A little historical background on noted rail photographer "Will Whittaker" of Mill Valley, CA :

"Will" was born on January 1, 1908 as an "only child" in Palo Alto, CA. Historically, he has the distinct reputation of being the "FIRST" child born in Palo Alto, CA by means of "Caesarean section " ... How 'bout THAT ??

"Will" died on January 31, 2006... He was 98 years old...

His many thousands of "negatives" were scattered to the wind by being split up and sold to interested parties as "Will" began getting more and more ill.

However, "Will" had hundreds of binders containing ONE PRINT of every single negative he ever shot. For safe keeping, these binders were turned over to noted railfan "Arnold Menke"...

When "Arnold" passes on someday, the binders of 'Will Whittaker' are to be deposited in the library archives of the California State Railroad Museum at Sacramento...

"Will" never learned to drive a car. He always relied on either public transportation or friends to give him a ride somewhere. Many of you have seen pictures taken by "Will" that would make one wonder how in the heck he physically got to that certain location to get "that shot" . His wife "Anna" explained that "Will" would camp out overnight and "rough it" to get those famous shots. He was that dedicated.

Even though most of Will's motion pictures are gone, a "little" survived regarding San Francisco.
Many years ago, "Will Whittaker" turned over this material to PNW rail author "Warren Wing"..
I, in turn, got it from Warren. On Wednesday, November 10th, the material exited my Seattle film lab on a NEW railfan video entitled: "San Francisco Streetcars & Cable Cars" ...

It is dedicated to the memory of "Will Whittaker"... Mrs. Anna Whittaker was most gracious in providing photos of "Will" to include on the "memory page credit" ... She is a truly wonderful person to talk to. SHE will be receiving a complimentary copy of the video within the next few days.

I did this project to honor a great man and a great railroad photographer... I hope I did him justice !! I might point out that NO ONE, to my knowledge, has ever produced a video on the transportation system in San Francisco. Therefore, this may be a FIRST !!

One final thing about "Will Whittaker" I didn't know about. He NEVER had a Darkroom to process the thousands upon thousands of negatives that he had. Did he take them to the corner drug store to be developed ??? NO, Sir..
He personally traveled to the "vicinity" of Market & Van Ness in SF and delivered his films to noted railfan "Tom Gray" ... Tom would process Will's films. Over the years, the two railfans would meet on that corner and exchange "packets" and then return home.
As "Will" started to become more and more ill, his devoted wife "Anna" made that famous journey and continued the exchange of "packets" with Tom Gray. The results of those meetings at that intersection in San Francisco is what all of us enjoy in various railroad books today !!
By the way, "Anna" is 87 and going strong and still lives in the famous Mill Valley house not far from Will's beloved NWP. What is "sad", however, is that the trips to San Francisco to exchange those "packets" is no longer taking place.
God Bless you Will-- Thanks for the Memories ...

Ken Shattock (KRK)