The flamboyant president of the Oregon Pacific Railroad (1880-1893) was a colorful figure, about whom almost nothing is known except that he tried to build the Oregon Pacific Railroad and failed to complete the project, and that he attempted to take over a steamship at Panama during the Civil War in order to arm it as a raider and use it to prey on Union shipping in the Pacific, like the C.S.S. Alabama had done in the Atlantic. I have been doing research on the Oregon Pacific RR since 1976, and would appreciate the help of anybody out there in tracking down a few leads. One source lists Thomas E. Hogg as a resident and storekeeper in Baltimore, Maryland before the Civil War, another states that he was a merchant in New Orleans and lost his property during the war.

I was wondering if any rail fan in Baltimore and New Orleans might check the local library and see if they have any City Directories for the years before the war, and see if there are any entries for a Thomas E. Hogg? I am also trying to find a picture of the ship he tried to hijack: the Pacific Mail Steamship company's "San Salvador". Any help or hints anybody can offer would be greatly appreciated!