Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- William Barger Fletcher collection
- Dates:
- 1950-1976
- Abstract:
- Correspondence from Denver, Colorado rail author and friend, Meredith (Mac) C. Poor and S. Durward Hoag, owner-manager of the Motor Hotel in Lafayette, Marietta Ohio and friend of Fletcher. Subjects include excursions with the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club to Jaurez, Laramie, Silverton, UP to Rawlings, Wy, Durango, Chama to Big Horn on Denver & Rio Grande. Includes clippings, photographs and ephemera relating to steamboats.
- Extent:
- .333 Linear Feet (1 manuscript box)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], William Fletcher Collection, MS 701, California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives, Sacramento, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains correspondence, photographs and railroad related ephemera from the 1950's through the 1970's. Correspondence from Denver, Colorado rail author and friend, Meredith (Mac) C. Poor and S. Durward Hoag, owner-manager of the Motor Hotel in Lafayette, Marietta Ohio and friend of Fletcher. Subjects inlcude excursions with the Rocky Mountain Railraod Club to Jaurez, Laramie, Silverton, UP to Rawlings, Wy, Durango, Chama to Big Horn on Denver & Rio Grande. Includes clippings, photographs and ephemera relating to Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, St. Louis - San Francisco Railway and steamboats in the midwest.
Photographs are of steamboats as well as non-railroad and non-steamboat photos. Many of the photos are stamped with S. Durward Hoag studio. Several of the steamboat photos seem to be original to the Hoag photo studio, while there are other photos that Hoag made re-prints of from the Ohio area from the turn of the century and are stamped as such.
- Biographical / historical:
-
William B. Fletcher was born on September 14, 1912 in Ironton, Missouri. His interests in railroads emerged when his Uncle Alex, a Missouri Pacific Engineer, let him ride on the engine. During high school he learned station work and telegraphy at the Missouri Pacific Depot in Ironton. He recieved a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy and was employeed by the Department of Agriculture, the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company and Bureau of Ships in a shipbuilding program at Evansville, Indiana.
In 1946, he and a partner started Industrial Systems, Inc., South Gate California which engineered and installed paint finishing systems.
For over 40 years he collected employee timetables, railroad artifacts and photographs. During railfan excursions, he made audiotapes of the trips and distriuted them to other railfans.
William B. Fletcher was the Chairman of the Southern California Chapter of the Railway &Locomotive Historical Society for over 20 years and then became a director of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.
Mr. Fletcher retured in January 1980 and passed away May 18, 1993 in Downey, California. He and his wife had three children.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged alphbatically by subject.
- Physical location:
- SMCC I2.210.N6
- 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 14:05:53 -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], William Fletcher Collection, MS 701, California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives, Sacramento, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
111 I StreetSacramento, CA 95814, US
- Contact:
- (916) 323-8073