Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Union Pacific Company Elvas Interlocking Control Tower records
MS 708  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Overview
 
Table of contents What's This?
Description
These papers are from the Southern Pacific, later Union Pacific, Sacramento interlocking control tower at Elvas.
Background
Interlocking towers were commonly used to control and sequence the movement of trains at crossings and junctions where the tracks of two or more railroad routes crossed or diverged. Southern Pacific's Elvas Tower controlled operations at the junction of the Donner and Valley routes in North Sacramento. Trains heading east from Sacramento could be routed south to Stockton or east to Roseville and points beyond. The Elvas Tower was built in 1910 near the intersection of C Street and Elvas Avenue in Sacramento (adjacent to Interstate Business Route 80 and across the American River from CalExpo.) The structure was a two-story wood frame building equipped with a General Railway Signal Company (GRS) Model 1 all-electric interlocking machine. The tower operator's cabin was on the second floor with windows on all sides. The original GRS machine remained in service until the Tower's last day of operation. When Union Pacific's Jerry Davis Yard in Roseville was modernized in 1999, Elvas Tower's control functions were moved to Roseville. On November 1, 1999 at 10:07 a.m., Arthur L. Spackman shut down the Elvas Tower. Key architectural elements from the second floor and some equipment were donated to the California State Railroad Museum.
Extent
1 half box
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Availability
This collection is open for research at our off-site storage facility with one week's notice. Contact Library & Archives staff to arrange for access.