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Preferred Citation:

United States Train Travel Diary, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, The College of William and Mary

Acquisition Information:

Purchased.

Scope and Contents

Travel account of train trip from Watertown, Connecticut to Los Angeles, California written to the writer's brothers and sisters, dated January 13, 1911. Description of the train ride, his experiences on the train, and the sights that he sees along the route, with historical comments written about some of them. The letter is signed "Your Brother and Sister Titus."

Travel Diary of a train trip from Los Angeles, California to Watertown, Connecticut. The writer leaves on September 9, 1912 on the Southern Pacific Rail Road for San Francisco. He talks of sights he sees – and sights he will miss – such as the Potter Hotel and the ocean. He tells the story of the wreck of the Santa Rosa. He describes San Francisco in detail, giving history and his personal opinions of the sites that he sees. His language is very descriptive.

He travels over the Sierra Nevada, through Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan and New York. As the train travels through different areas and states, the writer not only describes what he sees, but gives an indepth history of the people and the land, writing almost in a story book style. He mentions the trees, the color of the soil and the origin of streams. When he reaches Watertown, he mentions that it is wonderful "to see the home faces."

The writer has included postcards and cutouts of some of the places he saw or visited. A handwritten insert gives a definition of "Luck."

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Diaries
• Postcards
• Railroad travel--United States.
• United States--Description and travel