This collection is composed of audio and video tapes and transcripts of interviews with twenty individuals who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) at its Sacramento Shops in Sacramento, California between 1918 to 1987. Employees represent a wide range of professions in the Shops, including: crane operator, draftsman, storekeeper, machinist, clerk, welder, carpenter, boilermaker's helper, switchman, foreman, yardmaster, and superintendent. They worked for SP for between two and forty-three years. They were interviewed by docents at the California State Railroad Museum between Oct. 14, 1996 to Feb. 11, 1997.

The Southern Pacific Railroad Sacramento Shops oral history project was initiated by the California State Railroad Museum in 1996 in an effort to capture and preserve information about employees who worked at the Shops, which was one of the Sacramento regions largest employers between its opening in the 1860s and its closing in 1999. Between Oct. 14, 1996 and Feb. 11, 1997, a series of volunteers interviewed 18 men and 2 women who worked in the Shops.

3 Linear Feet 20 half size archives boxes transcripts, audio tapes, video tapes

Copyright has been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. Permission for publication must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library amp;Archives.

Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff for details.