Genealogists frequently contact us for railroad personnel information. While such information is found in corporate records, the Museum does not have information about who worked for a particular railroad or when.We do not have ex-railroad employee records in our archival collections. Here are some suggestions for pursuing your research:

For employees of the anthracite railroads of eastern Pennsylvania -- the Central Railroad of New Jersey, the Reading Company, Lehigh Valley, Erie Lackawanna, Pennsylvania Railroad -- the best information we have indicates that Conrail “inherited” most of the personnel records from these roads and that the records are stored in a secured facility. It is not uncommon for such businesses to seal such records for 50 to 75 years following an employee’s departure as a measure to avoid litigation should personal/personnel information fall into the wrong hands. This practice is protected under the Privacy of Information Act.
Two sources of Pennsylvania Railroad employee information as collected by the PRR Voluntary Employee Relief Department may be found in public archives. This organization represented the families of ill and injured PRR employees as a fund to disburse cash as payment for suffering:

Temple University Urban Archives
Paley Library
13th and Berks Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19128

Pennsylvania State Archives
350 North Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0090
Western railroad employees:
Calfornia State Railroad Museum
111 “I” Street
Sacramento, CA 98514
For information on post-1936 railroad workers covered under the Railroad Retirement Act: U.S. Railroad Retirement Board:
Office of Public Affairs
844 North Rush Street
Chicago, IL 60611-2092
(fee charged; employee social security number required; incomplete holdings)
Other Research Resources:
Biographical Dictionary of Railway Officials in America
(Published irregularly from 1885-1922; featured
biographies of upper-level railroad management.)
Who’s Who in Railroading and Rail Transit
(Published irregularly from 1930-1985;
featured biographies of upper-level railroad
management.)
Pocket List of Railway Officials (1895-present;
lists names and titles of middle and upper-level
railroad management.)
Maps, records, deeds, seniority rosters, journals,
ledgers, watch files, dispatcher’s sheets, railroad
passenger lists, telegraph records, general
corporate histories, photographs et al;
1910 Census – National Archives, College Park, MD;
The Family History Library, Church of Latter Day
Saints, Salt Lake City, UT;
Local church records;
Local cemetery records;
Local newspapers and obituaries;
Suggested reading:
Elliott, Wendy, “Railroad Records for Genealogical
Research,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly
75 (December 1987): 271-277.
Hansen, Holly T. “Railroad Records,” Family
Chronicle 5:2 (November/December 2000): 23-27.