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Gleason (Elbert "Ed" E.) Papers
MS 686
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Contributing Institution:
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
Title: Elbert "Ed" E. Gleason papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS 686
Physical Description:
2 Linear Feet
2 record cartons
Date (inclusive): 1905-1968
Abstract: These papers document the career of Western Pacific Railroad Chief Mechanical Officer Elbert E. Gleason and the role of WP
Vice-President and Chief Engineer Virgil G. Bogue in the construction of the Western Pacific Railroad, 1905-190l9.
Physical Location: Statewide Museum Collections Center: I2.212.V4
Language of Material:
English
.
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Bruce MacGregor, 2023
The Elbert "Ed" E. Gleason Papers have been arranged into the following series:
Series 1. Elbert "Ed" E. Gleason Papers
Series 2. Virgil G. Bogue (VP & Chief Engineer, WP) Records
Elbert E. Gleason entered Western Pacific Railroad service as a roundhouse clerk on July 9, 1911 in Oakland and retired after
34 years in 1954 as the company's Chief Mechanical Officer.
Elbert E. Gleason was born near Marysville in Yuba County, California on October 17, 1889. He spent his early years on a
farm and spent several years at sawmill and logging work in the forests of California, serving as a sawmill and logging donkey
engineer at Brandy City Mining Co. Based in Sacramento, while making his way up through the ranks at Western Pacific, he
was a general draftsman (from July 1911), shop clerk, draftsman (1913-1916), acting and chief draftsman of the mechanical
department (from August 1916), mechanical engineer (from September 1923), Assistant Superintendent of Motive Power (from January
1928), Master Mechanic, Western Division (from June 1939), Mechanical Engineer, Western Division (in July 1941), Superintendent
of Motive Power (April 1949) and Chief Mechanical Officer (December 1, 1950). He continued in this position until he retired
on November 1, 1954.
Highlights of his career include management of WP's motive power programs in the 1940s and early 1950s, and mechanical oversight
for the WP's adoption of the "California Zephyr" in 1949. He was a member of the Lion s Club, The Boy Scouts of America, the
Locomotive Maintenance Officers Association, and the Pacific Railway Club.
Mr. Gleason married Irene Haydon on July 20, 1911 and had two children: Frances Louise MacGregor and Bette Elberta. He died
in August 1969.
[Excerpt of the biographical sketch written by E.E. Gleason for the WESTERN PACIFIC REPORTER (company newsletter) and dated
Jan. 20, 1949.
Additional papers of Virgil G. Bogue can be found in MS 43 Western Pacific Railroad Collection, Record Group 5, and MS 17
Gilbert Harold Kneiss Collection, Series 1 and MS 31 Louis Lorenz Stein Collection, Series 3.
[Identification of item], Elbert E. Gleason Papers, MS 686, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento,
California.
This collection includes correspondence, railroad passes, photographs, detailed salary and employment information, clippings,
and membership cards pertaining to the career of Elbert "Ed" Gleason with Western Pacific (WP) Railroad. Also includes photocopies
of select files from the office of WP Vice-President and Chief Engineer Virgil Gay Bogue documenting the construction of the
railroad between 1905 and 1909.
The following items from this collection have been transferred to the CSRM Artifact Collection:
Locomotive bell for WP locomotive No. 24, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1882
Train arrival board from Fremont (previously Niles), California depot
Pair of demitasse coffee cups from "California Zephyr" train
"Exposition flyer" tea pot
Western Pacific canvas display logo
3 builders plates for WP locomotives 203, 257 and 483
Color-coded maintenance status blocks
"Western Pacific via Feather River Canyon" is stored in SMCC flat file 145.
The book WORTHINGTON PUMP HANDBOOD: DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND APPLICATION OF ALL COMMERCIAL TYPES OF PUMPS. New York: Worthington
Pump and Machinery Corp., 1927 has been added to our Library catalog.
The following drawings have been removed from the Gleason collection and added to the CSRM maps and drawings:
Copyright has been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. Permission for publication must be submitted in writing
to the CSRM Library amp; Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bogue, Virgil Gay, 1846-1916Western Pacific Railroad Company