Alan Charles Thomson papers

Title: Alan Charles Thomson papers

Dates: 1953-1987 (1969-1987 bulk)

Collection Number: MS 630

Creator/Collector: Thomson (Alan Charles)

Extent: 1 box

Repository: California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Abstract: Papers documenting Alan C. Thomson's membership in the Sacramento Area Chapter of the Friends of the California State Railroad Museum, a predecessor to the CSRM Foundation.

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 Capital District Collections Manager. 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.

Alan Charles Thomson papers. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Gift of Judy Yates, 2006.

Alan Charles Thomson was born on April 1, 1917 in Oregon. He worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a local claims agent in Sacramento. In 1969, he served as the Southern Pacific field representative for the Sacramento Gold Spike Centennial Committee. He helped organize the ground breaking ceremony (April 25, 1969) for the Big Four Building in Old Sacramento State Historic Park and traveled with the special Centennial Plaque train (May 1969). Alan C. Thomson was a member of the blue ribbon committee of Sacramento civic and cultural leaders responsible for Railfair Sacramento 1981, which celebrated the grand opening of the California State Railroad Museum's Museum of Railroad History on May 2, 1981. He also served as a board member of the Sacramento Area Chapter of the Friends of the California State Railroad Museum from 1981 to 1987 until it was reconstituted as the California Railroad Museum Foundation. Alan Thomson died in Sacramento on April 7, 1997.

This collections includes: correspondence, agendas, newsletters, minutes, reports, and notices documenting Alan C. Thomson's membership in the Sacramento Area Chapter of the Friends of the California State Railroad Museum, a predecessor to the CSRM Foundation. Also includes clippings, promotional material and correspondence documenting Alan C. Thomson's contributions to the Golden Spike Centennial Celebration Commission formed to recognize the 100th aninversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah in 1869. There are photographs of various Golden Spike Centennial events, including the groundbreaking for the Big Four Building in Old Sacramento (April 25, 1969) and the "Centennial Plaque Special" May 9, 1969, which traveled from Sacramento to Truckee to dedicate placques at sites (Roseville, Rocklin, Newcastle, Auburn, Colfax and Truckee) along the historic Central Pacific railroad route. Arranged alphabetically by subject.