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Transport Consultants collection of Oregon railroad records and research, 1873-1975
Overview of the Collection
- Compiler
- Transport Consultants, Inc. (Lafayette, Calif.)
- Title
- Transport Consultants collection of Oregon railroad records and research
- Dates
- 1873-1975 (inclusive)18731975
1873-1928 (bulk)18731928 - Quantity
- 2.75 cubic feet, (2 record cartons and 1 legal document case)
- Collection Number
- Mss 2958
- Summary
- Agreements, contracts, and financial records of the 19th-century railroad firms Oregon and California Railroad Company; the Oregon and Transcontinental Company; the Oregon Improvement Company; and the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. The collection also includes Oregon Railroad Commission reports, railroad guidebooks, and files of the Southern Pacific Railroad research team. The materials were compiled by Transport Consultants, Inc., whose president, Lynn D. Farrar, had worked for Southern Pacific and was a railroad historian.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
The Oregon and California Railroad Company was formed following the passage of the Oregon and California Railroad Act by the U.S. Congress in 1866. The act designated 3.7 million acres for the purpose of constructing a railroad from Portland, Oregon, to the California border. The firm, initially called the Oregon Central Railroad, was managed by Ben Holladay until German shareholders, represented by Henry Villard (1835-1900), purchased a controlling interest. Southern Pacific Railroad took control of the Oregon and California Railroad Company in 1887.
The land grants provided by the Oregon and California Railroad Act stipulated that the company could fund construction by selling parcels along the railroad line to settlers at a rate of $2.50 per acre. The Oregon and California Railroad Company, however, submitted fraudulent settlement claims, and then sold the claims to land developers and timber firms for a profit. Exposure of these practices resulted in the Oregon Land Fraud Trials from 1904 to 1910. In 1916, Congress passed the Chamberlain-Ferris Act, which returned 2,800,000 acres of the railroad company's lands to the federal government.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Transport Consultants, Inc. was a California firm formed in part by Lynn D. Farrar, a former Southern Pacific Company valuation engineer and an expert on Southern Pacific Railroad lines and their history.
The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company was a steamship and railroad firm incorporated in 1879; its predecessor had been the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The Oregon and Transcontinental Company, formed in 1881, controlled the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and the Northern Pacific Railroad. The Oregon Improvement Company, founded in 1880, was a business that owned and operated coal mines, railroads, and steamship companies in Washington and California. All three entities were founded by Henry Villard (1835-1900).
Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top
Collection was titled Lynn Farrar/Transport Consultants railroad collection prior to August 2019.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The bulk of the collection consists of contracts and financial records of the Oregon and California Railroad Company. The collection also includes notes and materials compiled by the research team of Southern Pacific Railroad between the 1950s and 1970s. Other materials of note include reports of the Oregon Railroad Commission, guidebooks to western U.S. railroad routes, and records relating to other railroad firms, such as the Oregon Improvement Company, the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, and the Oregon and Transcontinental Company.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
Transport Consultants collection Oregon railroad records and research, Mss 2958, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in four series: Series 1. Oregon and California Railroad Company records; Series 2. Records of other firms and events; Series 3. Reports and guidebooks; Series 4. Southern Pacific research team files.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series 1: Oregon and California Railroad Company records, 1873-1915Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
1 | 1 | Agreement of Compromise between Oregon Central Railroad Co., Oregon and California Railroad Company, and Heinrich Hohenemser |
1873 |
1 | 2 | Deed of trust for Oregon and California Railroad Company to Henry Villard, Robert Davie Peebles, and Charles Edward Bretheron |
1881 |
1 | 3 | Annual report for 1881 |
1882 |
1 | 4 | General description of the Oregon and California Railroad line between Roseburg and the Oregon-California border by William Hood |
1883 |
1 | 5 | Notice to the preferred stockholders of the Oregon and California Railroad Company |
1883 |
1 | 6 | Construction contract between the Oregon and Transcontinental Company and the Oregon and California Railroad Company |
1883 January |
1 | 7 | Construction contract between the Oregon and Transcontinental Company and the Oregon and California Railroad Company |
1883 May 25 |
1 | 8 | Land grants limits documentation for Oregon and California Railroad Company |
1895 October 14 |
1 | 9 | Description of Beaverton and Willsburg Railroad Company sent to Oregon and California Railroad Company |
1915 |
1 | 10-68 | Statements of accounts |
1882 June-1888 June |
2 | 1-5 | Annual statements of accounts |
1883-1887 |
Series 2: Records of other firms and events, 1881-1898Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
2 | 6 | Bylaws of the Oregon and Transcontinental Company |
1881 |
2 | 7 | Articles of incorporation of the Oregon and Transcontinental Company |
1882 |
2 | 8 | Statement of accounts, Oregon Improvement Company |
1881 November |
2 | 9 | Oregon Improvement Company records |
1884 |
2 | 10 | First mortgage of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company to the Farmers Loan and Trust Company |
1879 July |
2 | 11-12 | Statements of accounts, Oregon Railway and Navigation Company |
1881 June-December |
2 | 13 | Plans and agreement for the reorganization of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company system |
undated |
2 | 14 | Right-of-way maps, Oregon Railway Company |
undated |
2 | 15 | Proceedings of the 5th Annual Convention of the Association of Railway Superintendents of Bridges and Buildings |
1895 |
Series 3: Reports and guidebooks, 1889-1922Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
2 | 16-20 | Biennial reports of the Oregon Railroad Commission |
1889-1897 |
2 | 21 | Third annual report of the Oregon Railroad Commission |
1909 |
2 | 22-23 | Biennial reports of the California Bureau of Labor Statistics |
1905-1906; 1909-1910 |
2 | 24 | Guidebook of the Western United States, Part B: The Overland Route |
1916 |
2 | 25 | Guidebook of the Western United States, Part C: The Santa Fe Route |
1916 |
2 | 26 | Guidebook of the Western United States, Part E: The Denver and Rio Grande Route |
1922 |
3 | 1 | American Railway Bridges and Buildings |
1898 |
Series 4: Southern Pacific research team files, 1883-1975Return to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
3 | 2 | General research files on Oregon and California Railroad |
1883-1975 |
3 | 3 | Notes on the Oregon and California Railroad |
1970-1974 |
3 | 4 | Notes by D. F. Myrick, taken from Oregon and California Railroad director's minutes for January 14-16, 1883 |
1970 |
3 | 5 | Notes taken by D. F. Myrick about Southern Pacific rail lines |
1966-1973 |
3 | 6 | Book excerpt about the opening of the Siskiyou Line in 1887 |
1928 |
3 | 7 | Article by D. F. Myrick about the Siskiyou line |
1956 |
3 | 8 | Articles about Oregon and California Railroad Company from the Roseburg News Review |
1972 |
3 | 9 | "Railroads down the Valley" by Randy V. Mills |
1950 |
3 | 10 | Notes about 1890 landslide in Cow Creek Canyon |
undated |
3 | 11 | Origins of station names on the Portland Division |
undated |
3 | 12 | File about Southern Pacific trains, "The Red Electrics of Portland" |
1950 |
3 | 13 | "Southern California Floods of 1916," by H. D. McGlashan and F. C. Ebert |
1918 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Railroad companies
- Railroads--Oregon--19th century
Corporate Names
- Oregon and California Railroad Company
Form or Genre Terms
- Financial records
- Reports
Other Creators
-
Corporate Names
- Oregon Improvement Company (creator)
- Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (creator)
- Oregon and California Railroad Company (creator)
- Oregon and Transcontinental Company (creator)
- Railroad Commission of Oregon (creator)
- Southern Pacific Railroad Company (creator)