For many years, I have been looking across a large expanse of a fenced-off “no-man’s land” at the old brick locomotive works buildings in the middle of Sacramento’s abandoned Railyards.  Today, one of the buildings was opened up to the public for a couple of hours.  It was fascinating to see the enormous spaces that have been off limits for so many years.  I snapped some images of the “Paint Shop” building, the easternmost building that remains of this sprawling industrial complex.  It looks huge until you realize that it is only 1/3 the size of the western buildings.  The best part was to wander though the spaces feeling like we were all discovering something completely new that had been there all along.

Many of the massive brick arched openings were designed for locomotives to drive through to be serviced.  At the height of its use, somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 people worked in these buildings before and during the second World War.