas, courts, etc.
4.5 Provide adequate site lighting according to the following criteria:
4.5.1 Lighting shall provide enough light for nighttime activities and highlight historic features of the district.
4.5.2 Prioritize the use of existing power/light poles where possible.
4.5.3 Differentiate new site lighting from the historic district's new features and characteristics.
4.5.4 New lighting shall not create a false sense of history.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
46 This page intentionally left blank.
Standards and Criteria
Appendices
Appendices
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Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
49 Field Methods
Preservation Planners and Historians, Matthew Davis and Caitlyn Ewers, visited the site in February 2020. The buildings and site were documented and photographed.
Subsequent visits to the site have taken place in June 2020, April 2022, and November 2022 by Alice Valania and Naomi Miroglio.
Project Team
The Historic District Plan was prepared by Caitlyn Ewers, Grace Davis and Alice Valania with assistance from Noah Lohmueller and Mayank Patel under the supervision of Principal Naomi Miroglio, all of whom meet the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards in Historic Architecture and Architectural History.
Appendix A
Methodology
Consultation
Preparation of the Historic District Plan is a requirement for each City Historic District per the Sacramento City Code. The plan is based on the findings in Ordinance No. 2016-0047 Repealing Ordinance 2007-103 and Listing the Sacramento Shops Historic District as a Historic District on the Sacramento Register of Historic & Cultural Resources, Adopted by the Sacramento City Council November 10, 2016. ARG prepared the Historic District Plan with review by the City of Sacramento staff and the City's Preservation Commission.
Research
For preparation of this plan, Architectural Resources Group (ARG) performed the following tasks for research, documentation and analysis:
▪ Reviewed previous evaluations, studies, and ordinances and correspondence by the City of Sacramento.
▪ Reviewed federal and state technical bulletins, ordinances, and other materials related to the evaluation and preparation of design guidelines ▪ Developed a historic context statement based on research and findings from the National Register Nomination (also prepared by ARG).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
50 This page intentionally left blank.
Appendix A
Methodology
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
51 AMERICAN ROUND-ARCHED STYLE
Time Period: 1840s - 1880s
▪ American interpretation of the German Rundbogenstil (literally "round arched style), an early nineteenth- century architectural style
▪ Structural masonry, especially brick (often polychrome) ▪ Series of pilasters and horizontal bands forming repetitive grid patterns ▪ Elaborate brick corbelling
▪ Modelled door and window surrounds
▪ Round-arched or segmentally-arched window and door openings
INDUSTRIAL MODERN
Time Period: 1900s - 1960s
▪ Emphasis on volume and regularity in massing
▪ Lack of applied ornamentation
▪ Reinforced concrete walls
▪ Continuous bands of multi-light windows
Appendix B
Common Architectural Styles
Car Machine Shop, view west-northwest (ARG 2020).
Blacksmith Shop, view south-southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
52 INDUSTRIAL UTILITARIAN
Time Period: 1800s - Present
▪ Materials and design that prioritize economy and
functionality
▪ Lack of applied ornamentation
▪ Framed construction
▪ Corrugated sheet metal cladding
Appendix B
Common Architectural Styles
Boiler Shop, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
53 1 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869): 72.
2 Historic Environment Consultants, “Central Pacific/Southern Pacific Railroad Railyards: Historic Property Inventory and Evaluation Report” prepared for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, March 1998, 5.
3 “City Intelligence: Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 9, 1867; “Local Matters,” Pacific Bee (Sacramento, CA), June 29, 1878. 4 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869): 72.
5 “City Intelligence: Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 9, 1867; Robert A. Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops . . . Incubator of Innovation (Berkeley, California: Signature Press), 23; “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869): 72; Carolyn Dougherty, LeeAnn Bishop Lands, J. Lawrence Lee, and Camille Vicenti, “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Written Historical and Descriptive Data, Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303 (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2002), 11. 6 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 11-12, 39n98, 97n154, 199, 219; “New Shops Will Go Up: Buildings to be Nearly Finished in about Sixty Days,” Sacramento Bee, November 10, 1898; "Sketch of Proposed Bridge bet.
Planing Mill and Car Machine Shop at Sacramento" (April 5, 1899), Drawing 1055 / PSM, SMCC 203 (Source Record ID 6599), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
7 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 40. 8 David L. Joslyn, “The Romance of the Railroads Entering Sacramento,” The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin 48, (March 1939): 27; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 191, 219; “Southern Pacific Shops Damaged by $43,000 Fire,” Sacramento Bee, November 27, 1916
9 Don L. Hofsommer, The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985 (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1986), 73; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 46n65, 166.
10 Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 201; "Organization of Sacramento Shops" (January 6, 1920), Drawing 14042 / Book 329, SMCC 210 (Source Record ID 10833), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
11 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 47n68; Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 187-188.
12 Hofsommer, Southern Pacific, 118-120; “2,200 Railroad Men Will Work Five Days a Week,” Sacramento Bee, December 31, 1934.
Appendix C
Endnotes
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
54 13 “SP Expands Its Plant: More Cars, More Locomotives, and More Jobs in Big Building Program,” Bulletin (Southern Pacific) 25, no. 2 (February 1941): 3; “Women Take Over Tough Jobs to Relieve Manpower Shortage,” Bulletin (Southern Pacific) 26, no. 11 (November 1942): 3; Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 311-312; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 52, 136. 14 Architectural Resources Group, “Sacramento Railyards Sacramento Shops: Phase I Investigation and Documentation, Vol. 1,” prepared for Thomas Enterprises, Inc., August 2006, 17; Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 309, 321. 15 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 56, 67, 69, 93-94, 113-114, 165-166, 220-221; Hofsommer, Southern Pacific, 211, 241. 16 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 69-71. 17 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 72, 104. 18 Mary A. Helmich with Kevin V. Bunker, A Legacy in Brick and Iron (Sacramento, CA:
FYA Publications, 2018), 275.
19 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 274-275; author interview with Albert J. Di Paolo, Chief Mechanical Officer, California State Railroad Museum, February 26, 2020.
Appendix C
Endnotes
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
55 This page intentionally left blank.
Appendix C
Endnotes
SAN FRANCISCO
Pier 9, The Embarcadero, Suite 107
San Francisco, California 94111
T: 415.421.1680
F: 415.421.0127
ARGcreate.com
LOS ANGELES
360 E. 2nd Street, Suite 225
Los Angeles, CA 90012
T: 626.583.1401
PORTLAND
720 SW Washington Street, Suite 605
Portland, OR 97205
T: 971.256.5324
SACRAMENTO
1610 R Street, Suite 300
Sacramento, CA 95811
T: 916.917.4059
ORDINANCE NO.
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
[Date Adopted]
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 2016-047,
RELATING TO THE CENTRAL SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT
(RENAMED SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT)
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO:
SECTION 1. Background.
A. On December 11, 2007, the city council adopted Ordinance 2007-103, which added the Central Shops Historic District (“District”), within the Railyards project area, to the Sacramento Register.
B. On November 10, 2016, the city council adopted Ordinance 2016-0047, which amended the boundaries of the District and removed the Water Tower, designating that structure a landmark.
C. Ordinance 2016-0047 established boundaries for the District that were based on the Sacramento County Assessor’s parcel lines established at the time the district boundaries were amended to exclude the Water Tower. These boundaries, however, include properties that do not contribute to the district’s significance because they do not contain contributing resources or character defining features. Pursuant to federal guidelines, historic district boundaries should define the limits of eligible resources and exclude additional, peripheral areas that do not directly contribute to the property’s significance.
D. As amended, the District boundaries are consistent with best professional practices, as well as state, and federal guidance for drawing historic district boundaries.
E. The Sacramento Railyards have been referred to by many different names over the years, most of them informal. The name “Sacramento Shops” was used with a high frequency historically, and is not exclusive to either of the railroad companies that owned and operated the complex during the 1867-1947 period.
F. On March 30, 2023, the Preservation Director reviewed the proposed changes to the Sacramento Register, including a statement of nomination for the proposed District
Boundaries, and issued a written statement concurring with the amendments outlined in this ordinance.
G. On April 15, 2023, the Preservation Commission held a public hearing and voted to recommend the City Council adopt this ordinance.
H. On ______ __, 2023, the City Council held a public hearing in accordance with chapter
17.604 of the Sacramento City Code to consider this proposed ordinance.
SECTION 2.
Ordinance No. 2016-0047 is amended as follows:
A. All references to the “Central Shops Historic District” are replaced with “Sacramento Shops Historic District.”
B. Exhibit A is deleted and replaced in its entirety with the attached Exhibit A.
C. The following is added to Exhibit B:
Statement of Significance: The Sacramento Shops, constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and operated in turn by the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, is an industrial district and one of the oldest and most prominent steam-era railroad shop complexes in the western United States. The Central Shops Historic District is significant at the national level for its association with the development and expansion of the American railroad industry, from the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the beginning of the Southern Pacific Company’s mid-twentieth-century transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It is also significant at the local level under as a distinctive example of industrial architecture dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The period of significance begins in 1867, with initial construction of the site, and ends in 1947, by which time the Southern Pacific had initiated a concerted effort to replace its fleet of steam locomotives with diesel locomotives. The “dieselization” of the Southern Pacific’s fleet of locomotives is related to substantial changes in the operation and physical fabric of the Sacramento Central Shops (e.g., the interior remodel of Car Shop No. 3 in 1948 and the removal of the Roundhouse in 1959).
Period of Significance: 1867-1947
SECTION 3.
The city council hereby finds the following:
A. The amended boundary of the Sacramento Shops Historic District is a geographically defined area as shown in Exhibit A. The historic district boundary encompasses the cluster of extant resources that are associated with the Sacramento Shops during the period of significance (1867-1947), including the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, and Turntable. While, historically, the Sacramento Shops complex extended well beyond this cluster, extensive environmental remediation activities beginning in the 1980s recontoured the land surrounding the boundary and cleared those areas of all buildings and associated features, with one exception.
B. The Sacramento Shops possesses a significant concentration or continuity of buildings unified by past events and aesthetically by plan or physical development. The Sacramento Shops Historic District comprises approximately 14 acres located north of downtown Sacramento, California. The district sits immediately north of the Amtrak rail lines and Sacramento Valley Station and is otherwise surrounded by acres of vacant land and recently platted rights-of-way to the west, north, and east. The district includes a tight cluster of eight nineteenth-century industrial buildings and one object (a turntable) that together constitute the core of what was once a much larger railroad shops complex. With the exception of a privy, the contributing buildings are large in scale, reflecting their historic association with the construction, repair and maintenance of railroad locomotives, freight cars, and passenger cars. Six of the eight buildings are masonry structures built in the American round-arched style, which was a popular choice for industrial, commercial and religious architecture in the late nineteenth century. The district’s contributing buildings have generally undergone only minor exterior alterations since the period of significance and as a result the Sacramento Shops Historic District retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance.
C. The Sacramento Shops is associated with events and a period significant or important to city history. The Sacramento Shops, constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and operated in turn by the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, is an industrial district eligible for listing in the Sacramento Register as a historic district as one of the oldest and most prominent steam-era railroad shop complexes in the western United States. The Sacramento Shops Historic District is significant at the national level for its association with the development and expansion of the American railroad industry, from the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the beginning of the Southern Pacific Company’s mid-twentieth-century transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It is also significant at the local level as a distinctive example of industrial architecture dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
D. The designation of the Sacramento Shops Historic District is reasonable, appropriate and
necessary to protect, promote and further the goals and purposes of this chapter and is not inconsistent with other goals and policies of the city as Although the Sacramento Shops Historic District encompasses a relatively small portion of the facility’s maximum build-out, the contributing buildings and object functioned as the historic core of the facility, represent some of the earliest, largest, and most important elements that were constructed as part of the Sacramento Shops complex. These resources generally maintain their historic scale, appearance and spatial arrangement, and their proximity to active rail lines and the Sacramento Valley Station maintains a tangible association between the district and the American railroad industry. For these reasons, the district retains integrity of feeling and association.
E. The Sacramento Shops Historic District continues to maintain integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, and association as set forth in Ordinance No. 2016-0047.
F. The city council has considered the city code’s directive that the “collective historic value of the buildings and structures in a historic district taken together may be greater than the historic value of each individual building or structure.”
The Sacramento Shops Historic District is visually characterized by a tightly-organized cluster of large, industrial buildings. The majority of these buildings are constructed of brick in the American round-arched style, although industrial modern and utilitarian forms that employ reinforced concrete, wood framing, and corrugated iron cladding are also represented. When taken together the collective value of the buildings and structures in the district are greater than the historic value of each individual building or structure.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Exhibit A: Sacramento Shops Historic District Boundary Map Exhibit B: Sacramento Shops Historic District Boundary Map with County Assessor’s Parcel Lines
EXHIBIT A
SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARY MAP
EXHIBIT B
SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARY MAP WITH COUNTY ASSESSOR’S
PARCEL LINES
ORDINANCE NO.
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
[Date Adopted]
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 2016-047,
RELATING TO THE CENTRAL SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT
(RENAMED SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT)
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO:
SECTION 1. Background.
A. On December 11, 2007, the city council adopted Ordinance 2007-103, which added the Central Shops Historic District (“District”), within the Railyards project area, to the Sacramento Register.
B. On November 10, 2016, the city council adopted Ordinance 2016-0047, which amended the boundaries of the District and removed the Water Tower, designating that structure a landmark.
C. Ordinance 2016-0047 established boundaries for the District that were based on the Sacramento County Assessor’s parcel lines established at the time the district boundaries were amended to exclude the Water Tower. These boundaries, however, include properties that do not contribute to the district’s significance because they do not contain contributing resources or character defining features. Pursuant to federal guidelines, historic district boundaries should define the limits of eligible resources and exclude additional, peripheral areas that do not directly contribute to the property’s significance.
D. As amended, the District boundaries are consistent with best professional practices, as well as state, and federal guidance for drawing historic district boundaries.
E. The Sacramento Railyards have been referred to by many different names over the years, most of them informal. The name “Sacramento Shops” was used with a high frequency historically, and is not exclusive to either of the railroad companies that owned and operated the complex during the 1867-1947 period.
F. On March 30, 2023, the Preservation Director reviewed the proposed changes to the Sacramento Register, including a statement of nomination for the proposed District
Boundaries, and issued a written statement concurring with the amendments outlined in this ordinance.
G. On May 17, 2023, the Preservation Commission held a public hearing and voted to recommend the City Council adopt this ordinance.
H. On August 15, 2023, the City Council held a public hearing in accordance with chapter
17.604 of the Sacramento City Code to consider this proposed ordinance.
SECTION 2.
Ordinance No. 2016-0047 is amended as follows:
A. All references to the “Central Shops Historic District” are replaced with “Sacramento Shops Historic District.”
B. Exhibit A is deleted and replaced in its entirety with the attached Exhibit A.
C. The following is added to Exhibit B:
Statement of Significance: The Sacramento Shops, constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and operated in turn by the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, is an industrial district and one of the oldest and most prominent steam-era railroad shop complexes in the western United States. The Central Shops Historic District is significant at the national level for its association with the development and expansion of the American railroad industry, from the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the beginning of the Southern Pacific Company’s mid-twentieth-century transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It is also significant at the local level under as a distinctive example of industrial architecture dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The period of significance begins in 1867, with initial construction of the site, and ends in 1947, by which time the Southern Pacific had initiated a concerted effort to replace its fleet of steam locomotives with diesel locomotives. The “dieselization” of the Southern Pacific’s fleet of locomotives is related to substantial changes in the operation and physical fabric of the Sacramento Central Shops (e.g., the interior remodel of Car Shop No. 3 in 1948 and the removal of the Roundhouse in 1959).
Period of Significance: 1867-1947
SECTION 3.
The city council hereby finds the following:
A. The amended boundary of the Sacramento Shops Historic District is a geographically defined area as shown in Exhibit A. The historic district boundary encompasses the cluster of extant resources that are associated with the Sacramento Shops during the period of significance (1867-1947), including the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, and Turntable. While, historically, the Sacramento Shops complex extended well beyond this cluster, extensive environmental remediation activities beginning in the 1980s recontoured the land surrounding the boundary and cleared those areas of all buildings and associated features, with one exception.
B. The Sacramento Shops possesses a significant concentration or continuity of buildings unified by past events and aesthetically by plan or physical development. The Sacramento Shops Historic District comprises approximately 14 acres located north of downtown Sacramento, California. The district sits immediately north of the Amtrak rail lines and Sacramento Valley Station and is otherwise surrounded by acres of vacant land and recently platted rights-of-way to the west, north, and east. The district includes a tight cluster of eight nineteenth-century industrial buildings and one object (a turntable) that together constitute the core of what was once a much larger railroad shops complex. With the exception of a privy, the contributing buildings are large in scale, reflecting their historic association with the construction, repair and maintenance of railroad locomotives, freight cars, and passenger cars. Six of the eight buildings are masonry structures built in the American round-arched style, which was a popular choice for industrial, commercial and religious architecture in the late nineteenth century. The district’s contributing buildings have generally undergone only minor exterior alterations since the period of significance and as a result the Sacramento Shops Historic District retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance.
C. The Sacramento Shops is associated with events and a period significant or important to city history. The Sacramento Shops, constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and operated in turn by the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, is an industrial district eligible for listing in the Sacramento Register as a historic district as one of the oldest and most prominent steam-era railroad shop complexes in the western United States. The Sacramento Shops Historic District is significant at the national level for its association with the development and expansion of the American railroad industry, from the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the beginning of the Southern Pacific Company’s mid-twentieth-century transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It is also significant at the local level as a distinctive example of industrial architecture dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
D. The designation of the Sacramento Shops Historic District is reasonable, appropriate and
necessary to protect, promote and further the goals and purposes of this chapter and is not inconsistent with other goals and policies of the city as Although the Sacramento Shops Historic District encompasses a relatively small portion of the facility’s maximum build-out, the contributing buildings and object functioned as the historic core of the facility, represent some of the earliest, largest, and most important elements that were constructed as part of the Sacramento Shops complex. These resources generally maintain their historic scale, appearance and spatial arrangement, and their proximity to active rail lines and the Sacramento Valley Station maintains a tangible association between the district and the American railroad industry. For these reasons, the district retains integrity of feeling and association.
E. The Sacramento Shops Historic District continues to maintain integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, and association as set forth in Ordinance No. 2016-0047.
F. The city council has considered the city code’s directive that the “collective historic value of the buildings and structures in a historic district taken together may be greater than the historic value of each individual building or structure.”
The Sacramento Shops Historic District is visually characterized by a tightly-organized cluster of large, industrial buildings. The majority of these buildings are constructed of brick in the American round-arched style, although industrial modern and utilitarian forms that employ reinforced concrete, wood framing, and corrugated iron cladding are also represented. When taken together the collective value of the buildings and structures in the district are greater than the historic value of each individual building or structure.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Exhibit A: Sacramento Shops Historic District Boundary Map Exhibit B: Sacramento Shops Historic District Boundary Map with County Assessor’s Parcel Lines
EXHIBIT A
SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARY MAP
EXHIBIT B
SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARY MAP WITH COUNTY ASSESSOR’S
PARCEL LINES
ORDINANCE NO.
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
Date Adopted
AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE SACRAMENTO SHOPS HISTORIC DISTRICT PLAN
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO:
SECTION 1. Background.
A. The city council has found “that significant aspects of the city’s rich and diverse historic resources deserve recognition and preservation to foster an understanding of our heritage, and to promote the public health and safety and the economic and general welfare of the people of the city. The preservation and continued use of historic resources are effective tools to sustain and revitalize neighborhoods and business districts within the city, enhance the city’s economic, cultural and aesthetic standing, its identity and its livability, marketability and urban character.” (City Code, § 17.604.100.A.)
B. To this end, the city code authorizes the creation of historic district plans for each of the city’s historic districts. These plans include, among other things, a statement of the goals for review of development projects within each historic district as well as the standards and criteria that will be utilized in determining the appropriateness of any development project within these districts. (City Code, § 17.604.300.)
C. On May 17, 2023, the preservation commission held a public hearing and recommended the city council adopt the Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan attached as Exhibit 1.
D. The 244-acre Railyards area is located immediately north of the Central Business District, east of the Sacramento River, south of North B Street and west of the Alkali Flat neighborhood. Planning for this area date back to the Central City Community Plan, which was adopted in 1980. A number of other planning documents have been adopted and since that time, including the Railyards Specific Plan, Facility Element of the Railyards Specific Plan, and the Richards Boulevard Area Plan. Previously listed as a local historic district in 2007, with an update in 2016, a historic district plan for the Sacramento Shops Historic District has not yet been put in place. The historic district plan is identified as a mitigation measure in the Railyard Specific Plan Supplemental EIR.
SECTION 2.
The Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan, attached as Exhibit 1, meets the requirements set forth in City Code section 17.604.300, and is hereby adopted and added to the Sacramento Historic District Plans (Ordinance 2019-0051).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Exhibit 1: Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
HISTORIC DISTRICT PLAN
Sacramento Shops
City of Sacramento | April 2023
PREPARED FOR:
City of Sacramento
Community Development Department
300 Richards Boulevard, Third Floor
Sacramento, California 95811
www.cityofsacramento.org
PREPARED BY:
Architectural Resources Group, Inc.
Pier 9, The Embarcadero, Suite 107
San Francisco, CA 94111
www.argcreate.com
Table of Contents
1. Physical Description and Boundaries .....................................................5 Existing Condition Photographs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Historic Context ......................................................................................9
3. Period of Significance ...........................................................................17
4. Character-Defining Features ................................................................19 District-Wide Character-Defining Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Boiler Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Transfer Table Pits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Turntable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Erecting Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Car Machine Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Planing Mill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Blacksmith Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Privy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Car Shop No. 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Paint Shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5. Standards and Criteria ..........................................................................37
1. Design Guidelines for Rehabilitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2. Design Guidelines for Additions to Historic Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3. Design Guidelines for New Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4. Site Features and Landscaping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Appendices ...............................................................................................47 A. Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 B. Common Architectural Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 C. Endnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 This page intentionally left blank.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
5 The Sacramento Shops Historic District comprises
approximately 14 acres located north of downtown
Sacramento, California. The district sits immediately
north of the + rail lines and Sacramento Valley
Station and is otherwise surrounded by acres of
vacant land and recently platted rights-of-way to
the west, north, and east. The district includes a
tight cluster of eight nineteenth-century industrial
buildings and one object (a turntable) that together
constitute the core of what was once a much
larger railroad shops complex. With the exception
of a privy, the contributing buildings are large in
scale, reflecting their historic association with the
construction, repair, and maintenance of railroad
locomotives, freight cars, and passenger cars. Six
of the eight buildings are masonry structures built
in the American round-arched style, which was
a popular choice for industrial, commercial and
religious architecture in the late nineteenth century.
The district’s contributing buildings have generally
undergone only minor exterior alterations since the
period of significance and as a result the Sacramento
Shops Historic District retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance.
Code information:
On December 11, 2007, the city council adopted
Ordinance 2007-103, which added the Central
Shops Historic District (“District”), within the
Railyards project area, to the Sacramento Register.
On November 10, 2016, the city council adopted
Ordinance 2016-0047, which amended the boundaries of
the District and removed the Water Tower, designating
that structure a landmark.
Section One
Physical Description
and Boundaries
Sacramento Shops Historic District boundary, outlined in red 1 3
2 4
5 7
6 8 9
1 - Boiler Shop
2 - Turntable
3 - Erecting Shop
4 - Car Machine Shop
5 - Planing Mill
6 - Blacksmith Shop
7 - Privy
8 - Car Shop No. 3
9 - Paint Shop
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
6 Physical Description and Boundaries
Existing Condition Photographs
Alleyway between Blacksmith Shop (l) and Car Shop No. 3 (r), view north-northwest (ARG 2020).
Planing Mill (l), Erecting Shop (c), Firing Line (front r) and Boiler Shop (rear r), view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
7 Physical Description and Boundaries
Existing Condition Photographs
Planing Mill (l) and Erecting Shop (r), view south-southeast (ARG 2020). Paint Shop, view southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
8 This page intentionally left blank.
Physical Description and Boundaries
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
9 The Sacramento Shops Historic District
reflects the history and development
of the railroad in the American
West, from the construction of the
transcontinental railroad through the
early post-World War II period. The
Central Pacific Railroad broke ground on
the complex in 1867, two years prior to
the completion of the transcontinental
railroad, and by 1869, the Shops were
described as “the largest iron-working
and wood-working establishments in
operation west of St. Louis, or even
Chicago.”1 The complex expanded
the number and range of its facilities
in the decades that followed, earning
a reputation for self-sufficiency,
productivity, and innovation in rolling
stock design. The following historical
context describes the development
and activities of the Sacramento Shops
from the late nineteenth through the
Sect ion Two
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops in 1959 (Historic American Engineering Record, Joshua A. May, 2001).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
10 early twentieth centuries, with a particular focus on the construction, alteration, and evolving use of the extant Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, and Turntable.
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF
THE SACRAMENTO SHOPS: 1861-1885
The Sacramento Shops were established by the Central Pacific Railroad, which incorporated in 1861 and constructed the western portion of the transcontinental railroad between 1863 and 1869. The Central Pacific initially purchased locomotives from suppliers in the eastern United States and contracted locally in Sacramento for assembly and repair, circumventing the need to construct its own intensive shop facilities. However, the railroad quickly recognized the need for expanded facilities, and selected a site comprising approximately twenty acres of former slough along the city’s riverfront.2 Several buildings were constructed during the first phase of development, which began in 1867. Initial efforts were based on plans by a team of Central Pacific employees, including John Woolaver, a draftsman, and Joseph R. Wilkinson, an engineer who would later become the Central Pacific Railroad’s Resident Engineer in Sacramento.3
The first building completed was the “colossal” two-story Planing Mill, which included two wings off of its southern elevation: the larger, eastern wing was used for painting and would later be enlarged to serve as Car Shop No. 3. The smaller, western wing was the Power House (no longer extant), containing a stationary steam engine and shaft system used to power woodworking and machining equipment.4 Following the Planing Mill, the Roundhouse, Turntable, Erecting/Machine Shop, and Blacksmith Shop were completed in quick succession. The Erecting/Machine Shop and the Blacksmith Shop were situated to the south of the Planing Mill, and the semi-circular Roundhouse (no longer extant) was located at the northern end of the early complex. When complete, the Roundhouse contained twenty-nine stalls, twenty-eight of which were equipped to accommodate locomotives and one of which was devoted to office use. A manually-operated iron Turntable was installed immediately south of the Roundhouse and was able to direct locomotives directly into any of its stalls. The core of the present-day Sacramento Shops Historic District, then including the Planing Mill, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Roundhouse, and Turntable, was complete by 1869.5
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY IN THE LATE NINETEENTH
CENTURY: 1885-1900
The founders of the Central Pacific Railroad pushed to expand their transportation holdings in the American West through the end of the nineteenth century, absorbing numerous smaller lines and extending their own trackage throughout California and across the United States. Faced with a complicated management structure, rising expenditures, and declining revenues in the early 1880s, the railroad created a holding company to streamline management and provide a more efficient mechanism for distributing traffic, investment capital, expenses, and profits. The holding company, the Southern Pacific Company, was incorporated in 1884. In early 1885, the Central Pacific Railroad and all of its affiliated lines were leased to the holding company, and all were essentially subsumed under the Southern Pacific Company’s name and corporate identity.
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
11 Over the next fifteen years, the Southern Pacific Company focused on modernizing and integrating its many disparate holdings. The Sacramento Shops, now bearing the name of the Southern Pacific Company, underwent a period of expansion that increased the material capacity and the range of repair work possible on-site.
The Car Machine Shop, which was completed in 1888, was the largest of the new buildings constructed during this period. Also in 1888, the original Boiler Shop (no longer extant) was moved to the western edge of the complex and replaced by a larger building (the present-day, extant Boiler Shop), and the Erecting/Machine Shop was expanded by an addition to its southern elevation. A 40-foot, steam-powered Locomotive Transfer Table was constructed between the two buildings. In 1890, the Pattern Shop annex was constructed off the southern elevation of Car Shop No. 3, and the Paint Shop was expanded by an addition to its southern elevation. In 1895 or 1896, the 56-foot Turntable installed in 1869 was replaced with a 70-foot apparatus that could accommodate new, lengthier rolling stock. Following a major fire on November 7, 1898, the Planing Mill and the Car Machine Shop were rebuilt on their original foundations. A year later, a second-story bridge was constructed between the Car Machine Shop and the Planing Mill.6
THE HARRIMAN ERA AND THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY:
1900-1917
Following the death of Southern Pacific Company president Collis P. Huntington in 1900, nearly fifty percent of the company’s stock was purchased by railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman, who already controlled the Union Pacific and Illinois Central Railroads. By 1901, Harriman had been elected president of the Southern Pacific, and the “Harriman Lines” included approximately 18,000 miles of rail line throughout North America. The massive, sudden increase in rolling stock, coupled with a trend toward larger and heavier locomotives, placed greater demand on the Shops’ repair facilities and prompted a brief, concentrated period of expansion that was primarily focused on the alteration and enlargement of existing buildings. Harriman’s period of ownership over the Southern Pacific also saw the implementation of a set of “common standards,” developed at the Shops in Sacramento and intended to streamline equipment and operations across the Harriman Lines.7
Despite the magnitude of these changes, the Southern Pacific Railroad did not choose to significantly redesign the Shops complex; instead, existing buildings were altered and expanded to accommodate new practices and larger rolling stock, and new facilities were added when no existing building or structure was suited to meet a particular need. In 1904 and 1905, an addition was constructed along the western elevation of the existing Erecting/Machine Shop, effectively doubling the building’s footprint, and the Boiler Shop was widened with a lateral addition across the eastern elevation. In the next year, two additional bays were added to the Paint Shop. The Locomotive Transfer Table between the Erecting/Machine Shop and the Boiler Shop was replaced by an innovative new “pitless” version with a ground-level cap. Additionally, Car Shop No. 3 was largely rebuilt following a major fire in late November 1916.8
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
12 WORLD WAR I AND THE U.S. RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION: 1917- 1920
The outbreak of World War I in Europe triggered a surge in demand for American- made goods. After the United States entered the war in 1917, employment at the Shops climbed to 2,200 people (including, for the first time, women), and the complex’s output increased substantially. Activity increased when the federal government took possession of all American railroads on December 28, 1917, via the U.S. Railroad Administration (USRA). The complex experienced relatively little change during World War I and the immediate postwar years. Materials were rationed and funds were concentrated on the most immediate needs of the war effort, with the result that improvements were made only where absolutely necessary to meet production requirements. Although the Shops recommenced in-house locomotive construction in 1917, car repairing and manufacturing facilities were the primary focus of war-era expansions and upgrades. Car Shop No. 3, which had been partially destroyed by fire in 1916 and rebuilt in early 1917, was renovated in the same year.
The five northern bays, which had survived the 1916 fire, were replaced with a two-story building in the style of the 1917 rebuild. World War I ended in November 1918 and railroads were returned to private control on March 1, 1920, following the Transportation Act of 1920.9
RECORD YEARS AND CONTINUED EXPANSION: 1920-1929
Following the dissolution of the USRA in 1920, ownership and operation of the Southern Pacific Company returned to the private sector. The flush postwar economy carried the company through the end of the decade; by 1928, the complex encompassed more than two hundred individual buildings and structures and had grown to cover approximately 200 acres. In line with earlier trends of reuse, adaptation, and expansion, many existing buildings were altered in order to accommodate the increasingly large volume of rolling stock produced, repaired, and serviced in the Sacramento shops complex. In 1927, the southern half of the Blacksmith Shop was renovated with the addition of reinforced concrete walls and broad sections of glazing designed to maximize interior lighting and ventilation.10 The boom years also saw a variety of new construction, including a new iron foundry, steel foundry, rolling mill, sawmill (1923), and oxy-acetylene gas plant (1923), none of which remain extant. Some of this construction concerned the Shops’ internal distribution of consumable and recoverable materials such as sheet metal, paints, oils, switches and track bolts, lumber, and bar iron; by the end of the decade, eleven individual “shops” or supply centers, each with their own foreman and subordinate stockmen, were located within the complex. A general store building was constructed at the northern end of the site in 1920. A car materials store was constructed immediately north of the general store in 1928, followed by a paint and oil store in 1929. To the south of the Shops complex, a new passenger depot was constructed between H and I Streets in 1926.11 THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND SUBSEQUENT RECOVERY: 1929-
1941
The stock market crash in October 1929 precipitated a difficult period for the Southern Pacific Company, whose fortunes mirrored those of other American businesses during the Great Depression. Total revenues in 1930 were the lowest Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
13 the company had experienced in a decade, and they continued to plummet through the first part of the 1930s. More than half of Southern Pacific employees were let go between 1929 and 1933, and those who remained received only a fraction of their pre-Depression salaries. As a result of the dramatic decline in employee numbers, many railroad operations had to be temporarily discontinued; the Shops in Sacramento were one of only four Southern Pacific shop complexes that were still operating full five-day shifts by early 1934. Before business rebounded in the early 1940s, the Southern Pacific was forced to reduce train service, abandon hundreds of miles of trackage, and embrace a variety of new machinery and programs intended to cut costs, increase efficiency, and attract customers. The Shops complex experienced relatively little change to its physical fabric during the 1930s due to the economic strain of the Great Depression.12
Historic Context
Paint Shop, view northwest (Historic American Engineering Record, Jet Lowe, 2001). Paint Shop, view west (Historic American Engineering Record, Jet Lowe, 2001).
WORLD WAR II AND WARTIME PRODUCTION DEMANDS: 1941-
1945
Activity at the Shops complex increased in the lead-up to the United States’ entry to World War II; by February 1941, the Southern Pacific’s corporate magazine reported that the facilities were operating six days a week, preparing for anticipated wartime demand. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the country’s subsequent entry into the war, demand pushed the Shops to run their machines for 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. The existing workforce, depleted by the draft and competition with other wartime industries, was augmented by returning retirees, teenagers, women, and Mexican nationals. At the height of the war, employment peaked around 7,000 people.13
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
14 Demand for transportation services and products provided by the Shops spiked during the war, but building material and labor shortages precluded any comprehensive improvement programs during the early 1940s. As a result, the basic layout and fabric of complex changed relatively little during this period. In 1942, Southern Pacific replaced the Shops’ 70-foot turntable, installed in 1895 or 1896, with a secondhand 100-foot turntable removed from another facility. The Roundhouse was subsequently enlarged in 1943, and both Transfer Tables were rebuilt to accommodate larger locomotives and cars before the end of 1945. Around the same time, the deteriorated brick walls of the Privy were covered in stucco.14 THE POSTWAR ERA AND THE TRANSITION TO DIESEL: 1945-1960 For the Southern Pacific Company and the Shops in Sacramento, the postwar era was marked by the gradual, but total, transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It was in 1947 that the Southern Pacific first committed to a systematic process of dieselization, analyzing the most efficient approach to the process and creating a timeline for the replacement of its steam locomotives. The company began to operate its first road freight diesel locomotives (SP 6100 through SP 6119) in the same year, demonstrating its commitment to this major transition.
During the late 1940s and 1950s, the Shops complex continued to service steam locomotives while simultaneously reorienting its workflow, converting its facilities, and training its workforce to repair and rebuild an ever-growing number of diesel locomotives. The complex was significantly altered as a result of this shift in technologies. Four bays within the Erecting/Machine Shop had been allocated to diesel maintenance by 1952, and this number increased to seven (plus an eighth for a Historic Context
diesel engine transfer track) by 1953. Car Shop No. 3 was converted for repairing air brakes, governors, and injectors in the mid- to late-1940s and 1950s, and passenger car repair and refurbishment subsequently moved to the Paint Shop. A new painting annex was constructed off this building’s western elevation (it was removed circa 1995). In 1960, with the transition to diesel locomotives effectively complete, the Southern Pacific hired a team of consultants to make recommendations for the reorganization and renovation of the company’s shop facilities. This development marks the conclusion of the transitional phase and the realization of the Southern Pacific’s dieselization efforts.15
DIESELIZATION AND CORPORATE CONSOLIDATION:
1960-PRESENT
By 1960, dieselization of the Southern Pacific’s locomotive fleet was complete, and the Shops in Sacramento ceased virtually all work related to steam locomotive repair and maintenance. This development resulted in extensive alteration to the Shops complex, which had been designed in the steam era and had struggled to accommodate both steam and diesel repair activities during the late 1940s and 1950s. With the aid of outside consultants and inspiration from General Motors’ Electro-Motive Diesel plant in LaGrange, Illinois, the Shops reworked their maintenance facilities to optimize diesel locomotive operations.16 Major changes to the facilities included the demolition of the Roundhouse, which was made defunct by dieselization, in 1959 and construction of a new Engine Parts Cleaning Building in its place; the conversion of the Planing Mill’s first floor to a Roller Bearing Shop, the Boiler Shop to a Truck Shop, and the Blacksmith Shop to a Locomotive Machine Shop; and the erection of the Firing Line.17
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
15 The contemporary era was also marked by the consolidation and reorganization of many American railroads. The Southern Pacific Railroad had formally merged with its longtime holding company, the Southern Pacific Company, in 1955, and in 1959, the Central Pacific Railroad did the same. In 1988, the Southern Pacific Company was acquired by Rio Grande Industries, the holding company for Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, and a year later, the two functionally combined as the Southern Pacific Lines. The Southern Pacific Lines were purchased by Union Pacific in 1996, functionally combining the Southern Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande Western, and other subsidiaries under the Union Pacific name. The Southern Pacific was formally merged into Union Pacific in 1998, and in 1999, the Union Pacific permanently closed the former Sacramento Shops.18
In the 1990s and early 2000s, many of the smaller buildings and structures that comprised the Shops complex were razed, and the landscape was contoured with new drainage swales and berms. In 2012, the rail lines and heavy-rail passenger platforms associated with Amtrak were relocated approximately 1,000 feet north of their historic location, resulting in further modifications to land formerly associated with the Sacramento Shops. Of the original Shop facilities, only the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, Turntable, Firing Line, and a water tower remain extant as of this writing (the Locomotive Transfer Table was reconstructed by the California State Railroad Museum in 2003).19
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
16 This page intentionally left blank.
Historic Context
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
17 The period of significance extends from 1867 to 1947. Initial construction of the nine resources (Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Privy, Car Shop No. 3, Blacksmith Shop, Paint Shop, Erecting Shop, Boiler Shop, and Turntable) occurred between 1867 and 1888, during which time the core buildings, structures, and objects that form the Sacramento Shops complex were completed. The complex continued to expand through the early twentieth century, reaching maximum build-out (approximately 200 acres) by the late 1920s.
Throughout the period of significance, the spatial layout of the Sacramento Shops complex was organized according to the specific type of rolling stock served. New buildings were added as necessary to support shop operations, and existing buildings were occasionally expanded or remodeled to accommodate increased workloads as well as new technologies.
The spatial arrangement of the complex remained fairly consistent until 1947, by which time the Southern Pacific had initiated a concerted effort to replace its fleet of steam locomotives with diesel locomotives. The transition from steam locomotives to diesel technology in the early postwar period was marked by substantial changes in the operation and physical fabric of the Sacramento Shops and is therefore an appropriate end date to the period of significance.
Property Types (from Period of Significance)
▪ Industrial
Architectural Styles (from Period of Significance)
▪ American Round-Arched
▪ Industrial Modern
▪ Industrial Utilitarian
Section Three
Period of Significance
Erecting Shop and Transfer Table, view south-southeast
(ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
18 This page intentionally left blank.
Period of Significance
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
19 the property has been largely devoid of cultivated vegetation. A limited amount of landscaping remained in the form of a few small, employee-maintained gardens and a closely-clipped grass lawn on the Transfer Table runway between Car Shop No. 3 and the Paint Shop.
The Sacramento Shops Historic District is visually characterized by a tightly- organized cluster of large, industrial buildings. The majority of these buildings are constructed of brick in the American round-arched style, although industrial modern and utilitarian forms that employ reinforced concrete, wood framing, and corrugated iron cladding are also represented. The buildings are situated closely together without formal intervening sidewalks or roadways. Historically, railroad tracks would have connected many of these resources. Vestiges of this circulation system may be observed in the Turntable, which is located at the northern boundary of the district and played a significant role in directing steam locomotives to various locations around the complex.
Within the boundaries of the Sacramento Railyard, most open areas represent a loss of historic fabric and should not be considered character-defining features.
For example, the large space separating the Paint Shop and Car Shop No. 3 was formerly a transfer table, used for moving cars between bays in the two buildings The open space surrounding individual shop buildings is generally unimproved and without formal landscaping. The area between and around the buildings was initially planted with nearly three thousand eucalyptus trees—to provide shade to workers, to beautify the property, and in the belief that they produced a natural insecticide that would ward off mosquitoes—but these were removed in the in the early twentieth century due to concerns about the trees' flammability, sensitivity to frost, and deep roots that might disturb the foundations of the complex's numerous masonry buildings. Since that time, Section Four
Character-Defining Features
Alleyway between Planing Mill (l) and Erecting Shop (r), view south-southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
20 The following buildings and objects (with original
construction dates) are located within the
Sacramento Shops Historic District:
▪ Car Machine Shop (1888)
▪ Planing Mill (1869)
▪ Privy (1878)
▪ Car Shop No. 3 (1872)
▪ Blacksmith Shop (1869)
▪ Paint Shop (1873)
▪ Erecting Shop (1869)
▪ Boiler Shop (1888)
▪ Turntable (1868)
▪ Transfer Table (2003) *non-contributing*
Character-Defining Features
Car Machine Shop, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
21 DISTRICT-WIDE CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES
▪ dense urban-industrial character
▪ large, rectangular building footprints
▪ shared architectural features, including brick walls; large wall openings; series of arched, multi-light windows; gabled roofs with exposed trusses and roof monitors ▪ site layout of buildings in close proximity without formal intervening roadways or sidewalks
▪ utilitarian setting without formal landscaping
Character-Defining Features
Pedestrian bridge connecting the Car Machine Shop (l) and Planing Mill (r), view east- northeast (ARG 2020).
Paint Shop, view southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
22 BOILER SHOP
The Boiler Shop (1888) is a utilitarian industrial building that is rectangular in plan and clad with corrugated metal siding and corrugated roofing panels. The single- story wood framed structure consists of a central gabled bay extending the length of the building from north to south and flanked by lower shed bays. A gabled monitor roof sits atop the central bay. The exterior walls are clad in corrugated metal siding and translucent corrugated panels, punctuated by fenestration including metal roll-up doors and a variety of windows.
The interior of the Boiler Shop consists of a single large, open space with a concrete floor, a heavy timber and wrought iron truss system, and exposed wood frame construction. Segments of track extend inward from openings in the east wall, and two overhead cranes are mounted on rails that run the length of the center bay.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ corrugated metal siding
▪ gable roof
▪ shed roof extensions on east and west elevations
▪ window openings
▪ signage
Character-Defining Features
Boiler Shop
Key Plan
West facade of Boiler Shop, view northeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
23 TRANSFER TABLE PITS
The present-day Locomotive Transfer Table (reconstructed in 2003) consists of a moveable transfer table and a stationary runway located midway between the Boiler Shop and the Erecting Shop. The transfer table itself is a narrow, moveable metal platform flanked by a short metal railing. One set of rail tracks extends the length of the platform, allowing the transfer table to accommodate and move a locomotive. A rectangular cab with metal-clad walls and a convex, metal-clad roof is situated near the eastern end of the platform. A steel lattice tower atop the western end of the cab’s roof links the transfer table to an electrical line suspended over the runway.
The transfer table sits on eight pairs of wheels that align with eight steel tracks set into the floor of the concrete runway. The runway tracks lay perpendicular to the transfer table and allow it to slide up and down the length of the runway.
The platform and cab were completely re-built by the California State Railroad Museum in 2003 with new materials.
Character-Defining Features
▪ rectangular concrete bed slightly recessed below ground ▪ footprint measuring 70 feet wide and 544 feet long
▪ location between the Boiler Shop and Erecting Shop
▪ four sets of parallel slots and rail
Character-Defining Features
Transfer Table Pits
Key Plan
Locomotive Transfer Table, view south-southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
24 TURNTABLE
The Turntable (1868) comprises a circular pit with a central pivot point on which a narrow steel span may be rotated. The concrete-lined pit measures approximately 100 feet in diameter and features a curved, vertical retaining wall around its perimeter. The deck of the steel span, which extends the diameter of the pit, contains a single set of tracks flanked by metal railings; a small plywood cab is located at one end. An open, pointed arch constructed of steel latticework straddles the center of the span, directly over the pivot point below, and connects the apparatus to several overhead electrical lines. Two short stretches of track extend from the edge of the pit in a westerly direction; these have been truncated beyond approximately 230 feet.
Character-Defining Features
▪ circular shape
▪ concrete pit
▪ tracks
▪ steel framework
▪ table metal cab
Character-Defining Features
Turntable
Key Plan
Turntable, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
25 ERECTING SHOP
The Erecting Shop is a single-story building constructed in the American round- arched style. It is composed of two distinct structures that share a common wall, and is the largest building within the District. The older, eastern half (1869) is of masonry construction and has a metal-clad gambrel roof with a wide gabled roof monitor.
The newer, western half (1905) is of steel frame construction with brick infill and has a metal-clad gabled roof with a gabled roof monitor. Fenestration includes arched, multi-light wood windows and arched, corbelled door openings.
The interior of the Erecting Shop has a concrete floor and features exposed brick walls with no interior walls or lateral load resisting frames. The interiors of each portion of the structure are distinguished, and differentiated, by the exposed roof trusses. The eastern half features wood and wrought iron trusses that rest on a center truss stop atop cast iron columns, and the western half has a riveted, steel Fink truss atop steel columns. Rail segments extend into the building interior.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ brick walls
▪ steel framing
▪ metal gable roof over the Engine Rebuild Shop and Component Rebuild Shop ▪ metal deck roof of the Erecting Bays
▪ parallel roof systems
▪ gambrel roof at north end
▪ gabled clerestory with multilight windows
Character-Defining Features
Erecting Shop
Key Plan
South facade of Erecting Shop, view north.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
26 ▪ exterior articulated bays with arched multilight windows and brick pilasters ▪ brick moldings
▪ shallow stepped cornice
▪ double-hung windows with cast iron sills
▪ large rectangular windows and articulated bays at east end ▪ gambrel roof at north end
▪ gabled clerestory with multilight windows
▪ exterior articulated bays with arched multilight windows and brick pilasters ▪ brick moldings
▪ shallow stepped cornice
▪ double-hung windows with cast iron sills
Character-Defining Features
Erecting Shop
Erecting Shop interior (ARG 2020).
Detail of cast iron post in Erecting Shop (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
27 CAR MACHINE SHOP
The Car Machine Shop (1888) is a three-story, unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. The 9-bay by 3-bay rectangular building has a corrugated-clad gable roof with metal roof decking and a gabled roof monitor. The Car Machine Shop is immediately north of the Planing Mill and is quite similar to it stylistically.
The Car Machine Shop’s walls consist of load-bearing brick pilasters set atop a concrete foundation. Fenestration includes arched corbelled wood windows with divided lights and brick sills in all facades; wood hinged doors and metal roll-up doors at the first story bays of the east and west facades; and three wood hinged doors on the north and south facades. The first story of the building’s interior is a single, open space with exposed brick walls and multiple sections of trackage in the concrete floor. The second story is divided into several rooms by wood-framed partition walls.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building with four principal elevations ▪ gabled roof form with gabled clerestory running length of the ridge line ▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ corbelled brick arches over door and window openings
▪ brick sills
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, with fixed upper sash, operable lower sash, on first story
Character-Defining Features
Car Machine Shop
Key Plan
Car Machine Shop, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
28 ▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, operable
on second story
▪ wood door, hardware and strap hinges (south
elevation)
▪ corrugated metal roof
▪ roof vents, conical caps
▪ tracks
▪ vent grilles
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and
bolts
▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot
hinge), other hinges and hooks attached ladder
▪ gabled wood bridge connection to Planing Mill
▪ signage
Character-Defining Features
Car Machine Shop
Pedestrian bridge connecting the Planing Mill (l) and Car Machine Shop (r), view west-southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
29 PLANING MILL
The Planing Mill (1869) is a three-story unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. It is located immediately south of the Car Machine Shop and is quite similar to it stylistically. The building is rectangular in plan with a concrete foundation, brick walls, and a corrugated-clad gable roof with metal roof decking. Fenestration includes arched corbelled wood windows with divided lights; wood hinged doors in the east facade; and a metal sliding door in the west facade.
The first story of the building’s interior is a single, open space with exposed brick walls, wood trusses with steel tension rods, and a concrete floor. The second story has wood flooring and is divided into multiple rooms by wood-framed partition walls. An enclosed wood pedestrian bridge with steel bracing connects the second story of the Planing Mill to the Car Machine Shop.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building
▪ gabled roof form with gabled clerestory running length of the ridge line ▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ corbelled brick arches over door and window openings
▪ brick sills
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, with fixed upper sash, operable lower sash, on first story
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, operable on second story Character-Defining Features
Planing Mill
Key Plan
Planing Mill, showing former location of Power House, view northeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
30 ▪ corrugated metal roof
▪ roof vents, conical
▪ tracks
▪ vent grilles
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and
bolts
▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot
hinge), other hinges and hooks
▪ attached ladder
▪ gabled wood bridge connection to Car Machine
Shop
Character-Defining Features
Planing Mill
Planing Mill door, view north-northwest (ARG 2020). Planing Mill window, view north-northwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
31 BLACKSMITH SHOP
The Blacksmith Shop (1869) is a single-story, rectangular-in-plan structure that is representative of the Industrial Modern style. It is located between the Erecting Shop and Car Shop No. 3, to the south of the Planing Mill. The northern half of the building features a gabled roof and gabled roof monitor with flat roof portions to the north and east, and the roof of the southern half of the building consists of one large gable with a gabled roof monitor. Exterior walls consist of cast-in-place concrete walls with articulated piers and formwork markings. Fenestration on all four elevations consists of multi-light industrial steel sash with operable horizontal pivots and concrete sills.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ concrete walls with articulated piers, formwork markings ▪ steel industrial sash windows, multilight, with horizontal pivot, operable ▪ concrete sills
▪ gabled roof with gabled clerestory
▪ corrugated metal siding in gabled end
▪ roof vents, conical
▪ original door, wood, hardware and strap hinges
▪ roof vents
▪ attached ladder
▪ remnant signage
▪ original door, wood, hardware and strap hinges
▪ roof vents
▪ attached ladder
Character-Defining Features
Blacksmith Shop
East facade of Blacksmith Shop, view southwest (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
32 PRIVY
The Privy (1878) is a three-story, unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. It is located to the southwest of the intersection between the Planing Mill and Car Shop No. 3, and it is connected to the Planing Mill by an uncovered wood pedestrian bridge. The building is rectangular in plan and features brick walls clad in stucco, a corbelled Brick cornice, and a gable roof. Fenestration includes arched, wood, double-hung windows with divided lights and projecting sills and arched doorways on the north and south facades. In the interior of the building, each of the Privy’s three stories is divided into two north-south rooms. Along the common partition walls, each room includes nine toilet stalls with a single sink at the southern end.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building with four symmetrical elevations ▪ gabled roof form
▪ boxed metal eaves
▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ stucco finish
▪ corbelled brickwork at cornice
▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ recessed door and window openings
▪ projecting sills
▪ wood-framed, multilite, operable sash windows
▪ connection to Planing Mill, wood-framed decking
▪ louvered vents in gable ends
▪ cast iron tie ends, bolts
Character-Defining Features
Privy
West and south facades of Privy, view east-northeast (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
33 CAR SHOP NO. 3
Car Shop No. 3 (1872) is a two-story unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. The building is roughly rectangular in plan and abuts the south wall of the Planing Mill. It features brick walls and a double, divided-light roof monitor with low-pitched gabled roof and parapet. Fenestration includes arched door and window openings filled with multilight wood windows and wood hinged doors, as well as two suspended, gravity-operated steel fire doors on the south facade.
Brick firewalls divide the interior of the building into three segments. The northernmost segment has been divided into two stories, while the southern two segments are single, double-height spaces.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ double clerestory with low-pitched gabled roof and parapet ▪ lower level masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers
▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ tower, hipped (pyramidal) roof, with corrugated sheet metal siding ▪ wood “keystones” with painted numbers at each bay
▪ corbelled brick arches over door openings
▪ brick sills (west elevation)
▪ narrow lancet windows
▪ protective cast iron plates over sills
Character-Defining Features
Car Shop No. 3
East facade of Car Shop No. 3, view west-southwest (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
34 ▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows, two-over-two double-hung ▪ wood-framed, multilight, clerestory windows
▪ wood sash windows, multilight (west elevation)
▪ wood doors, large, squared openings, with diagonal framing ▪ construction and inset doors (west elevation)
▪ concrete lintels (west elevation)
▪ corrugated metal roof and wall sheathing at elevator tower ▪ roof vents, conical caps
▪ exterior metal wall sheathing at second floor
▪ projecting fire walls, brick
▪ freestanding, gabled south wall, brick, with ghosted features and infilled arched door and window openings ▪ suspended, gravity-operated steel fire doors (south elevation) ▪ attached ladder
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and bolts ▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot hinge), other hinges and hooks Character-Defining Features
Car Shop No. 3
South facade of Car Shop No. 3, view north (ARG 2020).
West facade of Car Shop No. 3, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
35 PAINT SHOP
The Paint Shop (1873) is an unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style and is the easternmost of the Sacramento Shop buildings. The rectangular-in-plan building has a concrete foundation, brick walls, and a complex roof combining gabled, hipped and flat portions. Fenestration includes arched, multilight windows with brick sills, industrial sash windows, and large arched door opening between brick pilasters, many of which have been retrofitted with metal roll-up doors, non-historic windows, and non-historic personnel doors.
The building interior has exposed brick walls, a concrete floor, and open roof trusses.
The northeastern corner of the building comprises a two-story structure that has been internally divided into several office spaces. Most of the interior is devoted to three open spaces, corresponding to the southern portion of the building, the western portion of the building, and the two gables south of the two-story office portion.
Exterior Character-Defining Features
▪ free-standing building with four principal elevations ▪ masonry wall structure, common bond brick, with articulated brick piers ▪ (repeating) arched door and window openings
▪ arched original door with hardware and strap hinge (west elevation, southernmost bay)
▪ corbelled brick arches over door and window openings
▪ “keystones” with painted numbers at each bay
Character-Defining Features
Paint Shop
Paint Shop, view west-southwest (ARG 2020).
Key Plan
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
36 Character-Defining Features
Paint Shop
▪ brick sills
▪ roof, multi-planed, gabled, hipped and flat
▪ wood-framed, multilight, sash windows
▪ vent grilles
▪ cast iron tie ends, anchors and anchor plates, and bolts ▪ remnant cast iron hardware, pintles (upright pivot hinge), other hinges and hooks ▪ tracks
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
37 Section Five
Standards and Criteria
1. DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR REHABILITATION
FOUNDATIONS
1.1 Preserve existing stepped brick footings.
1.1.1 Maintain exposed stepped brick footings. Avoid regrading that would obscure existing exposed stepped brick footings.
1.1.2 Repoint and repair masonry units as required to maintain the size, color, texture, bonding pattern, and shape of the stepped brick footing. Where individual units are deteriorated beyond repair, provide new bricks that match existing masonry units in type, color, texture, size, shape, bonding pattern, mortar joints, and compressive strength.
EXTERIOR WALLS
Masonry
1.2 As a character-defining feature of the Sacramento Shops Historic District, brick masonry walls should be preserved and rehabilitated where required, including repointing, repair of individual masonry units, reconstruction of missing details, patching, and cleaning.
1.2.1 Repointing: Match repointing mortar to the existing mortar in strength, composition, and color. A mortar analysis shall be performed to provide a basis for matching the original mortar.
1.2.2 Brick Repair: Repair holes in bricks with patching mix. Patching mix to match existing marony units in color and texture. Do not apply patch materials over existing masonry joints.
1.2.3 Replacement: Replace missing or heavily spalled bricks in order to maintain the stability of the walls. Where replacement bricks are necessary, match existing masonry units in type, color, texture, size, shape, bonding pattern, and compressive strength.
▪ Note: In some locations, previous brick repair and replacement was executed inappropriately. Remove brick and mortar in these areas.
1.2.4 Cleaning: Clean bricks of biological growth and overpaint.
1.2.5 Reconstruction: Where areas of original brick details are missing (stepped brick at gable ends and door/window surrounds, corbels, etc), reconstruct to match adjacent profiles
1.2.6 Abandoned anchors shall be removed or treated with a rust-inhibiting coating to prevent them from corroding and expanding.
1.2.7 Where structural reinforcement of the exterior masonry walls is required, locate reinforcement at the wall’s interior to preserve the historic building’s exterior appearance.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
38 Standards and Criteria
Stucco
1.3 Historic stucco on the Privy’s exterior shall be preserved in-place. Do not cover brick that has been exposed from spalled/deteriorated stucco.
1.3.1 Repair wide cracks by routing or cutting out the damaged area and patch with a stucco mix. New stucco mix must match historic stucco in color, composition and finish texture.
1.3.2 Remove soiling using the gentlest means possible, beginning with testing of low-pressure water-only methods, followed by pH neutral detergents. If any areas are unable to be cleaned without altering the original color or texture of the historic material, leave soiling to remain.
Concrete
1.4 Preserve historic exterior concrete walls and articulation in place and rehabilitate where required as follows:
1.4.1 Repair areas of damaged, cracked, or spalling concrete with a restoration-grade concrete repair mix matching the original material in permeability, color, texture, and tooling.
1.4.2 Remove soiling using the gentlest means possible, beginning with testing of low-pressure water-only methods, followed by pH neutral detergents. If any areas are unable to be cleaned without altering the original color or texture of the historic material, leave soiling to remain.
Corrugated Metal
1.5 As a character-defining feature of numerous buildings in the Sacramento Shops Historic District, preserve corrugated metal roofing and siding and rehabilitate where required.
1.5.1 Retain corrugated metal roofing and siding where not deteriorated beyond repair.
1.5.2 Repair small punctures and pinholes or severely rusted areas with patches to prevent leaking.
1.5.3 Where over 20% of the roof/siding area is deteriorated, replacement in-kind is permissible. Replacement corrugated metal sheets must match the existing in size, color, and finish.
OPENINGS, DOORS, AND WINDOWS
1.6 Treatment of historic large openings must be based on historic documentary or physical evidence. Where large openings were infilled with solid doors or left open, new fenestration shall have minimal framing emphasizing the opening as a void in the wall.
1.6.1 Where large openings are repetitive across one or more facades of an existing historic building, infilled fenestration shall be consistent across all openings to emphasize the original rhythmic design.
1.6.2 Preserve historic doors and windows within original large openings.
1.7 Where historic openings have been altered, infilled or are no longer extant, restoration based on physical or historic documentary evidence is acceptable but not required. Any new interventions in existing openings must not be identical to or in extreme contrast with the rest of the building in scale, design, materials, color and texture.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
39 1.8 Wood-framed, multilite sash windows are character-defining features throughout the historic buildings within the district. Preserve these windows in place and provide repairs as physical conditions warrant.
1.8.1 Carry out all repairs to match an existing historic window in size, configuration, operation, materials, profiles, details, and finish.
1.8.2 When replacing damaged or missing glass panes, match new or salvaged glass to existing historic glass in type, color, texture, and dimensions. Loose, cracked, or missing glazing putty shall be replaced.
1.8.3 In-kind replacement of extensively deteriorated or missing window components may be necessary, but replacement of the window in its entirety should be avoided. If replacement of the entire window is necessary, the new replacement window shall match the visual characteristics of the historic window based on physical and/or historic documentary evidence.
1.9 Steel sash windows are character-defining features and shall be preserved in place or repaired according to the following criteria:
1.9.1 Carry out all repairs to match an existing historic window in size, configuration, operation, materials, profiles, details, and finish.
1.9.2 When replacing damaged or missing glass panes, match new or salvaged glass to existing historic glass in type, color, texture, and dimensions. Loose, cracked, or missing glazing putty shall be replaced.
1.9.3 When renewing paint coatings on steel components, all corrosion shall be removed and the metal shall be coated with a rust-inhibiting primer before applying a finish coating.
1.9.4 In-kind replacement of extensively deteriorated or missing window components may be necessary, but replacement of the window in its entirety is to be avoided. If replacement of the entire window is necessary, the new replacement window shall match the visual characteristics of the historic window based on physical and/or historic documentary evidence.
1.10 Preserve and repair extant historic doors, including door hardware.
ROOFS
1.11 Roof monitors are a character-defining feature of the Sacramento Shops Historic District. Preserve existing roof monitors in their entirety, maintaining clerestory windows.
1.12 Preserve existing skylights in place. If new program uses do not allow natural light, retain existing skylights so they are visible from primary views and infill as required on the interior.
1.13 Preserve and repair existing corrugated metal roof panels. Where deteriorated beyond repair, replace existing corrugated metal roof panels with new panels to match existing in size, color, details, and finish.
1.14 Preserve existing character-defining roof appurtenances (vents, chimneys, etc.).
1.14.1 Consider existing roof appurtenances for reuse with new HVAC systems.
Standards and Criteria
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
40 Standards and Criteria
1.14.2 Locate new roof appurtenances out of public view.
1.15 Consider on-site solar technology only after implementing all appropriate treatments to improve the energy efficiency of the building and after analyzing whether it can be used successfully and will benefit the building without compromising its historic character or the character of the site or the surrounding historic district.
1.15.1 A solar device shall be installed in a location on the site or on a non-historic building or addition where it will have minimal impact. The device shall be installed on the building only after other locations have been investigated and determined infeasible.
1.15.2 Install a low-profile solar device so that it is not visible from the public right of way. Prioritize installing on a flat roof or a secondary slope of a roof, out of view from the public right of way. The devices shall be set back to take advantage of a parapet or other roof feature to screen solar panels from view.
1.15.3 Solar devices are to be installed in a manner that does not damage the historic roofing material or negatively impact the building's historic character. Installation of a device shall be reversible. Use solar panels and mounting systems that are neither identical in color nor in extreme contrast with the historic roof. Mechanical equipment associated with the photovoltaic system shall be installed out of view from the public right of way.
1.15.4 Solar roof panels are to be installed horizontally, flat or parallel to the roof, to reduce visibility.
1.16 Locate new roof-mounted equipment out of public view
1.17 To ensure overall roof form and thickness is preserved, maintain the historic building eave thickness and detailing when repairing or altering an existing historic roof.
1.17.1 Where roof assemblies are required to be thicker than existing due to insulation requirements, the dimensional change where visible at the eaves and gable ends shall be minimal.
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AND DETAILS
1.18 Preserve and repair character-defining features. Where character-defining features are deteriorated beyond repair, replace them in kind to match the existing in size, shape, materials, finish, color, and texture.
1.19 Refer to the list for each individual contributing building and the entire Sacramento Shops Historic District previously in this document.
SIGNAGE AND LIGHTING
1.20 Preserve and restore historic signage and lighting whenever possible.
1.20.1 Historic signage on all visible facades of the building shall be maintained and preserved, when not damaged beyond repair, including painted wall signs and “ghost” signs that may be located on secondary side or rear facades.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
41 1.20.2 Repair, rather than replace damaged historic lighting or signage. Where necessary, replace only parts of historic light fixtures and signage that are deteriorated beyond repair.
1.21 Design new signage or lighting to preserve, complement or enhance the architectural composition and features of the building and the overall character of the historic district.
1.21.1 New signage or lighting shall be designed as an intergral part of the building facade and composition.
1.21.2 Signage and lighting shall be placed to enhance, and where possible, fit within existing architectural features. Designs that block or obscure character-defining features are to be avoided.
1.21.3 Signage and lighting shall be designed to be in proportion and scale with the building in order to avoid dominating the building's appearance.
1.21.4 Sign materials shall preserve or complement the style and character of the building and historic district.
1.21.5 Sign colors shall complement the colors of the building.
1.22 When installing new signage or lighting, avoid damaging any character- defining feature during installation.
1.22.1 Carefully route wiring conduit to avoid damage to architectural details and to be concealed from view as much as possible. Place wiring between the brick courses and recesses to reduce the visibility.
Standards and Criteria
1.23 Design signage and lighting that is pedestrian-oriented and at a human scale.
1.23.1 Signs shall be legible when viewed from the sidewalk.
1.23.2 The placement of signage shall follow historic patterns of sign placement in the historic district.
1.24 Design illumination levels to achieve a complimentary balance between the architecture of the building, character of the historic district, and the design of the sign itself.
1.24.1 The use of shielded and focused light sources that direct light toward a sign or onto the ground is recommended.
1.24.2 High intensity light sources that overpower the building or street edge are discouraged.
1.25 Consider the effect of new exterior lights on the historic environment.
1.25.1 Select fully shielded exterior light fixtures that emit no light upward and are dark sky compliant.
1.25.2 When installing Light Emitting Diode (LED) light fixtures and bulbs, select “warm-white” or filtered LEDs to minimize blue light emission.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
42 Standards and Criteria
2. DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR ADDITIONS TO HISTORIC
BUILDINGS
PLACEMENT
2.1 Do not obfuscate the historic building form by locating the addition flush with an existing façade.
2.2 The historic building’s footprint and overall form must be readily discernable from any new addition.
ORIENTATION
2.3 Locate new additions parallel or perpendicular to historic buildings to maintain the district’s overall axis.
2.4 Exterior walls or elements that are curved or angled are not recommended.
PARKING
2.5 No substantial parking areas are anticipated within the district boundary.
2.6 Locate loading zones or parking spaces away from the pedestrian zone.
SCALE AND MASSING
2.7 An addition to an existing historic building shall be subordinate to the historic building.
2.7.1 Consider using a hyphen to connect an addition to provide a distinction between the new construction and historic building.
2.8 The building addition shall be comprised of simple, rectangular forms characteristic of the Sacramento Shops Historic District.
2.9 The height of an addition must not exceed the height of the existing historic building.
2.10 Rooftop additions, which add height and habitable space to the existing building’s roof and alter the profile of character-defining roofs, are not permitted.
ROOF FORM
2.11 The roof form of the addition must be in extreme contrast with the roof lines of the existing historic properties.
2.11.1 Consider utilizing shared architectural roof features, including gable roof construction or long roof monitors.
2.11.2 Consider using the same roof pitch as the existing historic building.
2.12 The roof of the addition must not overwhelm or compete with the existing historic building’s roof.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
43 FAÇADE COMPOSITION
2.13 The addition shall be designed so that its facades retain similar proportions, fenestration patterns, and level of articulation as the historic building without emulating a historic style.
2.13.1 Consider utilizing bays and/or openings of similar scale and proportion to those present in historic buildings within the district.
2.13.2 Consider incorporating window and door datum lines from the existing historic building.
2.14 Employ basic articulation methods in the design of the addition’s facades, including building walls offsets, changes in material, horizontal and vertical details, and other simple architectural design elements utilized in the historic building.
2.14.1 Applied ornamentation shall be minimal.
2.15 The new design, architectural features, and details shall be modest so as not to detract from the historic building.
2.16 Avoid copying the style of the historic building exactly or using conjectural features that may create a false sense of historic value or change the style of the building.
EXTERIOR MATERIALS
2.17 Use exterior materials that are neither identical nor in extreme contrast to the materials present in the historic district. Materials not found in the district may be considered.
Standards and Criteria
3. DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR NEW BUILDINGS
BUILDING PLACEMENT
3.1 New buildings are to be located to maintain the dense urban-industrial character of the district.
3.2 Where new construction is adjacent to historic construction, establish 30’-0” minimum wide pedestrian alleys.
ORIENTATION
3.3 New buildings are to be located on axis with historic buildings in the district.
PEDESTRIAN ACCESS
3.4 Provide pedestrian access to public rights-of-way without altering character- defining features of historic buildings within the district. Pedestrian alleys are acceptable rights-of-way.
PARKING
3.5 No substantial parking areas are anticipated within the district boundary.
3.6 Loading zones and parking spaces are to be located away from the pedestrian zone.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
44 Standards and Criteria
SCALE AND MASSING
3.7 New construction’s scale and massing shall be compatible with the scale and massing of existing buildings in the district and comprised of simple, rectangular forms consistent with the historic district.
3.8 New construction within the historic district must be less than 24’-0” in height.
ROOF FORM
3.9 The roof form of new construction shall be neither identical to nor in extreme contrast with the roof lines of adjacent historic properties.
3.9.1 Consider utilizing shared architectural roof features, including gable roof construction or long roof monitors.
3.9.2 Additional industrial roof construction types may be considered.
FAÇADE COMPOSITION
3.10 Design the building so that its facades, particularly its primary façade, retain similar proportions, fenestration patterns, and level of articulation as other existing buildings in the district.
3.10.1 Consider utilizing bays and/or openings of similar scale and proportion to those present in historic buildings within the district without emulating a historic style.
3.10.2 Consider incorporating window and door datum lines from adjacent historic buildings.
3.11 Though a new building should reflect the utilitarian aesthetic of adjacent industrial properties, employ basic articulation methods, including building walls offsets, changes in material, horizontal and vertical details, and other simple architectural design elements.
3.11.1 Applied ornamentation should be minimal.
ENTRANCE(S)
3.12 A new building’s entrance shall be understated and utilitarian in appearance, in line with the typically modest entrances of adjacent historic industrial buildings.
3.13 An entrance may be articulated through simple architectural details, such as a canopy.
EXTERIOR MATERIALS
3.14 Use exterior materials that are neither identical nor in extreme contrast to the materials present in the historic district. Materials not found in the district may be considered.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
45 Standards and Criteria
4. SITE FEATURES AND LANDSCAPING
4.1 Landscaping shall be minimal and informal to avoid being in extreme contract with the utilitarian setting.
4.2 While new trees are desired for sunshading, do not locate new trees to conceal historic facades or immediately adjacent to historic buildings.
Placement shall reflect the industrial nature of the buildings and connection areas and plazas between the buildings.
4.3 Streets, alleys, and sidewalks shall be in compliance with the Sacramento Railyard Design Guidelines.
4.4 Refer to the Sacramento Railyard Design Guidelines for guidelines regarding buildings constructed near public plazas, courts, etc.
4.5 Provide adequate site lighting according to the following criteria:
4.5.1 Lighting shall provide enough light for nighttime activities and highlight historic features of the district.
4.5.2 Prioritize the use of existing power/light poles where possible.
4.5.3 Differentiate new site lighting from the historic district's new features and characteristics.
4.5.4 New lighting shall not create a false sense of history.
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
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Standards and Criteria
Appendices
Appendices
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Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
49 Field Methods
Preservation Planners and Historians, Matthew Davis and Caitlyn Ewers, visited the site in February 2020. The buildings and site were documented and photographed.
Subsequent visits to the site have taken place in June 2020, April 2022, and November 2022 by Alice Valania and Naomi Miroglio.
Project Team
The Historic District Plan was prepared by Caitlyn Ewers, Grace Davis and Alice Valania with assistance from Noah Lohmueller and Mayank Patel under the supervision of Principal Naomi Miroglio, all of whom meet the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards in Historic Architecture and Architectural History.
Appendix A
Methodology
Consultation
Preparation of the Historic District Plan is a requirement for each City Historic District per the Sacramento City Code. The plan is based on the findings in Ordinance No. 2016-0047 Repealing Ordinance 2007-103 and Listing the Sacramento Shops Historic District as a Historic District on the Sacramento Register of Historic & Cultural Resources, Adopted by the Sacramento City Council November 10, 2016. ARG prepared the Historic District Plan with review by the City of Sacramento staff and the City's Preservation Commission.
Research
For preparation of this plan, Architectural Resources Group (ARG) performed the following tasks for research, documentation and analysis:
▪ Reviewed previous evaluations, studies, and ordinances and correspondence by the City of Sacramento.
▪ Reviewed federal and state technical bulletins, ordinances, and other materials related to the evaluation and preparation of design guidelines ▪ Developed a historic context statement based on research and findings from the National Register Nomination (also prepared by ARG).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
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Appendix A
Methodology
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
51 AMERICAN ROUND-ARCHED STYLE
Time Period: 1840s - 1880s
▪ American interpretation of the German Rundbogenstil (literally "round arched style), an early nineteenth- century architectural style
▪ Structural masonry, especially brick (often polychrome) ▪ Series of pilasters and horizontal bands forming repetitive grid patterns ▪ Elaborate brick corbelling
▪ Modelled door and window surrounds
▪ Round-arched or segmentally-arched window and door openings
INDUSTRIAL MODERN
Time Period: 1900s - 1960s
▪ Emphasis on volume and regularity in massing
▪ Lack of applied ornamentation
▪ Reinforced concrete walls
▪ Continuous bands of multi-light windows
Appendix B
Common Architectural Styles
Car Machine Shop, view west-northwest (ARG 2020).
Blacksmith Shop, view south-southwest (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
52 INDUSTRIAL UTILITARIAN
Time Period: 1800s - Present
▪ Materials and design that prioritize economy and
functionality
▪ Lack of applied ornamentation
▪ Framed construction
▪ Corrugated sheet metal cladding
Appendix B
Common Architectural Styles
Boiler Shop, view southeast (ARG 2020).
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
53 1 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869): 72.
2 Historic Environment Consultants, “Central Pacific/Southern Pacific Railroad Railyards: Historic Property Inventory and Evaluation Report” prepared for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, March 1998, 5.
3 “City Intelligence: Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 9, 1867; “Local Matters,” Pacific Bee (Sacramento, CA), June 29, 1878. 4 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869): 72.
5 “City Intelligence: Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 9, 1867; Robert A. Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops . . . Incubator of Innovation (Berkeley, California: Signature Press), 23; “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869): 72; Carolyn Dougherty, LeeAnn Bishop Lands, J. Lawrence Lee, and Camille Vicenti, “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Written Historical and Descriptive Data, Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303 (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2002), 11. 6 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 11-12, 39n98, 97n154, 199, 219; “New Shops Will Go Up: Buildings to be Nearly Finished in about Sixty Days,” Sacramento Bee, November 10, 1898; "Sketch of Proposed Bridge bet.
Planing Mill and Car Machine Shop at Sacramento" (April 5, 1899), Drawing 1055 / PSM, SMCC 203 (Source Record ID 6599), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
7 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 40. 8 David L. Joslyn, “The Romance of the Railroads Entering Sacramento,” The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin 48, (March 1939): 27; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 191, 219; “Southern Pacific Shops Damaged by $43,000 Fire,” Sacramento Bee, November 27, 1916
9 Don L. Hofsommer, The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985 (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1986), 73; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 46n65, 166.
10 Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 201; "Organization of Sacramento Shops" (January 6, 1920), Drawing 14042 / Book 329, SMCC 210 (Source Record ID 10833), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
11 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 47n68; Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 187-188.
12 Hofsommer, Southern Pacific, 118-120; “2,200 Railroad Men Will Work Five Days a Week,” Sacramento Bee, December 31, 1934.
Appendix C
Endnotes
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
54 13 “SP Expands Its Plant: More Cars, More Locomotives, and More Jobs in Big Building Program,” Bulletin (Southern Pacific) 25, no. 2 (February 1941): 3; “Women Take Over Tough Jobs to Relieve Manpower Shortage,” Bulletin (Southern Pacific) 26, no. 11 (November 1942): 3; Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 311-312; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 52, 136. 14 Architectural Resources Group, “Sacramento Railyards Sacramento Shops: Phase I Investigation and Documentation, Vol. 1,” prepared for Thomas Enterprises, Inc., August 2006, 17; Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 309, 321. 15 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 56, 67, 69, 93-94, 113-114, 165-166, 220-221; Hofsommer, Southern Pacific, 211, 241. 16 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 69-71. 17 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” 72, 104. 18 Mary A. Helmich with Kevin V. Bunker, A Legacy in Brick and Iron (Sacramento, CA:
FYA Publications, 2018), 275.
19 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 274-275; author interview with Albert J. Di Paolo, Chief Mechanical Officer, California State Railroad Museum, February 26, 2020.
Appendix C
Endnotes
Sacramento Shops Historic District Plan
55 This page intentionally left blank.
Appendix C
Endnotes
SAN FRANCISCO
Pier 9, The Embarcadero, Suite 107
San Francisco, California 94111
T: 415.421.1680
F: 415.421.0127
ARGcreate.com
LOS ANGELES
360 E. 2nd Street, Suite 225
Los Angeles, CA 90012
T: 626.583.1401
PORTLAND
720 SW Washington Street, Suite 605
Portland, OR 97205
T: 971.256.5324
SACRAMENTO
1610 R Street, Suite 300
Sacramento, CA 95811
T: 916.917.4059
HISTORIC PRESERVATION CERTIFICATION APPLICATION
PART 1 – EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE
OMB Approved
No. 1024-0009
Form 10-168
Rev. 2014
NPS Project Number
Instructions: This page must bear the applicant’s original signature and must be dated. The National Park Service certification decision is based on the descriptions in this application form. In the event of any discrepancy between the application form and other, supplementary material submitted with it (such as architectural plans, drawings and specifications), the application form takes precedence. A copy of this form will be provided to the Internal Revenue Service.
1. Property Name
Street
City County State Zip
Name of Historic District
National Register district certified state or local district potential district
2. Nature of request (check only one box)
certification that the building contributes to the significance of the above-named historic district or National Register property for rehabilitation purposes. certification that the building contributes to the significance of the above-named historic district for a charitable contribution for conservation purposes. certification that the building does not contribute to the significance of the above-named district. preliminary determination for individual listing in the National Register. preliminary determination that a building located within a potential historic district contributes to the significance of the district. preliminary determination that a building outside the period or area of significance contributes to the significance of the district.
3. Project Contact (if different from applicant)
4. Applicant
I hereby attest that the information I have provided is, to the best of my knowledge, correct. I further attest that [check one or both boxes, as applicable] (1) I am the owner of the above-described property within the meaning of "owner" set forth in 36 CFR § 67.2 (2011), and/or (2) if I am not the fee simple owner of the above- described property, the fee simple owner is aware of the action I am taking relative to this application and has no objection, as noted in a written statement from the owner, a copy of which (i) either is attached to this application form and incorporated herein, or has been previously submitted, and (ii) meets the requirements of 36 CFR § 67.3(a)(1) (2011). For purposes of this attestation, the singular shall include the plural wherever appropriate. I understand that knowing and willful falsification of factual representations in this application may subject me to fines and imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which, under certain circumstances, provides for imprisonment of up to 8 years.
NPS Official Use Only
The National Park Service has reviewed the Historic Preservation Certification Application – Part 1 for the above-named property and has determined that the property:
contributes to the significance of the above-named district or National Register property and is a “certified historic structure” for rehabilitation purposes. contributes to the significance of the above-named district and is a “certified historic structure” for a charitable contribution for conservation purposes. does not contribute to the significance of the above-named district.
Preliminary Determinations:
appears to meet the National Register Criteria for Evaluation and will likely be listed in the National Register of Historic Places if nominated by the State Historic Preservation Officer according to the procedures set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. does not appear to meet the National Register Criteria for Evaluation and will likely not be listed in the National Register. appears to contribute to the significance of a potential historic district, which will likely be listed in the National Register of Historic Places if nominated by the State Historic Preservation Officer.
appears to contribute to the significance of a registered historic district if the period or area of significance as documented in the National Register nomination or district documentation on file with the NPS is expanded by the State Historic Preservation Officer. does not appear to qualify as a certified historic structure.
Date National Park Service Authorized Signature
NPS comments attached
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Sacramento Shops Historic District
111 I Street
Sacramento Sacramento
Sacramento Shops Historic District (proposed)
Name
Street City State
Zip Telephone Email Address
[email protected](971) 256-532097205-3519
Portland720 SW Washington Street, Suite 605
Matthew Davis Architectural Resources GroupCompany
Name Signature Date
Applicant Entity SSN or TIN
Street City State
Zip Telephone Email Address
95814-2204CA
OR
HISTORIC PRESERVATION CERTIFICATION APPLICATION
PART 1 – EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE
Property address
Property name Sacramento Shops Historic District NPS Project Number 95814-2204 CASacramentoSacramento111 I Street
HISTORIC PRESERVATION CERTIFICATION APPLICATION
PART 1 – EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE
Property address
Property name
Sacramento Shops Historic District NPS Project Number
95814-2204 CASacramentoSacramento111 I Street
5. Description of physical appearance
The Sacramento Shops Historic District comprises approximately 14 acres located north of downtown Sacramento, California. The district sits immediately north of the Amtrak rail lines and Sacramento Valley Station and is otherwise surrounded by acres of vacant land and recently platted rights-of- way to the west, north, and east. The district includes a tight cluster of eight nineteenth-century industrial buildings and one object (a turntable) that together constitute the core of what was once a much larger railroad shops complex. With the exception of a privy, the contributing buildings are large in scale, reflecting their historic association with the construction, repair and maintenance of railroad locomotives, freight cars, and passenger cars. Six of the eight buildings are masonry structures built in the American round-arched style, which was a popular choice for industrial, commercial and religious architecture in the late nineteenth century. The district’s contributing buildings have generally undergone only minor exterior alterations since the period of significance and as a result the Sacramento Shops Historic District retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance.
Please see continuation sheets, pages 2 through 20.
Has building been moved?
Date(s) of building(s) 1867; 1868; 1869; 1873; 1888; 1889 Date(s) of alteration(s) various--see pages 2 through 20 no yes, specify date
6. Statement of significance
The Sacramento Shops, constructed by the Central Pacific Railroad Company and operated in turn by the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, is an industrial district eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places under Criteria A (Events/Pattern of Events) and C (Architecture/Design). As one of the oldest and most prominent steam-era railroad shop complexes in the western United States, the Sacramento Shops Historic District is significant at the national level under Criterion A for its association with the development and expansion of the American railroad industry, from the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the beginning of the Southern Pacific Company’s mid-twentieth-century transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives. It is also significant at the local level under Criterion C as a distinctive example of industrial architecture dating to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The period of significance begins in 1867, with initial construction of the site, and ends in 1947, by which time the Southern Pacific had initiated a concerted effort to replace its fleet of steam locomotives with diesel locomotives. The “dieselization” of the Southern Pacific’s fleet of locomotives is related to substantial changes in the operation and physical fabric of the Sacramento Shops (e.g., the interior remodel of Car Shop No. 3 in 1948 and the removal of the Roundhouse in 1959) and is therefore an appropriate end date to the period of significance.
Please see continuation sheets, pages 21 through 59.
7. Photographs and maps. Send photographs and map with application.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION CERTIFICATION APPLICATION
PART 1 – EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE
Property name Sacramento Shops Historic District NPS Project Number Property address 111 I Street Sacramento Sacramento CA 95814-2204
5. Description of physical appearance, cont.
The Sacramento Shops Historic District includes nine extant resources constructed during the period of significance, which extends from 1867 through 1947. Initial construction of these nine resources (eight buildings and one object) occurred between 1867 and 1888, during which time the core buildings, structures, and objects that form the Sacramento Shops complex were completed. The complex continued to expand through the early twentieth century, reaching maximum build-out (approximately 200 acres) by the late 1920s. The extant resources within the Sacramento Shops Historic District have experienced multiple rounds of addition and alteration.
Extensive alterations associated with the Southern Pacific’s transition from steam locomotive to diesel technology, which began in earnest in 1947, fundamentally altered the appearance and circulation patterns of the Sacramento Shops. A large number of buildings, structures, and objects associated with the complex were subsequently removed in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, leaving only a core group of facilities covering approximately 14 acres. These extant buildings and object—the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, and Turntable—comprise the Sacramento Shops Historic District.
Initial Construction (1867-1888)
In the mid-nineteenth century, the land beneath the Sacramento Shops Historic District was a marshy slough adjacent to the city’s riverfront. The slough and an adjacent lake, Lake Sutter, were gradually infilled with sand by the Central Pacific Company; by 1867, approximately twenty acres had been prepared for construction, though the complex would grow to cover approximately two hundred acres at maximum build-out. The first wave of construction, which was completed by 1869, included the Planing Mill, Erecting/Machine Shop, and the Blacksmith Shop, all of which were large, rectangular buildings constructed of brick in the American round-arched style. These buildings formed the heart of the Sacramento Shops complex, and they were grouped closely together in order to share a common power source.
1 Also included in this core group of facilities were a Roundhouse and an associated Turntable; although neither the Roundhouse nor the original Turntable remain extant, the present-day Turntable is installed on the same pivot point as its predecessor.
The Sacramento Shops experienced a second wave of new construction in the early 1870s. The Paint Shop and the Privy were completed by circa 1873, and a small wing off the southern elevation of the Planing Mill was expanded and renamed Car Shop No. 3 in 1872. All three were constructed from brick in the American round-arched style. With their completion, the organization of the Shops complex began to solidify, with the car-related facilities in the eastern portion of the complex and the locomotive-related facilities in the western portion. Common facilities, including the Blacksmith Shop and Privy, were located centrally or near the southern edge of the complex. Railroad spurs formed the northern and southern boundaries of the complex, with secondary lines providing access directly to certain buildings. One transfer table moved rolling stock between bays in the Paint Shop and Car Shop No. 3, while another moved locomotives between bays in the Erecting/Machine Shop.
The Turntable directed locomotives into the Roundhouse or toward either side of the complex.
Between and around the buildings, nearly three thousand eucalyptus trees were planted in the mistaken assumption that they would ward off the mosquitos breeding in what remained of Lake Sutter.
2 The third wave of early development at the Sacramento Shops occurred in 1888 with the construction of the Boiler Shop and Car Machine Shop. The Car Machine Shop, which matched earlier development in material and style, was erected to the north of the Planing Mill. The Boiler Shop, a more utilitarian building featuring wood framing and corrugated metal cladding, joined the Erecting/Machine Shop at the western edge of the complex. Also in 1888, some existing facilities were expanded, as major additions significantly increased the size of Car Shop No. 3 and the
1 Power was supplied to these three buildings by the Power House, a wing off of the southern elevation of the Planing Mill. This building was later made obsolete and removed. 2 Mary A. Helmich with Kevin V. Bunker, A Legacy in Brick and Iron (Sacramento, CA: FYA Publications, 2018), 154.
Erecting/Machine Shop. These additions generally continued the original buildings’ material, scale, and style.
Subsequent Development (1888-1947)
The Sacramento Shops complex continued to expand through the early twentieth century, eventually encompassing more than two hundred buildings and two hundred acres. The remainder of Lake Sutter was infilled in the 1900s and 1910s in order to increase the available land area, which had the secondary effect of reducing the mosquito problem. The eucalyptus trees that had covered the complex were removed due to concerns about their flammability, sensitivity to frost, and long roots that could compromise building foundations. A limited amount of greenery remained in the form of small gardens and a closely-clipped lawn on the transfer table runway between Car Shop No. 3 and the Paint Shop.
3 Throughout the period of significance, the spatial layout of the Sacramento Shops complex was organized according to the specific type of rolling stock served. Locomotives continued to be constructed and serviced in the western portion of the complex, while car construction, repair, and maintenance remained concentrated in the eastern portion; the Blacksmith Shop, which served both locomotive and car activities, was located between the two portions, with other foundries, warehouses, and similar support facilities located to the south. At the height of activity, passenger car and freight car activities were separated, and the latter moved to new facilities a quarter-mile northeast of the Paint Shop; however, the general division of car and locomotive activities remained.
New buildings were added as necessary to support shop operations, and existing buildings were occasionally expanded or remodeled to accommodate increased workloads as well as new technologies.
As locomotives increased in length, for example, the Turntable was necessarily replaced with larger models in 1895-1896 and again in 1943. Other alterations were related to fire damage or maintenance concerns. Major fires struck the Sacramento Shops in 1898 and again in 1917, resulting in the reconstruction of much of the Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, and Car Shop No. 3. The reconstructed portions of these buildings are similar to the originals in form and style, but certain features— such as the double monitor roof on Car Shop No. 3—were altered in order to modernize the buildings and improve their function. The Blacksmith Shop, which suffered cumulative damage due to the intensity of the activities it housed, was refurbished in the late 1920s and 1930s with new, reinforced concrete walls containing large expanses of steel windows.
Changes Since the Period of Significance
The spatial arrangement of the Sacramento Shops complex remained fairly consistent throughout the period of significance, which ended in 1947. The transition from steam locomotives to diesel technology in the early postwar period was marked by a fundamental reorganization of the site and associated renovations to existing buildings. Circulation patterns were necessarily altered by the change in technology; diesel locomotives could move equally well in either direction, and so the importance of the Turntable was reduced and the Roundtable was removed entirely in 1959. The space devoted to car construction and repair was reduced as diesel locomotive facilities expanded from the western portion of the complex into the Car Machine Shop, the Planing Mill, the Blacksmith Shop, Car Shop No. 3, and the Paint Shop. While many of these buildings experienced interior alterations related to their change in use, exterior alterations were generally limited.
The majority of the buildings, structures, and objects that had comprised the Sacramento Shops complex were removed between the mid-1980s and early 2000s in connection with environmental remediation efforts at the site. In 1988, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) entered into an Enforceable Agreement regarding the investigation and remediation of hazardous substances at the complex; following a change in ownership in 2007, S.
Thomas Enterprises of Sacramento, LLC (STES) assumed responsibility for the remediation work, but Union Pacific resumed responsibility following a 2010 foreclosure on the property. Ultimately, remediation work resulted in the demolition and removal of foundry buildings, personnel shacks, stores buildings, storage tanks, and concrete bunkers, as well as the excavation of more than 50 percent of the area originally covered by the Sacramento Shops, the nearby Sacramento Valley Station, and associated trackage. In several places, including the areas immediately north of the extant buildings and the area formerly occupied by Car Shop No. 9, soil remediation extended from 5 to 34 feet below the then-current grade. Contaminated soil was removed or treated, and the excavated areas were backfilled with clean soil. The Union Pacific remained the Responsible Party
3 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 154.
under the 1988 Enforceable Agreement until 2015, when the property was purchased by DRV and a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was established between DTSC and DRV.4 The landscape of the site has also been altered by the construction of new drainage swales, berms, paved roadways, and railroad tracks. In the years following completion of the Railyards Specific Plan in 2007, portions of the approved infrastructure, including several roads to the north and east of the district, were completed in the area formerly occupied by parts of the Sacramento Shops complex.
5 Aside from a limited amount of trackage associated with the Turntable, all historically- associated railroad tracks were removed entirely around this time. The railroad tracks and heavy- rail passenger platforms beyond the southern boundary of the district were completed in 2012, and a short spur to the south of the Boiler Shop was added in the same year. Finally, the Locomotive Transfer Table between the Erecting/Machine Shop and the Boiler Shop was reconstructed in 2003.
The boundaries of the Sacramento Shops Historic District encompass eight contributing buildings and one contributing object, as well as one non-contributing building and one non-contributing object that were constructed or reconstructed after the period of significance. Two contributing buildings (the Erecting/Machine Shop and the Boiler Shop) and the non-contributing building and object (the Firing Line and the Locomotive Transfer Table) in the western portion of the complex are currently used for rolling stock restoration, maneuvering, and storage. The other contributing buildings (the Privy, Blacksmith Shop, Car Shop No. 3, Planing Mill, Paint Shop, and Car Machine Shop) and the contributing object (the Turntable) are currently unused. The areas surrounding the buildings are generally paved or covered with gravel, with little to no cultivated vegetation.
DISTRICT BOUNDARY JUSTIFICATION
The historic district boundary encompasses the cluster of extant resources that are associated with the Sacramento Shops during the period of significance (1867-1947), including the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, and Turntable. While, historically, the Sacramento Shops complex extended well beyond this cluster, extensive environmental remediation activities beginning in the 1980s recontoured the land surrounding the boundary and cleared those areas of all buildings and associated features, with one exception. The lone exception is a steel water tower constructed in the early 1930s that is located approximately 500 feet north of the Paint Shop. The water tower was excluded from the district boundary due to its distance from the cluster of extant resources and because the land between the tower and extant resources bears no resemblance to its historic condition (as described in detail in the previous section) and would not be appropriate to include within the district.
CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES OF THE DISTRICT
The Sacramento Shops Historic District is visually characterized by a tightly-organized cluster of large, industrial buildings. The majority of these buildings are constructed of brick in the American round-arched style, although industrial modern and utilitarian forms that employ reinforced concrete, wood framing, and corrugated iron cladding are also represented. The buildings are situated closely together without formal intervening sidewalks or roadways. Historically, railroad tracks would have connected many of these resources. Vestiges of this circulation system may be observed in the Turntable, which is located at the northern boundary of the district and played a significant role in directing steam locomotives to various locations around the complex.
Within the boundaries of the Sacramento Shops Historic District, most open areas represent a loss of historic fabric and should not be considered character-defining features. For example, the large space separating the Paint Shop and Car Shop No. 3 was formerly a transfer table, used for moving cars between bays in the two buildings. The open space surrounding individual shop buildings is generally unimproved and without formal landscaping. Trees, in particular, were avoided after the turn of the twentieth century, as they are flammable and have deep roots that might disturb the foundations of the complex’s numerous masonry buildings. 6 Contributors to the Sacramento Shops National Register Historic District include eight contributing buildings and one contributing object (with original construction dates):
4 ESA, “Sacramento Railyards Specific Plan Update, KP Medical Center, MLS Stadium, & Stormwater Outfall: Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report,” prepared for the City of Sacramento (June 2016): 4.4-34 – 4.4-37; 4.4- 48; 4.8-11.
5 ESA, “Sacramento Railyards Specific Plan Update,” 2-37 and 2-65. 6 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 154.
Contributing Buildings
• Boiler Shop (1888)
• Erecting/Machine Shop (1869)
• Blacksmith Shop (1869)
• Car Machine Shop (1888)
• Planing Mill (1869)
• Car Shop No. 3 (1872)
• Privy (1878)
• Paint Shop (1873)
Contributing Object
• Turntable (1869)
The district also includes one non-contributing building (Firing Line) and one non-contributing object (Locomotive Transfer Table).
Character-defining features of the district are summarized as follows:
• Dense urban-industrial character
• Large, rectangular building footprints
• Shared architectural features, including brick walls; large wall openings; series of arched, multi-light windows; gabled roofs with exposed trusses and roof monitors • Site layout of buildings in close proximity without formal intervening roadways or sidewalks • Utilitarian setting without formal landscaping
DISTRICT INTEGRITY
Although the Sacramento Shops achieved maximum build-out by the late 1920s, the organization of the complex and the appearance of its buildings, structures, and objects were continually altered in order to accommodate new technologies, cope with fluctuations in demand, and extend the useful life of the complex. Alterations and additions made during the period of significance do not necessarily diminish the integrity of a building or object within the Sacramento Shops Historic District; instead, they speak to the necessary adaptability of these industrial facilities.
Major alterations that have reduced the integrity of the district and its individual contributors are related to the Southern Pacific Company’s transition from steam locomotives to diesel technology, which fundamentally altered the appearance and operation of the Sacramento Shops during the early postwar period. Even more extensive alterations, including the removal of numerous buildings and rail lines, occurred in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as a result of change in ownership and environmental remediation efforts. As described below, despite these alterations, the Sacramento Shops Historic District retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance.
Location and Setting
Contributing buildings and features remain in their historic locations, and thus the district retains integrity of location. Integrity of setting has been reduced by the removal of numerous associated buildings and structures and by major modification of the surrounding landscape since the period of significance: the historic district covers less than one-tenth the area of the Sacramento Shops complex at maximum build-out (ca. late 1920s), and the rail lines that once provided access into and throughout the district have been removed. The immediate vicinity of the district has been reconfigured with new drainage swales and berms, and highways, roadways, and new rail lines surround the complex on all sides. Despite these modifications, however, the district maintains a degree of integrity of setting through its continued location on the edge of downtown and proximity to active rail lines and the Sacramento Valley Station.
Design, Materials, and Workmanship
The contributing buildings and object within the Sacramento Shops Historic District have undergone minimal exterior alteration since the period of significance and generally maintain a high level of integrity of design, materials, and workmanship. Many key interior features, such as the open floorplans of the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, and Paint Shop, are also intact. The contributing buildings are a cohesive, functionally-related group of industrial resources that exhibit common elements of industrial and utilitarian architecture, including large rectangular footprints; oversized door and window openings; gabled roofs with exposed trusses and roof
monitors; and the use of robust, readily-available materials such as brick, corrugated iron, and wood. Alterations experienced during the period of significance do not detract from the district’s integrity, as this deliberate adaptability is indicative of their utilitarian style and industrial use.
Feeling and Association
Although the Sacramento Shops Historic District encompasses a relatively small portion of the facility’s maximum build-out, the contributing buildings and object functioned as the historic core of the facility, represent some of the earliest, largest, and most important elements that were constructed as part of the Sacramento Shops complex. These resources generally maintain their historic scale, appearance and spatial arrangement, and their proximity to active rail lines and the Sacramento Valley Station maintains a tangible association between the district and the American railroad industry. For these reasons, the district retains integrity of feeling and association.
CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Boiler Shop
Physical Description
The Boiler Shop is a utilitarian industrial building that is rectangular in plan and clad with corrugated metal siding and corrugated roofing panels. (See Figure 7.) The single-story wood framed structure consists of a central gabled bay extending the length of the building from north to south and flanked by lower shed bays. A gabled monitor roof sits atop the central bay. Both the roof of the central bay and the roof monitor exhibit significant deterioration, with notable material loss at the building’s south end. The Boiler Shop is 461 feet long and 151 feet wide, and the peak of the roof monitor is approximately 54 feet above grade.
The long east and west walls of the Boiler Shop are punctuated by multiple roll-up door openings and a few windows. The upper portions of the east and west walls have corrugated metal siding above, with translucent corrugated panels between louvered vents below. These translucent panels provide daylight to the building interior. The roof line of the eastern side bay varies, and includes a former riveting tower with gabled roof that projects above the adjacent structure. (See Figure 8.) The south elevation has a central roll-up door and three windows covered with translucent corrugated paneling. The north wall has corrugated metal cladding and three tripartite windows.
The Boiler Shop interior consists of a single large, open space with a concrete floor, a heavy timber and wrought iron truss system and exposed wood frame construction. (See Figure 9.) Segments of track extend inward from several of the openings in the east wall. Two overhead cranes (25-ton and 50-ton) are mounted on rails that run the length of the center bay. A drop table is located at the northern end of the central bay.
Construction and Use History
The extant Boiler Shop was initially constructed in 1888, replacing an earlier, smaller shop constructed ca. 1872. The Boiler Shop housed boiler maintenance and rebuilding operations, integral to the continued functionality of steam locomotives. Other work included the manufacture of steam and diesel locomotive pilots, repair of large rotary snow plows, the construction and maintenance of ferryboat boilers, “and construction of countless shop tools and equipment.” 7 The building also
housed the Tender Shop, where steam locomotive tenders were maintained and overhauled.8 As diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives in the early postwar period, the activities traditionally housed in the Boiler Shop were gradually phased out of operation. In the early 1950s, the northern portion of the building was modified to accommodate diesel truck repairs and
7 David Joslyn, “Souvenir of Visit to Southern Pacific Railroad Shops and Stores at Sacramento, California” [unpublished manuscript] (1952), Box 1, Folder 4 (3), MS 42 David Lindsay Joslyn Collection, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Carolyn Dougherty, LeeAnn Bishop Lands, J. Lawrence Lee, and Camille Vicenti, “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Written Historical and Descriptive Data, Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303 (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2002), 39.
8 Joslyn, “Souvenir of Visit to Southern Pacific Railroad Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (3).
locomotive painting (as the Paint Shop had been repurposed for passenger car repair). By 1960, the entire building had been repurposed for truck maintenance.9 Key modifications to the Boiler Shop are summarized below. 1888-1889: Initial construction of the Boiler Shop, a 280-foot-long, 90-foot-wide building to the southwest of the Roundhouse and Turntable.
10 1899: The Boiler Shop was extended to 440 feet in length and the northern and southern sides of the riveting tower were widened 26 feet.
11 1905: The Boiler Shop was widened to 135 feet. A riveting tower was constructed on the western side of the building by this date, and its shed-roofed sections were altered. 12 1916: The Boiler Shop was remodeled one third at a time, with work beginning in this year and concluding in the next.13
1917: The height of the Boiler Shop’s riveting tower was reduced and a new 50-ton overhead crane was installed in the main building. The Boiler Shop measured 152 feet wide by 392 feet in length at this time.
14 1950s: The interior of the building was altered to accommodate diesel locomotive repairs. 1976: A drop table was added inside the Boiler Shop.15 Integrity
Alteration of the Boiler Shop since the period of significance has been limited primarily to interior changes related to the shift to diesel locomotive repairs. As a result, the utilitarian building maintains a high degree of integrity and is a contributing resource for its association with the development of the American railroad industry.
Erecting/Machine Shop
Physical Description
The Erecting/Machine Shop is a single-story building constructed in the American round-arched style. It is composed of two structures that share a common wall. (See Figure 10.) The eastern half was constructed in 1869 and later extended southward to its current dimensions. The western half was added in 1905. Together, the structures comprise the largest building on site, at 516 feet long by 181 feet wide.
The older, eastern half of the Erecting/Machine Shop is masonry construction and has a metal-clad gambrel roof with a 99-foot-wide gabled roof monitor. The peak of the monitor is 56 feet above grade, and louvered vents and wood windows with divided lights extend the length of the monitor.
The northern wall features wood, arched multi-light windows set between brick pilasters. A metal roll-up door is located near the western end of this north wall. The western wall consists of a striking, 56-bay band of corbelled, arched window and door openings that are separated by brick pilasters and surmounted by a shallow stepped cornice. (See Figure 11.) The double-hung wood windows feature divided lights and cast iron sills. One door opening retains a divided light arched transom. The configuration of the southern wall, which has large window openings that have been partially infilled and two arched windows at the wall’s upper portion, is similar to the north and south walls of the western half. This southern wall is gable-shaped and rises slightly above the adjoining gambrel roof.
The western half of the Erecting/Machine Shop is steel frame construction with brick infill and has a metal-clad gabled roof with a gabled roof monitor. The peak of the monitor is 65 feet above grade and wood windows with divided lights extend the length of the monitor. The north and south walls are mirror images, with brick pilasters, large window openings at ground level and arched windows above. Though infilled on the south, these first story window openings retain multi-light, wood
9 “Floor plan of Boiler Shop utilization of floor space after total dieselization” (April 7, 1953) Drawing NDB 1315, SMCC 206 (Source Record ID 10578), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
10 D. L. Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript] (1948), Box 1, Folder 4 (27), MS 42 David Lindsay Joslyn Collection, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA- 303, 12; “How the Railroad Shops Were Built,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 4, 1896. An earlier, smaller Boiler Shop had been constructed ca. 1872, but this is no longer extant. 11 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 98.
12 “New Riveting Tower for Boiler Shop, Sac’to” (February 1902), Drawing 2606 / PSM, SMCC 203 + D (Source Record ID 6364), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron,
98. 13 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 98.
14 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 98.
15 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 98.
windows on the north. The eastern bay on the north wall has been converted to house a metal roll-up door. The western wall consists of 25 bays set between brick pilasters. (See Figure 12.) Each bay consists of a pair of 13-foot-wide wood hinged doors with divided light transom and an arched window above. Painted numbers are located between the transom and arched window of each bay.
The interior of the Erecting/Machine Shop has a concrete floor and features exposed brick walls with no interior walls or lateral load resisting frames. The interiors are distinguished, and differentiated, by the exposed roof trusses. The eastern half has two, side-by-side wood and wrought iron trusses that rest on a center truss atop cast iron columns that extend the length of the building. A fourth wood truss supports the roof monitor. (See Figure 13.) The western half has a riveted, steel Fink truss atop steel columns that align with the 25 western bays. (See Figure
14.) Rail segments aligned with each of these bays extend into the building interior.
Construction and Use History
Constructed in the earliest phase of the Sacramento Shops’ development, the Erecting/Machine Shop initially managed the assembly, overhaul, and repair of steam locomotives. It also crafted parts necessary for providing lighter maintenance (performed in the Roundhouse, constructed in 1869 and demolished in 1959), manufactured tools and equipment for use within the complex or on railroad lines, and at several points in its history, produced new steam locomotives. The Erecting/Machine Shop housed bench drills, lathes, planers, vertical and horizontal boring mills, shapers, slotters, drill presses, and grinders, which were used to craft, modify, and true various metal parts. These machines were initially powered by steam engines in the Engine and Boiler Rooms, to which they were connected via line shafts, but all were powered by electric motors by the early twentieth century.
The building was extended several times in order to accommodate growing construction and maintenance needs. In 1922, the Sacramento Shops’ Superintendent of Motive Power wrote that the Erecting/Machine Shop was “equipped for handling all classes of work needed on [Southern Pacific] lines from turning the smallest pin to the finishing of the largest shaft or cylinder on our steamers, as well as the making and repairing of all parts on locomotives.” 16 The transition from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives, which began in earnest in the early postwar period, effected a variety of changes to the interior layout of the Erecting/Machine Shop.
New equipment was installed for heavy maintenance and repair work in the 1940s and 1950s, and maintenance bays were gradually rededicated for diesel locomotive work. 17 The Erecting/Machine Shop
remained in use for heavy diesel repair until 1992, when these activities were transferred to shops in Denver, Colorado.
18 Key modifications to the Erecting/Machine Shop are summarized below. 1868-1869: Initial construction of the Erecting/Machine Shop was completed. At this time, the building measured 204 feet long by 100 feet wide. Its western, northern, and eastern walls were clad in brick, while its southern wall was clad in wood in order to facilitate future expansion.
19 1870: A 50-foot-long overhead crane constructed at the Sacramento Shops was installed in the Erecting/Machine Shop.
20 ca. 1875: By this date, the Erecting/Machine Shop was enlarged to the south by an addition measuring nearly 200 feet long and 100 feet wide. Again, its southern wall was wooden in anticipation of future expansion.
21 1888: The Erecting/Machine Shop was again enlarged to the south. The 124-foot-long new addition featured a southern wall that was again clad in wood, but it was never extended further. A new steel crane was installed in the building’s interior. 22 1895: Three steam engines in the Erecting/Machine Shop were replaced by two electric motors.
23 16 A.D. Williams, “From Bolts to Walking-Beams at Sacramento,” Bulletin (Southern Pacific) 11, no. 2 (February 1922): 7.
17 Joslyn, “Souvenir of Visit to Southern Pacific Railroad Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (1). 18 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 89.
19 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (16), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; “City Intelligence: Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 9, 1867; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 78. 20 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (16), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 78. 21 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (17), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; “How the Railroad Shops Were Built,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 4, 1896. The date of this addition is in dispute, with the Sacramento Daily Union noting 1872, and historian David Joslyn giving the date as 1875.
22 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (19), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections.
23 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 83.
1904-1905: A 180-foot-wide, 520-foot-long addition was constructed along the west side of the Erecting/Machine Shop. The wooden wall at the southern elevation of the eastern part of the building was replaced with a brick wall.
24 1906: A 120-ton overhead travelling crane was mounted in the Erecting/Machine Shop using cribbing and screw jacks.
25 1941: Twenty-five double doors and windows in the Erecting/Machine Shop were repaired due to regular wear.
26 1955: Two engine pits within the Erecting/Machine Shop were infilled in order to increase the available area for diesel engine stripping, sub-assembly stripping, and cleaning of diesel engine components. Elsewhere in the building, the concrete floors were repaired. 27 ca. 1960: A new 15-ton bridge crane was installed in the Erecting/Machine Shop.28 Integrity
Alteration of the Erecting/Machine Shop since the period of significance is generally limited to modification of select windows and doors, along with interior changes related to the shift to diesel locomotives. As a result, the building maintains a high degree of integrity and is a contributing resource for its association with the development of the American railroad industry.
It is also a distinctive example of the American round-arched architectural style that was a popular choice for commercial and industrial buildings in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Blacksmith Shop
Physical Description
The Blacksmith Shop is a single-story, rectangular-in-plan structure that is representative of the Industrial Modern style. The 90-foot-wide building is divided into north and south sections; the northern half is 167 feet long and the southern half is 145 feet long. (See Figures 15 and 16.) The building roof is supported by wood roof trusses and is clad in corrugated metal panels. The northern half of the building features a gabled roof and gabled roof monitor with flat roof portions to the north and east; the roof monitor is 22 feet wide and its peak is 45 feet above grade. The roof of the southern half of the building consists of one large gable with 30-foot-wide gabled roof monitor, the peak of which is 52 feet above grade. Clerestory openings in both roof monitors have been covered with wood boards.
Exterior walls consist of cast-in-place concrete walls with articulated piers and formwork markings. Fenestration on all four elevations consists of multi-light industrial steel sash with operable horizontal pivots and concrete sills. The building has several cargo entries consisting of paired wood or metal doors, including four each on the east and west walls and one in the center of the north and south walls. Several of these doors have inset personnel doors.
With the exception of small offices at the building’s northwest and southeast corners, the Blacksmith Shop interior consists of a single, open space, with concrete floor and wood columns. (See Figure 17.) The wood roof trusses and wood framing, including hewn wood beams, are exposed.
Multiple jib cranes are present.
Construction and Use History
The Blacksmith Shop was also constructed during the Sacramento Shops’ initial phase of development.
The building contained more than two dozen forge hearths and annealing furnaces and was equipped to produce both heavy and light forgings, from car axles, couplers, brake rods, and metal pilots to track spikes, bolts, fish plates, cut nails, and even horseshoes. 29 Within the first decade of its
construction, the Blacksmith Shop was expanded to more than double its original footprint, and it housed fifty forges and other “modern labor-saving machinery.” 30 The Blacksmith Shop was supported
by several other buildings dedicated to iron working, including a General Foundry, Wheel Foundry, Hammer Shop (also called the Blacksmith Shop Extension, although it was a free-standing building),
24 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 85.
25 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 85.
26 “Repairs to various buildings in the Sacramento Shop Grounds” (July 19, 1941), General Manager’s Order No. 17345, Sac. 11603, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 27 “Abandon Engine Pits and Repair Concrete Floor – Locomotive Erecting & Machine Shop, Sacramento General Shops” (October 12, 1955), General Manager’s Order No. 64251, Sac. 15201-A, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
28 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 89.
29 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869):
72; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 90-91.
30 “Central Pacific Railroad Company’s Shops,” Sacramento Record-Union, January 3, 1879.
Rolling Shop, Bolt and Nut Shop, and Punch and Shears Shop, none of which remain extant. This cast of buildings fluctuated over the years, as demand and technologies both changed. In the 1940s, the Blacksmith Shop was repurposed as the Welding and Machine Shop, and in the mid-1960s it contained a Locomotive Machine Shop as well as blacksmith, rod, and welding operations. 31 Key modifications to the Blacksmith Shop are summarized below. 1869: Initial construction of the Blacksmith Shop. The building measured 60 feet wide by 145 feet long and featured a corrugated iron roof with a 22-foot-high monitor roof. The western, northern, and eastern walls were constructed from brick, while the southern wall was clad in corrugated iron to facilitate future expansion.
32 1873: The Blacksmith Shop was expanded to the south by a 90-foot-wide by 172-foot-long addition with 13-foot-high brick sidewalls and a corrugated iron roof. 33 At an unknown date,
the office addition was constructed in the ell between the eastern elevation of the 1869 building and the northern elevation of the 1873 addition. 1876: Rolling mill machinery, designed and constructed on-site at the Sacramento Shops, was installed in the Blacksmith Shop.
34 1888: A second story was added to the office addition off the building’s east side. Electric lights were installed.
35 1917: The northern wall of the Blacksmith Shop was replaced with new brick, punctuated by rectangular windows with concrete lintels.
36 1927: The southern section of the Blacksmith Shop was remodeled and the original brick walls were replaced with reinforced concrete. Plans to remodel the northern section of the building were delayed by the Great Depression.
37 1930: The rolling mill constructed and installed in 1876 was shut down.38 1937: The corrugated iron roof over the southern section of the Blacksmith Shop was replaced with an asbestos cement roof.
39 1939: The northern section of the Blacksmith Shop was remodeled and the original brick walls were replaced with reinforced concrete. The office addition was removed and the northern section of the building was reconstructed flush with the southern section’s eastern elevation, resulting in a regular footprint. The building’s rotting redwood grillage foundation was replaced by concrete piers.
40 1939-1940: The corrugated iron roof over the northern section of the Blacksmith Shop was replaced with a Transite (asbestos cement) roof.
41 Integrity
The Blacksmith Shop retains a high degree of integrity as it has experienced few alterations since the period of significance. It is a contributor to the historic district for its association with the development of the American railroad industry. In addition, since replacement of the building’s windows and walls in the 1920s and 1930s, the building has been a representative example of the Industrial Modern architectural style.
31 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 94.
32 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (33), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; “City Intelligence: Central Pacific Blacksmith Shop,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 13, 1869; “How the Railroad Shops Were Built,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 4, 1896; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 90.
33 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (33), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections.
34 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 90.
35 “Addition to office in Blacksmith Shop” (October 1888), Drawing C 180 / Book 3, Box 464 (X) (Source Record ID 12346), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 98; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 91.
36 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 91.
37 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 99-100; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 94.
38 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (34), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections.
39 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 94.
40 “Southern Pacific Railroad Sacramento Shops complex: view of multiple buildings” (1939), CSRM Negative 7077C, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; “Remodel and Extend Blacksmith Shop” (January 10, 1939), General Manager’s Order No. 7997, Sac. 10554/10534, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 94. 41 “Renew Corrugated Iron Roof to Corrugated Transite Roof on the Portion of the Blacksmith Shop” (January 12, 1940), General Manager’s Order No. 10780, Sac. 11061, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 94.
Car Machine Shop
Physical Description
The Car Machine Shop is a three-story unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. The rectangular-in-plan building is 190 feet (9 bays) long by 75 feet (3 bays) wide and has a corrugated-clad gable roof with metal roof decking. (See Figures 18 and 19.) The Car Machine Shop is immediately north of the Planing Mill and is stylistically quite similar to it. (See Figure 6.) Building walls consist of load-bearing brick pilasters set atop a concrete foundation. Fenestration is comprised of arched corbelled wood windows with divided lights and brick sills. Building access is provided via wood hinged doors and metal roll-up doors at the first story bays of the east and west façades. Three additional wood hinged doors are located on the south façade (two doors) and north façade (one door). The central hinged doors on the east façade sit below a corbelled transom. The arched surrounds of all three roll-up doors are covered in protective metal plating.
A 25-foot-wide gabled roof monitor extends almost the entire length of the building. The peak of the monitor is 62 feet above grade and is perforated by five roof vents with conical caps. The roof monitor is covered by corrugated metal set between louvered vents. Steel trusses, in line with the exterior pilasters, support the roof and monitor above.
The first story of the Car Machine Shop interior is a single, open space with heavy timber columns, girders, and floor joists; riveted steel trusses; exposed brick walls; exposed second floor framing; and wood posts and brackets. (See Figure 20.) Multiple segments of east-west running track perforate the building’s concrete floor. The second story has wood flooring, wood posts and brackets, and is divided by wood-framed partition walls. (See Figure 21.) A portion of the second story is open to the roof truss above.
An enclosed wood pedestrian Bridge with steel bracing connects the second story of the Car Machine Shop to the Planing Mill. (See Figure 22.) The Bridge is approximately 23 feet long and its underside sits approximately 18’6” above grade.
Construction and Use History
The Car Machine Shop was constructed in 1888, parallel to the northern elevation of the Planing Mill. The first floor housed operations for car construction and associated machinery, while the second floor was occupied by the Plating Department, the Brass Room, and the Upholstery Shop (previously in the Planing Mill). The Plating Department and Brass Room finished locks and car trimmings, and the Plating Department also replated silverware used in the dining cars. The Upholstery Shop included a storeroom, dyeing room, sleeping car equipment room, as well as a hair store and picking room in an attic space above the storeroom. 42 By 1914, the first floor had been
converted into a wheel shop.43 In the 1940s, the Upholstery Shop moved back to the Planing Mill and the lower floor began to be used for diesel engine wheel work as well as wheel and axle work for passenger cars.
44 As passenger service declined and was eventually done away with altogether, the first floor was repurposed solely for diesel engine wheel work.45 Key modifications to the Car Machine Shop are summarized below. 1888: Initial construction of the Car Machine Shop, a two-story brick building measuring 189 feet long by 75 feet wide.
46 1898: Fire destroyed all but the first story walls of the Car Machine Shop. The fire may have been the result of a live wire in the second story of the building. 47 1899: The Car Machine Shop was rebuilt on its original foundations; the new structure was similar to its predecessor except for the use of riveted steel roof trusses and horizontally pivoted clerestory windows. A bridge was constructed to join the Car Machine Shop with the Planing Mill around this time.
48 42 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 115-116. 43 “Ground plan showing location of wheel machines in car shop and yard storage tracks for wheels, Sacramento Shops” (August 12, 1914), Drawing 10058 / Special, SMCC 5839 (Source Record ID 3935), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 44 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (24), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections.
45 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 119-120. 46 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 160.
47 “Fierce Fire at the Shops: Important Departments Suffer from Monday Morning’s Blaze,” Pacific Bee (Sacramento, California), November 9, 1898.
48 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 113; “Sketch of Proposed Bridge bet. Planing Mill and Car Machine Shop at Sacramento” (April 5, 1899), Drawing 1055 /
1914: By this date, the first floor of the Car Machine Shop had been modified to feature in- floor rails for the movement of wheelsets.49
1941: The Car Machine Shop’s windows and roof were repaired due to standard wear.50 1945: The Car Machine Shop’s doors, tracks, tool shed, and office were altered to permit the installation of a larger wheel lathe and other equipment related to the manufacture of diesel locomotive wheels.
51 1954: The corrugated iron roof of the Car Machine Shop was replaced and the steel truss roof frame was repainted.
52 Integrity
Alteration of the Car Machine Shop since the period of significance is generally limited to covering of the clerestory window openings, modification of select first story openings, and interior changes related to the shift to diesel locomotives. As a result, the building maintains a high degree of integrity and is a contributing resource for its association with the development of the American railroad industry. It is also a distinctive example of the American round-arched architectural style that was a popular choice for commercial and industrial buildings in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Planing Mill
Physical Description
The Planing Mill is a three-story unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style.
The rectangular-in-plan building is 230 feet long by 91 feet wide and has a corrugated-clad gable roof with metal roof decking. (See Figure 24.) The Planing Mill is immediately south of the Car Machine Shop and is stylistically quite similar to it. (See Figure 6.) Building walls consist of load-bearing brick pilasters set atop a concrete foundation. Fenestration is comprised of arched corbelled wood windows with divided lights. Windows on the south and west elevations are much narrower than fenestration on the north and east elevations. Building access is via wood hinged doors that occupy the north and south bays of the east elevation and a metal sliding door in the northernmost bay of the west elevation. (In addition, one bay on the south elevation has been infilled with a smaller wooden door.) Ghosting on the south wall indicates where the Powerhouse (since removed) formerly abutted the Planing Mill. (See Figure 25.) A 22-foot-wide gabled roof monitor extends almost the entire length of the building. The peak of the monitor is 67 feet above grade and is perforated by four roof vents with conical caps. The roof monitor is covered by corrugated metal set between louvered vents. Steel trusses, in line with alternate pilasters, support the roof and monitor above.
The first story of the Planing Mill interior is a single, open space with exposed brick walls, wood trusses with steel tension rods, exposed second floor framing, concrete floor, and wood posts and brackets. (See Figure 26.) The second story has wood flooring, tongue-and-groove ceiling, and is divided by wood-framed partition walls. (See Figure 27.) Suspended, gravity-operated steel fire doors are extant on both stories.
An enclosed wood pedestrian Bridge with steel bracing connects the second story of the Planing Mill to the Car Machine Shop. (See Figure 22.) The Bridge is approximately 23 feet long and its underside sits approximately 18’6” above grade. An uncovered wood bridge connects the second story of the Planing Mill to the third story of the Privy.
PSM, SMCC 203 (Source Record ID 6599), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
49 “Ground plan showing location of wheel machines in car shop and yard storage tracks for wheels, Sacramento Shops” (August 12, 1914), Drawing 10058 / Special, SMCC 5839 (Source Record ID 3935), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 50 “Repairs to various buildings in the Sacramento Shop Grounds” (July 19, 1941), General Manager’s Order No. 17345, Sac. 11603, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 51 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 160.
52 “Renew Corrugated Iron Roof and Repaint Steel Truss Roof Frame on Car Wheel Shop” (July 16, 1954), General Manager’s Order No. 58856, Sac. 14960, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
Construction and Use History
Constructed in the earliest phase of the Sacramento Shops’ development, the Planing Mill was also referred to as the “wood working and car manufactory” in the late nineteenth century.53 For much of its history, the Planing Mill housed a variety of woodworking equipment on its first floor, for planing and shaping rough lumber into the raw components of passenger and freight cars. The second floor initially contained the Upholstery, Cabinetry, and Pattern Shops as well as the offices of the Master Mechanic, Master Car Builder, Superintendent of Motive Power and Machinery, draftsmen, and clerks.
54 The Pattern Shop and Upholstery Shops were both relocated to other buildings in 1888, allowing the Cabinetry Shop to expand. The Cabinetry Shop remained in the Planing Mill until 1944, when it was moved to the Sawmill (1924, no longer extant). 55 The Upholstery Shop and the Pattern
Shop were relocated back to the second floor, and the first floor was used as a tool room and brass finishing shop.
56 After 1985, the first floor was used as Locomotive Wheel Shop No. 1, and the second floor contained a machine shop.57
Key modifications to the Planing Mill are summarized below. 1867-1869: Initial construction of the Planing Mill was completed. A 46-foot-long by 90-foot- wide brick wing off the building’s southern elevation (initially used as a paint shop and later expanded to become Car Shop No. 3) featured a southern wall clad in board-and-batten siding, to ease future expansion.
58 ca. 1869: A 12,000-gallon water tank was erected on the western end of the Planing Mill’s roof.
59 ca. 1873: A bridge was constructed between the Planing Mill and the newly-constructed Privy.
60 1898: A fire originating in the second story of the Car Machine Shop destroyed all but the western and southern walls of the Planing Mill.
61 The water tank collapsed in the fire.62
1899: Following the fire, the Planing Mill’s remaining walls were reinforced and the building was reconstructed on the same foundation. Steel trusses were installed in place of the original wooden trusses and clerestory windows with horizontal pivot sash were installed. The water tank was not replaced. A bridge was constructed to join the second floor of the Planing Mill with the Car Machine Shop.
63 ca. 1914: The offices along the southern wall of the second floor of the Planing Mill were expanded between 1900 and this date.
1941: Deteriorated windows in the roof monitor of the Planing Mill were refurbished with new sash, glass, and trim.
64 1945: The roof trusses of the Planing Mill were badly rusted and were cleaned and repainted.65
53 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869):
72. 54 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869):
72; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 137-138; Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (15), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections. 55 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 47n68; “Move Cabinet Shop at Sacramento General Shops from Present Location to Saw Mill” (January 12, 1944), General Manager’s Order No. 26806, Sac. 12525, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
56 “Plan of tool room and brass room, Sacramento shops” (May 25, 1945), Drawing 24147 / Special, SMCC 5842 (Source Record ID 4034), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (15), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections.
57 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 85. 58 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 76-77; Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (15), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; “City Intelligence: Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 9, 1867; “How the Railroad Shops Were Built,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 4, 1896; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 138.
59 “City Intelligence: The Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, June 25, 1869. 60 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 139.
61 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 141.
62 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 79. 63 “Sketch of Proposed Bridge bet. Planing Mill and Car Machine Shop at Sacramento” (April 5, 1899), Drawing 1055 / PSM, SMCC 203 (Source Record ID 6599), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 141; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 80. 64 “Repairs to various buildings in the Sacramento Shop Grounds” (July 19, 1941), General Manager’s Order No. 17345, Sac. 11603, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 65 “Repaint trusses and interior of roof Upholstery and Pattern Shop” (October 24, 1945), General Manager’s Order No. 32780, Sac. 12945, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
1950: An overhead crane was removed from the Planing Mill and installed in Car Shop No. 3.66 1951: A drop ceiling was installed over the eastern side of the second floor of the Planing Mill.67
Unknown date: clerestory windows at roof monitor removed. Unknown date: partial infill or window replacement in multiple window openings.
Integrity
Alteration of the Planing Mill since the period of significance is generally limited to covering of the clerestory window openings, modification of select first story openings, and interior changes related to the shift to diesel locomotives. As a result, the building maintains a high degree of integrity and is a contributing resource for its association with the development of the American railroad industry. It is also a distinctive example of the American round-arched architectural style that was a popular choice for commercial and industrial buildings in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Car Shop No. 3
Physical Description
Car Shop No. 3 is a two-story unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. The building, which is 308 feet long and 141 feet wide, is roughly rectangular in plan and abuts the south wall of the Planing Mill. (See Figure 28.) It has a double, divided-light roof monitor with low-pitched gabled roof and parapet. Brick firewalls break the building into three segments; the northernmost segment has been divided into two stories, while the southern two segments are single, double-height spaces. East and west walls at the first story, and at the second story of the northernmost portion of the building, are common bond brick with brick pilasters. The brick south wall, a remnant of the gabled Pattern Shop, which is no longer extant, extends higher than the building’s roof. This wall features two suspended, gravity-operated steel fire doors.
The east wall features 13 arched corbelled, arched door or window openings, each of which has undergone some degree of infill. Most bays feature wood “keystones” with painted numerals. Narrow rounded arched windows are present between several pair of adjacent brick pilasters. First story windows on the west elevation consist of rectangular arrays of wood sash, divided-light windows with concrete lentils and brick sills. Fenestration at the upper story of this wall’s northernmost portion consists of a band of narrow rounded arch windows. (See Figure 29.) A portion of the west wall is obscured by a projecting one-story addition clad in flat metal panels. An entry consisting of diagonal framing construction and inset wood doors in a large, squared opening is located near the northern end of the building’s western wall. The building has multiple other wood hinged doors.
A freight elevator with pyramidal roof and corrugated metal cladding occupies the building’s northeast corner.
The interior of the southern and central portions of the building are each single, open spaces with a concrete floor, exposed brick walls, and exposed roof framing. (See Figure 30.) An exposed tension rod truss system sits atop wood posts and brackets. An overhead crane with tracks is located along the southern wall of the southern portion. The first story of the northern portion is an open space with exposed brick walls, wood posts and brackets, and exposed ceiling framing. (See Figure 31.) The second story has exposed brick walls, wood deck roof sheathing; exposed roof framing; a long span truss system; wood flooring; wood posts and brackets; and wood framed partition walls, casework and closets. In addition, a suspended, gravity-operated steel fire door leads to the second story of the Planing Mill.
Construction and Use History
Car Shop No. 3 originated as a small painting room built off the eastern corner of the Planing Mill’s southern elevation. In 1872, a major addition enlarged the space and allowed it to be used for the final stages of car fabrication. Car Shop No. 3, as the building became known, was used for laying out, drilling, and preparing ironwork, as well as for general car assembly and repair. An 1888 addition to the south of the building housed the Truck Department on the first floor and the Pattern Shop (formerly in the Planing Mill) in the second. 68 By the mid-1940s, passenger car work
66 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 93-94, 165-166; “Install Fifteen Ton Electric Crane in Locomotive Electric Shop” (October 13, 1950), General Manager’s Order No. 47033, Sac. 14105, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
67 “Repair Roof of Car Machine Shop Portion of the Upholstery Shop” (March 15, 1951), General Manager’s Order 48133, Sac. 14202, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 68 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (22), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections.
had significantly declined, and Car Shop No. 3 housed the Electric Shop, Pipe Shop, Air Compressor Shop, and Truck Shop for the Southern Pacific’s new and increasingly large fleet of diesel locomotives.
69 Key modifications to Car Shop No. 3 are summarized below. 1867-1869: Initial construction of the Planing Mill, including a 46-foot-long by 90-foot-wide brick wing off the eastern end of the building’s southern elevation. This wing would eventually be expanded to become Car Shop No. 3. The wing’s southern wall was clad in board- and-batten siding, to ease future expansion.
70 1872: Car Shop No. 3 was lengthened to 307 feet long by a one-story brick addition. The addition featured a board-and-batten-clad southern wall and a corrugated iron roof with a roof monitor.
71 1875: Fire destroyed a portion of Car Shop No. 3; it was reconstructed within three months.72 1888: A two-story brick addition with an iron roof was constructed off the southern end of Car Shop No. 3. Known as the “Pattern Shop,” this addition measured 95 or 96 feet long by 90 feet wide.
73 1899: A 25 horsepower freight elevator was installed at the northeastern corner of the building, serving both Car Shop No. 3 and the adjacent Planing Mill. 74 1916: Fire destroyed the center portion of Car Shop No. 3, leaving only the eastern wall untouched.
75 1917: Car Shop No. 3 was rebuilt after the fire of 1916. The western wall was moved ten feet to the west, and interior firewalls were constructed to divide the interior space into four or five bays. A roof monitor allowed additional natural lighting. 76 1941: Seventeen double doors and windows in Car Shop No. 3 were repaired due to regular wear.
77 ca. 1948: The interior of Car Shop No. 3 was altered to accommodate a Locomotive Air Compressor Room, Pipe Shop, and Electric Shop.
78 1950: A crane was relocated from the Planing Mill into the middle bay of Car Shop No. 3, forcing the alteration of three wood columns; new steel columns and girders were installed to support both the wood truss and crane.
79 The elevator at the northeastern corner of Car Shop
No. 3 was also replaced with a new hydroelectric model in this year, and the roof of the building was repaired to guard against leaks.
80 1954: Car Shop No. 3 was altered to brick-in eight arched doorways by installing steel plate bands in archways over the doors.81
1996: The addition at the southern end of Car Shop No. 3 (the Pattern Shop) was destroyed by fire.82
69 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 138-141.
70 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 138.
71 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (21), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 86-87; “How the Railroad Shops Were Built,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 4, 1896; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 147. 72 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 147.
73 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (22), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 88; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 139. 74 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 89; “Renewal of Elevator #13364, Car Shop No. 3” (August 20, 1948), General Manager’s Order No. 40614, Sac. 13671, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 75 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 141, 147.
76 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 141, 147.
77 “Repairs to various buildings in the Sacramento Shop Grounds” (July 19, 1941), General Manager’s Order No. 17345, Sac. 11603, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 78 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 147.
79 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 93-94, 165-166; “Install Fifteen Ton Electric Crane in Locomotive Electric Shop” (October 13, 1950), General Manager’s Order No. 47033, Sac. 14105, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
80 “Renewal of Elevator #13364, Car Shop No. 3” (March 23, 1950), General Manager’s Order No. 40614, Sac. 13671, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; “Repair Roof of Car Shop # 3, Sacramento Shops” (February 7, 1950), General Manager’s Order No. 44241, Sac. 13957, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 81 Architectural Resources Group, “Sacramento Railyards Central Shops: Phase I Investigation and Documentation, Vol. 1,” prepared for Thomas Enterprises, Inc., August 2006, 18. 82 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 89.
Integrity
Alteration of car Machine Shop No. 3 since the period of significance has included interior modifications as well as bricking in numerous brick doorways. Even so, the building maintains sufficient integrity to be considered a contributing resource for its association with the development of the American railroad industry. It is also a representative example of the American round-arched architectural style that was a popular choice for commercial and industrial buildings in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Privy
Physical Description
The Privy is a three-story, unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style. (See Figure 32.) The rectangular-in-plan building is 30 feet (3 bays) long, 19 feet (2 bays) wide, and 37 feet tall. It has a gable roof atop simple pediments with louvered vents on the north and south façades. Corbelled brickwork defines the building’s cornice. Walls have been clad in stucco, large sections of which have fallen from the building, revealing the brick beneath. Pilasters and belt courses divide the building’s wall surfaces into individual “cells.” Fenestration consists of arched, wood, double-hung windows with divided lights and projecting sills. Arched doorways are located in both first story bays on the south façade, as well as in all three levels of the north façade. Doors are flush wood doors at the first story and glazed at the third story. (Doors are no longer extant at the second story doorways on the north façade.) An uncovered wood bridge connects the Privy’s third story to the second story of the Planing Mill to the north. Each of the Privy’s three stories is divided into two north-south rooms. Along the common partition wall, each room includes nine toilet stalls with a single sink at the southern end.
Construction and Use History
The three-story Privy was constructed ca. 1873, at the center of the building cluster formed by the Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Shop No. 3, and Planing Mill. It was the largest and most centrally-located of numerous privies and washrooms built within the Sacramento Shops complex, and it retained its original function throughout its period of active use. 83 Key modifications to the Privy are summarized below. ca. 1873: Initial construction of the Privy, a brick building measuring 64 feet long by 33 feet wide.
84 ca. 1900: The Privy’s original hipped roof was replaced by a gable roof. The first-floor door was replaced by a window and access to the second floor was provided by a staircase outside of the Privy walls.
85 ca. 1918: Flush toilets were installed in the Privy and the building’s tall, sheet metal ventilation stack was removed by this date.
86 ca. 1940s or early 1950s: Stucco was applied over exterior brickwork.87 Integrity
The building retains a high degree of integrity as it has experienced few alterations. It is a contributor to the historic district for its association with the development of the American railroad industry. It is also a representative example of the American round-arched architectural style that was a popular choice for commercial and industrial buildings in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Paint Shop
Physical Description
The Paint Shop is an unreinforced masonry building in the American round-arched style and is the easternmost of the Sacramento Shop buildings. The rectangular-in-plan building is 308 feet long by 183 feet wide and has a complex roof combining gabled, hipped and flat portions, reflecting that
83 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 122-123. 84 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 144; “Three Story Workmen’s Bldg, Wash and Lunch Room” (September 3, 1918), Drawings 13012 / Book 314, SMCC 210 (Source Record ID 14426), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
85 “Three Story Workmen’s Bldg, Wash and Lunch Room” (September 3, 1918), Drawings 13012 / Book 314, SMCC 210 (Source Record ID 14426), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
86 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 144.
87 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 144.
the building is essentially multiple structures that have been stitched together. The roof, which is perforated by multiple vents with conical caps, is clad with corrugated metal, standing seam, and asphalt shingle, and includes multiple skylights covered by translucent corrugated panels.
Gabled portions along the western and southern edges meet at the hipped roof southwest corner; the remainder of the footprint is occupied by three gabled, single-story ells, a covered walkway with a flat roof, and a two-story hipped-roof portion at the building’s northeast corner. (See Figures 33 and 34.) Building walls consist of load-bearing brick pilasters set atop a concrete foundation and feature arched corbelled window and door openings that vary by façade.
The west façade is composed of 15 large arched openings between brick pilasters. Each bay features a painted numeral mimicking a keystone. Nearly all of the arched openings have been modified through installation of metal roll-up doors, non-historic windows and/or non-historic personnel doors. Suspended, gravity-operated steel fire doors occupy the second and third bays, while the southernmost bay consists of a personnel door surrounded by arched diagonal framing construction.
Two exterior cranes abut this façade.
The south façade is composed of nine large, arched corbelled windows with brick sills between brick pilasters. Mullions divide each window into six parts. Only limited portions of the historic multi- light glazing remain – several windows have been replaced with single light casement or fixed windows.
First story entries on the east façade are similar to the arched entries on the west façade. As with the east façade, the arched openings have been infilled with a variety of roll-up doors, personnel doors, and contemporary windows, with one opening retaining the diagonal framing construction from the period of significance. Several of the arched openings have wood “keystones” with painted numerals. Some, too, have protective metal plating. The two-story portion of the building features arched, corbelled windows with cast iron sills. These windows are double-hung with divided lights. An entry composed of double doors beneath an arched, divided light transom occupies the central eastern bay of this portion of the building. An arched, louvered vent with cast iron sill is located in the uppermost part of this bay. A covered walkway with a flat roof is located between this two-story portion and the gables to the south. At the building exterior, this walkway manifests as a single door surrounded by a wall of industrial sash windows.
The building interior has exposed brick walls, a concrete floor, and open roof trusses. (See Figure
35.) Most of the interior is devoted to three large spaces, corresponding to the southern portion of the building, the western portion of the building, and the two gables south of the two-story office portion. The western space has a wood truss, the southern space has a wood and steel truss, and the other open space has a steel truss. An overhead crane, seemingly a non-historic addition, is located in the southern space. A brick partition wall with arched openings separates the southern open space from the rest of the interior. Five corbelled arched windows with divided lights and brick sills mark the internal wall that separates the northeastern open space from the covered walkway. (See Figure 36.) A doorway has been cut into the westernmost window opening. One of the building’s original painting sheds is located immediately north of the walkway, within the two-story portion of the building. The south wall of the painting shed is lined with arched windows. An office, restroom and workshop wrap around this painting shed.
An open wood staircase leads from the painting shed up to the second-story portion of the building, which is composed of one larger room with two smaller rooms at the eastern end. This area features wood wall sheathing, ceiling and flooring; wood posts and brackets; and wood window surrounds.
Construction and Use History
The Paint Shop was constructed in 1872, after it became apparent that the small painting wing off the southern elevation of the Planing Mill was insufficient to accommodate all of the painting activities at the Sacramento Shops. The building was initially constructed with five painting bays in which passenger cars and cabooses were painted, varnished, and lettered. The northernmost bay featured a second floor dedicated to office space.
88 The Paint Shop also produced furniture glass,
art glass, and mirrors, mixed paints for the Maintenance Department, and painted signs and equipment.
89 As passenger service declined and the Southern Pacific increased its fleet of diesel locomotives in the late 1940s, the Paint Shop was altered to house car repair as well as painting. The northern portion of the building, including the former office space, contained a scrub room, lye pits,
88 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (22), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections.
89 A.D. Williams, “From Bolts to Walking-Beams at Sacramento,” Bulletin (Southern Pacific) 11, no. 2 (February 1922): 28.
rubber room, paint storage room, paint mixing room, and varnishing room, and later the Carpet Shop.
Smaller rooms were sectioned off along the southern wall of the building to house the Air Conditioning Department, a tool room, and an office. By the end of the 1950s, the Paint Shop had acquired all of the passenger car repair functions formerly housed in Car Shop No. 3. Painting was moved into a shed constructed off the eastern elevation of the building (no longer extant). When passenger service was taken over entirely by Amtrak in 1971, the Paint Shop was repurposed again, this time for diesel locomotive rebuilding operations.
90 Key modifications to the Paint Shop are summarized below. 1872-1873: Initial construction of the Paint Shop, a 228-foot-long by 70-foot-wide brick building with five parallel painting bays and a corrugated iron roof with wooden skylights. 91 1894: The Paint Shop was widened in order to accommodate longer rolling stock.92 ca. 1900: Between 1898 and 1903, a 183-foot-long by 84-foot-wide addition was constructed off the Paint Shop’s southern elevation. Four of the five painting bays were demolished and replaced with one open space measuring 114 feet by 160 feet. The northernmost painting bay was retained because its walls supported part of the second-floor office. 93 ca. 1917: The Paint Shop’s wooden floors were replaced with concrete by this date, and the alley to the south of the lone remaining painting bay was covered with a roof of corrugated iron.
94 1941: 35 double doors and windows in the Paint Shop were repaired due to regular wear.95 Late 1940s: The Paint Shop was altered to accommodate passenger car repairs, after this activity was moved from the Planing Mill and Car Shop No. 3 in order to expand diesel locomotive operations.
96 1950s: Rotting wood skylights in the roof of the Planing Mill were replaced with aluminum skylights.
97 1953: The interior of the Paint Shop was painted white in order to increase reflectivity and brighten the interior.
98 1955: An annex for painting activities (removed ca. 1995) was constructed off of the Paint Shop’s western elevation, adjacent to bays two and three. 99 After 1976: Two exterior cranes added at west wall of Paint Shop.100 Integrity
Alteration of the Paint Shop since the period of significance is generally limited to modification of select first story openings, interior changes related to the shift to diesel locomotives, and addition of two exterior cranes to the building’s west wall. As a result, the building retains integrity and is a contributing resource for its association with the development of the American railroad industry. It is also a representative example of the American round-arched architectural style that was a popular choice for commercial and industrial buildings in the second half of the nineteenth century.
90 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 111-114. 91 Joslyn, “The Sacramento General Shops” [unpublished manuscript], Box 1, Folder 4 (22), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections; “How the Railroad Shops Were Built,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 4, 1896; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 155. 92 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 157.
93 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 108; “The Shops That Were Destroyed,” Sacramento Bee, November 8, 1898; “Ground plan of shops showing future extensions” (June 1903), Drawing 3558 / PSM, SMCC 203 (Source Record ID 14544), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 94 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 110; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 157.
95 “Repairs to various buildings in the Sacramento Shop Grounds” (July 19, 1941), General Manager’s Order No. 17345, Sac. 11603, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California. 96 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 157.
97 “Repair roof of Car Shop 3, Sacramento Shops” (February 7, 1950), General Manager’s Order No. 44241, Sac. 13957, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 113. 98 “Repaint Portion of Interior of Coach Paint Shop, Sacramento” (August 19, 1953), General Manager’s Order No. 58678, Sac. 14780, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 113. 99 “Paint spray shops at Coach Paint Shop: typical sections and details” (September 14, 1955), Drawing CE 22803 / 3, Box 647 + D (Source Record ID 57853), California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives Collections, Sacramento, California.
100 EarthExplorer.usgs.gov, Aerial Photo Single Frame Collection, “AR5760023740014,” captured July 9, 1976.
Turntable
Physical Description
The Turntable comprises a circular pit with a central pivot point on which a narrow steel span may be rotated. The pit, which measures approximately 100 feet in diameter, is lined with concrete and features a curved, vertical retaining wall around its perimeter. The steel span extends the diameter of the pit and may be rotated upon a pivot point affixed to the center of the pit. The deck of the span contains a single set of tracks flanked by metal railings. An open, pointed arch constructed of steel latticework straddles the center of the span, directly over the pivot point below, and connects the apparatus to several overhead electrical lines. A small plywood cab, seemingly a replacement or a temporary structure, is located at one end of the span, where it comes into contact with the perimeter of the pit. Two short stretches of track extend from the edge of the pit in a westerly direction; these have been truncated beyond approximately 230 feet.
Construction and Use History
The first Turntable was installed in the initial phase of the Sacramento Shops’ development.
Situated immediately south of the Roundhouse, the Turntable was used to route steam locomotives to any of several tracks radiating outward from its central pivot point, thereby directing locomotives to the various shop buildings and Roundhouse stalls for maintenance and repairs. The Turntable was also used to reverse the direction of steam locomotives, which were unable to reverse independently.
Locomotives and tenders gradually increased in length and weight over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, necessitating the replacement of the Turntable and the alteration and eventual demolition of the Roundhouse.
101 The importance of the Turntable declined as
the Southern Pacific replaced its fleet of steam locomotives with diesel engines, as the latter were able to run equally well in either direction and rarely needed to be turned. However, some repositioning of diesel locomotives was necessary in order to direct them toward particular shop buildings, and so the Turntable remained in use through the diesel era and was not removed when the Roundhouse was demolished in 1959.
102
Key modifications to the Turntable are summarized below. 1868: Initial construction of the Turntable Pit and installation of a 55-foot-in-diameter, wooden A-frame Turntable.
103
1869: The 55-foot-in-diameter wooden Turntable was replaced with a 56-foot-in-diameter, manually-operated iron Turntable. The same pivot point was used. 104
1895 or 1896: The 56-foot-in-diameter iron Turntable was replaced with a 70-foot-in-diameter model, again using the same pivot point.
105
ca. 1906: The Turntable was electrified.106
1942: The 70-foot-in-diameter Turntable was replaced with a 100-foot-in-diameter model, again on the same pivot point.
107
Integrity
The removal of the Roundhouse in 1959 has somewhat reduced the Turntable’s integrity of setting, as the two resources were closely related with regard to location and operation. However, the Turntable itself, which dates to 1942, has experienced little alteration since the period of significance and is a distinctive example of steam-era railroad equipment. The Turntable maintains a degree of integrity and is a contributing resource for its association with the development of the American railroad industry.
101 The Roundhouse was demolished in 1959 (Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 72).
102 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 16n13, 62, 72.
103 Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 72.
104 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 11; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 72, 195.
105 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 219; Helmich, A Legacy in Brick and Iron, 76.
106 Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 191- 192.
107 Robert A. Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops . . . Incubator of Innovation (Berkeley, California:
Signature Press), 309; Dougherty et al., “Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops,” Historic American Buildings Survey No. CA-303, 43n55.
NONCONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Locomotive Transfer Table
Physical Description
The present-day Locomotive Transfer Table consists of a moveable transfer table and the stationary runway upon which this moves. (See Figure 38.) It is located between the Boiler Shop and the Erecting/Machine Shop. The transfer table itself is a narrow, moveable metal platform flanked by a short metal railing. One set of rail tracks extend the length of the platform, allowing the transfer table to accommodate and move a locomotive. A rectangular cab with metal-clad walls and a convex, metal-clad roof is situated near the eastern end of the platform. A steel lattice tower atop the western end of the cab’s roof links the transfer table to an electrical line suspended over the runway. The transfer table sits on eight pairs of wheels that align with eight steel tracks set into the floor of the concrete runway. The runway tracks lay perpendicular to the transfer table and allow it to slide up and down the length of the runway.
The platform and cab were completely re-built by the California State Railroad Museum in 2003 with new materials. While the present-day transfer table is similar in scale to its predecessor, it has a contemporary appearance and is not a historic reconstruction. 108 As a result, the Locomotive
Transfer Table retains insufficient integrity of design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association to be considered a contributing object to the Sacramento Shops district.
Firing Line
Physical Description
The Firing Line was added to the Sacramento Shops between 1957 and 1964 and replaced an earlier firing line in the same location.
109 (See Figure 39.) It is a utilitarian industrial building that is rectangular in plan. The single-story steel-framed structure features a gable roof with metal ridgeline capping and minimal eave overhang. The roof is punctuated by two narrow, rectangular covered vents on either side of the ridgeline and a cylindrical metal chimney near the northwestern corner of the building.
Vertically-oriented corrugated metal siding covers the upper two-thirds of the Firing Line’s lateral façades. The lower third of the lateral façades and the gable ends of the building are uncovered. A shed-roofed addition clad in corrugated metal siding extends off the northern façade of the building, and a metal door and louvered vent punctuate the addition’s western façade.
The interior of the Firing Line consists of a single large, open bay with exposed steel trusses and a concrete floor that extends slightly beyond the gable end walls of the building. Two sets of tracks extend the length of the concrete floor, and a series of electric lights are suspended from the centerline of the building’s roof.
Because it was added to the site after the period of significance, the Firing Line is a non- contributing building to the Sacramento Shops Historic District.
108 Author interview with Albert J. Di Paolo, Chief Mechanical Officer, California State Railroad Museum, February 26, 2020.
109 EarthExplorer.usgs.gov, Aerial Photo Single Frame Collection, “AR1EJA000020118,” captured August 5, 1947; EarthExplorer.usgs.gov, Aerial Photo Single Frame Collection, “ARMPTF1610B0621,” captured June 27, 1956; EarthExplorer.usgs.gov, Aerial Photo Single Frame Collection, “ARM6669701R1790,” captured April 22, 1966. The Firing Line may have been relocated from El Paso (Author interview with Albert J. Di Paolo, Chief Mechanical Officer, California State Railroad Museum, February 26, 2020).
HISTORIC PRESERVATION CERTIFICATION APPLICATION
PART 1 – EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE
Property name Sacramento Shops Historic District NPS Project Number Property address 111 I Street Sacramento Sacramento CA 95814-2204
6. Statement of significance, cont.
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE SACRAMENTO SHOPS
The Sacramento Shops Historic District reflects the history and development of the railroad in the American West, from the construction of the transcontinental railroad through the early post-World War II period. The Central Pacific Railroad broke ground on the complex in 1867, two years prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad, and by 1869, the Sacramento Shops were described as “the largest iron-working and wood-working establishments in operation west of St. Louis, or even Chicago.”
1 The complex expanded the number and range of its facilities in the decades that followed, earning a reputation for self-sufficiency, productivity, and innovation in rolling stock design.
In 1885, the Central Pacific Railroad was leased to a holding company, the Southern Pacific Company, and the Sacramento Shops began to operate under a new corporate identity. The Shops continued to expand, as the Southern Pacific altered existing buildings and added new ones to meet the fluctuating demand of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries. The complex reached maximum build-out in the late 1920s, following expansion in the boomtime after World War I.
Like most American businesses, the Southern Pacific Company struggled through the economic depression of the 1930s. The Sacramento Shops complex was little changed until the end of the decade, when activity increased in the lead-up to the United States’ entry into World War II. The Shops supported the war effort by maintaining the massive volume of rolling stock required to move servicemen and supplies around the country, significantly expanding their workforce in the process in order to meet wartime demands.
In the early postwar period, the Southern Pacific Company committed to phasing out steam locomotives in favor of diesel engines. This decision triggered a decade-long transitional period, during which steam and diesel locomotive operations shared space at the Sacramento Shops. By the end of this transition, diesel locomotives maintenance and repair operations dominated the complex and had resulted in the overhaul or removal of buildings and equipment. Additional facilities were removed in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, leaving only the Boiler Shop, Erecting/Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Car Machine Shop, Planing Mill, Car Shop No. 3, Privy, Paint Shop, Turntable, Locomotive Transfer Table, and Firing Line within the boundaries of the Sacramento Shops Historic District at the time of this writing.
The following sections provide an overview of the development and activity at the Sacramento Shops Historic District from the formation of the Central Pacific Railroad through the present. This is followed by discussions of the district’s eligibility under Criteria A and C.
The Central Pacific Railroad and Early Development of the Sacramento Shops: 1861-1885 The Sacramento Shops were established by the Central Pacific Railroad, which incorporated in 1861 and constructed the western portion of the transcontinental railroad between 1863 and 1869. The Central Pacific initially purchased locomotives from suppliers in the eastern United States and contracted locally in Sacramento for assembly and repair, circumventing the need to construct its own intensive shop facilities. Temporary wooden shops for tool and materials storage, forging, and car construction and repair were built on H and I Streets in Sacramento within a few years of the railroad’s incorporation. The Central Pacific, however, quickly recognized the need for expanded facilities, and construction began on the present-day site of the Sacramento Shops Historic District in 1867. Leland Stanford, one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, later justified the decision to stockholders by emphasizing the relative remoteness of the American West:
“Far removed as we are from manufacturing centers, shops complete for the manufacture of cars and locomotives are a necessity.”
2 1 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869):
72. 2 Robert A. Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops: …Incubators of Innovation (Berkeley, CA: Signature Press, 2010), 18; John H. White, Jr., “The Railroad Reaches California: Men, Machines, and Cultural Migration,”
Building Construction
Land for the Sacramento Shops was deeded from the City of Sacramento to the Central Pacific Railroad soon after the latter had incorporated. At the time, the site comprised thirty acres of slough along the city’s riverfront, as well as the adjacent marshy lake known variously as Lake Sutter, Sutter’s Lake, Old Slough, and China Slough (the latter term referred to the lake’s proximity to Sacramento’s Chinatown, Yee Fow). The lake was originally a clear body of water connected to the river, but it was cut off from fresh water by a railroad levee and gradually filled with sand and refuse. The Central Pacific’s first shop buildings were constructed on approximately twenty acres of former slough.
3 Several buildings were constructed during the first phase of development, which began in 1867.
Initial efforts were based on plans by a team of Central Pacific employees, including John Woolaver, a draftsman, and Joseph R. Wilkinson, an engineer who would later become the Central Pacific Railroad’s Resident Engineer in Sacramento. Pilings were driven into the infilled slough, and foundations of redwood grillage, rubble, and granite were laid beginning in 1867. Local quarryman S. D. Smith held the contract for providing the granite used in these first foundations. 4 The first building completed was the “colossal” two-story Planing Mill, alternatively referred to as the “wood working and car manufactory.”
5 The building included two wings off of its southern
elevation: the larger, eastern wing was used for painting and would later be enlarged to serve as Car Shop No. 3. The smaller, western wing was the Power House (no longer extant), containing a stationary steam engine and shaft system used to power the woodworking and machining equipment in both the Planing Mill and the Erecting/Machine Shop (completed by 1869). The Power House’s 160- horsepower Corliss steam engine was built with castings made in Folsom, California, and locally at Goss & Lambard’s Sacramento Iron Works, with most of the machine work completed by the latter.
Water for the steam engine was supplied by two artesian wells, each 75 feet deep and operated by friction pulleys. The stack covering the Power House comprised some 660,000 bricks and was surmounted by an iron cap weighing one ton.
6 Following the Planing Mill and its two small wings, the Roundhouse, Turntable, Erecting/Machine Shop, and Blacksmith Shop were completed in quick succession. The Erecting/Machine Shop and the Blacksmith Shop were situated immediately southwest of the Power House, which supplied power to their machinery via a drive system that extended first to the Erecting/Machine Shop and by extension to the Blacksmith Shop; secondary drive shafts within each individual building worked with an array of clutches, leather belts, and pulleys to power individual machinery. The Erecting/Machine Shop included eleven pits adapted for locomotive repairs and a 50-foot-long wooden crane. It was stocked with a variety of machinery to be utilized for locomotive repairs, including “a colossal lathe for turning locomotive driving wheels 6½ feet in diameter, a drill for boring out and smoothing the center of car wheels, nut-tapping machines, very large iron planing machines, [and] a slot-cutting machine for keying positions and the like.” 7 The nearby Blacksmith Shop
contained thirty forges and three steam hammers. Together, these buildings were intended to perform all of the railroad’s heavy repair work and locomotive construction and assembly; routine or “running” maintenance was conducted at smaller servicing shops, which were constructed at various points along the rail line, or at the Sacramento Shops in the stalls of the Roundhouse. 8 The semi-circular Roundhouse (no longer extant), which was located at the northern end of the early complex, was the only building in the first phase of construction without a pile foundation.
Instead, it was constructed on a foundation of thick blocks of granite. When complete, the Roundhouse contained twenty-nine stalls, twenty-eight of which were equipped to accommodate locomotives and one of which was devoted to office use. Water for the steam engines was supplied from a two-story side tower that housed a 65,000-gallon water tank on its roof, offices on its first and second stories, and seven 1,000-gallon sheet-iron oil reservoirs in its cellar. A
California Historical Quarterly 52, no. 2 (Summer 1973): 139; David L. Joslyn, “The Romance of the Railroads Entering Sacramento,” The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin 48, (March 1939): 26. 3 Historic Environment Consultants, “Central Pacific/Southern Pacific Railroad Railyards: Historic Property Inventory and Evaluation Report” prepared for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, March 1998, 5. 4 “City Intelligence: Railroad Works,” Sacramento Daily Union, August 9, 1867; “Local Matters,” Pacific Bee (Sacramento, CA), June 29, 1878; Joslyn, “The Romance of the Railroads,” 27; Robert E. Draper, Sacramento City and County Directory for 1869 (Sacramento, CA: H. S. Crocker & Co., 1869), 175. 5 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869):
72. 6 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869):
72; Joslyn, “The Romance of the Railroads,” 27.
7 “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869):
72. 8 Pecotich, Southern Pacific’s Sacramento Shops, 23; “The Pacific Railroad Terminal Shops at Sacramento,” Mining and Scientific Press 19, no. 5 (July 31, 1869): 72.