Port Costa, CA roundhouse plans

[markpierce]

Does anyone know where one can obtain scale plans for Southern Pacific's two-stall roundhouse formerly located in Port Costa, CA. Thanks for your help..

[ericsp]

Signature Press publishes a book about SP's Western Division, which Port Costa is in. It might be there, or try sending them an e-mail, they might know where plans are. Also, did you try the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society?

[Anonymous]

Mark:

The California State Railway Museum in Sacramento might just have what you are looking for. The following showed up on their onlline catalog under Technical Drawings:

Southern Pacific. Western Division P 938 Aug. 14, 1959 / Dec. 28, 1959. Proposed enginehouse and pit; vicinity plan. 16 x 22 Pencil on paper. ID 8639 Geographic Location:
California. Contra Costa County. Port Costa-Ozol



Southern Pacific. Not numbered Feb. 17, 1905 Port Costa: proposed roundhouse. Scale 1:1/16. 13 x 15 Ink on linen. Filing location:Box 26 (X) ID 8588 Geographic Location:
California. Contra Costa County. Port Costa

Check the Museum's website: www.csrmf.org for more details and how to arrange for retrieval.

Couple of other places that you might call would be the Contra Costa Assessor's Office, the Contra Costa County Historical Society, and the Bancroft Library at Cal.

If you find anything, please report back on the forum. My mother lived in Port Costa for a while as a kid in the 40's.

Good Luck!

TrummyandElla

[markpierce]

THANKS SO MUCH!
Earlier today I checked out the California State Railroad Museum Library's website and got a couple of "hits." Your search found a document I didn't find using the library's search program! This is great! I'm planning to go to Sacramento within the next couple of weeks to see these documents. If you want to know the results, let me know.
Mark

[Anonymous]

You're very welcome, and it would be great if you could post on what you find.

TrummyandElla

[Anonymous]

you have also look at july 2002 model craft it has some good info on what your looking for.

[markpierce]

Here are the results of my visit to the California State Railroad Museum Library. Found four documents related to the Port Costa roundhouse. (1) 1902 large scale footprint of proposed 70 ft. turntable and a four stall roundhouse of similar length. This roundhouse wasn't built. (2) 1905 large scale footprint of proposed 70 ft. TT and two stall roundhouse of similar length, apparently very similar to the roundhouse actually built except in this drawing the boiler room extension is shorter than the roundhouse as built. (3) 1909 small scale drawing showing the entire Port Costa yard (station, docks, TT, roundhouse, etc.) showing actual layout. Again, this is a footprint drawing. (4) 1959 large scale footpring of a single stall (through track engine house, with an end drawing of the building as well as a pit drawing and some interior room layouts. The structure is Pikestuff-like. Of course, all the railroad structures and the yard were torn up when the SP moved switching operations east to Ozo, closer to Martinez. So, haven't found any drawings of the past-existing enginehouse (other than the building's footprint and relation to the turntable. Suppose one could build the structure without actual plans and come pretty close by studying photos in relation to the railroad equipment around it.

[Anonymous]

Mark:

Kalmbach's book Southern Pacific in the Bay Area has one photograph showing an overview of the facilities at Port Costa. A long shot, but might be useful.

Glad the trip to Sacramento had some benefit.

Good Luck!

TrummyandElla

[markpierce]

Trummy&Ella,

Thanks. Got lots of photos of Port Costa. This was one of the last stands of S.P. steam loco centers, so it is well photoed. Too bad I was too young to observe it firsthand. The yard is just a dirt parking lot now.

Mark

[markpierce]

Banta Modelworks is bring out an N scale model of the roundhouse this year. And an HO is supposed to follow. Thank goodness!

[Anonymous]

Mark:

Thanks for the information on the model coming out from Banta Modelworks. While I'm not an S.P. modeler, I will probably have to get one due to the family connection. I too was too young to see it firsthand -- I recall the big flat empty area in Port Costa but it never occurred to me as a young pup to ask what it was all about. Oh well.

TrummyandElla

[johncolley]

I thought Port Costa had a two-stall engine house, not a roundhouse unless that was Waaaayyyyy Back before the '50's

[markpierce]

Since the structure covered two non-parallel tracks radiating from the turntable (the front side was shorter than the back side), I considered it a roundhouse.

[MStLfan]

Mark:
You might try the local government archives of the area. I guess, as in the Netherlands, that a form of permission was probably needed. If so, there should be drawings of the proposed roundhouse and if you are really lucky, revised drawings of the building as build with the permission.
Good luck,
Marc Immeker
Rotterdam
the Netherlands

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by markpierce

Since the structure covered two non-parallel tracks radiating from the turntable (the front side was shorter than the back side), I considered it a roundhouse.

I grew up in Port Costa during the 50s and we always called it a roundhouse. So did my grandfather who was an engineer for the SP.