Collection Guide
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Duke (Donald) Collection of Railroad and Electric Railway
Photographs and Ephemera
645950
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Donald Duke collection of railroad and electric railway photographs and
ephemera
Creator:
Duke, Donald, 1929-2010.
Identifier/Call Number: 645950
Physical Description:
64.63 Linear Feet
(89 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1829-2010
Date (bulk): 1920s–1960s
Abstract: This collection consists of railroad
and electric railway photographs, ephemera and publications, 1829-2010, with the bulk of
material from the early- to mid-20th century. The materials are chiefly focused on steam and
diesel locomotives, major railroads, and interurban passenger railways of the United States
and Canada. Also represented are shortline and narrow-gauge railroads, other foreign
railroads, streetcars and urban light rail transit.
Language of Material: English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Donald Duke collection of railroad and electric railway
photographs and ephemera. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation, September 1, 2008.
Donald Duke (1929-2010) was a publisher, writer, railroad photographer and collector. He
was born in Los Angeles and, from the age of 10, lived in San Marino, California. He grew up
riding the Pacific Electric Railway, which stopped two blocks from his home, embarking on a
love for trains and train photography, which he shared with his father. After graduating
from Colorado College, he worked in sales for Mobil Oil, and later as an agent for General
Steamship Corporation. In the 1950s, Duke formed his own publishing company, Pacific
Railroad Publications; it later became Golden West Books, incorporated in 1960. Duke
published over a hundred books on trains and railroads, written by himself or other railroad
historians. Many of the photographs and pieces of ephemera in this collection appeared in
Golden West Books publications. Duke also wrote articles for and edited the
Pacific Railway Journal and the
Branding
Iron
quarterly for the Los Angeles Corral of Westerners. He was a member of the
Lexington Group of railroad historians, founding member of Orange Empire Railway Museum in
Perris, California, and active in several other train, rail and locomotive historical
societies. He was a longtime reader at the Huntington Library, where he bequeathed his
collection of over 2,000 railroad books and trade journals.
This collection consists of railroad photographs, ephemera and publications, 1829-2010,
with the bulk of material from the early- to mid-20th century. The focus is chiefly
locomotives and trains (steam and diesel) of major railroads and interurban electric
railways of the United States and Canada. Also represented in the collection are smaller
shortline and narrow-gauge railroads; other foreign railroads; streetcars (or trolleys); and
burgeoning light rail and subway systems.
Most of the ephemera is printed material produced by railroad companies for promotional
and business purposes, such as annual reports, brochures, route maps and guides, timetables,
tickets, dining menus, stationery, stock certificates, bond coupons and other items. There
are also many city and state tourist guidebooks describing sights along rail routes or
promoting land available for farming, mining or home-building across the United States. Also
included are items produced for or by railroad employees, such as instruction and safety
manuals, train orders, freight bills and in-house newsletters. Railroad industry
publications, statistics and reports can be found in the American Association of Railroads
files, which are part of Donald Duke's subject files on railroad-related topics. Throughout
the ephemera files are newspaper and journal clippings, often from scarce small press and
trade publications such as
The Railway and Engineering Review, The
Railroad Gazette, The Santa Fe Magazine, The Western Railroader, Railway Age
and
others.
In addition to railroad history, other topics of social and cultural historical interest in
the ephemera are:
- Depictions of African Americans and Native Americans in mass-marketed train travel brochures. There are many examples that reflect American cultural and class stereotypes in the early- to mid-20th century. Selected files are noted in the container list.
- Occupational safety and health: See railroad worker safety manuals and accident prevention literature in ephemera files.
- History of food and drink: See numerous dining and beverage menus throughout Railroads and Foreign Railroads ephemera files (not always noted in container list).
- History of graphic design and typography: See examples of early- and mid- 20th century popular styles in printed ephemera throughout collection.
Photographs and negatives:
The photographs depict locomotives, freight and passenger trains, logging railroads,
electric interurbans and streetcars across the United States. This was primarily a
publisher's file of ready-for-press photographs, which are almost all 8 x 10-inch
black-and-white prints, made approximately 1950s-1980s. The photographs were made chiefly by
various amateur train photographers, including Donald Duke, but most are uncredited. There
are some copy prints (photographs of other photographs), and a few original photographs from
the late 19th-early 20th century. Some photographs have locations and dates written on the
back, but many are unidentified other than the name of the railroad.
The negatives are chiefly of locomotives of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
("The Santa Fe"), Southern Pacific Railroad, and Union Pacific Railroad, made approximately
1940s-1950s. There are also many views of streetcars of Los Angeles-area lines: Los Angeles
Metropolitan Transit Authority, Los Angeles Railway, Los Angeles Transit Lines, and the
Pacific Electric Railway. There are a few negatives of other railroads, as well as stations,
roundhouses, railyards, and copy negatives of miscellaneous train wrecks. The negatives were
made by Donald Duke and others (often uncredited), with a small portion of copy
negatives.
- Leslie O. Merrill Collection of Streamliner Trains and Railroad Ephemera
- Los Angeles Railway Corporation Collection of Photographs, 1853-1939 (photCL 58)
- Pacific Electric Railway Company Photographs, 1870s-1950s, (bulk 1910s-1940s) (photCL 91)
- William Riley McKeen Jr. Papers, 1871-1928 (bulk 1895-1915) (mssMcKeen)
The collection has primarily been kept in the collector's original arrangement, and is
organized in the following three series:
- Series 1. Printed material and ephemera (Boxes 1-46)
- Series 2. Photographic prints (Boxes 47-82)
- Series 3. Negatives (Boxes 83-89)
Huntington, Collis Potter, 1821-1900.
- Author (unsigned) of 1886 Newport News and Mississippi Valley Railroad memo, Box 17, folder 12.
- Autograph signature on 1891 Southern Pacific Railroad pass for W. G. Cohen, Box 20, folder 34.
Huntington, Henry Edwards, 1850-1927.
- Addressee on 1891 Newport News and Mississippi Valley Railroad memo, Box 17, folder 12.
- Author (unsigned) of 1888 Maysville and Big Sandy Railroad memo, Box 15, folder 4.
Biographical files on Donald Duke in the Donald Duke Collection, Box 42, folders
9-11.
Edson, William D.,
Railroad Names: A Directory of Common Carrier
Railroads Operating in the United States, 1826-1992
(Potomac, Md.: Edson,
1993)
Jane's World Railways and Rapid Transit Systems
1980-1981 (New York: Jane's Publishing Inc., 1980)
Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive, Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, https://www.metro.net/about/metrolibrary/
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Locomotives -- Photographs.
Diesel locomotives -- Photographs.
Railroads -- Photographs.
Railroad yards -- California -- Los Angeles -- Photographs.
Railroad stations—Photographs.
Railroad accidents -- Photographs.
Street-railroads -- Photographs.
Electric railroads -- Photographs.
Railroads -- History -- Pictorial works.
Railroad travel.
Railroads – Employees.
Railroads -- Safety measures.
Railroads – Timetables--Specimens.
Railroads, Cable.
Narrow gauge railroads.
Local transit.
Logging railroads.
United States -- Description and travel.
Tourism – United States
Land settlement -- United States -- History.
Coal--Transportation.
Mines and mineral resources -- West (U.S.) -- History.
Food—History.
Advertising – Railroads -- Specimens.
Graphic design (Typography)—Specimens.
African Americans -- Employment.
African Americans -- Pictorial works.
Indians of North America -- Pictorial works.
Indians in popular culture.
Advertisements.
Clippings.
Ephemera.
Ephemera United States 19th century.
Ephemera United States 20th century.
Guidebooks.
Leaflets (printed works).
Letterheads.
Maps.
Menus.
Negatives.
Photographs.
Postcards.
Printed ephemera.
Promotional materials.
Stationery.
Stock certificates.
Tickets.
Kimball, Ward.
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company --
Photographs.
Los Angeles Railway -- Photographs.
Pacific Electric Railway Company --
Photographs.
Southern Pacific Railroad Company --
Photographs.
Union Pacific Railroad Company --
Photographs.
Duke, Donald, 1929-2010, former owner.
Hazeltine, M. M. (Martin Mason), 1827-1903, photographer.