Transcontinental Rail travel, 1911
I am a former museum director, now completing a grant-funded biography of the little-known female artist, Eloise Roorbach.
She traveled from New York City to San Francisco in August 1911.
I cannot find anything describing the likely routes, the probable duration of such a journey, or even the most basic description of what the experience would have been like.
She was supporting herself entirely through her magazine illustrations, so it is unlikely that she would have had the means to travel first class.
I have tried using The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada Mexico and Cuba [1910], also contacted the reference desk for the New York Public Library, to no avail.
I would be extremely grateful for ANY information or guidance you could give me. ...
—Heather Stivison, South Dartmouth, MA 02748
HeatherStivison Art.com
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 12:05 PM
5 Comments:
The emphasis of the CPRR Museum is the 19th century transcontinental railroad, but the following may be useful,
BITS OF TRAVEL AT HOME. By "H. H." [Helen Hunt Jackson].
Robert Louis Stevenson's Across the Plains.
Travel by rail.
Sleeping cars, etc.
Rail guides, some of which were published at least into the 1890's.
Checking libraries via WorldCat and Google Books,
Overland guide by George A Crofutt, Saint Louis, Chas. E. Ware, 1892.
The Pacific tourist by Frederic E Shearer, New York : Adams & Bishop, Publishers, 1885.
Also see, Transcontinental train trip.
Here are illustrations from 1907.
From: "Larry Mullaly" lmullaly@jeffnet.org
There were at least three routes she might have been taken on four different railroads: northern, central, southern transcontinentals. Would I would hope is that she did some drawing en route that help identify the path she took. The art piece could be of a city, or a natural feature, but it would help resolve this.
Sometimes such illustrations were not used for several years after the journey took place.
—Larry Mullaly
Hope that someone can suggest an early 20th century travel guide, or other source(s), with narrative descriptions and details of transcontinental rail travel to help respond ...
From: "Heather Stivison" heather@heatherstivisonart.com
Thank you so much for all of this info.
I'll be diving into the links tonight and hoping to find what I need.
The illustrations in your last message are full of details I can use as well.
I will keep my fingers crossed that someone responds to the inquiry.
Thank you ever so much!
—Heather
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