Central Pacific Railway records, bulk 1861-1959

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Summary

Creators:
Central Pacific Railway Company
Abstract:
The Central Pacific Railroad Records include documents generated by Central Pacific, a railroad chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastward from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America in 1869. It includes records from its incorporation in 1861 until 1959, when it was formally merged with the Southern Pacific Railroad. Much of the material in these records documents the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. It includes accounting records and vouchers for the purchase of building material and supplies, payrolls of work gangs who built the Transcontinental Railroad, and equipment records for locomotives, passenger and freight cars that ran on the railroad. This is not a complete record of the company, but provides a good overview of the company in the nineteenth century.
Extent:
388.5 Linear Feet 377 Boxes + 19 volumes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Central Pacific Railroad Records, MS 79, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The Central Pacific Railroad Records include documents generated by Central Pacific, a railroad chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastward from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America in 1869. It includes records from its incorporation in 1861 until 1959, when it was formally merged with the Southern Pacific Railroad. Much of the material in these records documents the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. It includes accounting records and vouchers for the purchase of building material and supplies, payrolls of work gangs who built the Transcontinental Railroad, and equipment records for locomotives, passenger and freight cars that ran on the railroad. This is not a complete record of the company, but provides a good overview of the company in the nineteenth century.

Biographical / historical:

Incorporated in 1861 as the Central Pacific Rail Road, Central Pacific was a class 1 railroad operating in Northern California, Nevada and Utah. On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act, which provided funding and land grants to Central Pacific for the construction of the Western part of the Transcontinental Railroad. After breaking ground on January 8, 1963 in Sacramento, California, Central Pacific constructed the railroad over the Sierra Nevada mountain range and met the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah in 1869, completing the first Transcontinental Railroad.

The railroad name was changed to "Central Pacific Railroad of California" on October 8, 1864. Central Pacific was consolidated with the Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870), San Francisco and Alameda Railroad and San Francisco and Oakland Railroad to form the "Central Pacific Railroad Co. in June 1870). In August 22, 1870, Central Pacific Railroad Co. was consolidated with the California & Oregon Railroad, the San Francisco, Oakland & Alameda Railroad, and the San Joaquin Valley Railroad to form the "Central Pacific Railroad Co.", a new corporation.

In April 1, 1885, Central Pacific Railroad was leased to the Southern Pacific Company. Its locomotives and rolling stock continued to bear the Central Pacific name for a few years, but then was replaced with the Southern Pacific logo. In June 1899 Central Pacific Railroad was reorganized as Central Pacific Railway a name it kept until it merged with the Southern Pacific Railroad on June 30, 1959.

Acquisition information:
The material in this collection was donated to the California State Railroad Museum by the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The CP station plan book was donated by Arthur D. Haig in 1983 and the unpaid wages book was donated by Jack Naack in 1983.
Arrangement:

MS 79 is arranged into eight series:

Series 1. FINANCIAL RECORDS

Series 2. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT RECORDS

Series 3. LAND DEPARTMENT RECORDS

Series 4. PERSONNEL RECORDS

Series 5. EQUIPMENT RECORDS

Series 6. MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS, FORMS AND CORRESPONDENCE

Series 7. TARIFFS

Series 8. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

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

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open to 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 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:

[Identification of item], Central Pacific Railroad Records, MS 79, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

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