I remember when I was about 8 (I'm 18 now) and CSRM was just breaking ground on the Museum of Railroad Techonology just down the Sacramento Southern from their Museum of Railway History. Thankfully, this project never really got off the ground (Sac Shops is a MUCH better location) and there has been many vague articles and releases since....
My questions are:
What exactly is the future of the Sac Shops? What will the museum likely contain? How will this connect with their Old Sac assests? How far along are they in the process? ...etc.
Disclaimer: I don't intend for this to become any critique of shortcomings of this museum or their policies (I was raised at this place and consider it home :) )

benquirkc@yahoo.com

The use of the former CP/SP shops is the best for the museum facility telling the story of railroad technology. And I hear that the staff and supporters of CSRM are very enthused about getting the long-term lease from UP.

The museum has moved into some of the buildings as the old leased shop building that they had been using was being torn down by the UP. The maintenance and restoration shop is in one of the old engine shop buildings. The museum and its support foundation have some good plans for the shops. Right now they are in the process of reinstalling one of the transfer tables.

Also going on in Sacramento is a plan to replace the present SP station with a new one. The relocated track will be at approximately the same location as it was before the present station was built in the 1920s. The change will eliminate the sharp s-curve to the east of the station. The new station will be an underpass away from the CP/SP shops (which will have auto parking to the north). The present SP station would become something like a lobby for a new hotel.

If this relcoation happens the museum can get an easy connection between the shops and Old Sacramento. UP took out the crossing diamond to reduce maintenance. Since then the UP will install a "jump" track over the mainline to move equipment into and out of Old Sacramento.

I hope someone from CSRM or CSRMF provides more information. (I've advised one of the CSRMF staff of this thread).

By the way, it is not called MORT anymore. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the new name.

Brian Norden


bnorden49@earthlink.net

Thanks Brian.
To add to my previous question, the SP shops greatly increase the amount of exhibit space for the museum. Am I correct in assuming that the SF collection will be moved indoors (or parts of it)? Also, due to the recent changes at the Western Railway Museum and their very appropriate deaccession policy, has the CSRM made any moves in acquiring the WP 94 or the WP freight engine in order to move them to a much more appropriate and better equipped location? Finally, with the 2472 and 2467 at the relatively inaccessible Hunter's Point location (I lived in SF and was only willing to deal with that inconvenience once), would either of these groups be interested in storing their locomotives at the new museum between runs? (I realize it's quite a drive from SF).

Just some ideas.....

benquirkc@yahoo.com

Brian Norden's posting to this interchange string tells most of the story about CSRM's planned Railroad Technology Museum (formerly known as MORT. There is no question that the project's redirection toward the historic Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops is an extremely positive step--one that was simply not a possibility when the shops were still in operation under Southern Pacific stewardship.

As with any complex undertaking, the actual realization of the Railroad Technology Museum is still some time off. As to exactly what the facility would contain, the only specifics to date are that the Boiler Shop would become the home of the Museum's Restoration Shop, and the cavernous Erecting Shop would contain the main exhibit galleries. Exhibit design is still a ways off.

The Sacramento Railyards, hundreds of acres large and home to the Shops, is currently undergoing major revision to its urban development plans. Also working its way through the planning process are major changes to the operational and service layouts for Amtrak's Sacramento rail passenger station. As you might imagine, these planning and development processes will take time to come to fruition. Our goal is to have a Grand Opening for the new Railroad Technology Museum before this decade is out--perhaps as early as 2007 or 2008.

What's been done in the meantime? Lots. Portions of the complex (Boiler and Erecting Shops) have been leased from UP, and the Museum's restoration activities are already taking place therein. The transfer table between the two structures, removed and sold some years ago, is being reconstructed following successful completion this past year of a $300,000 fundraising campaign by the Railroad Museum and Foundation. Another exciting development has been documentation of the Shops by HAER.

The Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), a division of the National Park Service, is spending two summers documenting the historic Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops complex. Among the largest HAER undertakings in recent history, the Sacramento Shops HAER project requires the services of a larger-than-usual staff. The project is sponsored by the California State Railroad Museum and Foundation, with the cooperation of current property owner Union Pacific Railroad.

Beginning in 2001 and continuing through 2002, a team of six students, professional architects, and historians from throughout the U.S. will spend their summer months in Sacramento while working full-time on the project. The architects will measure the site and its individual structures, producing over 20 sheets of detailed drawings. The historian will research the history of the Shops, including the process of locomotive construction which once was proudly hailed as “state of the art” by Southern Pacific Railroad. A photographer will join the team midway through the project, documenting the existing structures on archival film for benefit of future generations.

Once completed, the HAER project’s outcomes—including architectural drawings, the Shops history, and archival photographs—will be available for public review through the Library of Congress and the California State Railroad Museum Library. The California State Railroad Museum and Foundation expect that the products of this HAER project will aid greatly in the preservation and re-use of the former Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops complex.

The Railroad Technology Museum at the historic Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops is moving along. It will still take several more years and many dollars to complete, and it is intertwined with a number of community planning processes that will need to be worked through. With luck, the Museum hopes to be celebrating the Railroad Technology Museum's opening with its next Railfair, hopefully circa 2008.

I hope this helps bring you up to date. I encourage you to consider joining the CSRM Foundation's Museum Associates program if you'd like to receive regular updates through our newsletter. Also, the Museum's Website will carry major announcements from time to time (see link).

Sincerely,

Paul Hammond
Director of Marketing, CSRM Foundation

http://www.californiastaterailroadmuseum.org
phammond@californiastaterailroadmuseum.org

> By the way, it is not called MORT anymore.
> But for the life of me, I cannot recall the
> new name.

It's called post-MORT.

As one who long felt that the "shopping mall with trains" called MORT was a waste of time and money when a real, historic shop facility lay right next door, I'm glad those in charge finally came to their senses to save some real history rather than creating more make-believe.

To me, it should have seemed obvious that the foundering SP was not long for the world and the ancient Sacramento facility would not be retained by a buyer, thus making it redundant and available before too long. Had this been pursued in the first place, what else might have been saved at the site?

Though the place will likely be prettied up and changed so as to be unrecognizable, Sacramento is actually a positive outcome. Look at the horrendous loss at Carson City, and more recently at Redondo Jct., Pontiac and Eugene. What will be the next historic site to be bulldozed while we carve out more new rail museums in cornfields?
And how much money was spent on the design for MORT anyway?


bobyar2001@yahoo.com

Ben,
I work at the Western Railway Museum and i have the same thoughts. But memories are long in this business, the Managers recall how the State Museum let the Sante Fe Collection go to rust and vandalism for many, many years.
Any organization that makes an offer to the WRM about either or both of those steam engines has to quarentee better indoor storage than they presently have. Also some steam fans at WRM want to create a pair of WP display trains in the new larger train shed.

Something the State Museum has already done for the new museum display is to acquire Central Pacific 1906 an 1882 2-6-2 Oakland passenger tank engine. When it is put back together and cosmetically restored, it will be displayed in the erecting hall where it was built all those years ago! Wow! Ted



ted_miles@NPS.gov