About
the Pacific Coast Chapter
Formed in 1937 as the third Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive
Historical Society, the Chapter’s founders immediately began
gathering historical locomotives and cars for their ultimate goal
of a museum celebrating railroading in the West. The first acquisition,
that year, was the Virginia & Truckee Railroad’s locomotive
No. 21, J.W. Bowker.
Over the years,
the Chapter collected more than 40 rare locomotives and cars, both
passenger and freight. Beginning in 1969, these were donated to the
State of California, Department of Parks & Recreation, to form
the core collection for the California State Railroad Museum, located
in Sacramento, California.
The Chapter
had also acquired an extensive collection of San Francisco cable cars.
In 1965, the Chapter began working with the City to develop a museum
in the venerable cable car powerhouse, where The San Francisco Cable
Car Museum of cars and artifacts are housed today.
The Chapter
maintains an extensive archival collection of photographs, negatives,
and other railroad memorabilia.
Our mission
is to preserve and disseminate railroad history to members and the
public. We do this through public railroad history programs and our
publication, The Western Railroader.
© 2006 Pacific Coast Chapter | Railway & Locomotive
Historical Society. All Rights Reserved.