Blog image courtesy of Elizabeth Delgado.

In the Sacramento Railyards, a handful of historic buildings stand tall against the forces of time, a reminder of the historical significance of the area. The Southern Pacific Railroad shops were established in 1862 as part of the largest industrial complex west of the Rocky Mountains. At a time when the railroad industry was the backbone of transportation, commerce, and progress in the nation, one of every four Sacramento workers was employed at the Southern Pacific Shops.

More than 150 years later, eight historic buildings still remain.

These historic buildings will become the epicenter of Railyards infill development project, which is transforming the 244-acre former railroad site into a thriving mixed-use neighborhood that will double the size of Downtown Sacramento.

The historic buildings are the heart of the Railyards Central Shops District: a mixture of retail shops, bars and restaurants, a concert and event venue, open markets, and businesses built within and around the historic Central Shops buildings.

Central Shops to Become Future Addition to Sacramento Railroad Museum

The Boiler Shop and Erecting Shop buildings are far from empty. California State Parks has long used them for locomotive storage and to perform maintenance on railroad cars, locomotives, and other equipment for the CA State Railroad Museum.

The buildings were previously used by the California State Parks staff under a long-term lease. In 2018, State Parks recently took title to the Boiler Shop and entered into a 30-year lease agreement with an option to acquire the Erecting Shop. That enabled State Parks access to $12 million in bond funds that had been allocated to the project over the years.

Part of the funds will be allocated to maintain, renovate, and repair the 150+-year-old building, while the rest will go toward the Railroad Museum's vision of making the shop buildings a museum attraction and a laboratory of learning.

Long before the original Railroad Museum was built in 1981 at the Old Sacramento Waterfront, the original vision for the museum included an interactive venue where museum visitors could have the unique opportunity to participate in on-site tours and watch ongoing and time-honored restoration work underway in the Boiler and Erecting shops.

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How Long Will It Take to Open the Central Shops to the Public?

Fans of the Railyards infill project have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to walk through the historic buildings. 

When will it open to the public?

The infill project has been decades in the making. 

The area's history has made transferring title and ownership of the land parcels complex. In the 1800s, the City of Sacramento relocated the American River in response to devastating floods. When the American River was moved over 150 years ago, it created title issues that are still impacting project deadlines today. 

Title issues aren't the only thing that affected the timeline of development in the Railyards; environmental clean-up issues were also a necessity at the former railroad site. The majority of the land at The Railyards was remediated, including the removal of 800,000 tons of soil, groundwater management, and ongoing mitigation measures.

Careful preservation will ensure that the historic significance of the buildings is preserved as they are repaired, restored, and made ready for public use. 

The historic shop buildings will be repaired and updated according to strict standards that ensure the property's historic character, distinctive materials, features, finishes, construction techniques, and craftsmanship will be preserved.

While it will not happen overnight, the transformation of the area from a once-abandoned railroad yard to a /projects/central-shops-district, restaurants, businesses, and a historic train museum is full speed ahead. 

Keep following The Railyards for more news, information, status updates, and new developments on the nation's largest in-fill development project.