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C ALIFORNIA S TATE L IBRARYC ALIFORNIA H ISTORY S ECTIONR ESEARCH G UIDESR AILROADS I N C ALIFORNIAV ISIT U SCalifornia History Room900 N Street Room 2009:30-4 Monday-Friday

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Curious about California's transit system? Particularly its trains? Doing a researchproject on the building of the Transcontinental Railroad? Explore the role thatiron rails, railroad barons and mass transit have played in our past via the California History Section's rich collections!Digitized Resources . 4Reference Works:General References. . .5Transcontinental Railroad. .6Special Railroads . .7Primary SourcesRailroad Manuscript Collections .9Railroad Microfilm Collections .10Railroad Periodicals . .11Railroad Images. . .12Search:Catalog General Research Tips. .13Subject-Specific Resources in our Catalog .14County-Specific Resources in our Catalog .15On-site Research Resources . . .16Other On-site Resources . . .17Other Places to Look . . . . .18Enjoy Your Research!3

Can’t come to the library just yet? No worries! There are anumber of online resources you can explore related to railroadsin California!Digitized ImagesWe have scanned and digitized a portionof our extensive photograph collection,including images related to railroads.You can see them on Calisphere! URL: https://calisphere.org/institution/51/items/Type in Search Box: Railroad*Digitized PublicationsA few years ago we digitized some of ourfragile transit publications. You can see themon Internet Archive! URL: https://archive.org/Type in Search Box: (railroad*) ANDcollection:(californiastatelibrary)4

Unsure about where to start? Consult a book! If you areinterested in railroads, these books with give you a general ideaof their history in California.Robertson, D. (1986). Encyclopedia of westernrailroad history. Caldwell, Idaho: CaxtonPrinters.Written for the true railroad enthusiast, this fourvolume set provides statistics and basicinformation about almost every railroad companyin the west. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or authorDeverell, W. (1994). Railroad crossing :Californians and the railroad, 1850-1910.Berkeley: University of California Press.Curious about how the railroad affected daily lifein California? This social history explores the socialand political repercussions of the railroads’development on people throughout the state. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or authorOrsi, R. (2005). Sunset limited : The SouthernPacific Railroad and the development of theAmerican West, 1850-1930. Berkeley:University of California Press.Sometimes a largely true narrative becomes sooverstated that it obscures the truth. This bookseeks to balance the narrative regarding the effectsof Southern Pacific’s railroad monopoly. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or author5

Of course California’s railroad system is inextricably linked withthe transcontinental railroad! For more information on thehistory of this historic rail connection, check these books.Bain, D. (1999). Empire express : Building thefirst transcontinental railroad. New York:Viking.This work not only describes the technicaldifficulties of constructing the transcontinentalrailroad, it explores its social and political impact. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or authorAmbrose, S. (2000). Nothing like it in theworld : The men who built the transcontinentalrailroad, 1863-1869. New York: Simon &Schuster.Curious about the individuals who built thetranscontinental railroad? Despite some smallerrors, this is a good railroad social history. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or authorKraus, G. (1969). High road to Promontory :Building the Central Pacific (now the SouthernPacific) across the High Sierra. Palo Alto,Calif.: American West PubWidely regarded a seminal work on the history ofthe transcontinental railroad; this book details theprocess of building a railroad in the Sierra. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or author6

Short lines, cable cars, narrow gauges and more! California’srailroading history is littered with special types of trains. Checkout these books for more on the history of some of them.MacGregor, B. (2003). The birth of Californianarrow gauge : A regional study of thetechnology of Thomas and Martin Carter.Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.California has had a long tradition of monopolyand protests against it. Narrow gauge railroadswere one such attempt. Read about their history inthis comprehensive work. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or authorDemoro, H. (1986). California's electricrailways : An illustrated review (Interurbansspecial ; 100). Glendale, Calif.: InterurbanPress.Interested in inter-urban and street railways?Check out this book for a comprehensive history ofCalifornia electric rail-lines! URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or author7

Jansen, J. (1995). San Francisco's cable cars :Riding the rope through past and present. SanFrancisco, Calif.: Woodford Press.An approachable popular history, this book gives areasonably detailed overview of the cable car inSan Francisco. A unique type of train especiallysuited to a unique place. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or authorDuke, D. (1998). Incline railways of LosAngeles and Southern California. San Marino,Calif.: Golden West Books.Do you want to know about Angel’s Flight? Learnabout this and the history of other, extremelyshort, extremely steep railroads in this overview ofSouthern California’s incline railways! URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title and/or author8

Want to look at original documents relating to railroad businesspractices and surveys? We have lots of manuscript collectionsrelated to California railroads including the ones described below.Central Pacific Railroad lawsuit andinvestigation documents.A look at creative business practices during the1880’s, this three box collection documents alawsuit related to stockholder shares in the CentralPacific and Western Pacific Railroads URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: TitleNational Bank of D. O. Mills and Companycollection.These banking papers contain financial informationon early railroads including Central Pacific,Southern Pacific and smaller entities from 18651892. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: TitleHenry Maxwell McCartney Collection.A major surveyor for the Northern, Union andWestern Pacific Railroad companies, McCartney’scollection contains a wide variety of business andsurvey details from 1880-1910. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title9

Curious about original papers kept in another archive? We mighthave the collection on microfilm! Here are some of our microfilmcollections that deal with railroading history.Huntington, C. (1856). Papers, 1856-1901.Glen Rock, N.J.: Microfilming Corporationof America.A microfilm copy of the business papersHuntington kept at his New York office, thiscollection contains correspondence between himand the rest of the big five as well as legal andfinancial records. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title/authorSouthern Pacific Railroad station cardindex. (1988). San Francisco, CA: MicroImages.Listing Southern Pacific stations all over theUnited States, this index records not only whereeach station is but what routes and railroads itserved. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title/author10

Another great first-hand resource is trade publications. Thefollowing periodicals are just a few of the railroad industryjournals we carry.Southern Pacific BulletinLooking for a real-time documentation of railroadhistory from the past 100 years or so? Check thiscompany newsletter, it contains human intereststories, company information and more! URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: TitleProceedings of the Pacific Railway ClubIf you want wider industry information, you mightconsider checking out this publication. Written byand for industry professionals, it tracks railroadspecific issues across companies. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: TitleRailNewsAgain, an industry-wide perspective on thechallenges facing railroads in the West and indeedacross the United States, this periodical providesrailroading coverage from the 1960’s forward. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&sortby rankSearch by: Title11

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words and we have lots ofimages of railroads! Here are some of our major railroad-relatedimage collections.Alfred A Hart CollectionFor views of the Central Pacific Railroad’sconstruction, Alfred Hart’s images areunparalleled. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&lang en&sortby rankType in Advanced Search Box:Subject contains: ( ( railroad* OR locomotive* ) )AND Author contains ( Hart )Carleton Watkins CollectionA prominent California photographer, Watkinsincluded a number of different railroad images inhis larger collection. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&lang en&sortby rankType in Advanced Search Box:Subject contains: ( ( railroad* OR locomotive* ) )AND Author contains ( Watkins )12

While many of our materials are online, even more are only inhard-copy. You can use the following resources to learn aboutour books, articles, and manuscripts on railroadingCatalogIf you are looking for images,manuscripts, maps, books and articles onrailroads, one source is our catalog. URL: ch?vid 01CSL INST:CSL&lang en&sortby rankType in Subject Box: ( railroad* ORlocomotive* ) NOT ( Underground )Limit: By desired material type or companyCalifornia Information File IISometimes the catalog doesn’t provide asmuch detail as you might like. This is whywe created the California Information FileII. In this resource, you can findinformation about railroad pamphlets,tickets and stock certificates. URL: http://dbs.library.ca.gov/dbtext html/QueryCalinfo.htmType in Subject Box: (railroad* ORlocomotive*)For a narrower search: Add a place orcompany to your keyword search13

California’s railroads have had far-ranging effects on everything frompolitics to agriculture to music! Explore some of our resources via thesecatalog tivalsFictionFishFolkloreGeologyHighwaysHorse esidentsVitalsAfrican AmericansChinese AmericansGerman AmericansIrish AmericansItalian AmericansJapanese AmericansLatin AmericansNative eWine1960’s14

Curious about railroading in a specific county? While thesecatalog links don’t list all of what the California History Sectionhas, they are a good starting point.AlamedaAmadorButteCalaverasColusaContra CostaEl DoradoFresnoHumboldtInyoKernKingsLos cerPlumasRiversideSacramentoSan BenitoSan BernardinoSan DiegoSan FranciscoSan JoaquinSan Luis ObispoSan MateoSanta BarbaraSanta ClaraSanta olumneVenturaYoloYuba15

Our collection predates computers and so do some of our accesspoints! If you are in the library, be sure to check the followinganalog files for leads on more resources.California Information FileIn the library? Check the CaliforniaInformation File before you do anythingelse! This file indexes over 130 years ofCalifornia railroading articles, books, andmanuscript collections. Subject Headings:1.2.3.4.Railroads (Various subdivisions)Transportation: ElectricSpecific regions such as “Counties: Alameda:Oakland: Transportation”Prominent individuals and companies in theindustry (look up by name)Photographic FileSometimes a picture is worth a 1000words, and not all of our pictures areonline. To check the rest of the collectionsearch our picture file. Subject Headings:1. Railroads2. Transportation3. County: City: Railroads16