Erie Railroad Photo Album
Scope and Contents
Album contains small black and white photographs of mid-Twentieth Century railroad related images, specifically the Erie Railroad. The Erie Railroad system served the Northeastern United States connecting New York City on the Hudson River to Lake Erie. The collection contains images of the 1943 floods on the Delaware River and other tributaries. The images included in the album are 131 black and white photographs, only three have captions (Painted Post [N.Y.], Great Bend, PA). The contents of the photographic images are of railroad employees and railway structures.
Dates
- Creation: 1943
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1930 - 1950
Conditions Governing Access
Collection housed remotely. Users need to contact 24 hours in advance.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical
The Erie Railroad was chartered in 1832 as the New York and Erie Railroad and existed under that name until 1861. The construction of the route was finished in 1851, connecting the Hudson River to Lake Erie. By 1868 a connection was made to include the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge and then extended as far as Chicago. The Erie Railroad had financial difficulties and went bankrupt four times over the course of 1895-1960. In subsequent bankruptcy reorganizations, it became known as the Erie Railroad. Around 1890 the Erie Railroad extended into the Wyoming Valley connecting Carbondale and Moosic, Pennsylvania as the Delaware and Hudson Railroad branch of the Erie Railroad. The Railroad was plagued with several major floods including the one in May 1943 believed pictured in the album.
Extent
1 volume (One album measuring 14.5 x 21.5 x 4cm) : Has black textured covers, gilt PHOTOGRAPHS on front cover, fastened by eyelets and cord containing 64 pages with 131 black and white photos
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Album contains small black and white photographs of mid-Twentieth Century railroad related images, specifically the Erie Railroad. The Erie Railroad system served the Northeastern United States connecting New York City on the Hudson River to Lake Erie. The collection contains images of the 1943 floods on the Delaware River and other tributaries.
Arrangement
The arrangement begins with two photographs glued to the inside front cover continuing through 64 pages with two photographs attached to each side ending with a single photograph glued to the inside of the rear cover - a total of 131 photographs.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The photograph album was purchased from Walnut Street Paper, Collectible Books & Ephemera, Kutztown, Pa.
Legal Status
Please inquire about copyright information.
Genre / Form
Geographic
- Delaware River
- Delaware Water Gap
- Erie Canal (N.Y.)
- Erie, Lake
- Great Bend, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
- Hawley, Pennsylvania
- Hudson River, New York
- Lackawanna River (Pa.)
- Lackawaxen River (Pa.)
- Narrowsburg (N.Y.)
- Painted Post, Steuben County, New York
- Susquehanna River.
Topical
- Delaware and Hudson Canal Company
- Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company
- Erie Railroad Company
- Erie Railroad Company
- Floods
- New York and Lake Erie Railroad
- Railroads
- Railroads – Middle Atlantic States – History.
- Railroads – United States – History
- Railroads--New York (State)
- Railroads--Pennsylvania
- Railroads--United States
- Author
- Eleanor Nothelfer
- Date
- 2022-06-14
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2026-03-17: Revised and finalized by Lila Goldenberg
Repository Details
Part of the Lehigh University Special Collections Repository
Lehigh University
Linderman Library
30 Library Drive
Bethlehem PA 18045 USA
610-758-4506
610-758-6091 (Fax)
inspc@lehigh.edu