Organization: Penn State University
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 15:02:33 EST
From: <GRW104@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: List - Conrail road's archives

     Late last year I inquired over this newsgroup regarding
the location of the company archives and records of Conrail
predecessor railroads (PRR/NYC/PC,EL/Erie/DL&W, CNJ, RDG,
L&HR, LV, etc.)  A number of persons have responded to my
inquiry, including an archivist who redistributed the
inquiry on an archivists' list.  What follows is a condensed
version of the various replies I received.   I cannot, of
course, guarantee the accuracy of this information; it is
passed on essentially as I received it.

     Many thanks to all contributors!

    Comments in quotes are directly as I received them,
except that some typographical errors have been corrected.
Also, I have deleted all names of specific individuals, to
avoid undesired personal intrusions.  Names of institutions
and organizations have been left intact.  But please note:
some of the organizations listed are volunteer groups, which
have little or no ability to provide archival services.
Please be thoughtful before simply innundating people with
requests; if you really need the services of the
organization, join the organization!

     Further additions/corrections will be appreciated.
I'll add them to this listing, and repost it in the future.


Reading Company

"The Hagley Museum (Delaware) has some Reading material."

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Anthracite
Railroads Historical Society divided among themselves a
collection of Reading railroad material collected by a
private individual.


Lehigh Valley

"The LV story was quite sad. The LV had their records stored
in the old car shops building in Lehighton (Packerton Jct.)
for some time. Just after Conrail took over they sent a
couple of clerks and a bulldozer to Lehighton to clean
house. A member of the Anthracite Railroads Historical
Society from the area got wind of the coming demise and
witnessed the event. He tells of watching the bulldozer
digging an trench alonside the building. The two clerks
began tossing the papers out the windows into the trench.
The bulldozer ran back and forth to grind up the papers
befor covering up the pulp. Needless to say the witness did
not just stand around and watch. He climed down into the
trench and grabbed what he could trying not to get in the
bulldozer's way. What he got were some great photos clipped
to insurance claim forms. As I understand it the Hagley
people were given only a few hours to run through the
building and grab what they could."


Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
"The DL&W papers are at the Syracuse University Library in
much better shape."

"Special Collections at Syracuse University Library has
several railroad collections. They are uneven & vary hugely
in size.  The big ones are:  DL&W, Erie, EL, & New York
Central.  I don't have all the details at hand but I know
some of the records (especially NY Central) go back to mid-
19th century."


Central Railroad of New Jersey

"I did hear once about a box car the CNJ had full of
records, but it disappeared at some point.  There is an
Anthracite Railroads Historical Society  member who was
close to the CNJ with a large amount of CNJ papers."


Penn Central and predecessors

"The PennCentral records were distributed among eight or
nine institutions, including Hagley Library, Univ. of
Michigan, Harvard's Baker Library, and others, as part of a
major grant project several years ago."

"In the mid-sixties, NHPRC awarded a grant to allow 6 or 7
institutions conduct an appraisal study of the records of
the Penn Central Transportation Co.  The institutions were:
the Hagley, PA Historical and Museum Commission, the NJ
State Archives, Penn State, Temple, and the Bentley
Historical Library at the University of Michigan.  Also
involved I think was Cornell's Labor-Management
Documentation Center.  As a result of the appraisal project
several of the institutions accessioned records of various
companies merged together under PCTC.  The Bentley received
272 linear feet and 143 oversize vol. of records dating from
1835-1981.  This included all companies that were once
subsidiaries of the Grand Rapids and Indiana RR, a subsystem
of Pennsylvania RR.  The Bentley also received records from
subsidiaries or components of New York Central RR including
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern RR, Michigan Central RR and
their subsidiaries.  Also accessioned were records of the
Ann Arbor RR and the Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton RR."

New York, New Haven & Hartford

"The University of Connecticut has the major share of
archival records from the New York, New Haven & Hartford
Railroad -- and over 300 predecessor and subsidiary
companies.  There is a limited quantity of copies of the
finding aid for this 2,500 linear ft. collection available
for $19.50 (includes postage & handling). To order send a
check for $19.50, payable to "University of Connecticut" to
this address:  Archives, Box U-205, University of
Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-4205.   <This information is
provided as a public service; not as a commercial
advertisement!>"

New York Central

"Western Reserve Historical has the business records of the
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, which ended up being the
main line for Conrail along Lake Erie.  I believe it was the
NYC line also. The collection has been microfilmed.  I'd
have to check for the roll count, but it is fairly large."

"Special Collections at Syracuse University Library has
several railroad collections. They are uneven & vary hugely
in size.  The big ones are: DL&W, Erie, EL, & New York
Central.  I don't have all the details at hand but I know
some of the records (especially NY Central) go back to mid-
19th century."

"When Conrail moved out of Michigan Central Depot in
Detroit, many of the records for the Michigan Central and
New York Central in the reigon went in the dumpster.  But
many did not.  A member of the Southern Michigan Railroad
Society was able to save a "small" amount of the material --
only two boxcars and a bull-Quonset hut full of valuation
section books, maps, old tickets, et.al."


Pennsylvania

"Pennsylvania Railroad material was divided between several
different repositories - including the Hagley Museum,
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, the
Pennsylvania Historical and Musuem Commission.  I think
Temple University got some of it, and the midwest and
western route records were deposited in repositories in the
Midwest."

"The Middle Division National Railway Historical Society
chapter in Lewistown, PA, has records from the former PRR.
They are planning to set up a library/archive in the old PRR
station at Lewistown. I'm told that their collection
includes the track diagrams and  scematic drawings of all
interlockings and juntions and so forth on the old PRR
system. I'm not sure whether these records are not available
to the public yet."

Pennsylvania State University library (University Park, PA),
has some PRR middle division records.


Gary Weaver
Management & Organization Dept.
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA  16802


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