Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Additional collection guides
Descriptive Summary
Title: Frank Saarni collection
Dates: 1905-1997
Collection Number: MS 726
Creator/Collector:
Saarni, Frank
Extent: 1 linear foot + 3 oversize boxes
Repository:
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: Paperwork collected by builder's plate collector Frank Saarni during his work with the California State Railroad Museum and
as a brakeman for the Great Northern Railway.
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 CSRM 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
Frank Saarni collection. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mrs. Frank A. (Betty) Saarni, 2013
Biography/Administrative History
Frank Arthur Saarni was born Aug. 3,1926 in San Francisco and died Jan. 21, 2013 in Berkeley. Beginning as a teenager, Saarni
assembled one of the major and most significant builder’s plate collections in the United States and North America. Saarni
also created accurate reproduction builder's plates for equipment being restored during the development of the California
State Railroad Museum. As he collected, he kept meticulous notes and gathered research material on railroad history, which
comprise this collection.
Scope and Content of Collection
Consists of construction lists for various locomotive builders, correspondence, notes on railroad photography trips, research
materials, employment paperwork, ephemera, and albums of tickets and photographs. The correspondence relates to collecting
and purchasing of builder's plates, as well as to Saarni's work with the California State Railroad Museum. Employment paperwork
relates to Saarni's work as a brakeman with the Great Northern Railway. The locomotive builder lists are handwritten and organized
by construction number. Notes on photography trips consists of a trip recapitulation listing road numbers of engines photographed
by Saarni. Among his research materials is correspondence mostly to Virgil Bogue, from Arthur W. Keddie and others, regarding
construction of the Western Pacific Railway.
Photographic prints that were not affixed in albums have been removed and filed with the general photograph collection. Corresponding
negatives were not included in the donation. Employee timetables have also been cataloged separately.
Additional collection guides
No online items
