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,

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 89

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 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 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, 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 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 United States Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C., 1939, Unknown Photographer. Tie plate out of alignment with car above. City of San Francisco Wreck Collection, Photograph Northeastern Nevada Museum, Elko, Nevada ,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): Accessed April 14,