The Jack R. Wagner Collection consists largely of manuscripts, letters, notes and ephemera pertaining to his publications and interest in railroad history.

A native of California, John ("Jack") Russell Wagner began his career as a radio engineer in 1937, and served as a civilian with the Army's Signal Corps and Air Corps during World War II. It was in this latter service that he became associated with the Manhattan Project. After the war he returned to the radio business in Northern California, working in that field until 1981 when he retired as Director of Broadcast Operations for San Francisco station KCBS. Mr. Wagner traveled widely and wrote articles on western topics for such publications as WESTWAYS, TRUE RAILROAD MAGAZINE, AMERICAN FORESTS and WESTERN MINING JOURNAL. In addition he wrote three books, SHORT LINE JUNCTION (1956), GOLD MINES OF CALIFORNIA (1970) and THE LAST WHISTLE [OCEAN SHORE RAILROAD] (1974). Mr. Wagner died in October, 1988 at the age of 72.

7 boxes + 1 oversize box

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 Director of Collections. 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.

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.