Western Railroad Discussion > Request for SP Employee Timetables

Greetings everyone, I just finished a trip to the California State Railroad Museum and transcribed all the relevant information regarding the Vasona to Santa Cruz route of the Southern Pacific through the Santa Cruz Mountains. Unfortunately, the CSRM's collection was missing numerous pieces that I could really use.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could contact me if they have any of the following timetables:

• South Pacific Coast Railroad, No. 1-18, and from 20 to its absorption into the Southern Pacific in 1887
• Southern Pacific - Santa Cruz Division, Nos. 5-10
• Southern Pacific - Coast Division, Nos. 13, 16, 22-24, 26-39, 41-52, 56, 58-66, 68-74, 76-78, 83, 85, 89, 91, 92, 99, 101, 103, 104, 110, 113, 122, 123, and 136

If you have access to any of these timetables, even just one, or know of somebody that does, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

Derek Whaley
Felton, CA
Santa Cruz Trains

Might want to check the archives of the Calif State Rwy Museum. I have gotten xeroxes of old SP and SF employee timetables thru them!

I just went there and that's where I got all the time tables I have. I'm looking for what the museum was lacking.

Derek Whaley
Felton, CA
Santa Cruz Trains

What are the approximate dates on these timetables?

If these are as old as I'm thinking they are (pre-WW2?) then it's going to be extremely difficult to find copies -- and the prices will be steep. Really steep. A single timetable in good condition could fetch a few hundred dollars in some cases.

I don't think I have anything this old, otherwise I would help you out.

Definitely pre-World War II, but I'm not looking to buy, just copy a portion of a page or two for reference. The dates are 1880 to 1940. It doesn't even have to be a high resolution. I actually have no desire to own any railroad paraphernalia and would have no place to store it if I had it.

Derek Whaley
Felton, CA
Santa Cruz Trains

whaleyland Wrote:
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> Definitely pre-World War II, but I'm not looking
> to buy, just copy a portion of a page or two for
> reference. The dates are 1880 to 1940. It doesn't
> even have to be a high resolution. I actually have
> no desire to own any railroad paraphernalia and
> would have no place to store it if I had it.

I don't have anything that old unfortunately. Few people do.

Outside of a library setting such as CSRM, the chances of locating these timetables -- just to make copies -- may be next to impossible. A number of timetable collectors of this era are older guys who don't use the internet much, if at all, and are difficult to track down. They may be protective of the timetables as well, so be prepared to drive to their homes if necessary to photograph the pages you need.

You might contact the Niles Canyon folks and ask if any members have what you need. That's the best suggestion I have at the moment. http://www.ncry.org/

Thanks for the info. I've surprisingly had quite a bit of luck finding timetables in private collections and public depositories. My local museum doesn't have any copies, but oddly my doctor's office has one framed. The Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History doesn't have any, yet three local private collectors have at least one each. I've found a few online, too, including a 1883 South Pacific Coast print-copy of an employee timetable (single large sheet). But since my request went out, I've only had two people that have said they personally have numbers I need, and neither were ones for years that are highly desirable (though still helpful). I doubt I'll get all the years I want, but my primary goal is to fill in as many gaps as possible. Once I have them all, the timetables will help toward writing an article for a railroad journal (haven't determined which yet) as well as help with my book, Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Derek Whaley
Felton, CA
Santa Cruz Trains

Friend of mine has Coast Div 66, 103 and 123.
If you spell out what you're after maybe he
can eventually copy the pages. (Paper copies--
no scanner.)

Here's a sample of what I'm copying:

January 10, 1909 – No. 75 (Coast)
51.8 Vasona Junction 27.4
52.1 Bermingham (Spur) 27.1
54.3 Los Gatos 24.9
57.0 Alma 22.2
58.0 Aldercroft 21.2
59.9 Eva 19.3
61.4 Wright 17.8
62.7 Edric (Spur) 16.5
63.4 Laurel (Spur) 15.8
64.8 Glenwood 14.4
65.9 Clems (Spur) 13.3
66.3 Virginia (Spur) 12.8
66.6 Tank Siding 12.6
67.4 Zayante (Spur) 12.9
68.6 Meehan 10.6
70.1 Eccles (Spur) 9.1
70.4 Union Mill (Spur) 8.8
71.1 Olympia 8.1
71.1 Hayes (Spur) 8.1
72.1 Mt. Hermon 7.1
72.5 Felton 6.7
73.3 Big Trees 5.9
73.7 Felton Junction 5.5
75.4 Rincon 3.8
76.7 Powder Works (Spur) 2.5
78.1 Eblis 1.1
79.2 Santa Cruz 0.0
-------
73.1 Riverside 0.6
75.8 Newell Junction (Spur) 3.3
76.2 Ben Lomond 3.7
78.4 Brookdale 5.9
80.1 Boulder Creek 7.6

Basically, it's the date of the table, the table number and division, the mile markers (both from San Francisco and from Santa Cruz or Felton) and the names of the listed stops (flag-stops not mentioned in the main table but listed elsewhere I've been marking in italics with mile markers, if available). The only two lines I'm interested in are the Santa Cruz line between Vasona and Santa Cruz and the Felton to Boulder Creek line. Generally, I've been taking a photograph of the center column of the timetable with the date and number at top and Santa Cruz at the bottom. Then I take a picture of the Boulder Creek line, which is usually set aside elsewhere (a page or two later, usually). I hope that helps. I'd love to see if there are any changes. Thanks!

Derek Whaley
Felton, CA
Santa Cruz Trains

When I ask him if he wants to make copies,
I'll need to tell him which pages he's
supposed to copy, and whether he's
supposed to copy all of each page,
and, if you do want all of each page,
does it need to be on one 11x17 sheet.
Are you familiar enough with timetables
of that era so you can spell out
which pages you want?

http://www.sbhrs.org/

You might check out the South Bay group in Santa Clara as they have quite a library. Russ Danley, the Budda, former Newhall yardmaster (who died last month) was quite the railroad historian and had a big collection of stuff which I would imagine he left to that group. They may have some stuff you can use.
C.

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

timz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I ask him if he wants to make copies,
> I'll need to tell him which pages he's
> supposed to copy, and whether he's
> supposed to copy all of each page,
> and, if you do want all of each page,
> does it need to be on one 11x17 sheet.
> Are you familiar enough with timetables
> of that era so you can spell out
> which pages you want?

Regrettably I did not copy the page numbers down (didn't even think about it). If you email me at whaleyland@gmail.com, I can send you kind of a visual sample of what I need. It's very crude and if you can fit it onto an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet, that is perfectly fine with me. I don't need the whole page as I'm generally not worrying about the actual arrival/departure times of the trains. The main annoyance is the list of flag-stops. Sometimes these are noted at the bottom of the time table (the San Francisco to Santa Cruz time table takes up a whole double-page) but other times they are in the SPECIAL RULES section at the back.

Derek Whaley
Felton, CA
Santa Cruz Trains

CarolVoss Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.sbhrs.org/
>
> You might check out the South Bay group in Santa
> Clara as they have quite a library. Russ Danley,
> the Budda, former Newhall yardmaster (who died
> last month) was quite the railroad historian and
> had a big collection of stuff which I would
> imagine he left to that group. They may have some
> stuff you can use.
> C.

Thank you very much, CarolVoss. I'll contact them.

Derek Whaley
Felton, CA
Santa Cruz Trains