The Southern Pacific Railroad Sacramento Shops were the largest and most comprehensive railroad heavy repair facilities in the Western United States. This page offers an overview of the evolution of the Sacramento Shops from its beginning through the transformation from steam to diesel.
We are kicking off a deep dive into the history of the Southern Pacific Railroad’s massive Sacramento Shops with plans for the car machine shop where railroad cars were built as late as 1937. Later, during the change to diesel locomotives, the first floor of the building was mostly used for a wheel shop, while the plating, painting, and upholstery shops on the second floor continued refurbishing Southern Pacific’s passenger car fleet. Check out the photos and plans of this historic building.
An outstanding sample of turn-of-the-century industrial architecture, the Southern Railway machine and erecting shops in Spencer, North Carolina would be perfect for a long, narrow space on your model railroad layout. And, the repeating brick masonry lends itself to selective compression to fit the space you have.
Looking for something to fill a corner on your layout? The Wilmington and Northern Repair Shop typifies the facilities built by small railroads in the last quarter of the 19th Century, but was still standing in 1976 when this survey was completed. So whether you have a period layout or a modern layout you could utilize these plans to create an attention-grabber.
Virginia and Truckee Railroad Shops turn a roundhouse into a square house, an interesting building for any model railroad and perfect for that long narrow spot you haven’t been able to fill. We have eight pages of plans.
Roundhouses for locomotive maintenance are common on steam-era model railroad layouts, but much of the heavy rebuilding work was actually done in a separate erecting shop, which usually had a machine shop attached or very close nearby for fabricating the many replacement parts needed by a steam locomotive.
The Monongahela Railroad erecting shop at Brownsville, Pennsylvania is a great example of such a shop that could be built on a model railroad layout. With the large window areas, the Monon erecting and machine shops would be great for a model with detailed interiors. Placed close to the front of a model railroad layout and provided with interior lighting, the model would be an impressive focal point on any model pike.