- [Announcer 1] Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP focusing on business law and commercial litigation is proud to support "Rob on the Road: Region Rising" More information available at murphyaustin.com.

- [Rob] On "Rob on the Road," join me on a journey through the rich railroad history of Sacramento hidden inside these wondrous warehouses.

You cannot describe this, you have to see it.

Wow!

We're taking you inside the Sacramento locomotive works where tremendous train engines were made and rolled onto the rails, driving our region's robust railroad economy and place in history.

Plus experience Sacramento's iconic Tower Bridge like never before.

Watch as this magical structure comes to life rising above the Sacramento River and a breathtaking display.

What's going on?

- We're moving.

- We are moving.

We are, or what is?

- We are.

- We are.

- This is the bridge deck that's being lifted.

- We're moving right now.

- Yes we are.

(Rob laughing) - [Rob] I had no idea!

Get an insider's view of the mechanics behind this golden landmark and hear the story of those who keep its grandeur glowing.

And later you won't believe what UC Davis researchers discovered about this California cafe in Woodland.

The Chicago Cafe makes history.

- That's Rob on the road.

- [Rob] It is.

"Rob on the Road" starts now.

(bright music) - [Announcer 2] And now "Rob on the Road" exploring Northern California.

- The sign says it all, and today you get to see exactly what it means and go inside Sacramento Locomotive Works.

And we're here with Ty Smith.

Ty, good to see you again.

How are you?

- Well, I'm well.

Thanks for being here.

- Thanks for having us.

Ty is with the California State Railroad Museum and he is the museum director.

And what a treasure trove today.

We're not inside the beautiful polished museum, but a lot of this makes that happen.

- That's exactly right.

This is all the stuff on the campus that people don't see.

Think of the California State Railroad Museum you think of this big brick building at the end of Old Sacramento, but it's so much more than that.

We have an excursion train.

We have a locomotive works.

This is part of an old historical Southern Pacific Railroad complex, but today, every day, preservation, restoration, maintenance of locomotives, both for display inside the museum as part of our excursion rail goes on right here.

- All right, well you have a lot to show us, so we're gonna go inside for a fantastic show and tell.

Let's go.

- Yep, let's go.

(upbeat piano music) We are in the boiler shop, which was just one building that beginning in the 1870s was part of the largest industrial site west of the Mississippi.

The Southern Pacific Locomotive Works.

- Holy cow, Ty.

- It would eventually be the case that every facet of building a locomotive could happen at this site between all of the different buildings and the buildings were arranged by function.

So the boiler shop, what do you think happened in the boiler shop?

- [Rob] Steam?

Boil?

- [Ty] Steam boilers.

Yeah, exactly.

And then the erecting shop, which is also a site that we have out here that's part of California State Parks.

- [Rob] And as I look up, I see the sky.

- [Ty] A little bit of sky, just a tad.

- [Rob] A little sky peeking through.

Is there a story there?

- [Ty] Well, these are very old buildings.

And in fact these are remnants, these are survivors of many, many other buildings that were once part of that very large Southern Pacific Railroad shops.

And as amazing as they are, when you see them today, you have to kind of imagine what the rest of it was because there were many more of these buildings all around this complex.

- Let's walk.

There's so much to see.

Everything I see is an amazing artifact.

And in so many cases they're being refurbished and made to be used right now.

Look at this.

That's that's an open rail car.

- Open air gondola.

It was designed specifically to bring passengers on our excursion train.

It's built on the chassis of a flat car.

But the idea of getting people up and riding history, as we always say.

- Yeah.

What a beauty.

This locomotive.

We can cross this, right?

- We can cross it.

(Rob laughing) - Sorry for that late ask.

Tell me what we have here as we marvel at this beauty.

- Well, this is the 1942 Granite Rock 10.

It's part of our fleet, but anything that's on the fleet, you know, has a mechanical life expectancy.

You can put it into service for only so long before then it has to be taken out of service and maintenance and rehabilitation.

So people see the trains going up and down the Sacramento Southern Railroad, but what they don't see is all of the behind the scenes effort of craft, of skill, of resources that go into making sure that these historic locomotives continue to run.

(train chuffing) So here you have it stripped down.

People don't see it like this when it's on out on the line, the jacket is off of it because we're doing some restoration to to the piece just so that it runs well into the future.

- [Rob] I see the USAF, United States Air Force.

- [Ty] That's the 1655.

That was the locomotive that was in service just after World War II, the Korean War.

It's a switcher that we put into service here.

When we have special occasions such as Memorial Day or Veterans Day, sometimes we'll pull out the USAF 1655 and we'll tow the consist with it.

- Wow.

Amazing.

It is incredibly powerful to stand next to such a structure, such a powerful piece of equipment.

And then to look over here and you see it being worked on, this 6819.

Tell me what this piece is.

- [Ty] That's this one's big brother.

This is a big diesel locomotive.

And you could see, unlike having to hunch and get under the hood of a car, you have all this, all these diesel engines that are exposed through these cabinet doors.

- [Rob] I don't think I've ever seen one this big.

- [Ty] You probably have, but you probably just have never been in such proximity to it.

We see these things usually from afar.

We see them out on a track, you know, off on the horizon.

But we normally don't get the chance to stand in front and behold just how big and powerful these things were.

We have locomotives inside the museum that are twice as big.

- Are they really?

We're gonna walk into the off limit zone.

For many reasons this area is off limits, but not for you to today.

And I love that.

Thank you for taking us here.

Why is this the off limits zone?

- [Ty] Well, just structurally it's a little less sound than the main part of the building.

You could see that we have some scaffolding and some temporary shoring up of this end of the building.

- [Rob] Oh yeah, yeah.

Wow.

That is fascinating to me.

- What's exciting about my job is to get to see projects come to fruition.

And one of the things that we have long desired to do is to make this building not only into a place that's safe for the work of our employees out here who are everyday working on locomotives, but there is a lot of interest in people coming to see this.

- Yeah.

Can you imagine?

Yes, you can imagine.

- People go, "Oh, can I get out there?

I want to go out there."

And we wanna make that happen.

In so many ways what happened in terms of the design of the railroad museum is they were trying to emulate the magic of places like this.

They were trying to capture a little bit of that spirit.

- [Rob] You don't see like, garage tarps much in here like this one.

And I'm curious what's behind it, and- - [Ty] Well, there's all these moments of discovery.

- Look!

(laughing) Oh my gosh, get in here.

Wow, this is amazing.

How beautiful.

Tell me what this is.

It's an old bus.

- [Ty] The Union Pacific Railroad and other railroads like it then had this additional benefit.

They had this network of buses that would get people further out from just the train stations to tourist locations.

- [Rob] This is a beauty.

"Road of the Streamliner.

Union Pacific."

And it's beautiful.

Completely...

This looks completely restored.

- It has been restored and in fact it's drivable, and if you look on the front of it, it has a modern license plate because- - [Rob] Oh, it does!

(laughing) GM, General Motors coach.

And look at these awesome lights - [Ty] And the form of it, the design of it followed those very iconic mid-century streamliners, you know, and if you look at the advertisements of those times, you had streamliners that were named after the destinations.

So the city of San Francisco, people in Chicago in a blustery Chicago winter are imagining going off into sunny California.

The city of Los Angeles.

- [Rob] Ah.

- [Ty] The city of New Orleans.

That famous train song is named after that route that went to and from New Orleans.

And so in every way in form and function, this is a complete reflection of American history.

- Wow.

But we have a lot more to see in this phenomenal span of multiple buildings.

There's another building next door.

Thank you for popping in there.

Who knew what was behind that curtain?

Wow.

Well let's go to the next door.

- [Ty] We got surprises like that.

- [Rob] I know.

Full of surprises.

All of these have numbers.

Are these portals or hubs or- - Yeah, bays.

- Bays.

I gotta keep track of stuff.

- [Rob] And we're going to go in here?

- [Ty] Right through that door.

- [Rob] Awesome.

I love how beautiful this is.

And you mentioned art earlier.

I think this building's a piece of art.

- It is.

- Oh my gosh!

Look at this!

Wow.

- Even a peek in there, you know, is a portal.

- [Rob] You cannot describe this.

You have to see it.

(gentle piano music) Wow!

I'm telling you, in 15 years on this show, this is a show stopper for me.

I just have to soak this in.

This is amazing.

All of these trains.

And I think about all of the people and all of the years.

It's powerful.

- [Ty] It really is.

It's at the heart of who we are as a people.

And especially if you take a regional approach and look at it from just a Sacramento context.

If you're from Sacramento, it's likely that you have not even a distant relative who reported to work right here at the Southern Pacific shops every day.

- Wow.

- If you look at old pictures of Sacramento you see streetcars, destination Southern Pacific Shops.

It was at the heart of what it meant to be a Sacramentan.

It was at the heart of what it meant to be a Californian.

And it's a thoroughly expressive of the American experience, this place.

- It's amazing.

- And I want to walk over here.

Oh, look how beautiful.

This is quite touching.

- Yeah.

And if you look at it from a longer historical context in terms of why all this stuff remains, they truly are survivors.

Yeah, they're a little beat up.

Yeah- - They are survivors.

- Every one of these pieces needs some level of care, and yet they wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for people who said, "Who's gonna do something about this?

Who is gonna be the keeper of not just the stuff of our railroad paths, but the stories?"

So it is parked potential.

Every one of these things needs some level of care.

And yet, unlike other pieces, just like this, who met the scrap heap, you know, a fleet of 80 locomotives, for example, we have one of them inside the museum, 79 of them were scrapped.

- Oh my goodness.

- These are the survivors.

- Wow, these are the survivors all around us.

I have to tell you, I felt something when I walked in here, and it was just powerful.

Do you?

- I do, you know, as a historian, but also more intently than that, as a museum person.

I think museums and places like this are places where the divide between us, the living, and those people of the past, who are so intimately responsible for all that we are, good and bad, that that time and distance collapses in a certain kind of way.

There doesn't seem to be as much distance between the spirit of the living and the spirits of the past at places like this.

I came to history connected to ideas and thoughts and people and objects.

And it absolutely is the reason I do what I do, because I can stand in front of a locomotive or I can stand in front of a golden spike, I can stand in front of some object of the past and it does collapse the time and distance between now and then.

(train horn sounds) - That is so powerful.

So the train just went, "That's right!"

(laughing) - It's a amen.

- It's an amen.

That's what I thought.

(laughing) - [Rob] The Tower Bridge with its iconic golden hue and art deco design stands as a symbol of Sacramento's resilience and growth.

Since 1935 the bridge has not only connected the capital region across the Sacramento River, but also served as a vital artery for economic prosperity.

Over the decades this striking structure has witnessed the ebb and flow of commerce, the influx of tourism, and the rise of local businesses that began along the banks of this river.

To keep business and recreation moving, the bridge has to rise for large vessels to pass underneath, and when the river is high.

Come with me on a tour of the tower as it rises 100 feet in the air.

- This bridge is probably just as famous as the state capitol because of the amount of visitors that come here to see it when they come to Sacramento.

(siren blaring) What's going on?

- We're moving.

- We are moving.

- We are, or what is?

- We are.

- We are.

- This is the bridge deck that's being lifted.

- We're moving right now.

- Yes we are.

(Rob laughing) - I had no idea!

Okay, I thought something was happening, but I did not know that's what it was.

All right.

All right.

So walk me through this now that I know what's happening.

(laughing) - So what you got are the counterweight systems, - Whoa.

- One at each side, going ahead and balancing and lifting the bridge.

Each one is a million pounds each and there's as much as 4 million pounds being lifted, because you have the bridge deck as well, while these counterweights are going down.

- That is so bizarre.

I didn't think we were moving.

I really didn't.

- [Dennis] You didn't feel it, did you?

- [Rob] I thought...

I mean I knew something was moving because I saw the spans of the tower bridge going up in the air, but wow!

We're about 100 feet higher than the street level.

And we are in the air.

- [Dennis] Historically speaking, the engineers and the people that put their heads together to put this in place really got it right.

- Yeah, they did.

I mean they had to connect Sacramento County and Yolo County, and they did it.

Now there was already a bridge here, but there had to be a way that could meet the demand and the need.

- Correct.

Correct.

'Cause you were talking about not only the movement of goods and services on the highway or the actual roads that existed back then, but you also had the waterway that you had to take into account.

And traditionally speaking, the actual waterway took precedent over what we call a highway system now.

And to this day it still does.

(bright guitar music) - I have to ask you, this part that we're on right now, the deck, this is highway 275, just the bridge.

- [Dennis] Yes, that is correct.

Just the bridge.

- The third shortest highway- - One of three possibly the shortest highways in the whole state of California.

- [Rob] That's amazing.

- We have to thank Caltrans who's out here.

We've got supervisors and everything, so thank you for making sure we're okay.

And look at this.

Oh!

- [Dennis] We've got the state capitol.

- That is amazing.

- Capitol Plaza.

- [Rob] Looking right down, there you see the beautiful state capitol and capitol mall.

That is what I've always wanted to see.

We're gonna go up one more level and this is, of course, closed and sealed up, but this is a treat to get up here with you guys today with Caltrans.

And look at that view.

Oh my gosh!

I can't believe this.

- [Dennis] You got your view of Interstate 5, the transition from 50 going over the river from Sacramento County and to Yolo County.

- [Rob] Look, right into Sutter Health Park.

You can see right inside where the River Cats play.

The new Bridge District all along West Sacramento.

You see the Sacramento River here.

And over here you can see the Crocker Art Museum.

This is just fantastic.

And there's the top of the tower bridge.

Oh my gosh.

All right, we're walking out to the, I guess this would be the east tower?

- [Dennis] That is correct.

(upbeat music) - [Rob] So I just have to show these massive links.

The chains, the counterweights.

Dennis, what are those for?

- So they basically act as additional weight for the counterweight system so that as the weights are being lowered, when they're seating the bridge deck, these chains help in making that smooth transition.

That's why you really didn't feel us moving until you looked out and saw things were actually starting to change around us.

- I'm blown away.

I mean, I'm just fascinated.

And I had no idea all of this was here.

- [Dennis] This really is a marvel of how the people from so many generations were able to build something that still works and operates to this day.

And the fact that this was built back in 1935, and is still in great working condition, and that the technology really hasn't changed that much, Shows just how well they built things back then.

- [Rob] And I'm blessed to have seen so much through this program through you, but I've never seen this.

And the views here are just spectacular.

- Absolutely.

- I am forever grateful.

- [Dennis] We're going back.

- I'm truly amazed.

I feel like I'm watching history unfold.

I feel like we just, even though we went up, I feel like we went back in time.

- Try thinking about how this stretch of surface streets and the bridge never existed before, but were in fact just dirt road leading up to the state capitol.

- It's fascinating.

- It's just incredible.

- Absolutely fascinating.

We went up and down on the Tower Bridge.

Thank you so much, Dennis Keaton with Caltrans.

- You're welcome.

- You rock.

- You're welcome, Rob.

- There's a beloved landmark in Woodland, California that holds a special place in thousands of hearts, and now in restaurant history.

The Chicago Cafe on Main Street thrives amid the traces of Woodland's one time Chinatown.

Plaques outside the back door honor days gone by.

- [Paul] Hey, how you doing, Frank?

- [Rob] But inside the Fong family has found the secret recipe to feed the masses and the soul.

How long have you been coming here?

- Oh my, oh my, oh my.

Since 1939.

- From the name alone, you'd never guess the living history we found inside.

- Nothing special, just nothing fancy.

Just the restaurant is for the customer, the worker people.

- You've been here a very long time.

- [Paul] Been here 50 year.

I come here in 1973.

- And that's you.

- Yeah.

- But this place... - This place 120.

My grandfather started, and my father.

Now it's my turn.

- [Rob] Paul Fong takes his turn seriously at the family-owned Chicago Cafe where he and his wife Nancy, have spent the past five decades together building this business and their family's future.

Chicago Cafe is as authentic as it gets.

A retro diner appeal, affordable specials, countertop eating with swivel stools, and mementos everywhere you look, including menus more than 100 years old.

Fried salmon, 30 cents.

Halibut, 30 cents.

- [Paul] Yeah.

(laughing) - I mean apple pie, 5 cents.

5 cents.

Wow.

Four generations of the Fong family have worked here, starting with Paul's grandfather in 1903.

What do you feel has been the magic that has kept this food so popular?

- The only thing is fresh.

When you order, we go cook, but only one.

I still serve it the old style with (indistinct) So the customers still come all from Sacramento, San Francisco, Dakota, the old fashioned chow mein.

- I love that.

I love that.

- I still serve it like that.

- [Rob] And everything here is so fresh and your booths are full.

The kitchen is Grand Central.

Many customers walk in the back door and right by chefs Paul and Nancy Fong, who are so busy cooking, they had no idea they were making history.

- [Jack] They didn't include Asian businesses, they didn't include Asian residences.

There was a segregation.

- [Rob] This is UCV Davis professor Jack Chin leading a multidisciplinary group of students to document the Chicago Cafe's past.

Professor Chin's findings have put Chicago Cafe on the map.

- It's been extra special.

You know, I think we're starting to kind of realize how special it is.

Like, you know, my brother and I grew up kind of looking at that sign saying since 1903, but it never really sunk in until Professor Chin kind of started doing that research and we found out that we were, you know, the oldest in California and in the nation.

- [Rob] And that's legit.

This is real.

It's all been checked.

It's been confirmed.

And this professor is highly esteemed.

He did his research, checked everything out and confirmed that this is the oldest continuously running Chinese restaurant.

- Yeah.

In California.

They said maybe the whole United States.

- [Rob] Yes, that's the most interesting part to me is that this study, it's not just California, which would be huge in and of itself, but nationwide.

And it's you.

- Yeah.

Not Me.

(laughing) - But it is.

- My family.

- It's running because of you today.

- The family, yeah.

- [Rob] And you have your wife, she's working here.

And your children, however, are not going to keep this going.

- No, no.

I'm the last one.

Sorry.

(laughing) - Chicago combo?

- Right here.

- And then another.

- Yes.

- [Server] All right, guys.

- You know we have to talk about the future.

And while this isn't going anywhere, we do have to talk about your generation because you're in the medical field, your brother is in the IT field.

Y'all aren't coming back to the restaurant.

- I know.

Yeah.

My dad apparently sat us down when we were younger, and my brother told me this, I clearly didn't remember it apparently, and he said, you two are not going to do this.

We are working this hard so that you guys don't have to do this.

So yeah, we both kind of went to college, you know, with no pressure from them, actually, luckily.

So yeah, we just kind of branched into our different fields and nobody's circling back to the restaurant right now.

So yeah, my parents are just trying to, you know, keep it up as best they can, and we don't know what the future will hold.

- I have to tell you something.

I heard, when I asked you, you know, why, and what it is that keeps you going, and you said, "Making a living."

But the real word I heard is living, because you immediately went into all the special stories.

So it's not really making a living, it's about making a life.

- Yeah, that too.

(laughing) (bell ringing) - [Rob] Thanks for joining us.

You can watch when you want at robontheroad.org.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer 1] Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP focusing on business law and commercial litigation is proud to support "Rob on the Road: Region Rising" More information available at murphyaustin.com.