The Jack Burgess Photography Collection includes print photographs of the equipment, rolling stock, buildings, locations, and people related to the Yosemite Valley Railroad. These photographs were collected by Jack Burgess from other institutions and collectors.

Jack Burgess is a well known model railroad hobbyist, civil engineer and published author. Burgess was born on October 8, 1944 in Bakersfield, California. He enrolled in San Jose State University in 1964, but later dropped out and began working for the City of Newark's Engineering Department in 1965. He worked there for 40 years, designing street improvements, surveying, and notably led the design and construction of a recreation and swim center for the city of Newark. Burgess retired from his job in 2004, but has remianed in the city ever since. Jack Burgess has been passionate about model railroading since his youth,as he was initially a "freelance" railroad modeler until 1967, when he read several books about the Yosemite Valley Railroad and became inspired to build a layout based on it. From 1980 through 2011, Burgess built a layout featuring several sections of the Yosemite Valley Railroad. The layout itself is meant to represent the railroad during August of 1939, and features many handcrafted and custom built pieces. His layout would win him honors from the National Model Railroad Association, becoming a Master Model Railroader in 1988. In the 1970's, Burgess would begin purchasing prints of the Yosemite Valley Railroad from railfans who photographed it while it was still in operation. If he was unable to purchase prints, he would borrow the negatives, and make his own prints of them. His book titled "Trains to Yosemite" was published in 2004. In addition to this book, Burgess has written over 220 articles on model railroading in various magazines. As of 2023, Burgess is still active in the model railroading community, providing updates and advice on his website and through an online Youtube series produced by "TSG Multimedia". Burgess is married to his wife, Jacque, who also is a fan of trains. Together, they amassed a collection of Yosemite Valley Railroad related items, such as station signs, headlights, lamps and other items. Jack and Jacque were married in 1987, and have 3 children as well as seven grandchildren.

3 Linear Feet 3 record cartons

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 CSRM Library & Archives. 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.

Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library staff.