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Western Pacific Construction Agreements
MS 712
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
Title: Western Pacific Construction Agreements
source:
Wyatt, Kyle K.
Identifier/Call Number: MS 712
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
(3 manuscript boxes)
Date (bulk): bulk
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.
Physical Location: SMCC (I2.210.N7)
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.
Collection is open for research by appointment
MS 712 is arranged into three series:
Series 1. Utah Construction Company
Series 2. Construction Agreements
Series 3. Boca & Loyalton Railroad
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.
[Identification of item], Western Pacific Construction Agreements Collection, MS 712, California State Railroad Museum Library
and Archives, Sacramento, California.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Western Pacific Railroad Company
Boca & Loyalton Railroad
Utah Construction Company
Railroads--Buildings and structures--United States--Congress
Construction
Construction contracts--Management
Corporation reports--U.S.
Wyatt, Kyle K.