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Railroad employee timetable collection, 1862-2000

Overview of the Collection

Title
Railroad employee timetable collection
Dates
1862-2000 (inclusive)
Quantity
48 boxes plus oversize materials, (approximately 21 linear feet)
Collection Number
1983.75
Summary
Employee timetables for northwest United States and Canadian railroads, 1862-2000
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Additional Reference Guides

An item level inventory of the timetable collection as of November 1996 is available in the MOHAI library.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Content Description

The collection is comprised of timetables from Northwestern United States and Canadian railroads, including timetables from subsidiary and predecessor companies. Includes primarily timetables for railroads in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and British Columbia and secondarily, material from the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railways in several other states and provinces.

Includes timetables for the Great Northern Railway; Northern Pacific Railway; Burlington Northern Railroad; Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad; Union Pacific; Spokane Portland & Seattle Railway; Southern Pacific Company; various Canadian railroads operating in British Columbia; and other miscellaneous shortlines. Dating from 1862 to 2000, the collection contains timetables from the earliest days of the railroad in the northwest, and is believed to be the largest collection of Northwest employee timetables in existence.

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Other Descriptive Information

Origins of the Railroad Employee Timetable Collection

For many years, the Great Northern Railway maintained a small museum in its general offices in St. Paul, Minnesota. Several volumes of employee timetables were included, some of them going back to the very earliest days of the railroad. After the Burlington Northern merger of 1970, the museum was discontinued and the material was placed in a basement storeroom and neglected.

James C. Mattson was an employee of Great Northern and later Burlington Northern. Over a period of many years he gathered a large personal collection of employee timetables. In 1982, he found that Burlington Northern was no longer interested in its historical material and began to search for a way to safeguard the timetables. In 1983, the company authorized donation of the timetables to the Museum of History & Industry, with the stipulation that Mattson would donate his personal collection at the same time. This original large accession from Burlington Northern and Mattson, with continuing additions by Mattson and two smaller donations from other sources, comprises the Railroad Employee Timetable Collection.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Railroad Employee Timetable Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged largely alphabetically into series by railroad company:

  • Burlington Northern Railroad Company
  • Canadian railroads
  • Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company (Milwaukee Road)
  • Great Northern Railway Company
  • Northern Pacific Railway
  • Pacific Coast Railroad Company
  • Southern Pacific Company (Southern Pacific Transportation Company)
  • Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway
  • Union Pacific Railroad Company
  • Miscellaneous Northwest Shortlines
  • Passenger timetables

Location of Collection

13a.2.7-9

Location of Collection

13a.3.6-9

Location of Collection

Map drawers VIIa.1-2

Acquisition Information

The timetables were donated in multiple accessions over several years. The bulk of the collection was donated in 1983 (Accession No. 1983.75): approximately 2000 Great Northern timetables donated by Burlington Northern Railroad Company, to which James C. Mattson added approximately 1800 timetables from his personal collection. Mattson made 18 further donations of employee timetables between 1986 and 2002: Accession Nos. 1986.6; 1987.84; 1987.96; 1988.5, 1989.1; 1990.2; 1990.59; 1991.4; 1992.1; 1993.9; 1994.1; 1994.13; 1995.11; 1996.1; 1997.13; 1998.20; 2001.27 and 2002.16. Additionally, the Washington State Historical Society donated 5 timetables in 1986 (Accession No. 1986.6); and the Cheney Cowles Museum donated 35 timetables in 1996 (Accession No. 1996.27). Photocopies of approximately 200 timetables were donated by James Mattson in August 2013.

Custodial History

The 854 timetables comprising Accession No. 1990.59 were part of the estate of Robert W. Johnston before being purchased by James Mattson.

Mattson acquired the 142 timetables in Accession No. 1994.13 from Dick Rudolf, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Processing Note

Processed by James C. Mattson in 1983, and upon the addition of each accession over several years.

Each timetable accession was interfiled with Accession No. 1985.75 upon receipt.

Related Materials

The Burlington Northern Railroad Company Records, 1876-1971, (Accession Nos. 1972.5375, 1983.12 and 1986.19) include Burlington Northern record books, Great Northern account books, and a series of Northern Pacific Railway Company notebooks of photographs showing joint facilities with other railroads.

The James C. Mattson Collection on Northwest Railroads (Accession Nos. 1985.52, 1989.8, 1989.14, 1995.47, 1990.60, 2002.2, and 2007.48) includes photograph albums and Official List of Officers, Agents and Stations booklets from the Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway AFE register copies, railroad company annual reports and northwest railroad passenger timetables.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Railroads -- Oregon -- Timetables
  • Railroads -- British Columbia -- Timetables
  • Railroads -- United States --Timetables
  • Railroads -- Washington (State) -- Timetables

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • Burlington Northern Railroad Company (creator)
    • Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (creator)
    • Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company (creator)
    • Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) (creator)
    • Pacific Coast Railroad Company (creator)
    • Southern Pacific Railroad Company (creator)
    • Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway (creator)
    • Union Pacific Railway Company (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Jody Hendrickson
2007

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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