Bio pages on CPRR Museum
... 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.
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 4:36 PM
23 Comments:
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net>
Date: April 4, 2005 8:08:36 PM EDT
... The story on the locos hauled over the summit in the snow gets better all the time. Read page 22 or 24 (they are the same) by Chas Crocker where he also says "...we built 50 miles. We hauled the locos over on sleighs. I think we hauled some of them over on logs..." Other accounts say only 40 miles were built. I have no idea where my notes on the CP cash vouchers are but think they were among all that stuff the gal from LA had thrown out. There are thousands of cash vouchers at the CSRM, or were when I gave them in the 1990's. I wish I could be of more help but so many records we had at SP were not considered important to the good folks at UP which absolutely flabbergasts me. I have no way of knowing if any of my notes survived except for those I have with me now in Bothell. ... I have asked Ed Strobridge about what James Strobridge said and he may be able to help clear things up. ...
Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 29, 2005 3:16:47 PM EST
... I have questions about the bio of Robert Lardin Fulton because he quotes J.H. Strobridge that 3 locos were hauled over the Sierra in winter and this is not true. ... Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 22, 2005 10:37:02 AM EST
Subject: Pacific Railway Commission Report 1887
... I have looked over the indices of the PRC 87 hearings and find there are several kinds, namely alphabetical, analytical and topical and they run from page 5399 through 5561, some 162 pages. ... This report is truly a gold mine ... Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 23, 2005 1:08:03 PM EST
... Have decided to send you names I recognize as early CP engineering or operating people or bigwigs whose story may be of interest. There is beaucoup to do! Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 18, 2005 2:18:49 PM EST
... When I get a chance I will send you the index on CP persons in the 1887 PRH. I had a long phone talk with Jack Duncan the other day. Ed Strobridge sent me copies of all his stuff. Terrific! He has done some of the best research I have run into on CP and especially Cape Horn. If he gets around to publishing I certainly will get a copy. You folks are amazing to me in the depth of your knowledge on CP. Thanks so much for all the effort you have put into it. I have so much that might be useful to historians ... and if you think of something with which I might be helpful be sure to holler. Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 17, 2005 1:17:23 PM EST
... I have just found proof Chinese worked on Cape Horn and before. ... Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 10, 2005 12:55:07 PM EST
... From here on there are some very spotty copies for me to fax to you. In the last weeks after UP was to take over SP things went downhill fast at SP Hq. I had trouble finding a copy machine that was in good repair because the maintenance contracts were all cancelled and everybody used the machines still working. Also the copy paper "disappeared" so I had to bring in my own as you can see. But the really bad ones I will have to retype from the copy I have ... Some of the bios will no doubt be of little interest but there are some good ones also. I will send all ... Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 8, 2005 4:11:00 PM EST
Subject: Re: correct history
... Please be patient as there are some 70 pages ... I am anxious to get a lot of my material into other hands because my son has little interest and my wife none in perpetuating what I now have. ... Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
... I have a number of bios of people contemporary with [Lewis Metzler Clement]. It comes to a lot of pages and frankly I prefer to send them by fax because I have unlimited calling and it costs me nothing. I have been sending a lot of copies of records I have to a number of good friends ... I sent Larry Mullaly a copy of the SP records I gave to Huntington Libe in San Marino and that list ran to over 50 pages. ... Anyway, cheers and I really enjoy reading what all you brains say in the discussion group. I will always be available for questions on railroad history, especially the SP. I will start sending those bios if you can give me a fax number. Thanks. Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Date: March 5, 2005 8:30:00 PM EST
... I just ran across my file on bio's I copied from our PR Dept files before I left SP and one of the bios I copied was on L. M. Clement. It is not quite a full page. ... I will sent forthwith. Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Subject: Proof Chinese worked on Cape Horn and before
Montague cites the Chinese in the work force in his message to the Board of the CPRR for 1865. ... Lynn
On Apr 25, 2004, at 5:44 PM, "Lynn Farrar" littlechoochoo81@netzero.net wrote:
... Lewis M. Clement was one of my favorite predecessors in the SP/CP/SPRR, etc Engineering Department. ... He was the
closest associate of Sam Montague who directed all field engineers to send any letters or other material to Sacramento c/o LMC. The copy of this directive is very badly reproduced from PR files in the General Office in SF but I can send you a copy (of sorts) ... I will briefly list sources of material concerning LMC that our research team uncovered in 11 years of effort to determine the actual cost of building the lines of railroad comprising the Southern Pacific Company and affiliated companies from 1852 to 1921. ...
Check list.
Pacific Ry Commission hearings of 1887
Collis P. Huntington mss at Syracuse Univ. (copies at various locations, probably on the web somewhere)
Mariner's Museum Newport News, VA (letters)
Huntington Libe San Marino, CA (letters and ICC findings for original Valuation proceedings 1914-1935)
Stanford Univ Palo Alto, CA (letters of CPH & many others plus mss of other early CP employees, etc)
Union Pacific Omaha, NE (files from SP PR Dept)
National Archives (Suitland, MD or relocated to their new facility in MD)-(many reports on original construction of early SP lines-also if still extant 225 shelf feet of materials used in the ICC proceedings op cit)
California State Railroad Museum (truckloads of records from the research team)
Southern Pacific Bulletin of 1926 et seq on early construction titled "From Trail to Rail"
Books on SP/CP history by many authors-if of interest I will gladly send you my comments on same Newspaper articles of the time circa 1860-1870, especially those of Sacramento, CA, Winnemucca, NV and some in San Francisco
... I spent 50 years with SP as an employee and consultant and was privileged to lead the research team for 11 years. We amassed an unbelievble amount of knowledge about 19th century railroad construction. Sadly, most of what we collected was later disposed of to the dump by persons with no background in preservation. I gave as much of the material as I could possibly save to Huntington Library, CSRM, Oregon & Nevada Historical Societies, but the bulk was lost. ...
Lynn
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
... It is very near to my heart to make any history of the SP and its predecessors available to researchers and historians. ... Lynn
Montague cites the Chinese in the work force in his message to the Board of the CPRR for 1865:
"It became apparent early in the season, that the amount of labor likely to be required during the summer could only be supplied by the employment of the Chinese element, of our population. Some distrust was at first felt regarding the capacity af this class for the service required, but the experiment has proved eminently successful. They are faithful and industrions, and under proper supervision, soon become skillful in the performance of their duties. Many of them are becoming very expert in drilling, blasting, and other departments of rock work."
From: "Report of the Chief Engineer upon Recent Surveys and Progress of Construction of the Central Pacific Railroad of California." December, 1865.
Re: "Death Calls Wm. Hood, Pioneer Rail Builder"
The date is barely readable on my original but I can make it out as Sept 1926. Hood died exactly 4 years after I was born. I heard many interesting stories from the old timers who were my mentors in 1948 et seq. Since a number of them had worked under Hood I took most of what they said as Gospel. Hood was obviously a very talented individual and fits the mould of the 19th century tale of rags to riches. Note in the bio he served in the Civil War, went to college afterward and then migrated west for challenges. In my case I enlisted in order to finish my final year at Cal Berkeley so I did not need to go to school after the war. But I hooked up with SP Co in 1948 after 2 1/2 years in Berlin, Germany with the Office of Military Government for US. At SP I had what I consider a perfect job, one that I could not have had better if I had written my own job description. And it lasted almost 50 years as an employee and as a consultant. ... I don't like to toot my own horn but in this case I feel almost unique in "growing up" with experts and being hired by the Valuation Officer, John B. Baker, who had hired out with SP in 1896. Between us we had 100 years in the Engineering Dept.
—Lynn Farrar
... I have had many interesting assignments over my career both as an employee and later as a consultant. As Valuation Engineer I needed to know alot about not only engineering, but also operating, mechanical, accounting and even wrote briefs for the law department in some cases where the technical details needed sure handling. Since I worked quite closely with the IRS personnel stationed in our building on tax matters as well as working with ICC auditors also stationed in our building on ICC reports, etc. I got to know just about everybody of importance, simply as a matter of necessity. SP had a great many very competent people in all branches of the service and it was a pleasure to be able to work with them. I came along at the right time, believe me. ... Now that I am far away from 65 Market Street, later 1 Market Plaza, where all the action centered, I get pretty nostalgic at times ...
—Lynn Farrar
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Subject: Comments on CP bios
In the last few days I have had an opportunity to answer a number of questions on old times on the CP and SP. In having the chance to re-read many of the bios in your Museum I have come to appreciate just how many talented men worked on the CP in the 1860's. And it was interesting that a number of them started out as young men who entered the service during the Civil War and then took up railroading. My own career echoed some of this as I may have told you before. In order to finish my college studies I had to enlist in the army and then finished my last term at Cal Berkeley. From there to World War II, a chance to go to the University of Paris after the war, then a stint in Germany with the Military Government for 2 1/2 years in Berlin, a winner of the chance to buy a new Ford made in Belgium when a lottery was held for 7 sedans and there were 94,000 entries. The car cost me $1,400 and when I drove down the main drag in Berlin the policemen thought I was General Clay and saluted. The sedan was fire engine red and four door a 1946 model V8. I got the car out of Berlin and to Bremerhaven for my trip home three days before the Russians started the Berlin blockade. When I got home to Berkeley a friend told me to see a man at the SP who hired me as a Jr. Engineer and I retired in 1985 but came back as a consultant to run the US Air Force missile train program for SP for 4 1/2 years. I have to think my career was like some of those old timers. They saw a lot of changes in their day such as air brakes and I saw changes such as diesels for steam locomotives and radios for telegraphs. They had to work as long as 18 to 20 hours at times and I was lucky to spend Christmas 1964 in Oregon's Cascade mountains at a three span steel viaduct with a 3700 foot tunnel on one end and the other end at a concrete snowshed with the span against the snowshed knocked out by a snow slide leaving just enough room for a diesel crane and flat cars to hold the replacement span. Snow was 8 feet deep. The Big Five during CP construction to Promontory were leaders of men and had the right men to complete the task. Donald J. Russell, President, later Chairman, of SP had a fine group of very talented people to cope with the 1964 disasters and the conversion needed after World War II.
I'm sure ... you can see why I am so pleased to be even a tiny part in your magnificent production of the cprr.org and its many wonderful exhibits. Thanks for letting me do what I could.
—Lynn Farrar
From: littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
... In going over my files I run across things I've forgotten about ... Lots of it is probably not available from others as I was fortunate to be in a position where I could get copies or originals of many things. As I've said before the more I re-read of the early CP days the more I am impressed with what those old boys were able to do. I like to think maybe I was able to do a few things for the railroad, too.
—Lynn Farrar
From: "littlechoochoo81" littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
I was looking through some of my notes and files and ran across a study I made some years ago on the Central Pacific/Southern Pacific stations Sacramento to Promontory and Ogden. I started with the earliest 1860's info I had and then showed each time a change in mileposts was made with date of change. I also noted the changes in names wherever that occurred. ... There have been so many changes that I have two files on this subject. The first is changes from 1866 through June 1, 1890. The second is from January 1, 1904 through 1972, the last station book published. After that date I checked mileposts in the operating timetables of the relatively few I have. ... My thinking is these might be a help to someone who knows a milepost and date but not the name of a station or some combination of these. ...
—Lynn Farrar
From: "Lynn Farrar" littlechoochoo81@netzero.net
Subject: Station Plans
... The maps I have from the 1870's to 1880's are those I identified as being in Reno, Portland and Sacramento. They are not online because I have the only copies readily available for such use. These are what we call station plans and were made up while Sam Montague was Chief Engineer. After Montague died William Hood was promoted to Chief Engineer and sad to say, he apparently ordered these station plans to be discontinued. When I first entered service for SP in 1948 I was told by old timers that Hood had a phenomenal memory and he seemed to rely on his mental prowess to the detriment of a record for anyone else. Hood left a great number of personal reminiscences for the use of SP Valuation personnel to use in the ICC Valuation proceedings following the Congressional Act of March 1, 1913 which set up the ICC to establish a base for rate making purposes for virtually all important railroads in the US. These proceedings ran from 1914 to 1935 (sic) which should alert one to the extent to which info was gathered to support these rate making decisions. Many of the men who were engaged on this monumental investigation, both for the ICC and for the SP, were still working in the Valuation Department when I started at SP and I learned from the experts, to say the least. I have told you before that the man who hired me in 1948 had himself hired out in 1896. Those wonderful mentors had the practical experience that only many years of service could provide. I remember hearing arguments between two such veterans which sometimes ended up with "Don't tell me what happened, I built that railroad." (!!!) The station plans which I have are on 11x17 sheets which I had copied from the original big books (18x30) while directing the research team from 1966 to 1977. They are not in condition to be readily interpreted by non-engineering types because of their having been copied from the originals on a copy machine limited to 11x17 sheets. ... I can still provide you with info of a limited nature for any one location.
—Lynn
I think "Lardin" is right rather than "Laird". Online we find (http://tinyurl.com/yk5bpbj) minutes of a meeting of the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada, in which Robert's son James Allen Fulton is memorialized, and among the things mentioned to his credit is that he pushed to create the "Robert Lardin Fulton Lecture Foundation". This full name is repeated in (http://tinyurl.com/ykxg9gu) minutes a year earlier, while James Allen was still living, establishing the foundation. It's not likely they'd get that wrong, with the will of the widow in front of them and the son still living.
James Barkley reports that sadly Lynn D. Farrar passed away earlier this year. R.I.P.
Also see, Southern Pacific in Utah: The Southern Pacific and the Great Salt Lake by Lynn D. Farrar.
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