Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad Company legal records

Finding aid created by California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives staff using RecordEXPRESS
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
111 I Street
Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
http://csrmf.org/visit/library
2020


Descriptive Summary

Title: Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad Company legal records
Dates: 1893-1912
Collection Number: MS 697
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 3 boxes
Repository: California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: This collection includes incoming and outgoing correspondence and legal documents prepared by the Stockton law offices of Woods & Levinsky on behalf of the Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad Company. There are also documents relating to the San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company and the Pacific Paving Company.
Language of Material: English

Access

This collection is open for research at our off-site storage facility with one week's notice. Contact Library & Archives staff to arrange for access.

Publication Rights

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 Head Librarian. 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.

Preferred Citation

Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad Company legal records . California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Acquisition Information

Gift of Western Pacific Railroad, 1979

Biography/Administrative History

The Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad was incorporated on May 1, 1895 to serve the coal mines of the San Francisco & San Joaquin Coal Company at Corral Hollow, California. The 36.6 mile line ran from Tesla (located in the hills south of the Altamont Pass) to the Stockton waterfront. Construction began in 1895 and was completed in January 1897. On July 25, 1903 the line was sold to the Western Pacific Railroad (WP). The A&SJ was dissolved November 30, 1908. WP used the line from Carbona to Stockton as part of its main line. The rest became the Carbona branch. WP removed the branch between Tesla and Walden in April of 1916, from Walden to Carnegie in January 1918, and back to Moy in September 1921. The 4.2 mile section from Moy to Carbona remained in operation until cut back to Teekey (2.0 miles) in 1952. This remainder wes removed in the mid-1980s, leaving only a short spur off the main line. The Stockton law firm of Louttit, Woods & Levinsky was formed in 1885. In December of 1894 Samuel Davies Woods and Arthur L. Levinsky joined to become Woods & Levinsky. This firm represented the Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad. Mr. Levinsky went into solo practice after 1901. He also acted as claims attorney for the Stockton Electric Railway Company, the Stockton Division of the Southern Pacific Company, and the Central California Traction Company.

Scope and Content of Collection

Includes: Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad (A&SJ) articles of incorporation, correspondence pertaining to land disputes, grading lots, property damage, personal injuries, and other financial and legal matters. Also includes franchises and ordinances for A&SJ to operate in the City of Stockton, land profiles, operating and construction agreements (specifications, contracts, court stipulations and judgements, chattel mortgages, bonds, and statements), real estate and survey notes, right-of-way agreements (lists of landowners, homestead briefs, damage claims, land contracts, owners of land through which the railroad passed, deeds of conveyance, certificates of search of incumbrances, writs of attachment, and certificates of search). In April of 1912 this material was transferred to the Western Pacific Company in San Francisco. Arranged alphabetically by corporate name and then by document type.

Indexing Terms

Alameda & San Joaquin Railroad