Ordinarily I would post this kind of query here as I know it isn't actually preservation related but I'm a little pressed for info right now.

I'm currently researching the history of Southern Pacific's Sparks, NV shops/roundhouse and need some information.

What I know.

The shops were built in 1904-05 when the division point was moved to Sparks from Wadsworth,NV. At its height it employed 16 foremen and some 400 workers/tradesmen. It was enlarged (erection shop addition) using the sheet metal and locomotive cranes from the closed T&NO El Paso shops in 1944 and closed sometimes between 1945-1958.

My questions to anyone who has answers:

1. What was exactly the extent of the work carried out there? I know heavy rebuilds were performed there but was there any ground up locomotive builds preformed there? I have heard some rumors of 2-8-0s and 2-6-0s being built there. But I think locomotive building was only performed at Sacramento and Houston on the steam-era Espee. Espee also made locomotives out of spare part/obsolete locos during WWI, I feel this time period would be the best time frame for this happening.

2. In what year was the shop closed? I know that the roundhouse was torn down in 1959. I have an overhead photo of the shops that seem to indicate some activity at the shops from the early fifties. But I can't pin down a date for closure.

Thank you very much.

Terry,

Your query certainly falls within the purview of RyPN. From the statement of purpose: “The Railway Preservation News (*RyPN) website is dedicated to the preservation of railroad history, including documents, artifacts and infrastructure.” (Emphasis added.)

To partially answer your question, I’ve uncovered the following:

Apparently, the Southern Pacific shops at Sparks, Nevada dwindled over a period of time, ca. 1953–56. A 1955 newspaper article concerning the death of car repairman notes he retired “two years ago [ca. 1953] when the railroad shut down its facilities here.” An article from 1956 mentions the “now dwindling railroad shops” at Sparks. Finally, a news piece published in February 1957 states, “Shop service was discontinued last year [1956] when the company began replacing its steam locomotives with diesel engines.”

The same 1957 article pins the beginning of the razing of the Southern Pacific roundhouse at Sparks to Monday morning, 18 Feb. 1957, when “a demolition team from Merced, Calif., . . . began the preliminary job of removing all of the windows from the 53-year-old brick building.”

References:
Reno Nevada State Journal, “M. Georgoudes Taken by Death,” 21 Apr. 1955, 16; Reno Evening Gazette, “S. P. Railroad Officials Meet Sparks Group,” 14 Sept. 1956, 5; and Reno Nevada State Journal, “Work of Razing Sparks’ Historic Roundhouse Started by SP Crews,” 25 Feb. 1957, 8.

Cheers,

Thank you, that's exactly the information I needed! I'm going to research more in to the NSJ/REG records myself, I think UNR has some mirco-film on hand.

Terry,

In early April 1954, the Nevada State Journal first speculated that the dieselization of the S. P. locomotive fleet would eliminate the shops at Sparks, Nevada.

However, S. P. officials quickly denied plans of either removing the locomotive hoist or demolishing the facilities, calling the laying off of 141 employees since the beginning of 1954 “adjustments occasioned largely by the extensive changeover from steam to diesel locomotive power operation . . . [and] a seasonal decline in traffic throughout the area.”

Nevertheless, on 8 June 1954, J. W. Corbett, S. P. vice president of operations confirmed that “the once-great shop facilities in Sparks will be of no further use to the S. P. after it has completed the change-over from steam locomotives to diesels.”

References:
Reno Nevada State Journal, “Diesels Eliminating S. P. Shops in Sparks,” 8 Apr. 1954, 8; Reno Evening Gazette, “Adjustment Made In Working Force at Sparks Shops,” 9 Apr. 1954, 11; and Reno Nevada State Journal, “S. P. Announces Its Plans to Abandon Sparks Shops,” 9 June 1954, 8.

P.S. Check your PM inbox.

In Reno you will probably find the newspaper microfilms at the Nevada Historical Society on North Virginia (on the UNR campus).

The NHS library is open 12-4 Tuesday to Saturday.
http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/museums/reno/his-soc.htm

The University may also have the microfilms. The University library will be moving into its new building this year beginning in mid-May.
University of Nevada, Reno Libraries


When I'm up in Nevada to read newspaper microfilms I usually do it at the State Library in Carson City. It is open M-F 8 to 5.
State Library Information
Newspaper Holdings

There was also a newspaper in Sparks.

The shops in Sparks were better able to work on the cab-forwards than the Sacramento shops. It was newer and larger.

The Sparks shops often did major work for the narrow gauge equipment than was used on the Mina to Keeler line. Also in the 1915-20 era both it and Ogden shops built flat cars for the narrow gauge.[/url]