LibGuides: Topic: Railroad Collections in UConn Archives & Special Collections: Archival Manuscript Collections

Archival Collections

Archival collections generally refers to those unpublished manuscript materials available in Archives and Special Collections. For information on making requests for archival materials please see our Requesting Materials page.

Archival Collections on Railroad History

The railroad history collecting area consists of papers, records and collections of a variety of archival materials related to southern New England’s railroad heritage, dating from the 1830s and the birth of railroad transportation in the United States to the 1980s. The materials are particularly strong in representing the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, better known as the New Haven Railroad, which was the predominant railroad in the region from 1872 to 1969. Coverage is strong for the New Haven Railroad’s predecessor lines, particularly the Central New England Railway, the New York & New England Railroad, and the Old Colony Railroad.

View all Collections on Railroad History

Cos Cob Power Plant Records
The records consist of blueprints and wiring diagrams for the electrical systems of the electrified railroad zone of Woodlawn, New York, to Cedar Hill in New Haven, Connecticut, that provided power to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, generated by the Cos Cob Power Plant. The records also include architectural drawings, foremen's log books, records of coal received, and administrative correspondence concerning the power plant and the Mianus River Dam.
Fred Otto Makowsky Papers
Over 4000 images of New Haven Railroad and other American steam and electric locomotives, multiple unit cars, and trolleys, and scenes of Stamford, Connecticut.
Harry F. Brown Papers
Photographic images on glass plate negatives, photographic prints, flexible negatives, 35mm film, and 35mm mounted slides. The majority of the images were taken between 1908 and 1933, with a few from 1959 and 1964. Most of the images contain railroad electrification equipment, and specifically anchor bridges and catenary along the shoreline route of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association Collection, 1998-0177
Administrative, financial and operations documents related to the New Haven Railroad.
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Electrification Collection, 2002-0016
The collection consists of prints and literature associated with electrification of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad line from New York City to New Haven, Connecticut.
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Records, 1991-0009
This collection of New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad records contains central administrative and financial records of the New Haven Railroad and approximately 300 predecessor and subsidiary companies. The records are dated from 1831 to 1980, with the bulk of material dated 1935 to 1968. These records constitute the official records of the company, primarily from the central administrative offices.
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Station and Structure Drawings Collection, 1991-0138
The collection consists of 306 architectural drawings of 40 railroad stations, engine houses, signal stations and towers, and auxiliary buildings built by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and its successors from 1886 to 1964. The collection also has 1844 drawings of bridges along the New Haven Railroad's right of way, in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York, dated from 1883 to 1965.
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Valuation Map Collection, 1998-0378
The collection consists of approximately 2500 maps on linen, organized under a valuation numbering system created by the railroads.

Connecticut Central Railroad Records, 2009-0091
The collection consists of administrative files, photographs, and DVDs associated with the formation, operation and demise of the Connecticut Central Railroad, a freight line that ran in and around Middletown, Connecticut, from 1987 to 1998.
Housatonic Railroad/Naugatuck Railroad Payroll Accounts Collection, 2018-0076
The collection consists of payroll and other financial documents of the Housatonic Railroad and, to a lesser extent, the Naugatuck Railroad, with a very few other financial documents from other railroads in southerm New England in the latter half of the 19th centtury.
Max Miller Collection of the Connecticut Valley Railroad
Albums of photographic prints of scenes along the Connecticut Valley Railroad and its successors and of the Valley Railroad heritage rail line in Essex, Connecticut; photographic negatives; maps and historical documents related to the railroads associated with the Connecticut Valley Railroad. Also includes photographs showing grade and bridge crossings on the Valley line from the 1910s to 1960.
Providence & Worcester Railroad Records, 1997-0120
The Providence & Worcestor Railroad was incorporated in Massachusetts as the Providence and Worcester Railway on March 12, 1844, and as the Providence and Worcester Railroad in Rhode Island in May 1844. The records consist of administrative, financial, and real estate documents associated with the Providence & Worcestor Railroad in its early phase prior to it being leased and absorbed by the New York & New England Railroad and the New Haven Railroad, through the 20th century while under lease to the New Haven Railroad, and the time after 1973 when it separated from Penn Central and resumed running as an independent rail line.
William P. McDermott Railroad Collection
Payroll vouchers, traffic vouchers, correspondence, deposit slips, photographic prints, financial documents and other materials associated with the Hartford & New Haven Railroad, the Central New England Railway, the Philadelphia, Reading & New England Railroad, the New York & Boston Railroad and other railroad lines in southern New England and eastern New York.

David Peters Railroad Collection, 2017-0055
The collection consists of administrative and financial records, photographs, postcards, correspondence, timetables, broadsides, legal records, publications, and a myriad of other materials related to the history of the railroad in the United States, particularly in New England. Railroads include the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and its predecessors and successors, including Penn Central and Amtrak.
Francis D. Donovan Papers, 2006-0195
The Francis D. Donovan Papers consist of Mr. Donovan's writings and research files about the railroads, particularly those of New England; photographic images of stations, engines, and railroad scenes; maps, scrapbooks, postcards and timetables.
Leroy Roberts Railroad Collection, 1989-0073
The collection consists of maps, atlases, photographs, pamphlets, booklets, real estate appraisals and other property records, bridge lists, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and timetables, almost exclusively documenting the history of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, better known as the New Haven Railroad, and its predecessor railroad lines, particularly the portions of the railroad that ran in Connecticut. The maps include blueprint copies of many of those that were created for the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1915 by the New Haven Railroad, known as the valuation series. The photographs series is an extensive set of images of virtually every railroad station and depot in Connecticut, plus many images of town and city views and of other railroad structures such as roundhouses and freight yards.
Leroy Y. Beaujon Railroad Collection, 1997-0042
The Leroy Y. Beaujon Railroad Collection consists of payroll vouchers and paychecks, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, reports, maps and plans, photocopies, newspaper clippings, and research material related to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, the Central New England Railway (CNE) and its predecessor companies, including the Philadelphia, Reading & New England Railroad, the Hartford and Connecticut Western Railroad, the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad, the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railway; the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and the Rhinebeck & Connecticut Railroad.
William B. Young Collection of the Connecticut Company, 2012-0077
This collection contains research materials collected and created by William B. Young pertaining to the five decades of transportation operations of the fourteen divisions of the Connecticut Company, which controlled all street railroads in the state of Connecticut, from its inception in 1905, to its peak in 1912 with 2232 trolleys, and to its demise in 1948. The trolley car data Mr. Young collected for a database is available in two reports: a 57-page
Car Summary report and a 327-page Car History report showing over 4500 reportable events of trolley cars and related rolling stock, sorted by car number.

Need Help?

For help with your research, please email us at archives@uconn.edu