In April, Rob and I visited the SPHTS Archives in Newport Beach, CA and thought we would share our experience with you. We had called the week prior to our visit to make sure they would be open, and to find out what it would be like. We had 3 objectives: 1. A diagram or map of the T&NO Track around New Iberia c. 1925 2. Plans of sections houses and 3. plans of the depot used in New Iberia c.1925. Rob and I searched the database, finding quite a few documents that we wanted to see. From the database, we identified the document numbers and boxes for the items we wanted, prioritizing them based on what we wanted to see most. These documents are from private collections. We carefully retrieved the documents from a box, looked them over, then determined if we needed copies. The Archivists helpd us with the copies and kept a running total of what we owed. After we finished with 2 boxes, the archivists retrieved the next 2 on our list. We found the track maps and a few other items of interest, but still need the plans for the section house and depot. The Archives are housed in the Sherman Library. Beautiful gardens surround the facility. The staff there were pleasant, helpful and professional. We thought we would be there 1/2 day, but stayed until 4 pm. We look forward to visiting the CA State Train Museum in Sacramento on our next trip west. We want to re-create the section of track around New Iberia c. 1925 when my grandfather was the stationmaster there.
I've been there several years ago. It is a beautiful spot. The archives were downstairs in the library; I thought the amount of information was very small for what I expected. I didn't know there was a way to search them for data. Thanks for the report.
As Flash said, thanks very much for the report. I have never been there, but want to go very badly. Sounds like I would be in heaven!
