Title: Gerald M. Best photograph albums

Dates: 1868-1954

Collection Number: MS 787

Creator/Collector: Best, Gerald M., 1895-1985 Boutell, Hugh Gates

Extent: 8 albums

Repository: California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Abstract: Photographs of locomotives and trains taken by Hugh Gates Boutell and Gerald M. Best. Ask Library Staff for additional Gerald M. Best photographs.

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.

Gerald M. Best photograph albums. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Gift of Harriet B. Best

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 accompany 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. Railroads include: 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 Cty 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 Illinos 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. Railroads include: Southern Pacific, Norfolk and Western, Tuckerton Railway, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, Maryland & Pennsylvania, Denvery & 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. Some of the railroads include: 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 Delware 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, Portand & 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, Peopria & Eastern, Arcata & Mad River, Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington, Atlantic Creosoting Company, Atlantic Coast Line, and Washington Terminal. Album 125 includes photographs of the construction of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's Pawhuska Branch in Oklahoma from 1926 and 1927. They begin at Mile Post 61 and decend to Mile Pos 35. The only depot is at Strohm, OK. This station had a train order office and large water tank. This branch was part of the Santa Fe's Western District, Southern Kansas Division. This line was removed between 1965 and 1969. In 1965, the Pawhuska District was shown as a part of the Eastern Division, Eastern District.