Librarian
Donald W. Hamer Center for Maps and Geospatial Information
In the Libraries
- The Gilded Age and Progressive Era This link opens in a new windowIncludes the Pennsylvania Railroad Company records, 1813-1968 and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company records.
- Bellefonte Central Railroad Records, 1875-1987Images of tracks, stations, rolling equipment, accidents, floods, buildings, bridges, and some individuals.
- Finding aid: Bellefonte Central Railroad RecordsCorporate archives of the Bellefonte Central Railroad.
- Rails to Penn State: the story of the Bellefonte CentralBuffalo Run, Bellefonte and Bald Eagle Railroad, Bellefonte Central, and more.
- Rails to Penn State: The Bellefonte Central Railroad in Historical PerspectiveThe Bellefonte Central Railroad played a decisive role in both the economic development of the Centre County region and the rise of The Pennsylvania State.
- Bezilla and Rudnicki presentation of Rails to Penn State, 2007Video presentation tells the history of the Bellefonte Central Railroad in Centre County.
- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company: Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Division Records, circa 1920-1977The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquired the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad in 1932 and merged with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1971. Files include management-labor committee case files and dispatch sheets. It does not include general management files.
- Finding aid: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Division recordsIncludes management-labor committee case files, accident reports, personnel files, and dispatch sheets.
- Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central Railroad Records, 1830-1975Correspondence, reports, financial records, and technical information primarily from northern and western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. A guide listing its many subsidiaries is available in the Penn State Special Collections Library.
- Penn Central Railroad Reorganization Proceedings, 1970-1982Court documents submitted in the Penn Central Railroad reorganization case.
- Finding aid: Penn Central Railroad Reorganization ProceedingsCollection consists of court documents submitted in the Penn Central Railroad reorganization case.
- George H. McIntire railroad journals, 1861-1908Thirty-eight of his journals written while McIntire was the first superintendent of the Franklin Division Railroad during the Pennsylvania oil boom.
- Finding aid: Michael Bezilla Collection on Central Pennsylvania Railroad and Mining HistoryPhotographic prints, slides (with digital copies), and digital audio recordings of central Pennsylvania railroad locomotives and trains (1951-2010), and mining equipment (1968-1988), as well as CB Junction trainsheets (1976-1977).
- Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company LettersEighty-four letters concerning finances, legal matters, and land use related to railroading, coal mining, and related industries.
- Finding aid: Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company LettersLetters for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company concerning finances, legal matters, and land use related to railroading, coal mining, and related industries.
- Order of Railway Conductors Local 160 records, 1884-1927Union meeting minutes and membership lists for the Wyoming Valley-Wilkes-Barre region.
- Finding aid: Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company LettersLocal 160 minutes, 1884-1922; financial records, 1884-1927; applications for membership; general correspondence, circulars, and reports between Local 160, other locals, and the international office, Order of Railway Conductors of America.
- The Pennsy railroad shops history 1895: a collection of newspaper articles that appeared in the Altoona morning tribune, December 13, 1894-March 8, 1895Copied from original newspapers clippings.
- Railroad city: four historic neighborhoods in Altoona, PennsylvaniaBased on the Historic American Building Survey and its focus is on the different neighborhoods of Altoona. Chapter 2 covers the railroad.
- John P. Herrick Oil History Collection, 1791-1957Research materials relating to oil and gas production, refining, pipelines, transportation, and biographies of individuals involved in the oil business primarily in New York and Pennsylvania. It includes information on some of the early railroads.
- Finding aid: John P. Herrick Oil History CollectionMaterials relating to oil and gas production, refining, pipelines, transportation, and biographies of individuals involved in the oil business primarily in New York and Pennsylvania.
Thomas T. Taber III Publications
Thomas T. Taber III, a retired industrial engineer with a lifelong interest in railroading, in particular, the history of the railroad, logging, and coal industries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.
The Penn State Libraries have many of Taber's publications, including:
- The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the nineteenth century, 1828-1899 : the Road of AnthraciteIncludes the history of the formation and development of the D.L. & W. "family" of railroads, and their locomotives, which, in the following century became one of our most admired and beloved railroads.
- The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the twentieth century, 1899-1960Information includes the route of Phoebe Snow: the history and operation of the Lackawanna Railroad and the road of anthracite: the equipment and marine operation of the Lackawanna Railroad.
- Sunset along Susquehanna waters : Williamsport, Glen Union, Gleasonton, Cammal, Slate Run, LeetoniaLogging railroad era of lumbering in Pennsylvania.
- Logging railroad era of lumbering in Pennsylvania : a history of the lumber, chemical wood, and tanning companies which used railroads in PennsylvaniaTimber, wild catting, sawmills, tanning, and more.
- Morristown and Erie Railroad : people, paper and profitsIllustrations and maps.
- Williamsport -- lumber capitalWilliamsport was the lumber capital of the late 19th century.
- The Goodyears : an empire in the hemlocksLogging railroad era of lumbering in Pennsylvania.
- Ghost lumber towns of central Pennsylvania : Laquin, Masten, Ricketts, Grays RunA comprehensive history of ghost lumber towns of Central Pennsylvania, particularly in Laquin, Masten, Ricketts, and Grays Run. Contains many black and white photos and maps.
Other Resources
- Anthracite Railroads Historical Society Digital ArchiveAn online gallery featuring a variety of images from the anthracite railroads of eastern Pennsylvania.
- Anthracite Railroad Record Collections at the Pennsylvania State ArchivesThe Pennsylvania State Archives has extensive holdings on the anthracite railroads of eastern Pennsylvania, but they reside in various distinct collections". This site lists the various collections and their holdings.
- Mine Railroad information: the Annual Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Part 4Includes listings of railroads, passengers, and tonnage hauled, as well a gauge information. The reports were published between 1875 and 1917.