The Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation is blessed
to serve as the agents of preservation for numerous important photographic
and ephemera collections centered on Southern Californian rail history.
These collections are identified by their creators / assemblers,
and constitute one of the major initiatives of the Foundation: preservation,
documentation and publication of these collections to our fellow
Southern Californians, and the world.
While we do welcome visitors to our offices, we recognize
electronic dissemination of information as far more efficient in
reaching the widest possible audience. To that end, we are digitizing
our many collections - a laborious process, to be sure - and making
them available here, through this website, for all to see and appreciate.
Please visit us often, as we are continually adding new image sets
to all our online collections.
Donald Duke Collection
| Click here to view collection
categories
The Donald Duke Collection forms the
basis for LARHF's archives and is one of the most important rail
photography collections ever assembled. Comprised of his own images
as well as those of hundreds of fellow rail photographers, Don's
collection is amazingly comprehensive and also includes a substantial
paper, map, and collateral archive. Don assembled his collection
as part of his lifelong vocation - publisher of Golden West Books,
the authoritative imprint in the field of rail history and documentation.
The collection consists primarily of black and white images with
a meaningful color transparency component. Don's tireless efforts
to ascertain and preserve an amazing array of western railroad
imagery is his lasting legacy to us all.
Bill and Betty Everett Ephemera and Model
Collection
Bill and Betty Everett are lifelong
fans of trolleys and interurbans, with a special emphasis on the
Pacific Electric Railway. A retired California Highway Patrol
officer, Bill is a famed modeler whose efforts have produced hundreds
of models, including every piece of equipment ever operated by
the PE. Bill and Betty also have assembled an authoritative collection
of trolley / interurban artifacts from systems around the country,
and probably the greatest book library ever assembled on the subject
matter of streetcars, trolleys and interurbans.
Ralph Melching Collection
| Click here to view
collection categories
Ralph Melching (1917-2005) was a founder
of the Pacific
Rail Society (née Railroad Boosters) and an avid rail
photographer throughout his adult life. Ralph photographed a wide
variety of rail-based subjects, including the construction of
Los Angeles Union Station in 1938-39, as well as the Pacific Electric
Railway and main line railroads.
Fletcher Swan Collection
| Click
here to view collection
Fletcher Swan is the former mayor of
the city of South Pasadena, and a long-time rail enthusiast. Fletcher
began his career before World War II as an employee of the AT&SF
Railway, and served (among many capacities) as an official photographer.
His collection documents the Santa Fe and its operations in Los
Angeles during a pivotal period in Southland history.
Charles Lawrence - Mount Lowe Tourist
Photograph Collection | Click
here to view collection
Charles Lawrence documented thousands
of visitors to Mount Lowe, the tourist railway north of Pasadena
and part of the Pacific Electric from the turn of the century
until the late 1930s. This collection consists, of tourist photographs
shot by Lawrence and his team of visitors posed on the famed incline
railway. What makes this collection unique is that all photographs
on hand were "return-to-sender," meaning the tourists
never received the photographic memory of their Mount Lowe experience.
Roger L. Titus Collection
| Collection coming soon
Roger L. Titus is a noted rail historian
and postcard collector and is the co-author of "Destinations,"
a Foundation-published title documenting the rise
of Southern California through vintage postcards and their relationship
to the trolley lines that fueled Southland growth. As a teenager,
Roger and his father Robert rode the Pacific Electric and Los
Angeles Railway systems, photographing the systems as they were
on the verge of shutdown. His collection provides a brilliant
snapshot into late-1940s through late-1950s Southern California,
and how trolley systems defined our way of life.
County of Los Angeles Rail Division Map
and Imagery Collection | Collection
coming soon
This collection consists of de-accessioned
materials (maps, plans and photographs) of rail right-of-ways
and easements controlled by the County of Los Angeles. Thanks
to County employee Craig Jacquez, this material was saved from
destruction and is now available for research by the community
at large.
Lester Wiltse Paper Collection
Lester Wiltse worked for Pasadena Star-News,
and throughout his lifetime assembled an amazing array of books,
ephemera and paper, including a complete collection of Ira Swett
trolley/interurban books.
For those wishing to use LARHF imagery in
publications or other electronic, printed or other reproduction
formats, please contact us for
licensing information.
Visiting LARHF:
we welcome members of our Foundation and community alike at our
offices in Alhambra. Please contact us at 626-458-4449 and leave
a message with your visitation request, and we will contact you.
