What did the Central Pacific Railroads corporate logo look like?
We don’t think that there was a single CPRR corporate logo – railroad corporate logo’s were not widely or consistently used prior to the 1890’s. (John Decker reports that the “[Travelers’ Official Guide of the Railway and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States and Canada] … from September 1881, [has] not a single corporate logo in it … [while the] edition of June 1893 shows logos galore … ” According to Adrian Ettlinger, “… the Barriger Library in St. Louis … has a solid, complete collection of Official Guides in the original paper [also NYPL using microfilm] – … the SP logo was adopted in 1891. Indeed, from scanning through OG’s, 1890 seems to have about the same level (very few) as does 1883. But starting in 1890, there seems to be a gradual buildup in the concentration of logos until they become very commonplace by 1893. … As of 1893, [the Pennsylvania Railroad] did not yet show one. But the Erie had its familiar diamond as early as 1890.” [quotations from the R&L
