Best (Gerald M.) Photograph Albums, 1868 - 1965

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Summary

Title:
Gerald M. Best photograph albums
Dates:
1868 - 1965
Abstract:
This is a collection of black and white photo albums of steam locomotives throughout the United State and Canada compiled by Gerald M. Best.
Extent:
12 Volumes 12 albums
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Gerald M. Best Photograph Albums, MS 787, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Album 62 and Album 63 are photographs by Hugh G. Boutell. Album 62 is titled "General Locomotive Photographs, Volumes 2 and 3", commenced Feb. 7, 1923, and consists of locomotive photographs from narrow gauge and standard gauge railroads from across the United States. Album 63 is titled "Locomotives and trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad" and includes predecessor railroads of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. This album includes detailed captions.

Album 73 includes photographs of 83 small narrow-gauge railroads throughout the United States and Canada. These are cross-referenced in the CSRM photograph collection.

Albums 74 is titled "Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotives & Trains Vol. III, by Hugh Gates Boutell. Detailed information accompanies each photograph, including the railroad, locomotive class and number, builder's information, the location, and the date. The locations of the photographs range from Chicago, Illinois in the west to Washington, D.C. in the east. Besides the Pennsylvania Railroad, other railroads included are the West Jersey & Seashore, South Jersey, Camden & Atlantic, Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis, and Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines.

Hugh Gates Boutell was a retired mechanical engineer and the editor of TECHNOLOGY NEWS BULLETIN from 1919-1946.

Album 75 consists of photos of short line and main line railroad locomotives in the eastern United States from 1898 to 1941. Included railroads are:

Bridgton and Sac River Railroad, Illinois Central, Western Maryland, East Broad Top, Norfolk & Western, Southern Railway, Cumberland Valley, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, Boston & Maine, East Washington Railway, Atlantic City Railroad, Nelson & Albemarle Railway, Mount Washington Railway, Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington, Bessemer & Lake Erie, Philadelphia and Reading, Columbus & Greenville, Western Maryland, Baltimore & Ohio, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, Big Level & Kinzue Narrow Gauge, Chicago and Illinois Midland, Tennessee Central, Great Falls & Old Dominion, Denver & Rio Grande Western, Tionesta Valley Railroad, and Erie Railroad.

Album 76 contains locomotives and trains primarily from the eastern United States taken during the 1930s. Included railroads are:

Southern Pacific, Norfolk and Western, Tuckerton Railway, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, Maryland & Pennsylvania, Denver & Rio Grande, Erie, Colorado and Southern Railway, Franklin and Megantic Railroad, Southern Railway, Bridgeton & Saco River, Green Mountain, Pearl River Valley, Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington, East Tennessee & Western North Carolina, Kishacoquillas Valley, Reading, Chesapeake and Western, Baltimore & Ohio, Philadelphia and Reading, Delaware & Hudson, Illinois Central, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac, Atlantic and Gulf, Diamond & Caldor, Knox Railroad, Mt. Mitchell narrow gauge, Reading, East Broad Top, Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes, and Mount Washington Railway.

Album 77 consists of photographs of trains and locomotives across the United States. Included railroads are:

The Ohio River & Columbus, Roanoke Street Railway, Shenandoah Valley Railroad, Roanoke & Southern, Norfolk & Western, McLean Lumber Company, Big Sandy & Cumberland, Atchison, Topeka & Sante Fe, Altoona Northern, Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio, Lynchburg & Durham, New River, Holston & Western, Hampton & Branchville, Atlantic Coast Line, Atlantic & Pacific, Ashland Iron, Bridgeton & Sac River, Buffalo Union Carolina Railroad, Canton Railroad, Graham County Railroad, Louisiana Eastern, Smithfield Terminal Railway, Ware Shoals Railroad, Chesapeake & Ohio, Woodstock Railroad, Barre and Chelsea, Bath and Hammondsport, Norwood and St. Lawrence, Edaville Railroad, Reading, Bennettsville and Cheraw Railroad, High Point, Thomasville and Denton Railroad, Norfolk & Western, Smoky Mountain, Louisiana Cypress Lumber Company, Old Colony, Mount Washington Cog Railway, East Branch and Lincoln, Genessee and Wyoming, Unadilla Valley Railroad, Southern New York Power & Railway, Maryland and Delaware Seacoast Railroad, Duluth and Iron Range, Leona & Northern, Butte, Anaconda and Pacific, Kennecott Nevada Mines, Tonopah & Goldfield, White Sulphur Springs and Yellowstone Park Railway, Wyoming Railway, Washington, Idaho & Montana, Modesto & Empire Traction, Sierra Railroad, San Diego & Arizona Eastern, F.C. Nacionales De Mexico, Pacific Portland Cement Company, Big Creek & Telocaset Railroad, Western Maryland, Maine Central, Portland & Rumford Falls, Current River, Central Vermont, Bellingham Bay & British Columbia Railroad, Seaboard Air Line, Rahway Valley Railroad, Southern Railway, Duluth & Northeastern, Marinette, Tomahawk & Western, Kennecott Copper Company, Nevada Northern, Tonopah & Tidewater, Spokane International, Longview, Portland & Northern, Western Pacific, Yosemite Valley Railway, F.C. Nacionales De Tehuantepec, Stratton & Company, Potlach Forests, Oregon Lumber Company Railroad, Edaville Railroad, Bodie & Benton Railway, Peoria & Eastern, Arcata & Mad River, Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington, Atlantic Creosoting Company, Atlantic Coast Line, and Washington Terminal.

Biographical / historical:

Railroad historian, writer, and photographer Gerald M. Best was born in 1895 and raised in Port Jervis, New York. While pursuing a career in radio communications and in motion picture sound engineering, Best became active in model railroading and in railroad photography. Beginning in 1948, he restored his own narrow gauge Baldwin plantation locomotive "Olomana" which he operated on Ward Kimball's Grizzly Flats Railroad in Southern California. This engine is now on exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Prior to his retirement in 1962, Best wrote two books and a number of articles on railroad history. After retiring, he authored ten other books as well as several pamphlets and articles. His last article appeared posthumously in the Autumn 1985 issue of RAILROAD HISTORY.

Best was active in the Pacific Coast and Southern California Chapters of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society and served as a vice-president of the national organization. He died in 1985.

Arnold S. Menke, "Gerald M. Best's 'Autobiography of a Railfan,'" RAILROAD HISTORY (No. 158, Spring 1988), pp. 14-71.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Harriet B. Best
Physical location:
Big Four Building
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Bibliography:

Below is a partial list of notable books written by Gerald Best:

American Railroad Journal, 1966

Best, G. M. (1960). Central American holiday: A guide to the railroads of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Pacific Coast Chapter, Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.

Best, G. M. (1969). Iron horses to Promontory. Golden West Books.

Best, G. M. (1971). Mexican narrow gauge. Howell-North Books.

Best, G. M. (1973). Minisink Valley Express: A history of the Port Jervis, Monticello & New York Railroad and its predecessors. Golden West Books.

Best, G. M. (1978). Railroads of Hawaii: Narrow and standard gauge common carriers. Golden West Books.

Best, G. M. (1980). Promontory's locomotives. Golden West Books.

Best, G. M. (1981). Ships and Narrow Gauge Rails: The story of the Pacific Coast Company. Howell-North.

Best, G. M. (1998). Nevada County Narrow Gauge. Heimburger House Pub.

Best, G. M. (2000). The Ulster and Delaware: Railroad through the Catskills. Golden West Books ; Purple Mountain Press.

Best, G. M., & Bowman, J. N. (1969). The last spike is driven. Utah Historical quarterly.

Best, G. M., & Joslyn, D. L. (1956). Locomotives of the Southern Pacific Company, by Gerald M. Best and David L. Joslyn. Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.

Best, G. M., & Joslyn, D. L. (1966). Snowplow: Clearing Mountain Rails. Howell-North Books.

Condé, J. C., & Best, G. M. (1973). Sugar trains; narrow gauge rails of Hawaii, by Jesse C. Condé & Gerald M. Best. Glenwood Publishers.

Below is a partial list of articles written about Gerald Best:

Arnold S. Menke, "Gerald M. Best's 'Autobiography of a Railfan,'" RAILROAD HISTORY (No. 158, Spring 1988), pp. 14-71.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Library Archives staff
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-12-09 23:54:52 +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], Gerald M. Best Photograph Albums, MS 787, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Location of this collection:
111 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814, US
Contact:
(916) 323-8073
Library.CSRM@parks.ca.gov
Website