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Documents Related to the Pennsylvania Railroad

 Collection
Identifier: SC MS 0232

Scope and Contents

The collection contains, one photograph of a Port Deposit, MD ice gorge dated 1910, one PRR day trip promotional flyer, two railroad maps, two souvenir programs from international railroad conference in Pittsburgh, three blue prints of railroad structures, three Santa Fe note sheets with date notations for 1834-35, four pamphlets of Pennsylvania Railroad specifications, six booklets related to various railroad engineering, seven tally sheets of PRR employees, 28 newspaper or magazine articles about railroading.

Place Names: Allegheny Mountains Altoona, Pennsylvania Blairsville, Pennsylvania Cape May, N. J. Farmstead by the Sea, New Jersey Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania Johnstown, Pennsylvania Little Wapwallopen Creek, Pennsylvania Port Deposit, Maryland Sunbury, Pennsylvania Susquehanna River

Personal Names: Auten, J. C., d.1923 Auten, John Hawkins Barry, A. L. Brown, William H. Casanave, F. D. Cassatt, Alexander Johnston, 1839-1906 Graves, N. Z. Harriman, Edward Henry, 1848-1909 Lincoln, H. P., 1858- Pratt, William A. Snyder, Antes Wilson, Joseph M.

Corporate Names: New Portage Railroad Norfolk & Western Railroad Northern Central Railroad Old Portage Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad West Jersey and Seashore Railroad

Dates

  • Creation: 1834 - 1985

Conditions Governing Access

Collection housed remotely. Users need to contact 24 hours in advance.

Conditions Governing Use

Collection is open for research.

Please inquire about copyright information.

Biographical / Historical

It is difficult to discern who made this collection of railroad ephemera. The names of employees of the Pennsylvania Railroad, J. C. Auten, J. H? Auten and H. P. Lincoln, are attached to some of the items. According to the Pennsylvania Railroad employee lists, H. P. Lincoln was born in March 1858, employed by PRR in 1880, appointed Assistant Supervisor 1887, Supervisor1889, Assistant Engineer 1891, Superintendent 1900 in Sunbury. In 1896 H. P. Lincoln is listed as Assistant Engineer on the blueprints of Bridge 218 over Little Wapwallopen Creek in connection with the P & E RR (Philadelphia and Erie Railroad) and the N & W Br RR (Norfolk and Western Branch Railroad Sunbury Division). He also was Principal Assistant Engineer on the B & A (Baltimore & Aberdeen) Division of the PRR and for a time resided in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. J. C. Auten began employment with PRR in 1887, became a Supervisor in 1894, Assistant Engineer in 1902 and died in 1923 (The Pennsylvania News, November 1, 1923, p. 6). He is listed among the material in this collection as being principle assistant engineer of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company out of Wilmington, as well as a Division Supervisor on the Northern Central Railroad, Division 1 stationed in Baltimore and in 1917 was involved with the building of the railroad sidings into the U. S. proving grounds at Edgewood, Maryland (now named the Aberdeen Proving Grounds). In the 1900 and 1920 Federal Census, Auten resided in Baltimore. There is also a J. H? Auten (possibly John Hawkins BSCE ’30 who also resided in Maryland) listed as Inspector on two blueprints for the Pennsylvania Railroad Electrified Territory. Possibly it was John Hawkins Auten (Lehigh BSCE 1930) who assembled the material dated from the 1930s to 1985 and incorporated it into this collection. The Pennsylvania Railroad was founded in 1846. It was referred to as the “Pennsy” with headquarters in Philadelphia. During its history PRR merged with or had an interest in over 800 railroads – some examples included in this material. In 1876 PRR led the nation in the development of research and testing procedures of practical value for the railroad industry. In 1910 PRR put electrified locomotives into service. In 1916 PRR adopts its motto “Standard Railroad of the World.” In 1968 PRR merged with New York Central to form the Penn Central Railroad.

Extent

1 box, .5 linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The collection displays an interesting view into various aspects of railroad engineering around the turn of the Twentieth Century through to the mid-century of the Pennsylvania Railroad. One of the most interesting items is a photograph of the 1910 ice gorge of the Susquehanna River at Port Deposit, Maryland with railroad men hand digging the railroad tracks out of 22 feet of ice. The various railroad interconnections and subdivisions are amply illustrated in the material presenting a picture of how large the Pennsylvania Railroad was at its peak.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Unknown

Physical Description

Notebooks Scrapbooks Photographs

Title
Documents Related to Pennsylvania Railroad
Status
Completed
Author
Eleanor Nothelfer
Date
2012-04-13
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
  • Alexander, Edwin P. 1967. The Pennsylvania Railroad, a pictorial history. New York: Bonanza Books.
  • Rau, William H. 2002. Traveling the Pennsylvania Railroad: the photographs of William H. Rau. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Wilson, William Bender. 1899. History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company: with plan of organization, portraits of officials and biographical sketches. Illustrated in two volumes. Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Co.

Repository Details

Part of the Lehigh University Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Lehigh University
Linderman Library
30 Library Drive
Bethlehem PA 18045 USA
610-758-4506
610-758-6091 (Fax)