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Summary List of Major U.S. RR Archival collections
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Author:  K.R. Bell [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 4:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Summary List of Major U.S. RR Archival collections

Thought I'd post this for the good of the order. If anybody has any additions or corrections, please post. Enjoy!

K.R. Bell
RR Museum of PA

PULLMAN DRAWINGS (most complete holdings, on loan from Bombadier Corp.) - Illinois Rwy Museum
PULLMAN DRAWINGS (only for equipment rebuilt by Pullman) - NEWBERRY LIBRARY
PULLMAN-STANDARD DRAWINGS, BUTLER, PA PLANT, 1942-1981 (MG-393) - PA State Archives
PULLMAN PHOTOS & NEGATIVES - NMAH & CSRM
PULLMAN, ARCHITECTURAL DWGS - Art Institute of Chicago, Burham Library
PULLMAN FAMILY COLL., COMPANY PHOTOS, EMPLOYEE RECORDS, MISC. RECORDS - Newberry Library
ALCO PHOTOS - Mohawk & Hudson Chapter NRHS
BLW, LETTERS OF MATTHIAS BALDWIN and SAMUEL MATTHEWS VAULCLAIN PAPERS - Historical Society of Penna.
J.G. BRILL NEGATIVES - Historical Society of Penna.
J.G. BRILL SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES PHOTOS (Kulhman, Wason, Canadian Brill, Danville Car Co.) - PENNSYLVANIA TROLLEY MUSEUM, Arden, Pa. (Coll. on loan from RR Museum of PA)
I.C.C. VALUATION RECORDS - National Archives at College Park
LIMA PHOTOS - Allen County Historical Society, Lima, OH
LIMA DRAWINGS - CSRM, George Kadeck, Hank Beck and Truson V. Buegel Enterprises
MASON MACHINE WORKS SPECIFICATIONS - Old Colony Historical Society, TAUNTON, MA
H.K. PORTER DRAWINGS & PHOTOS - NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Ottawa, ONt., Canada
H.K. PORTER NEGATIVES (Kentlein Coll.) - NATIONAL MODEL RR ASSOC., KALMBACH MEMORIAL LIBRARY, Chattanooga
WILLAMETTE RECORDS & PHOTOS – Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR
VULCAN IRON WORKS NEGATIVES - Hagley Museum & Library
VULCAN IRON WORKS DRAWINGS, SPECIFICATIONS, NEGATIVES, SALES ORDER RECORDS AND PHOTOS - RR Museum of PA
BLW NEGATIVES & SOME DRAWINGS - RR Museum of PA
BLW DRAWINGS & SOME RECORDS(post 1941) MG 427 - PA State Archives
BLW RECORDS (small coll.) - STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
BLW SPECIFICATIONS - DeGolyer Library, SMU
AC&F DRAWINGS & PHOTOS - Barriger Library & Museum of Transportation, St. Louis
BUDD Co. DRAWINGS & PHOTOS - BOMBARDIER CORP., CANADA (not open for research)- builder's photos at Bensalem, Pa. plant
BUDD CO. NEGATIVES, Lawrence Williams Co. - RR Museum of PA
BUDD CO. PHOTOS - Hagley Museum & Library
STANDARD STEEL CO. BUILDER'S PHOTOS (1902-1930), Butler, PA, Hammond, IN and Baltimore Car & Foundry works - Keith Retterer, 1442 East Bank Drive, Marietta, GA 30068
RDG CO. RECORDS - RRMPA, Hagley, Reading Company Technical & Historical Society (Hagley may have RDG CO. VRD Employee Records as well)
PRR RECORDS - RRMPA, Hagley, PA State Archives, Temple University Urban Archives, NY Public Library, NJ State Archives, Penn State, University of Michigan, Ohio Historical Society, Cincinnati Historical Society Library, Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum, PRRT&HS (Only PRR Voluntary Relief Dep't Employee Records at PA State Archives & Temple University Urban Archives)
HEISLER NEGATIVES - Lake Shore Rwy Historical Society, North East, Pa.
CLIMAX DRAWINGS (incomplete) - John L. Lewis, Estate of Walter Casler
HEISLER & CLIMAX BOILER ELEVATION DRAWINGS - Babcock Borsig Power, Erie, Pa.
U.S. RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD, railroad employee records for post-1936 employees - USRRTB, Chicago, Ill.
BROTHERHOOD OF LOCO ENGINEERS RECORDS - Cornell University Library

Author:  jimwrinn [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 4:35 pm ]
Post subject:  ICC Valuation Records.. other locations?

Kurt, You sure do earn your money, pal! Good job... just one question.. somewhere I ran into a source recently that listed ICC valuation records at a number of spots (including Duke, Clemson, and UT/Knoxville here in the Southeast)... are those no longer in use?

http://nctrans.org
Wrinnbo@aol.com

Author:  K.R. Bell [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 4:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ICC Valuation Records.. other locations?

Thanks, Jim! I suspect those "I.C.C. records" at other repositories could be the published I.C.C. Reports (in bound form) from the ICC Valuation surveys from the World War I era. We have two such sets in the RRMPA Library for reference use. If anybody knows otherwise, speak now or forever hold your peace!
K.R. Bell

> Kurt, You sure do earn your money, pal! Good
> job... just one question.. somewhere I ran
> into a source recently that listed ICC
> valuation records at a number of spots
> (including Duke, Clemson, and UT/Knoxville
> here in the Southeast)... are those no
> longer in use?

Author:  David M. Wilkins [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 4:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Addition

Louisville and Nashville Railroad Records, University of Louisville Archives and Records Center. The collection runs the gammut from board minute books to some executive correspondence, to some law department documents, to public relations papers.

david.wilkins@bardstown.com

Author:  Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 5:00 pm ]
Post subject:  This NEEDS to be in RyPN FAQ!!!!!! *NM*

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

Author:  Fred Ash [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 8:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ICC Valuation Records.. other locations?

> I suspect those "I.C.C.
> records" at other repositories could be
> the published I.C.C. Reports (in bound form)
> If anybody knows otherwise, speak now or
> forever hold your peace! K.R. Bell

Railroads always documented everything in duplicate or triplicate. The ICC was no exception and this was certainly the case with the Engineering Field Reports, the most valuable of the ICC records. One copy was held at the ICC in Washington and it is this copy now at College Park. The railroads didn’t trust the government and thus kept their own copies – boxes and boxes of detail about every structure on their system. If nothing else, it is the single best historic techinical documentation of American outhouses. These files survived on many railroads long after any usefulness had passed. For example the Illinois Central Historical Society has it’s namesake railroad’s file at its Paxton, Illinois museum. ICHS also has the corporate photo collection and many other treasures. Company copies of ICC Valuations for other lines (C&NW) seem to have vanished.

The corporate archives of the Illinois Central and the Chicago Burlington and Quincy are located at the Newberry Library. The Milwaukee Road archives is located in the Special Collections of the Milwaukee Public Library. Voluminous bankruptcy records exist in Regional federal archives. Does anyone know if the USRA records are extant?

Also, IMHO, anyone who tries to do an adequate job researching railroad history without first consulting Tom TaborÂ’s bibliography is doing things the hard way.



fred_ash@bankone.com

Author:  Rob [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 9:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Another Addition

Records of the Montreal Locomotive Works are owned by the Canadian Railroad Historical Association and are stored at the Canadian Railway Museum in Delson, Quebec...just south of Montreal.

Author:  Rob [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Does anyone know...?

Do the archives of the Davenport Locomotive Work exist somewhere?

Author:  K.R. Bell [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Thomas Townsend Taber III

Fred,
Funny you mention Taber--the original reason I wrote this list up--this past week--was for Tom Taber's new addenda to his Railroad Historical Resources set, updating all missing, incorrect or new info on railroad archival collections since it was first published in 1993. He plans to publish the addenda soon as a 50 pg. pamphlet. He can be contacted directly at thomtaber@chilitech.com (don't worry--at age 75 he still enjoys receiving research queries and doesn't mind having his email address posted). He usually sends me 2-3 email letters per week. He's very knowlegeable on railroad history and where to find answers to probing questions. I'm the caretaker of part of his research collection and his father's massive DL&W and general railroad collection that was amassed from 1912 until 1975; so I've grown to "know" the Tabers through the rich materials that they collected for many years, now at Strasburg.
K.R. Bell

> Railroads always documented everything in
> duplicate or triplicate. The ICC was no
> exception and this was certainly the case
> with the Engineering Field Reports, the most
> valuable of the ICC records. One copy was
> held at the ICC in Washington and it is this
> copy now at College Park. The railroads
> didnÂ’t trust the government and thus kept
> their own copies – boxes and boxes of detail
> about every structure on their system. If
> nothing else, it is the single best historic
> techinical documentation of American
> outhouses. These files survived on many
> railroads long after any usefulness had
> passed. For example the Illinois Central
> Historical Society has itÂ’s namesake
> railroadÂ’s file at its Paxton, Illinois
> museum. ICHS also has the corporate photo
> collection and many other treasures. Company
> copies of ICC Valuations for other lines
> (C&NW) seem to have vanished.

> The corporate archives of the Illinois
> Central and the Chicago Burlington and
> Quincy are located at the Newberry Library.
> The Milwaukee Road archives is located in
> the Special Collections of the Milwaukee
> Public Library. Voluminous bankruptcy
> records exist in Regional federal archives.
> Does anyone know if the USRA records are
> extant?

> Also, IMHO, anyone who tries to do an
> adequate job researching railroad history
> without first consulting Tom TaborÂ’s
> bibliography is doing things the hard way.

Author:  Bob Yarger [ Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Davenport records

I have heard that these went to Kingston, Ontario, when Davenport-Beseler became part of Canadian Locomotive Company. Don't know if it's true or not. There is a steam museum in Kingston, centered around a large stationary pumping engine; those folks might know something.

> Do the archives of the Davenport Locomotive
> Work exist somewhere?


ryarger@rypn.org

Author:  Ron Goldfeder [ Sat Mar 27, 2004 12:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: General Steel Castings Photos, Etc.

The Museum of Transportation in St. Louis also has the photo files from GSC/Commenwealth. We just had donated the files of James Cunningham, who was calculating engineer for Lima in the late 30s, later Chief Engineer at Canadian Locomotive Co, last at GSC. And last we have material from the Steam Locomotive Research Institute, if I have the name right.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

Author:  Bob Kutella [ Sat Mar 27, 2004 5:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: More Additions

> Thought I'd post this for the good of the
> order. If anybody has any additions or
> corrections, please post. Enjoy!

The IRM Pullman Collection includes data and drawings from many of the Pullman Company predecessors - I believe Ted Anderson, curator, reads this board so I will let him detail some of those components.

The IRM Strahorn Library, a separate collection, has thousands of images from the Ohio Brass Archives, and they show many, many rail subjects in operating poses using Ohio Brass overhead components. Indexing is well along on this topic.

The Schenectady Museum in Schenectady NY has the very large General Electric photo collection, and again, this has many historic rail images of interest and value.

And the Canada National Archives in Ottawa, ONT includes the Merrilee Collection which is not limited to Canadian only subjects and has many stunning views and builders photos of freight cars, to cite only one example.

I do not know how the collections saved by the various Historical Societies might fit this listing but significant amounts of corparate records and photos have been preserved from major and minor fallen flags inculding, but certainly not limited to such properties as the Great Northern, Illinois Terminal, and Chicago & North Western. These typically are not as accessable, but I have had some positive replies for serious research requests.

Bob Kutella

68trolley@comcast.net

Author:  Ted Anderson [ Sat Mar 27, 2004 9:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: More Additions

> The IRM Pullman Collection includes data and
> drawings from many of the Pullman Company
> predecessors - I believe Ted Anderson,
> curator, reads this board so I will let him
> detail some of those components.

> Bob Kutella

In addition to Pullman Car Works (PCW) passenger equipment specifications and drawing lists from 1903 to 1950, drawings from 1890 to 1950, we have:
1) drawing lists from 1910 for Osgood Bradley trolley, trolley coach and passenger equipment allowing us to locate the drawings (no PCC's);
2)Unindexed drawings for:
Standard Motor Truck (for trolleys, etc.), Standard Steel Car (Butler & Pittsburg), Middletown Car, Haskell and Barker - Michigan City, PCW - Hammond, and PCW- Chicago (freight cars).
The current activity is to collate into a database the passenger wood car drawings which were renumbered into a dual system around 1910, for the benefit of wood car restorers out there!

There are more records in the Andresen Research Center building but this should suffice for now.

Ted Anderson, IRM volunteer and IRM Pullman Library curator

tedander@core.com

Author:  Bob Yarger [ Sat Mar 27, 2004 9:25 am ]
Post subject:  Rock Island

The University of Wyoming at Laramie is said to have acquired many of the Rock Island's records when that line was dissolved, but I do not know anyone who has gone there to research them. I suspect they are stored and uncataloged.

ryarger@rypn.org

Author:  Dr. Andy J. Mulhollen [ Sat Mar 27, 2004 1:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Summary List of Major U.S. RR Archival collect

> Kurt, We have a bunch of records from a shortline outside of Pittsburgh. There were donated to the museum several years ago, I am not sure what all is there, and I can't think of the name off the top of my head. If you are interested in including these records in the Taber book, contact me off line and I will do a little homework and get you as much info as I can "for the good of the order."

Andy

Dr. Andy J. Mulhollen
President
Railroaders Heritage Corporation
Railroaders Memorial Musuem
Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark

prrdoc1@aol.com

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