Publication Rights

Permission for publication must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives.

Access

Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff for details.

Preferred Citation

Lynn D. Farrar papers. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Acquisition Information

Gift of Lynn D. Farrar, 1999, 2009 and 2010

Biography/Administrative History

Lynn D. Farrar was born in California in 1912. He attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated in 1944, whereupon he enlisted in the US Army. After World War II, he attended the University of Paris, and worked in the Office of Military Government for the United States in Berlin, Germany for 2-1/2 years. In 1948, he was hired by Southern Pacific Company as a junior engineer. He as a valuation engineer for the SP Valuation Department for several decades. Notably, he was the project lead for the Southern Pacific Historical Cost Study. When he retired from the Southern Pacific in 1986, Mr. Farrar founded Transport Consultants, Inc. to work for Southern Pacific on The Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Project, a collaborative project between first class class railroads through the Association of American Railroads, defense contractors and the United States Air Force, which sought to identify locations along railroad right of way that would be suitable for MX missile launches from a train. Mr. Farrar died in 2016. He is survived by a son.

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection contains the papers of Southern Pacific valuation engineer Lynn D. Farrar, who was an important collector of Southern Pacific historical materials and the lead of the Southern Pacific Historical Cost Study, a multi-year, multi-million dollar project undertaken by Southern Pacific to determine the cost of the construction of Southern Pacific, its subidiary and predecessor companies. The material has been arranged by record group numbers: RG 1. SOUTHERN PACIFIC HISTORICAL COST STUDY Series 1. PROJECT METHODOLOGY AND CONCLUSIONS Subseries 1. Correspondence Subseries 2. Index to Research Team codes Subseries 3. Project reports Series 2. SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY ON-SITE RESEARCH Subseries 1. Indexes to Southern Pacific Company corporate records Subseries 2. Notes from Southern Pacific Company corporate records Subseries 3. Right of way inspection trip photos Series 3. OTHER RESEARCH MATERIAL Subseries 1. Libraries and historical societies Subseries 2. Books and articles Subseries 3. Laws and statutes Subseries 4. Newspapers Subseries 5. Interviews Series 4. SOUTHERN PACIFIC CORPORATE RECORDS Subseries 1. General records Subseries 2. Engineering Department records Subseries 3. Valuation Department records RG 2: PERSONAL PAPERS Series 1. SUBJECT FILES Series 2. CORRESPONDENCE A list of drawings from the Farrar donation has been added to this record.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Historic Cost Study