Rocky Mountain Railroad Club's J. Foster Adams collection
Finding aid created by California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives staff using RecordEXPRESS
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
2020
111 I Street
Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
http://csrmf.org/visit/library
Title: Rocky Mountain Railroad Club's J. Foster Adams collection
Dates: 1913-1943
Collection Number: MS 601
Creator/Collector:
Adams (J. Foster)
Extent: These 600 glass plate and film negatives are taken by J. Foster Adams.
Repository:
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Sacramento, California 95814
Abstract: The collection includes approximately 600 glass plate and film negatives.
Language of Material: English
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.
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 Archivist. 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.
Rocky Mountain Railroad Club's J. Foster Adams collection. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives
Gift of Rocky Mountain Railroad Club to the California State Railroad Museum Library in 2008. The collection of negatives
was donated by J. Foster Adams to the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club in 1962.
Biography/Administrative History
These images are the work of J. Foster Adams (1882-1962), a commercial photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Adams began
photographing engines and trains, principally on 5 x 7 glass plates about 1913, and took both still and action photographs
of railroads in the Portland area, including Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation, Spokane
Portland & Seattle, and others. The bulk of the negatives are dated between 1913 and 1943.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes approximately 600 glass plate and film negatives. The majority of the plates are 5 x 7, but vary
in size from as large as 8 x 10 to 4 x 5. The collection also includes prints made from the negatives by the Rocky Mountain
Railroad Club after it received the collection in 1962. A preliminary inventory was received with the collection. The CSRM
Library has created a searchable database including corporate name, locomotive numbers, geographic location, and dates when
available. Please contact CSRM Library staff with specific search requests. The glass plate and film negatives are filed
by the Adams negative number. Prints are filed by corporate name.