Guide to the William Barger Fletcher Collection MS 701
Library & Archives Staff
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
2019-10-30
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
Title: William Barger Fletcher collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS 701
Physical Description:
.333 Linear Feet
(1 manuscript box)
Date (inclusive): 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.
Physical Location: SMCC I2.210.N6
Biography
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.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research by appointment.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Scope and Contents
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], William Fletcher Collection, MS 701, California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives, Sacramento,
California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Steamships
Puffers (Steamboats)
Photographs--Portraits
Photograph collections
Correspondence--Letters
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Organization--Railroad Club--Rocky Mountain
Excursion--Railroad
Organization--Railroad Society--Railroad and Locomotive History Society
box 1, folder 3
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy- Historical Pamphlets
bulk
box 1, folder 5-7
Colorado Railroad Excursions
bulk
box 1, folder 8
Correspondence: Church
1987-04-09
box 1, folder 9
Correspondence: Colorado Railroad
bulk
box 1, folder 10
Correspondence: Couch, Wayne
1968
box 1, folder 11
Correspondence: Downey Historical Society
1987
box 1, folder 12-14
Correspondence: Hoag, S. Durwood
bulk
box 1, folder 15
Correspondence: Missouri Pacific, employment
bulk
box 1, folder 16
Correspondence: Missouri Pacific, misplaced shipment
1968
box 1, folder 17
Correspondence: Missouri Pacific Historical Society
bulk
box 1, folder 18
Correspondence: Personal
bulk
box 1, folder 19
Correspondence: Poor, M. "Mac" C.
bulk
box 1, folder 21
Correspondence: R&LHS and Pomona Fairgrounds
bulk
box 1, folder 22
Correspondence: Union Pacific Locomotive Engineers
box 1, folder 23
Denver & Rio Grande Western Train Orders
bulk
box 1, folder 24
Denver & Salt Lake Railroad: Moffat Road Publicity
box 1, folder 25
Missouri Pacific Clippings
box 2, folder 1
St. Louis - San Francisco Railway: Ephemera
bulk
box 2, folder 2
St. Louis - San Francisco Railway: Clippings
bulk
box 2, folder 3
St. Louis - San Francisco Railway: Geological Report, Southwest Pacific Railroad
1867
box 2, folder 4
St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad Co. : Tourist Railroad, photos
1970
box 2, folder 5
Steamboat & Bridge Material
box 2, folder 9
Photos: Steamboats, midwest
box 2, folder 10
Stock Ownership Documents: ATSF
box 2, folder 11
Stock Ownership Documents: D&RGW
box 2, folder 12
Stock Ownership Documents: Southern Pacific
box 2, folder 13
Non-Railroad/Steamboat related Photos
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Marching bands
Photographs--Portraits
West Virginia -- Blennerhassett
Ohio -- Stuebenville
Ohio -- Marietta
