Southern Pacific's Sacramento Shops: Incubator of Innovation
Robert A. Pecotich
The Sacramento General Shops were the core of Southern Pacific's system-wide shops. With a need to be self-reliant in the Far West, Sacramento long maintained the capability to build any and every piece of equipment needed on the railroad. This included nearly 200 locomotives, and a great many freight and passenger cars, along with many specialized pieces of equipment and, naturally, upgrades and rebuilds of almost anything on the railroad. Here is the entire history of this superb institution, liberally illustrated with many never-published photos.
Author Robert Pecotich has researched the Shops history for years and has collected an outstanding amount of photographs and information, which is the key to this fine history. Publication date TBA but expected to be in 2010.
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Fred A. Stindt
The Northwestern Pacific was one of California's most distinctive railroads, connecting the northwest corner of the state at Eureka with the San Francisco Bay Area. Its primary business was lumber, largely interchanged with Southern Pacific. Over the years, passenger and general freight services were also an important part of operations, as were passenger ferryboats and electrified commuter services. The NWP was founded in 1907 as a joint property of SP and Santa Fe, to combine several existing railroads; in 1929, SP took over sole ownership.
Fred Stindt, longtime historian and enthusiast of the NWP, originally published two volumes on this topic, and said on many occasions that he wished he had gotten around to combining them. This book is that combined edition, with all the material of the two volumes Fred produced, and some additional information. It contains a great wealth of photo illustrations, along with timetable, map, and advertising materials.
Artist John Signor has created the cover painting based on a historic NWP passenger train photograph. Publication date TBA.
