Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the Western Pacific Railroad Authorities for Expenditure (AFE) Collection MS 918
MS 918
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
Title: Western Pacific Railroad Authorities for Expenditure (AFE) collection
Creator:
Western Pacific Railroad Company
Identifier/Call Number: MS 918
Physical Description:
23.7 Linear Feet
17 record cartons + 16 shoe boxes + 1 filing cabinet
Date (inclusive): 1910 - 1983
Abstract: The AFE project files contain detailed information about construction projects and equipment orders undertaken by the Western
Pacific Railroad between 1911 and 1983. The indexes to AFEs are useful in providing a summary of this information.
Physical Location: Statewide Museum Collections Center:
Series 1. Indexes
Subseries 1.1. Index cards I2.300.J6-J7
Subseries 1.2. Record books I2.300.H8, I2.300.I6
Series 2. AFE Project Files I2.211.D1-D3, E9-E11
Language of Material:
English
.
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection is made up of three donations:
1. Gift of Union Pacific, 1998, 378 AFEs for Western Pacific and 3 for Sacramento Northern (a WP subsidiary), 1915-1921, 1967-1983
and 4 AFE record books (indexes to AFEs), 1913-1921
2. Gift of Virgil Staff, 2004, 371 AFEs for Western Pacific and 22 for Sacramento Northern (a WP subsidiary), 1925-1951
3. Gift of Jeff Asay, 2010, 16 shoe boxes of AFE index cards, WP and subsidiaries, 1910-1983
This collection is arranged into two series:
Series 1: AFE Indexes
Subseries 1.1. Index cards
Subseries 1.2. AFE record books
Series 2: AFE Project Files
All railroads had a system for approval of capital expenditures by senior officers or, in some cases, by the board of directors.
On the Western Pacific this approval process was known as Authority for Expenditure (AFE). Department heads, senior officers,
the President, or the Board of Directors would propose capital expenditures as necessary to build new structures and other
facilities such as depots, shops, and team tracks, to replace worn or obsolete equipment, upgrade track and structures, to
buy locomotives and passenger cars. Each item or project was assigned an AFE number by the Finance or Accounting Department.
Before 1910 the railroad was considered to be under construction and there were no AFEs. After 1983, WP was merged into the
Union Pacific and ceased to have its own AFE process. The department proposing the expense would prepare a brief description
to go with the AFE number. WP AFEs and Southern Pacific GMOs had the same function: to briefly describe a project or capital
expenditure and to justify its inclusion in the budget for the year. Each AFE number would have a corresponding file where
project details and progress would be noted, including dates of commencement and completion.
On the WP, the AFE number was a serial number that started at 1 each year, followed by the year in which the AFE was activated.
The first AFE was issued in 1910. Between December 26, 1917 when President Wilson assumed control of the nation's railroads
under the United States Railroad Administration and March 1920, when control was returned to the railroads, some AFEs had
a letter in front of the number. In 1921 the AFE number reset to each year and was followed by the last two digits of the
year in which the AFE was activated. For example, 155 42 refers to the 155th project in 1942.
[Identification of item], Western Pacific Railroad Authorities for Expenditure (AFE) Collection, MS 918 State Railroad Museum
Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
This collection was artificially generated. Series 2 was created by interfiling AFEs from donations by Union Pacific and from
Virgil Staff. The indexes were donated by Jeff Asay and Union Pacific, and these were placed at the beginning of this collection
as Series 1.
The AFE project files contain detailed information about construction projects and equipment orders undertaken by the Western
Pacific Railroad between 1911 and 1983. This collection includes only a small percentage of the overall AFE project files.
There are no AFE project files for 1952-1966. The AFE indexes fill in some of the gaps in information about these projects.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Staff, Virgil, 1928-2008 Asay, Jeff S.Railroad Locomotives
Railroads--United States--Freight cars
Sacramento Northern
Railroad tracks--design and construction