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PA003

James Plomer fonds. - 1901-1986; especially 1940-1980.

Biographical sketch :
James Plomer was born 05 August 1911 in South Africa, where his father worked for the African Railway. From his earliest years he was interested in the railway world and collected everything he could find on the subject. At age 22, he commenced doing railway photography. From 1938, his photographs were published in Blount-Richardson's book entitled Along the Iron Trail. He died in 1987?
James Plomer was an officer in the Canadian Navy. He was also a member of a number of railway associations around the world, including the Canadian Railroad Historical Association. With Alan R. Capon, he co-authored the book Desperate Venture/ Central Ontario Railway, published in 1979.

Custodial history :
The fonds was transferred to the Association archives by his wife in January, 1987. A rough inventory of the contents of the boxes was done before transfer to the archives.
Part of the fonds, (6 photograph albums) was acquired later.

Scope and content :
The James Plomer fonds shows a variety of steam locomotives which operated between the end of the 19th century and the 1960's. It also illustrates the operations of the large railway companies, principally in Canada with the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific, as well as in the United States and England.
The fonds is composed of spicileges filed by large railway companies, as well as a large collection of personal photographs. The fonds includes several copies of bulletins from South African, Canadian and American railway associations, as well as a small file of personal correspondence, mostly in the form of Christmas cards.

Physical description : 2.1 m of textual materials. - 33 photograph albums: black and white and colour. - About 150 photographs.

General note : Title based on the contents of the fonds. The donation also includes a substantial collection of books and periodicals. These documents were not included with the rest of the fonds.
A few photographs have been torn since their arrival. The documents in the fonds are mostly in English. There is a rough inventory of the contents of the boxes.