Southern Pacific General Managers Orders Indexes and Files, 1905-1987, bulk Bulk 1905-1958

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Summary

Title:
Southern Pacific General Managers Orders indexes and files
Dates:
1905-1987, bulk Bulk 1905-1958
Abstract:
This is a collection of general managers orders (GMO) files created during management of capital expenditure projects undertaken by the Southern Pacific Railroad primarily in the Sacramento Division between 1905 and 1987. There are also indexes to company-wide GMOs.
Extent:
74 Linear Feet 69 record cartons + 6 manuscript boxes + 8 shoeboxes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Southern Pacific General Managers Orders files, MS 859, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This is a collection of general managers orders files created during management of capital expenditure projects by the Southern Pacific Railroad between 1905 and 1970. In addition to general managers' order (GMO) forms, these files contain project information generated through the management of capital expenditure projects by Southern Pacific. Includes correspondence, estimates, bills of material, maps, drawings, and photographs from the Sacramento Division in California. There are a few files pertaining to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah. Most of the processed files pertain to projects in Northern California. There are 821 GMOs for Sacramento County, 664 for Sacramento, 657 for Placer County, and 220 GMOs for Roseville. There are 117 GMOs pertaining to the Sacramento Division as a whole. There are many gaps in these files and we are missing many of the GMOS listed in the GMO indexes.

Southern Pacific capital expenditure projects include: the purchase of equipment and land, construction and abandonment of trackage, fences, buildings and other structures, their maintenance including painting,removal, sale, cleanup, repair, upgrade, replacement, relocation and reconstruction. There is a GMO file pertaining to the 1926 Sacramento station depot.

To find drawings accompanying these files, enter the GMO order number into the CSRM catalog.

Biographical / historical:

General managers orders conist of capital expenditures by senior officers or, in some cases, by the board of directors. Department heads, senior officers, the President, or the Board of Directors would propose capital expenditures as necessary to build new structures and other facilities or tracks, or to replace worn or obsolete equipment or to upgrade track and structures, to buy locomotives and passenger cars. Each item or project was assigned a GMO number by the Finance or Accounting Department.

The department proposing the expense would prepare a brief description to go with the GMO number. Southern Pacific GMO forms briefly describe a project or capital expenditure and to justify its inclusion in the budget for the year. Each GMO number would have a corresponding file where project details and progress would be noted, including dates of commencement and completion.

Most of the Sacramento Division GMOs list the Central Pacific as the owner and Southern Pacific as the operator. In April 1, 1885, Central Pacific Railroad was leased to the Southern Pacific Company. Its locomotives and rolling stock continued to bear the Central Pacific name for a few years, but then was replaced with the Southern Pacific logo. In June 1899 Central Pacific Railroad was reorganized as Central Pacific Railway a name it kept until it merged with the Southern Pacific Railroad on June 30, 1959.

Acquisition information:
Series 1 is a gift from the Southern Pacific Company in 1989 and 1998. Series 2: Index to GMO's, was a gift from Jeff Asay in 2012.
Processing information:

The GMOs were processed in three batches. Pre 1999, half of the GMOs were put into folders and drawings were removed. Approximately 725 GMOs were cataloged and the rest were arranged in GMO order. In the 2010s, an additional 220 GMOs were cataloged. In 2025, all the remaining GMOs for the Sacramento Division in our possession were processed. This included cataloging, preserving, organizing, removal of duplicates and some drawings from every GMO. An additional 1,500 GMOs were cataloged in 2025.

Early archivists made the decision to remove certain drawings from the GMO files. These are cataloged into the CSRM drawing catalog. Currently, there are approximately 2,500 drawings cataloged. Another 2,500 remain to be cataloged. Partial drawings or fragments, rough sketches, and any railroad tie drawings were left with in the GMO files. For a list of cataloged drawings related to a GMO, enter the GMO number into the CSRM catalog.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into two series:

Series 1: General Managers Orders

Series 2: Indexes to General Managers Orders

Accruals:

No further accruals to the Sacramento Division GMOs are expected. We anticipate Western Division, Los Angeles Division and company-wide GMOs will be processed in the future. A large collection of Pacific Electric GMOs remains to be processed as well.

Physical location:
Statewide Museum Collections Center
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Library Archives staff
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-01-28 19:37:25 +0000 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research by appointment.

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], Southern Pacific General Managers Orders files, MS 859, 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