Southern Pacific Railroad History Center Collection
Documents, photos, maps, drawings, and other paper ephemera and media related to the history of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and its predecessor and affiliated companies.
1960 condensed track profiles for Southern Pacific's Pacific Lines and San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway, Northwestern Pacific Railroad, Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railroad, Nacozari Railroad, and Pacific Electric Railway.
Abandonment of Southern Pacific trackage between Quinif, Texas (Milepost 119.7) and Rosebud, Texas (Milepost 133.7) on Southern Pacific's former Cameron to Waco, Texas branch line. This abandonment was authorized by the Interstate Commerce Commission on July 19, 1978.
This video is a conversation between Alan Laird and Bill Fowler. They discuss the life of Levy Laird, a remarkable African-American who was a cook on the Southern Pacific passenger trains for more than thirty years. Alan Laird tells a poignant story about his father, Levy Laird, whose ancestors were enslaved persons in Louisiana and his (Levy's) journey from rural Louisiana to become a respected member of the African-American community of Oakland, California.
A schematic of Interlocking 38 B showing the lines of Southern Pacific and the Galveston, Houston, and Houston Railroad Company (GH&H). By end of 1960, ownership of the GH&H was vested in the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company as successors to the original owners.
A collection of materials relating to the Southern Pacific Railroad's special train for Senator John F. Kennedy during the 1960 election. The train ran between Portland, Oregon and Bakersfield, California on September 7-9, 1960. The materials in this collection are: 1. Press Guide (cover only) 2. Menu 3. Information sheet from the Kennedy Campaign to the Press regarding facilities for the press on the train. 4. Southern Pacific Railroad documentation including directive to operate and schedule for the train. 5. Southern Pacific Railroad Transportation Notice 301 regarding the campaign special. 6. Ticket envelope for the campaign special 7. Ticket for the campaign special 8. Bill and receipt for travel on the campaign special.
This map of September 23, 1911, which covers construction of the Nevada - California - Oregon Railway (NCO) between Alturas and Davis Creek, California (a distance of about 32 miles), has been shared by the Shasta Division Archives. The Alturas, California to Lakeview, Oregon portion of the NCO was purchased by Southern Pacific on April 30, 1925, and would become its Lakeview Branch. At the time of purchase by Southern Pacific, the line of railroad was narrow gauge, and it would be converted to standard gauge by 1928. Several narrow gauge locomotives that operated over the line were relocated and subsequently ran on the former Carson and Colorado Railroad, a Southern Pacific narrow gauge subsidiary.
Four documents from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's visit to the United States in 1959. These materials relate to his special train on the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. The are: 1. A menu in Cyrillic and English 2. Press information packet for the train 3. Correspondence from the Department of State to the Southern Pacific Railroad's President Donald J. Russell 4. Correspondence from Donald J. Russell to the Department of State
Robert Yates was intimately involved in the development of the intermodal industry in the United States and has amassed the largest intellectual intermodal archive known to exist.
His collection consists of two main areas, Southern Pacific and Greenbrier Intermodal.
This more than 300-page document consists of four parts. Part one consists of a reprint of the "Trainmen's Agreement," which became effective December 16, 1939. Part two consists of the "Mileage and Hourly Limitation Agreement" and the "National Consolidated Vacation Agreement." Part three provides copies of "Memorandums of Agreement," "Interpretation Settlements," and "Letters of Understanding." Part four lists "Local Agreements" for Southern Pacific divisions and seniority districts. Subsequent supplementary documents are also included. This document was reprinted on March 1, 1951.
Southern Pacific Directory of Forest Products, Pulp and Paper Industries served by Southern Pacific and Short Line Connections in Oregon (In the Territory North of Klamath Falls and Siskiyou).
A photograph of Southern Pacific Ravenna, California station by Peter Baumhefner. The station closed prior to 1965, and the photograph shows it in the process of being dismantled.