Primary Research
Manuscripts
These primary resources are available from various Internet sites (mainly from Internet Archives), which allow the reader to view the book in its entirety (free of charge) online, by downloading a .pdf file, in a textual format (book readers) or in an open format.
- American Association of Passenger Traffic Officers. The Official Railway Guide: North American Freight Service Edition. Philadelphia: National Railway Publication Co., 1874.
- Ball, Geo. W.I. General Railroad and Telegraph Laws of the State of Pennsylvania Including the Acts Relating to Incline Plane Railways and Street Passenger Railways, and Such Acts Relative to Corporations as Affect Railroad and Telegraph Companies, 1816-1883. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott, 1884.
- Ball, Geo. W.I. General Railroad Laws of the State of Pennsylvania and Acts Relative to Corporations Affecting Railroad Companies. Arranged in Chronological Order, from 1820 to 1874, with a Complete Analytical Index. Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott, 1875.
- Berg, Walter G. Buildings and Structures of American Railroads: A Reference Book for Railroad Managers, Superintendents, Master Mechanics, Engineers, Architects and Students. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1893.
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Report of the Pennsylvania State Railroad Commission for the Year Ending December 31st, 1908. Harrisburg, PA: Harrisburg Publishing Co., State Printer, 1909.
- The Delaware and Hudson Railroad Bulletin. June 1, 1936. (other issues available)
- Ewing, Jas. H. and Harry Slep, eds. History of the City of Altoona and Blair County Including Sketches of the Shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. Altoona, PA: Harry Slep's Mirror Printing House, 1880.
- Garrett, C.W. Pennsylvania Lines West of Pittsburgh: A History of the Flood of March, 1913. Pittsburgh, PA: Wm. G. Johnston & Co., 1913.
- Johnson, Emory Richard and Thurman William Van Metre. Principles of Railroad Transportation. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1920.
- McPherson, L.G. The Hand-book of the Pennsylvania Lines. Poole Bros., 1888.
- Pennsylvania Railroad to the Columbian Exposition, with Descriptive Notes of the Cities of New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, and a Complete Description of the Exposition Grounds and Buildings. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 1892.
- Philadelphia and its Environs, and the Railroad Scenery of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1875.
- Poor, Henry V. Manual of the Railroads of the United States 1874-75. New York: Poor's Publising, 1875.
- Poor, Henry V. Manual of the Railroads of the United States 1876-77. New York: Poor's Publishing, Co., 1876.
- Poor, Henry V. Manual of the Railroads of the United States 1878. New York: Poor's Publishing, Co., 1878.
- Poor, H.V. Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States, 1900. New York: H.V. & H.W. Poor, 1901.
- (For additional volumes/years of Poor's Manual of the Railroads please go to the Internet Archives website)
- Report of the Directors of the New York and Erie Railroad Company to Stockholders November, 1853. New York: np, 1853.
- Report of the Engineers Valuation Board in re Pittsburgh Railways Company Submitted to the Public Service Commission of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, August 1919. Pittsburgh, PA: City of Pittsburgh, 1919.
- Sullivan and Erie Coal and Railroad Company. Statement Concerning the Sullivan and Erie Coal and Railroad Company of Pennsylvania, with a Map and Description of its Mines, Property, Road and Connections; Its Work; Progress and Future Prospects, and the Security and Availability of its First Mortgage Bonds. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1868.
- Thurston, George H. Thurston's Route Book From Philadelphia to Chicago via Pennsylvania Central Railraod and Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway. Pittsburgh, PA: George H. Thurston, 1863.
- Weimber, Albert Barnes. The Law of Railroads in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: T. & J. Johnson & Co., 1893.
- Wilson, William Bender. General Superintendents of the Pennsylvania Railroad Division Pennsylvania Railroad Co. Philadelphia: The Kensington Press, 1900.
- Wilson, Willaim Bender. History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Department of the Young Men's Christian Association of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Stephen Greene Company, Printers, 1911.
Images
Online Collections
- Erie Railroad Glass Plate Negative Collection (Syracuse University Library)
- Frank B. Fairbanks Rail Transportation Archive (Archive of the University of Pittsburgh Digital Library)
- The Historic Pittsburgh Image Collection
- Library of Congress (Prints & Photographs Online Catalog)
- Pennsylvania Railroad scenes taken by William Rau (The Library Company of Philadelphia)
- Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (images from all over the state of Pennsylvania)
- Western History/Genealogy Digital Collections (Denver Public Library). Has a number of photographs taken in Pennsylvania.
Library and Archives
- Hagley Museum and Library (Wilmington, DE)
- Pennsylvania State Archives (Harrisburg, PA)
- Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (Strasburg, PA)
- Reading Company Technical & Historical Society (Reading, PA)
- Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives (Philadelphia, PA)
Image of the Market Street Subway entrance at 23rd Street from the roof of the passenger platform at 24th Street Station in Philadelphia, Fall of 1920. Courtesy of the PA State Archives; MG 219; Series 1-0904, Box 25, Image V5023 |
Records
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania houses one of the most significant collections of historic railroad artifacts in the world, plus priceless art work, books, photographs and corporate railroad material. The museum's books and serials database lists nearly seven thousand entries. The listings range from rare early 19th Century treatises on early railroads to contemporary magazines and corporate histories of the 20th century. The range of library holdings includes rare books, books, folios, annual reports, and periodicals. Serials are listed by title; individual issues held are given in the Holdings field; articles are not cataloged. Technical publications and materials related to or published by railroads and companies operating in Pennsylvania are especially well represented, while other materials range from general public interest to foreign railroads. Titles cover historical, political, cultural, social, economic and technological subjects relating to the railroad industry.
The Archives, Ephemera and Individual Collections, Pictorials database includes a wide array of materials, including postcards, annual passes, public and employee timetables, promotional brochures, blotters, forms, charters and diagrams, rule books, operating and mechanical manuals, menus, and tickets. Ephemera items such as these materials were created by the railroads for short-term use. This also now includes over 7,000 Baldwin Locomotive Works photo specification cards issued by the company at their Philadelphia and Eddystone plants from 1880 until about 1940. Also known as "photo pasters," the cards include a builder's photograph of finished locomotives on the front side and a summary of mechanical specifications on the reverse side. Also included are pictorial collections including film negatives, glass plate negatives, and photographs of various types (silver gelatine prints, cyanotypes, and woodburytypes). These range from rare original prints to copy photographs. Included are roster views of steam, diesel, electric locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars, employees, structures, wrecks, right-of-way views and various other subjects of various North American, Foreign and Pennsylvania-based common carriers. Major emphasis is on railroads operating in Pennsylvania, equipment built here; also views of logging, mining, industrial and short line railroads. Other images represent official railroad portraits and builder's images, as well as period images captured on film by railroad historians and enthusiasts deemed of historic value. The general collection negatives total over 43,000 entries. The Broadbelt Baldwin collection totals about 18,500 images. The Budd Company collection is about 13,000 images. The Kline Collection includes 4,555 negatives.
Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg
The Pennsylvania State Archives holds thousands of cubic feet of records relating to the railroad industry. These include Manuscript Groups and Record Groups devoted to particular transportation companies such as the Gettysburg Railroad, Columbia & Philadelphia Railroad, Allegheny Portage Railroad, Bear Creek Railroad, Pennsylvania Petroleum Railroad Company, the Pennsylvania Railroad and others; manufacturing companies including the Baldwin Locomotive Works, William Sellers & Co., and Pullman Standard Manufacturing Company of Butler. As well as state government agency documents relating to railroad regulation which include Records of the Public Utility Commission, Records of the Department of Commerce, and Records of the Department of Transportation.
PA State Archives Railroad Records page has links for detailed information on specific records
Other collections that might have information include:
- Records of the Department of the Auditor General (RG 2)
- Records of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (RG 33)
- Records of the Department of Environmental Resources (RG 43)
Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company Five Dollar Certificate. Courtesy of the PA State Archives, Harrisburg; MG 311, Lehigh Navigation & Coal Company History; E4310 |
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
The railroad valuation records of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) at U.S. National Archives and Records Administration provide information regarding railroads in the United States from their conception to the 1960s. "Most valuation records were created between 1915 and 1920 by the ICC and railroad engineers who undertook a massive project to inventory almost every aspect of the U. S. railroad system for the purpose of determining a net worth for each railroad. This value was then used to calculate passenger and freight rates."
View the listing of "Records of the Interstate Commerce Commission."
See David A. Pfeiffer's "Riding the Rails Up Paper Mountain - Researching Railroad Records in the National Archives."
Maps
- Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network
- Historical Maps of Pennsylvania
- Lehigh Valley Railroad Route of the Black Diamond
- Modelski, Andrew W. Railroad Maps of the United States: A Selective Annotated Bibliography of Original 19th-Century Maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. Washington: Library of Congress, 1975.
- Nichols, Beach. Atlas of York Co. Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Pomeroy, Whitman & Co., 1876.
- PennDOT (Historic Transportation and County Maps; Railroad Map)
- Penn Pilot (Historic Aerial Photographs of Pennsylvania)
- Railroad Maps 1828-1900 (Library of Congress, American Memory website)
- Rand McNally Atlas. Railroad Map of Pennsylvania, 1895. (courtesy of trainweb.com)
Intercity Rail Passenger Routes (Amtrak) map from 1974. Courtesy of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration ARC Identifier 556704 |