Escrow is expected to close Friday on the sale of the railyards in downtown Sacramento from Union Pacific to Thomas Enterprises, a private development firm, city officials said Thursday.

As part the deal, the city of Sacramento will become the new owner of the existing train station that sits on the 240-acre site.

A rare noontime special session of the Sacramento City Council was called Thursday to clean up some funding requirements to enable the deal to move forward.

The council resolved to dedicate Measure A funds to assure payments on a $25 million bank loan to buy a portion of the railyard for a transportation project.

Fifty-three acres will used for a new multimodal transportation facility at a cost of $55 million -- $30 million cash and $25 million financed by Bank of America.