Interstate Commerce Commission Locomotive Inspection Reports
name: label: Creator
content: Interstate Commerce Commission
label: Creator
content: Yungmeyer, Martha
label: Former owner
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.).  Division of Transportation
topic: label: Topic
content: Transportation
label: Topic
content: Railroads
label: Topic
content: Locomotives
label: Topic
content: Accidents
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Smithsonian in [1971?] by Martha Yungmeyer, the daughter of D.W. Yungmeyer, who had been an inspector for the ICC.
creator: label: Creator
content: Interstate Commerce Commission
label: Creator
content: Yungmeyer, Martha
setName: label: See more items in
content: Interstate Commerce Commission Locomotive Inspection Reports
abstract: label: Summary
content: Records compiled by the Bureau of Rail Safety of the Federal Railroad Administration. Data include names of locomotive builders and railroads operating them.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), a former independent agency of the U.S. Government, was established in 1887 and charged with regulating the economics and services of specified carriers engaged in transportation between states.  Surface transportation under the ICC's jurisdiction included railroads, trucking companies, bus lines, freight forwarders, water carriers, oil pipelines, transportation brokers and express agencies.

The first regulatory commission in US history, the ICC was established as a result of mounting public indignation against railroad malpractices and abuses.  The ICC's effectiveness was at first limited by the failure of Congress to give it enforcement power, by the Supreme Court's interpretation of its powers and by the vague language of its enabling act.  However, beginning with the Hepburn Act (1906), the ICC's jurisdiction was gradually extended beyond railroads to all common carriers except aircraft by 1940.   Its enforcement powers to set rates were also progressively extended, through statute and broadened Supreme Court interpretations of the commerce clause of the Constitution, as were its investigative authority for determining fair rates of return on which to base rates.  In addition, the ICC was given the task of consolidating railroad systems and managing labor disputes in interstate transport.  In the 1950s and 1960s the ICC enforced Supreme Court rulings that required the desegregation of passenger terminal facilities.  

Beginning in the 1960s the ICC's functions were progressively reduced as government control of surface transportation was deregulated.  The agency was terminated at the end of 1995 and many of its remaining functions were transferred to the new National Surface Transportation Board.

Source

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8 Cubic feet (24 boxes
)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1931-1964
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center on October 20, 1986  by John H. White, curator of land transportation (Division of Work and Industry).
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0241
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Records
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Divided into 4 series

Series 1: Steam Locomotive Boiler Records

Series 2: Electrics, Diesels, Rail Car Records

Series 3: Record Books

Series 4: Photoprints
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Don Darroch and Robert Harding, 1986
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Records
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection is arranged into four series: Series 1: STEAM LOCOMOTIVES BOILER RECORDS, Series 2: ELECTRICS, DIESELS, RAIL CAR RECORDS, Series 3: RECORD BOOKS, & Series 4: PHOTOPRINTS and consists of records and photographs of the ICC for the years 1931-1964.  Most of the photographs are of accidents or failures of equipment.  The photographs are dated and railroads identified.  Accident times and circumstances are noted.  The records were compiled by the Bureau of Rail Safety of the Federal Railroad Administration.  Data include names of locomotive builders as well as of railroads operating them.