Southern Pacific Company records, 1860-1989

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Summary

Abstract:
This collection includes some of the corporate records of the Southern Pacific Railroad, its holding company, the Southern Pacific Company and certain of its subsidiaries and successors (such as the Southern Pacific Transportation Company) collected by the CSRM Library & Archives, focusing on financial and operational aspects of its functions from 1860 to 1989.
Extent:
683.65 Linear Feet
Language:
English and English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, California State Railroad Museum Libary & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection of corporate records of the Southern Pacific Railroad, its holding company, the Southern Pacific Company, and its successor, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company were donated to the California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives between 1977 and 2018. This material does not represent the complete corporate records of the Southern Pacific.

Contains equipment records, general managers' orders, bulletins, general ledgers, maritime log books, photographs, Southern Pacific Sacramento Shops records, material specifications, files of the Chief Engineer, the Master Mechanic, General Superintendent, Vice-President and the General Manager.

Subjects include the building of the Southern Pacific Railroad, maintenance of tracks and buildings, building and care of locomotives, rolling stock, and trains, and management of its finances and land resources.

Biographical / historical:

The Southern Pacific was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1998 and operated in the Western United States. The original Southern Pacific began in 1865 as a land holding company. The last incarnation of the Southern Pacific, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, was founded in 1969 and assumed control of the Southern Pacific system. By 1900, the Southern Pacific system was a major railroad system incorporating many smaller companies, such as the Texas and New Orleans Railroad and Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railroad. It extended from New Orleans through Texas to El Paso, Texas, across New Mexico and through Tucson, to Los Angeles, through most of California, including San Francisco and Sacramento. In 1929, Southern Pacific/Texas and New Orleans operated 13,848 route-miles not including Cotton Belt, whose purchase of the Golden State Route circa 1980 nearly doubled its size to 3,085 miles (4,965 km), bringing total SP/SSW mileage to around 13,508 miles (21,739 km). In 1969, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company was established and took over the Southern Pacific Company.

By the 1980s, route mileage had dropped to 10,423 miles (16,774 km), mainly due to the pruning of branch lines. In 1988, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company (including its subsidiary, St. Louis Southwestern Railway) was taken over by Rio Grande Industries, the parent company that controlled the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. Rio Grande Industries did not merge the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad together, but transferred direct ownership of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, allowing the combined Rio Grande Industries railroad system to use the Southern Pacific name due to its brand recognition in the railroad industry and with customers of both the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.

By 1996, years of financial problems had dropped Southern Pacific's mileage to 13,715 miles (22,072 km). The financial problems caused the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to be taken over by the Union Pacific Corporation. In 1998, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company became the surviving railroad and at the same time the Union Pacific Corporation renamed the Southern Pacific Transportation Company to Union Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company became the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad; the former Southern Pacific Transportation Company is still operating as the current incarnation of the Union Pacific Railroad. [Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Pacific_Transportation_Company#History ]ry ]

Acquisition information:
These corporate records were pieced together through donations from multiple sources. including: the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, the Union Pacific Railroad, The Bancroft Library; University of California, Berkeley, The Railway Locomotive Historical Society, Pacific Coast Chapter, and people including: John Vios, Erik Pierson, Timothy and Sylvia Wong, Edna Hietala, John Gilmore, Philip Harrison, Carl Bradley, Betty Jo Sunshine, Dave Henry, Anthony Thompson, Lynn D. Farrar and many others between 1977 and 2009.
Processing information:

Substantial portions of the papers were reorganized in 2018 into a more coherent arrangement, and new series were created to bring similar material together.

Arrangement:

Arranged by department into the following series:

Series 1: Motive Power Department records

Subseries 1. Equipment records

Subseries 2. Master mechanic

Subseries 3. The Office of general superintendent motive power department

Subseries 4. Drawing room records

Subseries 5. Sacramento shops

Subseries 6. Mechanical department records

Series 2: Engineering, Maintenance of Way and Valuation Department

Subseries 1. Engineering

Subseries 2. Maintenance of way

Subseries 3. Valuation department records

Series 3: Accounting Department

Series 4: Land Department

Subseries 1. Abstract of deeds

Subseries 2. Cash receipts

Subseries 3. Day books

Subseries 4. Real estate and right of way property owned

Series 5: Operating Department

Subseries 1. Project files of William R. Scott, vice-president and general manager

Subseries 2. General manager's orders

Subseries 3. Office of general manager appropriation bulletins and general letters

Subseries 4. Personnel department

Series 6: Executive Department

Subseries 1. Office of the president circulars and invitations

Subseries 2. Public relations department

Subseries 3. Mortgage maps

Subseries 4. Long range planning program

Series 7: Hospital Department

Series 8: Traffic Department

Series 9: Public Relations Department

Accruals:

The CSRM Library & Archives continues to add materials to this collection on a regular basis.

Physical location:
Statewide Museum Collections Center
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

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

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, California State Railroad Museum Libary & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Location of this collection:
111 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814, US
Contact:
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
Website