Transcontinental Railroad Workers

... Years ago I used to assist an elderly woman by the name of Alice Davis Williams in Monterey, CA. Her father was Frank [William] Davis, who was involved with building railroads with Chinese workers. She wrote down his account of the railroad building in a book entitled 100 Years ago: True stories of Early California’s Gold Mining Days. ...

Restored CDVs of Early Locomotive Engineers

From: "BRYANT, WILLIAM" wbryant553@cbcsd.org

Restored CDVs of Early Locomotive Engineers:

Who were those people?

Print 'The Driving of the Golden Spike' for Cecil B. DeMille 1939 film

From: "Carol Johnson" jjcjcj49@icloud.com

I have found in my house a paper tube that contains a print from May 10,1969 entitled The Driving of the Golden Spike, completed the railroad that helped to unify America. From Cecil B. DeMille's Paramount picture Union Pacific.

Can you give me a value of this? ...

—Carol Johnson

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G.J. 'Chris' Graves, R.I.P.

From: "Karen Triest" karenmm38@hotmail.com

... I'm not sure how many of you are friends, or were friends of Chris Graves.

I wanted to let you know that Chris passed away on April 14, 2016, of natural causes. Chris was a wonderful historian, and touched so many of our lives in positive ways. He diligently worked on genealogy cases, changing many lives for the better. Chris loved his home and yard, and kept everything so green and beautiful year round. It is a very sad loss for us all. Chris will be buried in the Newcastle Cemetery, on the hill where he has a view of the foothills.

Please feel free to forward to those who knew and loved Chris as I did.

Peace

—Karen Triest, Loving Daughter

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William Strang (1836-1880)

From: "Kirsten Brophy" kbrophy@stamfordmuseum.org

Do you have any biographical information, citations or references to a William Strang (NOT the Overland Park Strang); but a William Strang (1836-1880) who was the superintendent of the telegraph line installation for the St. Louis, Lawrence & Denver Railroad & Telegraph Company from c.1870-1879?

He lived in Cleveland, Ohio in 1870 and died in Ohio in 1880.

A family reference regarding the Native American lithic material he collected states that, “Collected on route of Union Pacific RR from St Louis to CO by William Strang, Superintendent of telegraph line construction.”

Any information you can share about William Strang would be most appreciated, thank you! ...

—Kirsten R. Brophy, RPA, Curator of Collections & Exhibitions, Stamford Museum & Nature Center

Early transcontinental railroad Timetables

From: "Bill Hockinson" pacslsm@cox.net

... Did all the Union Central Pacific [railroad] early Time tables have maps on the verso? Or did some purely have listings of cities/direction and times. I have a 1879 timetable with only direction (westbound/eastbound), cities and times. Several paragraphs regarding excursions ...

—Bill Hockinson

Oakland, California to Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1890

From: "Mac Simpson" mackinnon96816@gmail.com

Aloha,
My name is MacKinnon Simpson. I am a writer/designer in Honolulu. I have done two pictorial histories on rail in Hawaii:
Next Stop Honolulu—The Story of Oahu Railway & Land Company; and,
Streetcar Days in Honolulu—Breezing through Paradise..

Right now I am working on a book about Honolulu Harbor. Three of the people being featured left Honolulu on the steamer Australia in early July, 1890, bound for San Francisco. Their eventual destination was Springfield, Massachusetts. I am trying to flesh out the first part of their trek and have a number of questions:

1) Would they have originally boarded the train on the Oakland Long Pier?

2) We know that they occupied the “drawing car Vinta” (perhaps Uinta).

• Are there any specific descriptions of this car or any like it?
• Are there any photos?
• Did it include sleeping quarters?

3) We know they arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming at 5:05 am on July 19, 1890.

• When would the train have left San Francisco?
• Are there any timetables that could be scanned as an illustration?
• Did the train have a name?
• Where would they have transferred to the Union Pacific to continue east?

Thanks very much, and I will acknowledge your efforts in the book.

—Mac Simpson

Today is cancelled.

Today is cancelled.

There is no April 1st, in 2016. This is a leap year.

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In other news ...

Google's Pedestrian Flypaper Patent

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CPRR Museum Category Tags:
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Central Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad
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History of the American West, Chinese railroad workers
Photography, Photographs, Stereoviews, Stereographs
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