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Southern Pacific Co. Records
MS 10
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Contributing Institution:
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
Title: Southern Pacific Company records
Identifier/Call Number: MS 10
Physical Description:
478.15 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1860-1989
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.
Physical Location: Statewide Museum Collections Center
Language of Material: English
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library staff for details.
The CSRM Library & Archives continues to add materials to this collection on a regular basis.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.
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
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 ]
Additional collections available through the Online Archive of California:
Southern Pacific Railroad Company records: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf2199n586/?query=southern+pacific+railroad
Southern Pacific Land Company records: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8nc66px/
Central Pacific Railroad Collection: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf2h4n98jc/
Catellus Land Records of the Southern Pacific, Central Pacific, its Predecessor and Subdiary Companies: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c89g5tqc/
Lynn D. Farrar Papers Record Group 1: Southern Pacific Historical Cost Study: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8j10910/.
Finding aids for Southern Pacific predecessor and subsidiary companies are also available.
[Identification of item], Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, California State Railroad Museum Libary & Archives, Sacramento,
California.
Substantial portions of the papers were reorganized in 2018 into a more coherent arrangement, and new series were created
to bring similar material together.
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.
Southern Pacific photographs, maps, drawings, employee timetables, and menus have been separated from these records and can
be searched on the CSRM Library & Archives catalog at: https://csrm.andornot.com/. Ephemera, postcards, public timetables
and tariffs are maintained separately. Contact CSRM Library & Archives staff for details.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Southern Pacific Transportation Company
Union Pacific Railroad Company