The collection consists of letters to McFarland, primarily from other railroad aficionados, letters concerning the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, R&LHS Pacific Coast Chapter newsletters and announcements of excursions and miscellaneous photograph lists (not McFarland images) and retirement and scrapping lists for Southern Pacific steam locomotives. Correspondents include Charles E. Fisher, Gilbert H. Kneiss, David L. Joslyn, and Charles Smallwood.

Robert H. McFarland was a railroad enthusiast and photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area during the early and mid-twentieth century. Prior to his death in 1954, he photographed Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, Northwestern Pacific, and traction subjects, as well as maritime and city views.

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 Senior Curator. 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.