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Hal Riegger papers

 Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MG 183

Content Description

Photocopies of newspaper and journal articles, maps, correspondence, oral history tapes and transcripts, and a large collection of photographs dealing with the Camas Prairie Railroad, one of America's most scenic and fascinating railroads. With headquarters in Lewiston, one line ran northwest to Ayer, Washington, while one of the three Idaho lines went to Grangeville, another to Stites, both east and south of Lewiston, while the fourth line ran east and north to Headquarters.

Although the research material in this record group contains photocopies of material dating back to 1879, it was collected between 1981 and 1986.

Dates

  • Creation: 1981-1986

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Biographical Note

Hal Riegger earned his B.S. and M.A. degrees at the New York State College of Ceramics and Ohio State University. He taught ceramics for a number of years, and wrote three books on the subject.

His interest in trains dates back to his childhood and a set of Lionel O gauge trains formerly belonging to his aunt. He has been active in the field of rail history and model railroading. He is a member of the NMRA and has served on its standards committee. He was involved with the founding of Ntrak, the N scale modular system. He lives in the Sierra foothills of California.

Extent

1 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Research files, including newspaper and journal articles, maps, correspondence, oral history tapes and transcripts, and photographs, pertaining to Riegger's book, The Camas Prairie: Idaho's railroad on stilts (1986).

Arrangement

The majority of the material in this record group was in labelled folders or envelopes; while these headings were preserved, a series order was imposed during processing.

The first series contains background material on the railroad and includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, illustrative items such as time tables, and annual reports, journal articles, maps of Northern Pacific lands (the parent company of the Camas Prairie), track laying records and a souvenir of a 1960 passenger excursion from Lewiston to Grangeville.

The second series contains a large number of photographs of trains, engines, and bridges. These are arranged alphabetically by the collector. Some collectors have only their own photographs, while others added photographs of other collectors to their own collections. For this reason there is a small amount of duplication in the folders. Some folders also contain correspondence concerning the identification of photographs. Many of the photographs are copies. Photographs used in the book are identified on the verso with the chapter and photograph number within the chapter, e.g. 2-12 is chapter 2, the 12th photograph.

The final series contains permits allowing Riegger on railroad property, track profiles, and tapes of oral history interviews with retired Camas Prairie employees; transcripts of these tapes are also included.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The research materials for his book The Camas Prairie: Idaho's Railroad on Stilts (Edmonds, Washington, Pacific Fast Mail, 1986), were donated to the University of Idaho Library by Hal Riegger in May 1987 (MA 1987-19).

Existence and Location of Copies

Some of the materials in this collection were digitized and made into the Hal Riegger Papers, 1981-1986.

Cultural context

Topical

Title
Guide to Hal Riegger papers
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen; updated by Sara Szobody in 2024.
Date
1990
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository