Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Western Pacific Construction Agreements
- Dates:
- bulk bulk
- Creators:
- Wyatt, Kyle K.
- Abstract:
- Collection contains agreements for construction between Utah Construction Company and Western Pacific main line, agreements between Western Pacific Railway and construction companies and Boca & Loyalton Railroad reports.
- Extent:
- 1 Linear Feet (3 manuscript boxes)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Western Pacific Construction Agreements Collection, MS 712, California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives, Sacramento, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains construction agreements and contracts between Utah Construction Company and Western Pacific Railway between 1905-1915 relating to the construction of the mainline between Oroville, CA and Salt Lake City, Utah; agreements between Western Pacific Railway and construction companies for buildings, section houses, depots, the Oakland Mole, Boca & Loyalton Railroad Annual Reports to the ICC and a physical valuation for the railroad from 1912.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Western Pacific Railway Company was in operation from 1903 (incorporated June 6, 1903) until it was reorganized and renamed the Western Pacific Railroad Company on June 6, 1916. WP lands stretched from the San Francisco Bay through California and Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah, and north-south from the Feather River Canyon to near the Oregon line. Construction on a line between San Francisco and Salt Lake City began in the fall of 1905. Despite a court challenge by Southern Pacific to prevent construction, Western Pacific workers successfully erected a waterfront terminal at Oakland.
On November 1, 1909, after a series of delays and cost overruns, the last spike was driven on the Spanish Creek bridge in the Feather River Canyon. This new line, known as the Feather River Canyon Route, was 924 miles long and included 41 steel bridges and 44 tunnels. It was significant because it was competitive with the Southern Pacific Overland Route, the original transcontinental route. It crossed the Sierra at 5,000 feet, a lower elevation than the Southern Pacific line’s 7,200 ft. elevation, and thus faced fewer problems with the weather. The Western Pacific grade, at 1%, and a 10% curvature, made navigation on this line easier than Southern Pacific’s. Through freight service on the Feather Canyon Route began on December 1, 1909 and passenger service commenced in August of 1910.
Utah Construction Company was a construction company founded in 1900 by Edmond Orson Wattis, Warren L. Wattis and William H Wattis. In 1906 the company was awarded the contract to build the Feather River Train route for the Western Pacific Railway and completed construction in 1911. The Feather River Route connected the cities of Oakland, California and Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Arrangement:
-
MS 712 is arranged into three series: Series 1. Utah Construction Company Series 2. Construction Agreements Series 3. Boca & Loyalton Railroad
- Physical location:
- SMCC (I2.210.N7)
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-11-15 14:01:51 -0800 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research by appointment
- 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 CSRM Library & Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Western Pacific Construction Agreements Collection, MS 712, California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives, Sacramento, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
111 I StreetSacramento, CA 95814, US
- Contact:
- (916) 323-8073