Mystery on the Mainline

What Wrecked the “City of San Francisco?”

Christopher MacMahon

Acknowledgements

The “City of San Francisco”

Jointly operated by the Chicago and Northwestern, Union Pacific, and Southern Pacific Railroad.

One of the first streamliner trains in revenue service.

Luxury train full of amenities.

Twice as fast as regular overland route.

1

Luxury and Amenities

2

August 12, 1939

3

4

What caused the wreck?

Accident

Causes beyond human control

Acts of God

Negligence

Operational negligence

Negligent maintenance

Sabotage

5

Negligence

Maintenance

Condition of track

Condition of bridge

Operational

Braking

Reaction

Speed

Conclusion

6

Sabotage

Early findings

Southern Pacific findings

Interstate Commerce Commission

Federal Bureau of Investigation

7

Sabotage

8 9

Cover-up?

Joe Bell

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Wallar v. Southern Pacific Company

No one brought to justice

10

Role of the Great Depression

The Octopus

Southern Pacific Company and Progressive Movement

Southern Pacific as an employer

Shaping Opinion

Depression and Negligence

Depression and Sabotage

Role of Public Opinion

11

Citations

1. Southern Pacific Company. 39 ¾ Hours to Chicago on the Streamliner “City of San Francisco.” Advertisement. Author’s Collection.

2. Chicago and Northwestern Lines, Union Pacific Railroad, and Southern Pacific Lines, The Streamliner City of San Francisco. Promotional Pamphlet. Circa 1939. Southern Pacific Transportation—City of San Francisco Wreck 1939 Collection, MS NC 505. Nevada Historical Society, Reno, Nevada.

3. Unknown Photographer. “Southern Pacific Railroad (Streamliner) Wreck Near Carlin, 1939.” Southern Pacific Transportation—City of San Francisco Wreck 1939 Collection, MS NC 505, photograph no. 277. Nevada Historical Society, Reno, Nevada.

4. L.B. Haneman. “Wreck of the City of San Francisco streamliner passenger train, near Carlin on Aug. 12, 1939.” Southern Pacific Transportation—City of San Francisco Wreck 1939 Collection, MS NC 505. Nevada Historical Society, Reno, Nevada.

5. A. D. McDonald telegram to John G. Walsh, August 14, 1939. Southern Pacific Transportation—City of San Francisco Wreck 1939 Collection, MS NC 505, Nevada Historical Society, Reno, Nevada.H. E. Watts and J. K. Parkinson. Southern Pacific Company Board of Inquiry Report. August 19-21,1939. City of San Francisco Derailment Collection, MS-39. California State Railroad Museum Library, Sacramento, California.

6. Southern Pacific Company. Table 507—Speeds of Trains Through Curves. 1939. City of San Francisco Derailment Collection, MS-39. California State Railroad Museum Library, Sacramento, California.

7. Unknown Photographer. City of San Francisco Derailment Collection, MS-39. California State Railroad Museum Library, Sacramento, California.

8. United States Interstate Commerce Commission. Report of the Director Bureau of Safety: Accident on the Southern Pacific Railroad, Harney, Nevada, August 12, 1939, Investigation no. 2375. United States Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C., 1939, 6.

9. Unknown Photographer. Tie plate out of alignment with car above. City of San Francisco Wreck Collection, Photograph 739-6. Northeastern Nevada Museum, Elko, Nevada.

10. 10,000 Reward: Whose Jackets Are These? Advertisement. City of San Francisco Train Wreck Collection, Northeastern Nevada Museum, Elko, Nevada

11. G. Frederick Keller, The Wasp 9, no. 316 (August 19, 1882): 520-521. Accessed April 14, 2015 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Octopus:_A_Story_of_California.