The Joseph "Joe" Cernak collection contains photograph negatives from a variety of both national and international railroads. These negatives depict steam, diesel, electric, and gas-electric locomotives in addition to various rolling stock and scenes pertaining to railroads. These negatives were collected by Joseph Cernak from various institutions and other collectors.

Joseph "Joe" Cernak was a locomotive engineer, fireman, and longtime railfan. He was born on July 5th, 1928, in Rockyford, Alberta, Canada to John and Mary Cernak. He was the second of four sons, with older brother Andrew and younger brother Steve. He began working for Canada National Railway in 1947, serving as a locomotive engineer until his retirement in 1993. In 1975, he married Beverley Cernak neé Taylor, with whom he had no children. Cernak was a member of the Rocky Mountain Rail Society, where he served as president in 1962. During his membership, he helped to fundraise the restoration and maintenance of the Canada National steam locomotive number 6060. He was also a member of the Canada National Railway Retirees Association and numerous other organizations. On August 4th, 2016, Cernak passed away.

14.28 Linear Feet 34 shoe-boxes

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 to research by appointment. Contact Library Staff.