Move update as of December 14, 2012:
Because of delays in construction, we now anticipate that collections held off-site will be available beginning in late Spring 2013. The California State Railroad Museum Library staff maintains regular public open hours Tuesday through Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. while continuing to move off-site collections to our new collections facility. Thank you for your patience. Please contact Library staff directly before making a research visit.

Move update as of January 18, 2012:
California State Railroad Museum Library collections currently housed off-site are being moved to a new collections storage facility. During the move, these collections will be unavailable for research use through Fall 2012. If you are planning a visit to the Museum Library, please contact Library staff ahead of your visit. We thank you for your understanding and patience as we complete this move.

The Library organizes its documentary collections, both physically and intellectually, by type. There are several levels of access to documentary collections. For some, there is only an alphabetical list of railroads represented. For others, there are descriptive finding aids. Many document types have been catalogued into databases which can be searched by keywords and categories such as corporate name, geographic location or date.

Books and Periodicals

Corporate Collections

Drawings

Ephemera

Genealogy Resources

Manuscript Collections

Maps

Photographs

Timetables

Trade Catalogs

To be certain the collection you want to see will be available, contact staff ahead of time.