Title: Harry M. Williamson Southern Pacific scrapbooks

Dates: 1856-1968

Collection Number: MS 756

Creator/Collector: Williamson, Harry M.

Extent: 5 scrapbooks

Repository: California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Abstract: These scrapbooks include photographs, newspaper clippings and drawings illustrating the careers of Southern Pacific maintenance of way engineer Harry M. Williamson and his father, T.L.Williamson, an SP section foreman in Nevada and Northern California.

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 CSRM Librarian. 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.

Harry M. Williamson Southern Pacific scrapbooks. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Gift of Harry M. Williamson, 1984

Harry M. Williamson was the Chief Engineer for the Southern Pacific system after June 1960. He began working for Southern Pacific as a laborer in 1933. After graduating from the University of Utah with an engineering degree in 1936, Williamson became the assistant engineer for the SP Portland Division. He was promoted to Division Engineer in 1953 and in July 1960 became the Chief Engineer of the Southern Pacific system-wide.

These scrapbooks include photographs, newspaper clippings and drawings illustrating the careers of Southern Pacific maintenance of way engineer Harry M. Williamson and his father, T.L.Williamson, an SP section foreman in Nevada and Northern California. Scrapbook 31 contains material relating to railroads in Nevada including Southern Pacific, Virginia & Truckee, Carson & Colorado, Nevada Copper Belt, and other Nevada narrow-gauge and short line railroads. There are also photos of track laying and maintenance of way work. Scrapbook 32 includes photographs, newspaper clippings and a Southern Pacific reward poster pertaining to the deliberate wreck of the passenger train "City of San Francisco" near Harney, Nevada on August 12, 1939. Scrapbook 33 pertains to the Southern Pacific in the Bay Area. Subjects include the completion of the SP Colton-Palmdale cut-off on July 1967, the ferries "Solano" and "Port Costa", the demolition of the Oakland Mole (1966) and the Alameda Pier (1938). Also includes SP depot and station photographs in Nevada, and history of the Lucin cut-off. Scrapbook 34 subjects include Carson & Colorado depots, engine houses and other buildings, the "Death Valley Scotty" train, floods, mines, equipment, and accidents. Also include photographs of railroads in Nevada, Northern California and Utah. Includes the Oregon & California, Fernley & Lassen, Eureka & Palisade, Southern Pacific, and Central Pacific. Includes an 1856 photo of the yard and shops in Folsom, California and photos of the Sacramento Valley Railroad in Sacramento in the 1860s and 1870s. Scrapbook 35 focuses on repairing bridge washouts and damage in Northern California and Utah, slides in California and Oregon, floods in Nevada, and snowstorms from 1910 until 1965, including the "City of San Francisco" which was snowbound in 1952. [Album 31, album 32, album 33, album 34, album 35]