Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Edgar Alphonso O'Brien papers
- Dates:
- 1899-1947
- Abstract:
- Biographical material, letters, union cards and certificates, meal tickets, train orders and annuity certificate relating to Edgar Alphonso O'Brien's career as a locomotive fireman and engineer with Southern Pacific.
- Extent:
- .167 Linear Feet 1 folder
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Edgar Alphonso O'Brien Papers, MS 391, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Biographical material, letters, union cards and certificates, meal tickets, train orders and annuity certificate relating to Edgar Alphonso O'Brien's career as a locomotive fireman and engineer with Southern Pacific.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Edgar Alphonso O'Brien was born on July 17, 1880 in Sacramento, California. He was an engineer with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and ran the "City of San Francisco" on the Sacramento Division between Sacramento and Sparks. O'Brien started his rail career as a call boy and engine wiper in the Sacramento roundhouse in 1896.
O'Brien attended Brothers College (now Christian Brothers) and went to work for Capital Gas Company and in 1898 he became a locomotive fireman. His first assignment was in Rocklin, Placer County, firing a wood burning switch engine. He was promoted to the post of engineer in 1902 and spent 44 years pulling trains all over the Southern Pacific divisions.
He married Margaret Garthaffner in Chico, California in 1905 and moved to Roseville in 1917. They had four children, Edna [Cochran], Margaret O'Brien, Dorothy Agnes and Donald Edgar O'Brien.
Margaret O'Brien, a native of Orland, California, was the grand president of the Past Presidents of the Grand International auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. She was active in the Catholic Ladies Relief Society and a member of the Womens Improvement club.
Both Edgar and Margaret O'Brien are buried at Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum in Placer County, California.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Edna Rae Cochran and Susan Cochran Abele, 1988
- Processing information:
-
Formerly part of MS 1.112
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
- Physical location:
- Statewide Museum Collections Center
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-08-11 21:45:13 +0000 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff
- 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. 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.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Edgar Alphonso O'Brien Papers, MS 391, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
111 I StreetSacramento, CA 95814, US
- Contact:
- (916) 323-8073