Topic: Railroad Collections in UConn Archives & Special Collections

The University of Connecticut’s Archives & Special Collections holds many collections related to research topics in railroad history. This guide provides a curated selection of published materials, manuscript collections, and digitized materials available in the CTDA. The guide is meant to provide a starting point for research into railroad histoy in UConn's Archives & Special Collections--it is not a comprehensive listing of all materials related to these topics held by the UConn Archives & Special Collections. 

Several pages of this guide draw from previous work done by Archives & Special Collections staff and student workers presented through Collection Spotlights hosted on the Archives & Special Collections blog. These posts are linked throughout the guide, and can provide you with additional information and resources on the topics covered on the guide.

The collection 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.

The largest and most significant railroad collection is the corporate records of the New Haven Railroad, which consist of administrative, real estate, legal and financial files as well as an extensive array of financial ledgers and board of director’s minutes for virtually every predecessor railroad, including street railways, that merged with or were leased by the New Haven Railroad.