Purchase Environmental Monitoring and Light Control Devices for Exhibition and Storage Areas

FAIN: PG-50184-07

California State Railroad Museum (Sacramento, CA 95814-2204)
Ellen Halteman (Project Director: May 2006 to December 2008)

The purchase of environmental monitoring equipment to assess the effects of relative humidity, temperature, and light on collections that document the history and technology of railroads and railroading in California and the Western states from the 1850s to the present. Collections include photographs; manuscripts; mechanical, engineering, and architectural drawings and maps; advertising materials; paintings and prints; uniforms; dining car artifacts; tools and equipment; and rolling stock.

The California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) has one of the finest publicly held collections of three-dimensional railroad-related artifacts in North America. Artifacts are on display to the public in the Railroad History Museum located in Old Sacramento. The museum's documentary collections are equally extensive and are available for public research use at the museum library and via online catalogs. This project would improve the museum's ability to monitor and assess the effects of temperature, humidity, and light on collections. The CSRM Foundation would purchase data loggers to record data in areas where collections are exhibited or stored and add UV fluorescent light filters to all light fixtures. These upgrades are essential to efforts to upgrade collections management to achieve accreditation by the American Association of Museums.