Tuesday, May 31, 2005

LA Times review of "Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1850-1930" by Richard J. Orsi

From: Google Alerts

[Los Angeles Times review of:
"Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1850-1930" by Richard J. Orsi]

Reassessing the 'Octopus'
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
... the western leg of the transcontinental railroad, by Sacramento businessmen Colis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins. ... [ "Orsi argues that often the Southern Pacific's corporate interests were consistent with the public welfare, promoted economic development and encouraged enlightened resource practices. 'As a result,' Orsi writes in his preface, 'the company was a major force shaping agricultural, industrial, commercial, and urban growth and modernization.' " ]

Monday, May 30, 2005

Color Coordinated Cars

From: "Larry Mullaly" lmullaly@jeffnet.org

The San Jose Mercury for 4-11-73 contains the following item:

"Booth shipped to the East, by Monday’s express train, a car-load of salmon and vegetables. The car in which the shipment was made was one of those recently altered and provided with patent platforms, buffers, etc., and pointed so as to conform in color to the appearance of the passenger cars."

Both the type of car and the color scheme raises questions in my mind. I assume that the cars from San Jose were switched into an eastbound Overland train at Niles. Any insights would be appreciated.

Larry Mullaly

How to find contact information about a railroad official

From: "Marcy Foster" monte_marc@msn.com

Could you please tell me how I might obtain information for the name of the Manager and contact g at the Utah Central Railway Superintendents Office located in West Haven, UT and/or Supivisors? Thank you and appreciate any contacts or links to my inquiry!

Friday, May 27, 2005

Crofutt's Trans-Continental Tourist's Guide, 1872

Crofutt's Trans-Continental Tourist's Guide, 1872, is now available at the CPRR Museum website in both web page format, and searchable pdf.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Fake Brass Railroad Bells

From: "P Janovick" pjanovick@neo.rr.com

I found your site while searching for info on a PRR brass bell I bought about 15 years ago. I was told the bell I bought was an authentic rail bell, how can I tell if this is true or if it is one of these fakes? What is the incorrect engraving that I should look for ... or anything else ?

I would appreciate any info you can give me. My grandfather worked on the PRR all his life, and I was hoping this bell (along with other PRR memorabilia that we found after his death ) could be a link to him for his great-grandchildren.

Thank you in advance for your assistance

Patty in Ohio

Scott Special, ATSF, 1905

From: cherimoyas@cox.net

Thanks for the ATSF reprint online.  This is great – have you seen the US Borax recent re-release “Death Valley Scotty” episode from their classic radio & tv series, “Death Valley Days?”

It features this and one of the original locomotives, #1010.  

Check it out:  www.deathvalleydays.com – under video releases.  I’ve watched it and the train footage is nice.  

Here’s a copy of the video jacket from their web.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Sail Cars?

From: "Wendell Huffman" wwhuffma@clan.lib.nv.us

I've been browsing the CPRR.org site, looking at the many new things added. In looking at the 1883 CPRR annual report I see that the company had added some "sail cars".

What are we talking about here? "Hand" cars with sails?

W.

Pacific Coast Railroad Gazetteer, May, 1870

The CPRR Museum now has online the "Pacific Coast Railroad Gazetteer." H.S. Crocker & Co., Sacramento, May, 1870, a rare guidebook which contains numerous timetables, fabulous advertisements of the restaurants serving meals to passengers along the Central Pacific Railroad route, as well as stagecoach routes, steamboats, hotels, etc.

Monday, May 23, 2005

Historic Newspapers Online

From: bmist@juno.com

Ancestry.com has quite a collection of newspapers digitized online, available by subscription only. However, many libraries subscribe, so you may not need your own subscription. I believe these are fully searchable text. Here's an example, from the "Ancestry Weekly Digest," Sat, 14 May 2005.


From the "Morning Herald" (Titusville, Pa.), 11 May 1869, page 2: Chicago, May 10
...

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD CELEBRATION.
The celebration of the opening of the Pacific Railroad, which is to take place to-day, promises to be a grand affair. The weather is all that could be desired.

LATER.
The celebration of the completion of the great inter-oceanic railway connection to-day was the most successful affair of the kind that ever took place in Chicago, and probably in the West. It was entirely impromptu, and therefore almost every man, woman and child in the city did their part towards making it a success. Vice President Colfax received the following dispatch:

Promontory Hill, Utah, May 10.
To Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Vice President:
The rails were connected to-day. The prophecy of Benton to-day is a fact. "This is the way to India."
[Signed] G.M. Dodge, John Duff, Sidney Dillon, J.C. Durand.

This evening Vice President Colfax, Lieut. Governor Bross and others addressed a large audience at Liberary Hall, in which they spoke eloquently of the great era which this day marks in the history of our country. During the evening there was also a general indulgence in fireworks, bon fires, illuminations, &c.


For more information on the Central Pacific Railroad and the joining of the rails at Promontory, Utah, 10 May 1869, see:

Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum

Oral History: Salt Lake Daily Telegraph of May 11th, 1869, The Pacific R.R. Finished (National Parks Service)

Subscribers with access to the Historical Newspapers Collection can view this clipping [online].

[from the R&LHS Newsgroup]

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Golden Spike at Promontory Utah [great-great grandfather Thomas Edward Keyes]

From: "Patrick Doherty" pddqa@yahoo.com

Hello. I was wondering whether there was any kind of a roster of those RR men who attended the ceremony back in 1869? My great-great grandfather Thomas Edward Keyes was supposedly there, but I am not sure. Do you know if such a roster existed?

Thanks

Patrick Doherty in Seattle

OT: The World's Most Popular Political Quiz

How the World's Smallest Political Quiz redefined politics, took over the Internet, impressed the experts, and made politics fun for more than 4 million people

After taking the World's Smallest Political Quiz, the famous online test that instantly pinpoints your political ideology, no two people have exactly the same reaction.

Consider Courtney, a self-described "young Republican." She took the Quiz and was surprised by the result. "I [scored] libertarian centrist," she said. "I really think I lean to the right, but apparently some aspect of my social liberalism has centered me. Interesting."

For blogger Jessy, the Quiz confirmed what she already knew. The avowed liberal landed smack-dab in the liberal quadrant and said, "I could not agree more."

Then there's Krzysztof – nicknamed "Critto" – from Poland. For him, the Quiz was exciting. "I am a libertarian, after taking the Quiz!" he said enthusiastically. "I love the World's Smallest Political Quiz, for it is cute, small, and very useful."

Cute? Well, OK; let's not argue with a guy named Critto. Small? You bet. It takes less than two minutes to zip through. Useful? Absolutely, if the surge of people taking the Quiz is any proof.

Every day, more than 4,500 people flock to the Web site of the Advocates for Self-Government (www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html) to take the Quiz. That's 187 people an hour, 24 hours a day. In fact, since 1996, when the Advocates started tracking results, more than 4 million people have clicked, moused, and surfed their way to the Quiz.

Why the enormous popularity – especially when so many other political quizzes clutter up the Internet?

Sharon Harris, president of the Advocates, has a theory. "The Quiz offers a more diverse way of looking at politics," she said. "It gives people a fast, accurate way of determining who agrees with them most."

That "more diverse" insight is the key. Before the Quiz came along, politics was a two-way street. You were either liberal or conservative, and that was that.

Enter David Nolan, an MIT political-science graduate. In 1969, Nolan realized that traditional political definitions didn't make sense. He observed that liberals usually supported personal liberty (they defended free speech), but opposed economic liberty (they liked high taxes and strict regulation of business). Conservatives were the opposite. They supported economic liberty (low taxes and minimal regulations), but opposed personal liberty (they applauded laws against pornography).

So far, so good. But what about people who supported both personal and economic liberty? They didn't fit. Nether did people who opposed both personal and economic liberty.

Nolan finally resolved the paradox. "I began to doodle around with the idea of trying to reduce the political universe to a graphical depiction," he told The Liberator magazine in 1996. "I thought, 'Maybe we can delineate this on some kind of map, using a two-axis graph.' "

That was the breakthrough. Instead of looking at politics as a two-way line, Nolan designed a political chart that went in four directions – high or low on economic issues, and high or low on personal issues.

Conservatives and liberals fit in this new political spectrum. So did libertarians and statists, who Nolan added to the mix. Libertarians scored high/high on liberty issues; statists scored low/low. Later, centrists were added in the middle – and the Nolan Chart, a new way of looking at politics, was born.

In 1985, Marshall Fritz, founder of the Advocates for Self-Government, added 10 questions to the chart. He squeezed it all onto a business card-size handout, dubbed it the World's Smallest Political Quiz, and took it to a local print shop.

The rest is history. Over the years, the nonpartisan Advocates distributed 7 million printed copies of the Quiz to help spread the word about libertarianism. In 1995, the Quiz made the jump to cyberspace where it immediately became the Internet's most popular political quiz, with 13,400 Web sites linked to it today.

But is it accurate? After all, the Advocates is a libertarian organization. Did they rig the Quiz so everyone would score libertarian?

No, says an expert. Cynthia Carter, professor of History and Political Science at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, said, "Although this quiz is provided by a Libertarian organization, it does not lead you to answer in any particular way."

That may be why instructors around the USA use the Quiz in their classrooms. If you peeked into classrooms at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Carnegie Mellon University, or Texas A&M University (to name just a few) over the past few years, you'd find find students answering the Quiz's questions.

Even cynical reporters – always eager to expose a phony – have been impressed by the Quiz's insight and honesty. For example, the Washington Post reported, "The Quiz has gained respect as a valid measure of a person's political leanings."

But don't let the scholarly recommendations fool you. The Quiz isn't a boring political science project – it's fun. In fact, that is the one reaction that just about everybody who takes the Quiz does have in common.

Professional astrologer Adze Mixxe said it best. No matter what your political identity is, he told people, "You will get 100 percent enjoyment from the World's Smallest Political Quiz."

And isn't that a political score everyone can agree on?

Courtesy Advocates for Self-Government.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Info on possible history of a old train depot in Pendleton, Oregon

From: "Darrel MCcLURE" drmcclure1113@msn.com

I live in a house that was built in 1895, along the railroad in what is now the SE part of Pendleton, Oregon.  I have been told that it was at one time owned by the railroad, and was either a depot or a boarding house for the workers.  I'm unable to find any history on my house.  If this is true I'm interested in getting the history of the house and pictures of it.  I'm not sure if the railroad was the original owners or if it was bought from someone else.  If the railroad did buy it from someone else I would like information on who it was bought from also.    

Thanks for your time                                   

Darrel McClure

Friday, May 20, 2005

Ground Breaking, Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, Nebraska

From: gpierce9@comcast.net

FYI.  An article that I found in the Newark Daily Advertiser, Newark, NJ. The article refers to a ground breaking in Omaha.  Do you have a Nov. or Dec. 1863 photo showing this??  I would like to see it.  

What strikes me is how the article is so blaise about the railroad. This was a major thing.  Like computers today.  

Thanks  

Glen Pierce
Whiting NJ

Book: "Official Explorations for Pacific Railroads, 1853-1855."

The following book is also now available at the CPRR Museum in both transcribed text and searchable page image pdf versions:

"Official Explorations for Pacific Railroads, 1853-1855."
By George Leslie Albright, 1921.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

SP 1897 Colors

Attached is a transcription of a letter form 1897 in what I believe is H. J. Small's letter press book from the shops.  It seems to assign numbers to standard colors that are at variance with numbers assigned in other documents.  

Also note the red and white called out for switch targets.  

Kyle K. Wyatt
Curator of History & Technology
California State Railroad Museum
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

My work address is: kwyatt@parks.ca.gov
My personal address is: kylewyatt@aol.com  


SP Standard Colors – 1897

Letter dated April 7, 1897 for H. J. Small to R. P. Schwerin
CSRM Coll, letter press book from Oriental Warehouse

Standard MofW Colors, Mof W Department
No. 1 Ticket Office Color
2 Inside Waiting Room Color
3 Outside body Color
4 Outside Trim Color
5 Metallic Color
6 Backs of Signs & Whistle Posts Color (lamp black)
7 Pumping Machinery Color
8 White, for switch targets
9 Red, for switch targets

Shop Colors
No. 1 Sash Color
2 Freight Car Color
3 Caboose Outside Color
4 Floor Color
5 Truck Color
6 Pullman Color
7 Caboose Inside Color
8 Drab Color
9 Buff Color

CPRR Engineering Report 1865; and, Annual Reports 1878 & 1883.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Re: Early Passenger Car Blinds

I'm not sure what you are asking here. The blinds on the cars could not be "opened and closed" like Venetian blinds – that is the individual slats could not be turned – but certainly the whole blind assembly could be opened and closed much like a window – lifted and lowered. The slats are fixed in a pretty much "closed" position in the blind assemblies. see the attached photo of V&T coach #4 in Carson City. The blinds are open, but slide down as a unit at each window to close. Note the slats are in a fixed position.

Kyle K. Wyatt
Curator of History & Technology
California State Railroad Museum
111 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

My work address is: kwyatt@parks.ca.gov
My personal address is: kylewyatt@aol.com

Virginia & Truckee Coach #4

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Early Passenger Car Blinds

From: Larry Mullaly

Today I came across a description of another SP passenger car ride down the San Francisco peninsula. The year was 1879, and the account seems to challenge the accepted understanding that window blinds on these early cars could not be "opened" or "closed." It reads:

"We leave San Francisco on Christmas Eve, a brilliant, sunshiny day, and take our seats in cars of the South Pacific Railway [sic], with a protest against the heat, for December being a winter month according to the division of time, the stoves are lighted at either end of the car; the blinds are closed to keep out the burning rays of the sun, but they keep in the stifling hot air of the stoves till the crowded car becomes uncomfortably close and warm. The rest of the passengers sit and bake in uncomplaining calm; to us the suffocating air grows unendurable; we get out and sit upon the steps of the rear platform, and are whirled along through pretty home scenery at the not especially rapid rate of twenty miles an hours...."

Lady Duffus Hardy, Through Cities and Prairies Lands: Sketches of an American Tour (R. Worthington, New York, 1881), p.212.

Larry

silk trade trains

The silk trains are a fascinating paragraph in railway history. They certainly were much more than myth but the aura that surrounds them sometimes makes it difficult to tie down facts. Canadian Pacific held a commanding hand in this game as its ships ( the Empresses of ... ) were the fastest on the Pacific run, Vancouver was a day nearer the Orient than American ports, and CPR [Canadian Pacific] owned its own tracks for a greater distance across the continent than any other railway. Its apparent US partner to New York the ultimate destination, was the New York Central. The result was significantly faster times from the Orient to New York. It is true that Prince Rupert is closer to the Orient than other North American ports but the references I turned up make no mention of it as being a factor in the trade. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Vancouver were players in the game. Weber (below) quotes statistics on raw silk imports (from 1924 to 1933) by the Silk Association of America Inc in New York but Port Rupert is not listed as a port of arrival

CPR [Canadian Pacific] had an early start in the game in the mid-, late-1880s after the opening of regular transcontinental service in 1886. Early shipments were in baggage cars on the transcontinental trains, subsequently shipments grew to the point where full trains were used, and CPR actually built some special steel "through baggage" cars for the service. Canadian National entered the picture after its creation in 1923 and is the only line serving Port Rupert, but I have not seen any reference to silk trains originating there. Prince Rupert is one of those places which always seems to be on the point of "taking off". Maybe this time But ...

References:
Webber, Bernard. Silk Trains. Word Works Publications. Kelowna B.C. 1993. ISBN 0-9696187-1-9
Cote, Jean-G. "Steam Hauled Silk Trains". Canadian Rail. August 1976.
Barnoe, Mike "Canadian Silk Trains". Canadian Railway Modeller. Nov/Dec 1996
Kennedy, W.G. "Car for the Silk Express". Model Railroader. Feb 1965

Knowles

[from the R&LHS Newsgroup]


A significant part of the "business plan" for the original Transcontinental Railroad (Central and Union Pacific) was "land bridge" traffic between the Orient and Europe. But the Suez Canal opened in September 1869 and nearly all of the expected European traffic went that way. Except high-value, time-sensitive items such as tea and (raw) silk.

This high value, high speed traffic was a regular feature on the transcontinental route for years. Southern Pacific built special "tea and silk cars" in 1904, one of which is preserved by the California State Railroad Museum.

As other, more northern transcontinental routes were completed, they picked up part of this trade. Northern Pacific, Canadian Pacific, Great Northern and others. Such trains were still a feature through the 1920s. I'm not sure just when the last silk train (or for that matter tea train) ran, but I suspect the introduction of nylon (and other oil and synthetic based cloths) had a lot to do with it, as did air shipments of goods.

Interesting now that through containerization the Oriental-European land bridge traffic has become a major business, although the high-speed tea and silk traffic are now long gone (at least gone from the rails).

Kyle K. Wyatt
Curator of History & Technology
California State Railroad Museum
111 "I" Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

My work address is: kwyatt@parks.ca.gov
My personal address is: kylewyatt@aol.com

[from the R&LHS Newsgroup]

Naming the Town of Lathrop

"In 1849, long before Lathrop officially became 'Lathrop,' a man named Leland Stanford ... dubbed the new town 'Wilson's Station,' in honor of a local merchant.

By 1869, Stanford was ready to move on, but not before designating a new name for the growing community. According to Evelyn Prouty of the Manteca Historical Society, some confusion remains about why the name "Lathrop" was selected.

'There are three versions of the story, with one of them being wrong,' she said. 'For a long time, people thought the town was named after Lathrop J. Tracy, who the city of Tracy is named after, but the timing doesn't work.'

Instead, Lathrop likely is named after Stanford's wife, Jane Lathrop, or her brother, Charles Lathrop, who worked as an engineer for Central Pacific at the time."

From: "Lathrop Days: A look at history" By Aaron Swarts, Tri-Valley Herald.


Accoring to Evelyn Prouty, author of the first definitive book about the history of Manteca and Lathrop:

"Lathrop, called Wilson's Station from 1849 until 1869, was given its name by Leland Stanford when he moved his Central Pacific Railroad terminal here and dedicated the town to his wife's family. In 1886, after a dispute with local citizens, Stanford moved the terminal to Tracy."

Monday, May 16, 2005

Signal Peak

From: "Dave" the57man@surewest.net

Is it possible to drive to signal peak or red mountain lookout?  If so where can I get directions. 

Thanks, Dave

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Question: Hydraulic Mining in California

From: "lcooper" cooperslc@hotmail.com

Do you know how we can find information about the Gold Hub Mining Company? it was up near Camptonville area? thank you for any information.
Lori Cooper

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Question: Chinese laborers

From: "Stephen Kneeshaw" kneeshaw@cofo.edu

I would like to put together some materials on "ordinary people" in American history and include Chinese laborers on the CPRR as one of the groups. I would like to use this information in an American history survey course that I teach at College of the Ozarks. Might you be able to direct me to information on specific individuals – as opposed to the entire group – including names, biographical sketches, and so forth? Thanks.

Stephen Kneeshaw
Professor of History
College of the Ozarks
Point Lookout, MO 65726

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Union Pacific Photograph Car

From: "CHAVAWN WOODALL KELLEY" CKelley@uwyo.edu

I'm researching the photographers Baker and Johnston of Evanston, circa 1881.  A 1924 Uninta County History by Elizabeth Arnold Stone says "With a photographer named Johnson he [Charles Baker] established the Union Pacific Photograph Car, well-known for years throughout the West."  This Johnson could be Eli Johnson of Evanston or W.J. Johnston of Green River.  They’re pretty illusive fellows.  Any ideas how I might learn more about the photographers or the UP Photograph Car? 

Thank you,

Chavawn Kelley

Temperature at Promontory on May 10th, 1869

From: "Joey" jcy0391@optonline.net

Do you know what the temperature in degrees Farenheight was on Monday May 10th 1869, and if you don't, please tell me if it was even close to 72 degrees Farenheight.

Temperature at Promontory on May 10th, 1869

From: "Joey" jcy0391@optonline.net

Do you know what the temperature in degrees Farenheight was on Monday May 10th 1869, and if you don't, please tell me if it was even close to 72 degrees Farenheight.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Coalinga

From: Hsweetser@aol.com

Here are my thoughts on Coalinga:

The usual version is that there was a "Coaling Station A," "Coaling Station B" and "Coaling Station C," and that "Coaling Station A" was eventually shortened to "Coalinga."

There are several reasons for me to conclude this scenario is just a myth. To start with, the Huron branch was extended west in 1888 to serve just one mine, that of the San Joaquin Valley Coal Mining Company, and so it's unlikely there were multiple coaling stations. The name "Coaling Station A" does not appear on any SP documents that I know of. Finally, press reports indicate the name "Coalinga" was in use fairly quickly after the line opened to traffic on July 14, 1888. In other words, not much time for "Coaling Station A" to have been used:

August 22, 1888 Fresno Weekly Expositor (p.2) - "The mines are situated, as before stated, not far distant from the West Side railroad, being 3 1/2 miles from a station called Coalinga, which will be the shipping point of the coal."

The newspaper may have used the term "mines" because of multiple shafts, but really, there was just one mine at the location (which was closer to 3 miles from Coalinga). The end of the sentence implies that the shipping of coal hadn't even begun yet (i.e., "WILL be the shipping point of the coal").

October 5, 1888 Railroad Gazette (p. 661) - "The extension west from Huron in Fresno County, Cal., has been completed for about 21 miles. A new town called "Coalinga" has been laid out at the end of the track."

Until some convincing evidence indicates otherwise, I am not going to believe the "Coaling Station A" scenario.

John Sweetser

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Peeler

From: "Larry Mullaly" lmullaly@jeffnet.org Wendell,

I believe you told me that Peeler had been converted with a cow-catcher on front of engine and back of tender at some point. The following account appears in AC Bassett's Journal entry of January 18, 1873. Sand Cut is what we know today as the Coast Line and is located geographic east of Watsonville Junction. In 1873 the hill had not been cut through as it is today and required helper service with a locomotive stationed at one side or the other of the hill. Since there was not a turntable here, I assume the the lone helper engine would run backward and forward. At this time Peeler was still on the CP roster, and would not join the SP until later that year. This is where the story begins:

January 18
Train No.____[no number transcribed] with 21 cars Engine No. 6 assisted by Engine Peeler coupled in behind the No. 6. Stalled, coming up the Sand Cut grade. Conductor Williamson cut the train and let the rear section drop back to the foot of the hill when the forward section ran away with two engines and striking the cars standing at the foot of the hill, crippling ten cars and breaking pilot off of engine Peeler and also breaking draw bar. Broke brake beam of Engine No. 6. Both engines used steam and all the brakes were set but could not hold the train; 10 broken cars were left at south sand cut switch and train came on having been detained by accident two hours and thirty-five minutes.

Does the above and the supposition that Peeler was doubled ended at this date add anything to the saga of Peeler?

Larry

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Lynnewood Pullman car 4714

From: "Gaëtan Ruest" ruestgaetan@globetrotter.net

Dear Sir,

Would you have by any chance, any interesting information about the Pullman car 4714, the LYNNEWOOD, built in 1917 for Joseph Early Widener of Phidadelphia?

We do now own this very interesting piece of railway patrimonia. We are actually in it's restoration process. It will become a tourist attraction for Amqui's visitors and citizens.

We are looking for everything that you could have or know about this Pullman personnal business railway car.

Thanks a lot for the attention and follow up that you would give to my present request.

[See: Photographs of Pullman personnal business railway car #4714, the LYNNEWOOD, built in 1917.]

Gaëtan Ruest ing.
Mayor of Amqui
20 promenade de l'Hôtel de Ville
Amqui, Qc.
CANADA
G5J 1R5

http://www.matapedia.net/Amqui
http://www.lamatapedia.net

Question: Art Deco Advertisement

From: The Stutzmans  

This is probably a weird request, but there is a print located in the Sunset Cafe at the Sunset Station Casino in Henderson, NV that I would love to find.  It is a print of an (for lack of a better word) advertisement for the Pacific Railroad.  It looks like it was created for the early '20s, maybe, because of the way the couple depicted on the print are dressed .... and the lettering is Art Deco.  It includes encouraging travel to the Grand Canyon.  Can you tell me what this is and where I might find a copy?  Nobody there seemed to know anything about it ... I'm sure the architect of the casino made the selection ... the Sunset Cafe has a railroad motif.  

Thanks for your help ...  

Annette

Monday, May 02, 2005

DO Mills Bank

From: "Brooke Adkins" cathop@socal.rr.com

I was wondering if you could help me locate someone who is familiar with an oval shaped pewter tag that has the number 546 with a picture of the OD Mills bank on it. I was told it had to do with a savings account number. Thank You, Brooke

Sunday, May 01, 2005

Bio pages on CPRR Museum

From: "littlechoochoo81" littlechoochoo81@netzero.net

... Should you get inquiries about any questions on [the biography] pages I will be most happy to clarify what the original looks like.  One other thing: ... Robert Fulton's middle name should be "Laird" not "Lardin".  He wrote a book, I am informed by Ed Strobridge who has such book, but both Ed and I have questions about his reminiscenses as he is in error about the three locos sent over the Sierra before the tunnels were completed.  The first loco, the San Mateo, was sent over in August of 1867 while the other two were hauled over the next winter.  But when Hollywood tried to replicate the winter move they could not!  Those old boys in the 19th century knew things we have a hard time of doing today, if indeed we can do them at all.  Again, congratulations on your fantastic work with cprr Museum.  The pages all seem to be there from my collection but don't hesitate to ask questions.  I'll try my best to answer them. I'll be 83 in August so don't delay too long.  Lynn 


See: CPRR Biographical Notes from the Lynn D. Farrar Collection.

Plush upholstery

From: "Larry Mullaly" lmullaly@jeffnet.org

Recently I came across an interesting description of a passenger coach in service between San Francisco and San Jose in 1877. The British author, speaks red plush upholstery and interior blinds. Would these features be typical of SP/CP passenger cars on what was basically a commute line? Would such a car of a higher quality than usual? The full quotation reads:

"One of our hosts lived out an hour and a half from the city, southwards, at a place called Menlow [sic] Park. As we write the name, the scene again is present before us.

We are in a long car again, with all the blinds drawn down of the windows on the side on which the sun is glaring: the red plush of the cushions looks as hot as it feels to the touch. A good deal of white dust eddies in at the open door at the farther end. The car is well filled, a number of the rich citizens return after a very short day’s work a their offices, their wives and daughters, in cool muslin or Holland dresses and light veils, taking home their purchases."

Wallis Nash , Oregon: There and Back in 1877 (reprinted by Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, 1976), p.253.

Larry Mullaly

CPRR Discussion Group