MRRC and Railroad History Materials

Adams & Westlake (Adlake) Collection, ca. 1872-ca. 1959. M 0961. Five manuscript boxes, three OMB boxes, one OM folder, 13 bound volumes. Collection guide online. The Adams & Westlake Company, otherwise known as Adlake, is reported by the company to have been founded in 1857, most probably the date at which one of the first concerns that would grow, merge and evolve into Adlake was organized in Chicago. In 1874, however, J. McGregor Adams and William Westlake officially joined their interests and provided the lasting name for the company. Adlake remained in Chicago until 1927 when it moved its operations and headquarters to Elkhart, where it remains today. Hailed as one of the largest suppliers of transportation equipment, Adlake has manufactured hardware such as lamps, lanterns, lights, keys, sashes, luggage racks, lavatories and much more. They have absorbed at least portions of other prominent railway suppliers throughout their long history. The collection is divided into four series: Series 1 is correspondence, as well as personnel and legal documentation. Series 2 contains product designs and technical information. Advertising leaflets and other product information, including catalogs form series 3. The final series, series 4, includes price lists, ledgers and account books.

Anderson, Indiana Big Four Railroad Museum Collection, 1904-1997. M 0873. Three manuscript boxes, four photograph folders, five color photograph folders, one OVA graphics box, one OVA graphics folder, two OVA photograph folders, two oversized folders in flat file storage. Collection guide online. After the last passenger train left the Big Four depot in Anderson in 1971, it was boarded up. In 1980, John Eisele rescued the dilapidated building. It became a gift shop after extensive remodeling which included a new roof, interior painting, floor repair and the addition of a display platform on the interior at the east end of the building. This inclusion did not disturb the interior walls. This shop closed in 1982. In 1983, Elsie Perdiue purchased the building. It was utilized as a center for performing arts hosting competitions for artists and poets, street fairs, poetry readings and afternoon musicals. A railroad museum was located in the west side of the depot with displays of model trains and early railroad trivia. In 1985, the Anderson Young Ballet Academy signed a lease, and it became an academy for the study of the dance arts. Costs of operating the center could not be maintained and the buildings ownership reverted back to Eisele in 1993. The collection contains items that were previously housed and on display at the Big Four Railroad Museum in Anderson. It consists of papers from the museum related to operations, along with items related to exhibits and museum events. There are newspaper clippings about the museum and those affiliated with it, as well as those on Indiana railroads and railroads that run through Indiana. Photographs of the museum and railroad cars taken throughout the years, along with drawings also make up a portion of the collection. The second half of the collection incorporates materials related to the railroads that made up the “Big Four” including but not limited to brochures, time tables and photographs.

Anderson, Lebanon and St. Louis Railroad. Records, 1878-1886. SC 2310. One folder. Collection guide online. Work on the Anderson, Lebanon and St. Louis Railroad (also called the Chicago and Southeastern) began in 1875. Col. T.N. Stilwell was the first president. The railroad experienced a number of problems that slowed its construction, including lack of funds and several changes in ownership. The tracks reached Brazil, Ind., in 1893, the line’s apparent terminus. An effort was made to extend the tracks to Muncie in 1894, but failed due to lack of funds. The railroad probably ceased operations around the turn of the century (ca. 1900). The collection contains items regarding financial status and general operations of the railroad from 1878 to 1886, including right of way, corporate and individual claims, and passes with other railroads. James A. Larnerd was superintendent of the railroad when most of the records were created.

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Train Orders, 1969. SC 2524. One folder. Collection guide online. Train orders on the Chicago Division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad issued to westbound trains in January and February 1969.

Belknap, Edwin P. Collection, 1888-1976. P 0183. Four photograph boxes, one oversized photograph box, two oversized photograph folders, one oversized graphics box, five oversized graphics folders, 17 oversized graphics flat file folders, 13 manuscript boxes, two oversized boxes, one rolled item, one acetate negative box. Collection guide online. Railway enthusiast Edwin P. Belknap of Anderson accumulated this collection before about 1980. His desire to collect was motivated by an interest in railway history. Material in the collection indicates that Belknap had worked for the Central Indiana and Pennsylvania Railway. The collection consists of business records, correspondence, personnel records, black-and-white photographs, color photographs, albums, maps, blueprints, linen trace drawings, graphics and ephemera. Interurban and other railroad companies that operated in Indiana during the 19th and 20th centuries generated most of the material. Railroad companies represented in this collection include: Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company; Indiana Union Traction Company; Indianapolis & Cincinnati Traction Company; Indiana Service Corporation; Interstate Public Service Company; and Central Indiana Railway Company. Other material in the collection consists of manuscript material, photographs, negatives and clippings accumulated by Edwin P. Belknap for research purposes and personal enjoyment. Images in the collection include views of railway cars, stations, track construction and railway employees. Albums include views of railroad activity during the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Big Four Railroad Bridge Accident, Terre Haute Photographs, 1900. P 0333. One photograph folder. Collection guide online. The west span of the Big Four Railroad bridge over the Wabash River at Terre Haute collapsed on Feb. 23, 1900, under the weight of Big Four Locomotive 96, its 49 freight cars and ice. Fireman Dan Ruddell of Indianapolis died in the accident. The collection consists of three photographs, made by William H. Bundy, of the Big Four Railroad Bridge over the Wabash River at Terre Haute. Photographs of damage and repair of the bridge date from Feb. 23 and March 2, 1900.

Big Four Shops, Beech Grove, Indiana Photographs, ca. 1919, 1923. P 0171. One half size photograph box, one Cirkut photograph. Collection guide online. In June 1889 the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway combined with the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway and the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway to form the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, better known as the “Big Four Railroad” or C.C.C. & St. L. Much of the company’s 1,850 miles of trackage lay in Indiana. In 1906, the company, parts of which were already headquartered in Indianapolis, acquired the New York Central RR, later Penn Central. They recognized the need for larger repair facilities, with the Indianapolis area, specifically Beech Grove to its south, providing the easiest access to existing tracks. Beech Grove was a small hamlet at the time of its being chosen, growing with the four year building program for the railroad shops. By 1908, the Beech Grove shops replaced the earlier Brightwood facilities for the repair of locomotives, freight and passenger cars in all six divisions of the Big Four. The compound was completed in 1910 and, during the early 20th century, more than 700 locomotives and 4,600 cars could be repaired annually. AMTRAK took charge of passenger rail service in 1971, and the Beech Grove Shops became part of that entity. In 2010, the workers continue to restore passenger cars and locomotives there but on a more modest scale than previously done. The collection contains photographs of the management and employees of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway shops at Beech Grove for the years 1919 and 1923. The images include group portraits of track crews, workers beside heavy equipment, men and women office workers and management at their desks, and one interior view of the facility. There are no names on the photographs. The panoramic photograph of employees at the Beech Grove facility is dated Feb. 6, 1919. The other photos are not dated.

Bishop, John M., 1819-1890. Diaries and Papers, 1835-1887. M 0465. Two manuscript boxes (27 volumes). Collection guide online. John M. Bishop was a Presbyterian minister in Indiana from 1844 to 1887. His son, Deming R. Bishop was born in Bedford, Ind. in 1855.  Deming graduated from Wabash College in 1879.  He was listed as a surveyor in the 1880 census and was staying at a hotel in the Dakota Territory at the time. He was listed in the 1900 census as a civil engineer living in Kentucky. The collection includes a railroad survey book of Deming Bishop (ca. 1880).

Bogle, Victor M. Indiana Railroad History Papers, 1826-1999. M 0852, OM 0428. Twenty-seven manuscript boxes, one oversized folder, one OVC graphics box. Collection guide online. Victor Morton Bogle was born in 1921 in New Albany, Ind. Eventually, he became a university professor teaching history. One of his scholarly interests was the history of railroad building. Victor Bogle passed away in 2011. The collection consists of photocopies of articles, reports, maps, theses and other documents that he used for his research on the history of Indiana railroads. Also included is an unpublished manuscript titled: Chronology of Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. The collection remains in the 13 series in which Victor Bogle arranged them.

Bradley, George K. Papers, 1877-1991. M 0808, OMB 0097. Nine manuscript boxes, two photograph boxes, 10 negatives, one box OVA size photographs, one box OVB size graphics, one slide box, 17 printed items. Collection guide online. George Kitching Bradley, railroad history enthusiast and author, was born in LaPorte, Ind., in 1930. He was first published in 1953 with a book titled The Northern Indiana Railways. His best-known work is Indiana Railroad: the Magical Interurban (1991), a history of the largest interurban railway system in the nation in terms of route mileage. He also authored Ft. Wayne’s Fire Department, 1939-1964 and founded a museum in Fort Wayne, the Fire Fighters Museum. He passed away in April 2000. The collection contains Bradley’s research files and papers on Indiana railroads and public utilities. Included is correspondence, reports and schedules, drafts, notes, and other research materials, property plats, photocopies of magazine articles, magazines and newsletters, books, clippings, and photographs.  It is organized by subject matter with the first three series related to specific railroads, Chicago, South Bend & Northern Indiana, Fort Wayne & Wabash Valley Traction Co., and Indiana Railroad. The fourth series relates to early traction industry developments. The fifth includes general materials and the sixth is for photographs.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen Eureka Lodge no. 14 (Indianapolis). Records, 1875-1975. BV 3429-BV 3445, M 0774, OM 0395. Seventeen bound volumes, one manuscript box, three oversize folders. Collection guide online. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was formed on Dec. 1, 1873, at Jervis, N.Y. Incentives for joining this labor union included medical insurance and funeral benefits. Eureka Lodge no. 14 was organized in Indianapolis on Feb. 21, 1875. The union merged with the International Firemen’s Union in 1879. Membership was opened to engineers in 1902, and in 1906, the organization became the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. On May 1, 1969, the Brotherhood joined with other transportation unions to form the United Transportation Union. The collection includes 17 minute books dating from Feb. 21, 1875 to May 1, 1969. Books are missing for the periods July 1877 to June 1882, January 1887 to April 1889, September 1902 to August 1905, and May 1910 to December 1916. Other material includes correspondence, financial reports, applications for benefits, rosters and an annual report (June 30, 1901).

Callahan, T.D. Papers, 1852-1950. SC 1961. Two folders. Collection guide online. This collection is made up of unrelated items donated by T.D. Callahan, including a book of subscribers for the Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad Company, 1852. It lists subscribers, number of shares bought and amount paid.

Central Indiana Railway Company. Records, 1903-1966 (bulk 1903-1930). M 0336, OMB 0004. One manuscript box, two OMB boxes, one oversized folder in flat file storage. Collection guide online. The Central Indiana Railway Company had its origins as the Anderson, Lebanon and St. Louis Railroad, chartered in 1875. It was sold and reorganized as the Cleveland, Indiana and St. Louis Railway in 1882, and then reorganized as the Midland Railway Company in 1885. A Chicago attorney, Henry Crawford, acquired control of the line in 1891 and organized it as the Chicago and South Eastern Railway. This line was jointly acquired by the Pennsylvania and Big Four Railroads in 1902 and was incorporated March 16, 1903, as the Central Indiana Railway Company. The railroad ran 127 miles from Muncie to Brazil. Ike Duffey, an Anderson meat packer, bought the line in 1951 and attempted to revive it economically. The line became part of the Conrail system for 10 years (1976-1986), but by 1986 only the nine-mile segment running from Anderson to Lapel survived. The collection contains typescript mimeographed annual reports (1903-1930); monthly operating reports showing expenses and revenues (1906-1927); and completed forms for the telegraph register of trains (ca. 1908-1915), and the dispatcher’s record of movement of trains (1923-1924). For a later period (1960-1966) the collection includes income statements and carload business reports.

Chicago Pullman Strike Reports, July 1894. SC 2857. One folder. Collection guide online. George Pullman developed a comfortable car for railroad passengers, named for him, it was called the Pullman Car. The Pullman Palace Car Company was located just outside of Chicago in a town named for Pullman. The town comprised the company as well as worker’s housing owned by George Pullman. It was mandatory that the workers live in these houses to work for the company. In the 1890s, workers were agitated by the high rent of company housing  and wage decreases. In 1893, Euguene Debs began the American Railroad Union to represent all railroad workers. On May 11, 1894, 90 percent of Pullman employees walked off their jobs. In June, the A.R.U. decided to back the Pullman strike and all members of the union would then stop working on trains that pulled Pullman cars. This frightened railroad owners who began viewing the A.R.U. as a threat. Most newspapers and U.S. Attorney General Richard Olney were on the side of the owners. Olney issued an injunction stating that the strike was illegal because it was disrupting mail service and therefore free trade. On July 4, 1894, federal troops were sent to Chicago, but instead of aiding peace they incited riots. These riots were quickly blamed on the railroad strikers. A few days later the workers realized that the strike was lost. Seventy-five percent of those who walked off the job returned to their low pay and high rent at Pullman. They were also required to sign a pledge stating they would never join a union. Although a loss for the Pullman workers, the nation was made more aware of workers’ rights. This collection contains reports from three special meetings of the Central Association of Railroad Officers that were held in Indianapolis on July  5 and 6, 1894. They list reports from the officers of the railroads in central Indiana and the effects of the strike on their operations.

Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad Collection, 1906-1989. M 0834, OM 0421, OMB 0999, BV 3507-3515. Forty-two manuscript boxes, 33 postcard size boxes, three oversize boxes, one oversize folder, nine bound volumes, seven posters. Collection guide online. The South Shore Line has had successes and failures throughout the years and has survived to be the country’s last electric interurban railway. Begun in December 1901 as the Indiana Air Line Railway, it was planned to run from South Bend to East Chicago, Ind. By 1904, the name was changed to the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend Railway signaling the owners’ intentions for service to Chicago. After 1921, the company faced declining passenger and freight traffic. There was still a lot of potential for this fledgling company however, and Samuel Insull Jr., acting for Midland Utilities Company, bought the railway in 1925 and renamed it the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad. In 1933, the South Shore entered bankruptcy due to the Depression but by 1937 the railroad was once again picking up speed, ending bankruptcy in 1938. Once the war began, the South Shore set one record after another. Success continued into the 1950s, as the line carried out the greatest single line improvement since the 1920s Insull era. By the late 1950s, the South Shore began some bumpy years but turnaround was quick with the help of new president William P. Coliton who launched a vigorous cost reduction and traffic expansion program in the early 1960s. In 1967, the Chesapeake & Ohio took control of the South Shore allowing the line’s affiliation to increase its competitive position for freight traffic in the face of continuing mergers in the East, and to assure a supply of cars that would permit the line to effectively serve the new Bethlehem Steel plant. Due to a number of factors, by 1976, the railroad was ready to end all passenger service. In 1976, the railroad filed a petition with the Interstate Commerce Commission to end all passenger operations, but the ICC replied in April 1977 that they should continue running the operations to allow the state of Indiana time to work out the steps necessary to save the service. With this grace period, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District was formed with federal, state and local funds to support South Shore passenger service. Attempts at acquiring the freight service back were difficult, the company who had purchased the service from C&O, Venango River Corporation, had its own troubles and filed for bankruptcy in 1989. By early 1990, a new era of the South Shore and NICTD began. Since its near demise in the late 1970s, the South Shore has transformed into a modern, efficient commuter rail line, carrying an average of 12,000 passengers each weekday to their jobs in Chicago. This collection consists of five series arranged by topic and chronologically within each topic. Series 1 constitutes operating papers from 1906-1989 relating to the day-to-day operations of the railroad, including correspondence, maps, articles, clippings, employee service records from 1937-1957, tariffs and accident reports, among others. Series 2 contains board meeting minutes and supporting papers for 1939-1987, as well as proceedings of annual shareholders meetings form the 1960s and 1970s. Series 3 consists of financial papers including annual reports, accounts paid records, papers regarding investments and others. Series 4 contains ICC filings from 1923-1988 including agreements and petitions filed by the South Shore and correspondence regarding the filings.  Series 5 constitutes seven posters used in publicity efforts for the line during the 1920s.

Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad. Photographs, 1926-1986. P 0424. One photograph folder. Collection guide online. The Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad had its beginnings in the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway, which was incorporated in 1901. In 1904, the name of the line was changed to the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway, and by 1912, there was limited service between Chicago and South Bend. By 1924, the Lake Shore Line was one of the fastest interurbans in the country. Soon thereafter, use of the railroad declined and the company fell into debt. In 1925, utilities magnate Sam Insull Jr. bought the struggling railway and renamed it the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad. Within four years, Insull completely rehabilitated the company by offering more and faster trains and freight service. The Depression and competition from automobiles threatened the railroad by the early 1930s. Insull resigned in December 1932, and nine months later the company declared bankruptcy. Today the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad is a short-line freight carrier, with headquarters in Michigan City. This collection consists of 14 black-and-white photographs, printed from the original negatives, of railroad cars from the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad. They were collected by the donor to document South Shore car restoration work. Most of the photographs are of exteriors, with two of interiors. Extensive notes included with each photograph were supplied by the donor.

Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad. Records, 1924-1944. SC 2313, OM 0062. Four folders, one oversized folder. Collection guide online. Electric high-speed interurban railroad begun in 1901 to serve the cities of northwest Indiana. Correspondence files of R.E. Dougherty, the railroad’s vice president, 1924-1944. Included are letters received, copies of correspondence, financial reports and maps regarding the railroad’s offer to sell the line to the New York Central Railroad.

Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Collection, 1863-1969. M 0831: Series 1-Railroad. Four folders. Collection guide online. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis was founded in 1924. The collection consists of items dealing with different subjects that were received from the Children’s Museum. Series 1 contains railroad materials. It constitutes items from different railroad companies across different time periods. Included is an annual report and stock certificate from the Indianapolis Belt Railroad & Stock Yard Company, railroad passes, ticket inquiries to the Nickel Plate Road, and receipt requests from the New York Central System.

Christie, Lambert M. Postcard Album, 1913. P 0326. One album (205 photographic prints, three photomechanical reproductions). Collection guide online. Lambert M. Christie assembled the album for his future wife Lela May Levier, arranging the postcards mostly by place. Postcards in this album document events of the spring of 1913, including a railroad accident in Indianapolis.

Cincinnati Car Corporation Collection. 1902-1931; 1965. P 0376. Fifteen photograph boxes, two boxes drawings, one folder blueprints, six folders linen trace drawings (65 drawings), one manuscript box, printed material. Collection guide online. The Cincinnati Car Company manufactured interurban railway cars, streetcars and buses between 1902 and 1931. In 1928, the company merged with the Versare Corporation of Watervliet N.Y., which made gas-electric buses and electric trolley coaches, to become Cincinnati Car Corporation. Its most significant product was the curved-side car, which was lighter than those of competitors. The company ceased operations in 1931, and its assets were liquidated in 1938. The collection was acquired by its donor over a number of years from various sources. The processor arranged the material in five series according to format. The collection consists of original photographs, blueprint sales drawings, linen trace drawings, blueprints, and manuscript material created by and for the corporation between 1902 and 1931. Series I, Photographs, includes interior and exterior views of cars under construction and completed. Series II, Sales Drawings, consists of blueprint drawings and customer order information. Series III, Blueprint Drawings, are four large blueprints that may have been used during construction of the cars. Series IV, Linen Trace Drawings, includes specifications for interurban cars built and not built between 1902 and 1913. Series V, Manuscript and Printed Material, consists of contracts and a list of cars built by the Cincinnati Car Corporation. A company history, Curved-Side Cars Built by Cincinnati Car Company, is in Printed Collections (TF949 .W33 1965).

Coleman Family Papers, 1852-1892. SC 2564. One folder. Collection guide online. The Coleman family, of Union Township, Rush County, included Joseph F., John P., W.J., Harriet P., Angelina E. and Albert Coleman. Letter topics include the placement of a railroad station between Rushville and Cambridge City.

Debs, Eugene V. (Eugene Victor), 1855-1926. Papers, 1881-1940. SC 0493. Four folders. Collection guide online. A native of Terre Haute, Debs became active in the local and national Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen as a young man. In 1885, he served one term in the Indiana legislature. In 1893, Debs helped to form the American Railway Union, and in 1897. transformed the union into the Social Democratic (Socialist) Party of America. He ran for president on the party’s ticket several times without success and continued his activities as a leader in the labor movement. The collection contains some of Debs’ correspondence, 1885 to 1925, and traces his career as union activist, labor leader and politician. Topics include the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.

Dickman, Charles. Letter, 1870. SC 2430. One folder. Collection guide online. Dickman was a locomotive engineer. Between 1862 and 1870, he worked for the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, & Indianapolis Railroad and the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Railroad. In 1870, he was looking for a job with the Union Pacific Railroad. The collection contains one letter from W.T. Clark of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis Railroad, recommending Dickman to Gov. Oliver P. Morton. It is endorsed by Gov. Morton and J.W. Benson.

Dougherty, Russell. The Inclined Plane at Madison, Indiana, 1985. SC 1968. One folder. The collection contains a photocopy of a paper by Russell Dougherty, The Inclined Plane at Madison, Indiana. The paper discusses the rack and adhesion railroad necessary to climb the inclined plane at Madison, and the several railroad companies that used it. It also discusses the locomotive “Reuben Wells,” now housed at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.  The inclined plane at Madison is the steepest grade on a line haul in the world and is one of the steepest standard gauge railroad grades ever built.

Dubin, Arthur D. Railroad collection, ca. 1847-1999. M 0818. Thirty-six manuscript boxes, six photograph boxes, one negative box, 29 artifacts. Collection guide online. Arthur Detmers Dubin, who originally assembled the materials in this collection, had a lifelong interest in passenger trains and collected items for more than 40 years. He collected Pullman and passenger train memorabilia, and served on numerous advisory boards and commissions in passenger transportation. He wrote three books based on his collections: Some Classic Trains, More Classic Trains and Pullman Paint and Lettering Notebook: A Guide to the Colors used on Pullman Cars from 1933 to 1969. Dubin worked as an architect at the Chicago firm of Dubin, Dubin & Moutoussamy. The collection consists of articles, brochures, timetables, menus, correspondence and photographs documenting passenger train companies and routes throughout the world. It is separated into 24 series arranged by the country or area that the items are from, with the addition of a series of miscellaneous items from international publications and a series of negatives: United States; Africa; Australia; Austria-Benelux; Canada; Central and South America; China and Taiwan; Czechoslovakia; England, Scotland, and Ireland; France; Germany; India; Italy; Japan; Malaysia; Mexico; Russia; Scandinavia; Siam and Thailand; Spain; Switzerland; Turkey; Miscellaneous International; and Negatives.

Elkhart and Western Railroad Company. Indiana Railroad Collection, 1877-1951. BV 2251, OM 0182. One bound volume, one oversized folder. Cash book of the Elkhart and Western Railroad, 1893-1898; and miscellaneous transportation and other records of various railroads running through Indiana.

Elston, Isaac C. (Isaac Compton), 1798-1867. Letters, 1833-1852. SC 2028. Five folders. Isaac C. Elston, also known as “Major,” was a storekeeper in Crawfordsville in the 1820s. He became wealthy by land speculation, banking and investment in railroads. He laid out a portion of the New Albany and Salem Railroad, and owned much of the land on which Lafayette now stands. The collection consists of about 50 letters (1833-1852) written to Isaac Elston Sr. during the time he was speculating in land. The letters discuss the buying and selling of tracts of land all over Indiana, and especially in the Michigan City, Crawfordsville and Lafayette areas.

English, William Hayden, 1822-1896. Family Papers, 1741-1928. M 0098, OMB 0002, BV 1137-BV 1148, BV 2571-BV 2572, F0595p. One hundred three manuscript boxes, three oversized boxes, 15 bound volumes, one microfilm reel, 76 photograph boxes, six graphics boxes. Collection guide online. English began a career in politics in 1840 as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention in Indianapolis. From 1850 to 1851, he was principal secretary of the Indiana Constitutional Convention and served as a legislator in 1851 and 1852. He served several terms in the national House of Representatives, beginning in 1852. English’s career as a banker began in the early 1860s, during which time he helped found the First National Bank (Indianapolis). He also held a controlling interest in the Citizens’ Street Railway Company and owned extensive tracts of real estate in Indianapolis. Business records include documents related to the Citizens’ Street Railway Company.

Evansville & Illinois Railroad. Bonds, 1850. SC 2604. One folder. Collection guide online. The railroad was chartered Jan. 2, 1849 to connect Evansville with the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at Olney, Illinois. Samuel Hall was the president and builder. The collection consists of two bonds for the Evansville and Illinois Rail Road Company that were issued by Vanderburgh County, on Feb. 1, 1850. They were paid off by the county in 1875.

Ferrall, James D. Diaries, 1851-1852. BV 2484-BV 2485. Two bound volumes. Ferrall was a contractor who participated in building the first Indiana railroad. The collection contains Ferrall’s diaries for 1851 and 1852, which include brief entries and accounts.

Gary & Interurban Railroad Company. Records, 1911-1915. Three folders. Collection guide online. In 1907, the Gary & Interurban Railway Company was incorporated. In 1911, the Chicago-New York Electric Air Line Railroad began negotiations to purchase the Gary line, and in 1913, it reformed as the Gary & Interurban Railroad Company. The company failed in 1915, after attempting to raise funds by assessing its stockholders, and a receiver was appointed. Two years later, it split back into its original parts. Collection contains legal forms, correspondence and a real estate brochure. The forms deal with the consolidation of the company, from 1911 to 1913. The correspondence explains why the company is asking stockholders to pay an assessment and announces the appointment of a receiver. The brochure is for a Gary housing development, Riverside, built by Steel City builders.

Getting There: Oral Histories about Transportation in Michigan City, 1993-1994. M 0687. One manuscript box. Collection guide online. The Michigan City Public Library and the La Porte County Historical Society received an Indiana Heritage Research Grant to document the history of railroads and aviation in Michigan City. The project resulted in a series of oral histories on video and audio tape, and as typewritten transcripts. This collection consists of copies of typescripts of oral history interviews discussing the railroad and aviation history of Michigan City. Complete video, audiotape and transcript sets are available at the Michigan City Public Library, the La Porte County Historical Society, and Calumet Regional Archives at Indiana University Northwest, Gary.

Gifford, Benjamin J., 1840-1913. Gifford-Kersey Correspondence, 1903­-1907. SC 2316. One folder. Collection guide online. Born in Plano, Ill., Gifford founded the Havana, Rantoul and Eastern Railroad Company in 1873, and the Chicago and Wabash Valley Railroad in 1900. The collection contains correspondence between Gifford and Charles E. Kersey, railroad foreman, regarding gifts of Chicago and Wabash Valley Railway stock and other business matters, a handwritten “History of the Gifford Railroad,” and a photograph of Gifford.

Guthrie, Joel. Papers, 1866-1867. SC 2328. One folder. Collection guide online. Joel Guthrie was a resident of Crawfordsville who seems to have been the heir of someone with substantial holdings in land and notes in Montgomery and Shelby counties. The collection contains business letters to Guthrie from his business agents, dealing mainly with the payment of notes. Two mention railroad construction in Shelby County.

Hadley, Evan, 1816-1894. Commonplace Book, 1853-1895. BV 0217. One bound volume. Collection guide online. A native of North Carolina, Hadley moved with his family to Morgan County in 1820. Hadley farmed near Monrovia, was involved with the South Western Rail Road Company, and worked as an agent for the Home Insurance Company. He was a Quaker. A commonplace book apparently kept by Evan Hadley of Monrovia includes entries pertaining to the South Western Rail Road Company (possibly a predecessor of the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad), its articles of association and a stockholder list.

Hedstrom, C. Edward. Six Decades of Service on the South Shore Line. Oral History Interviews, 1990. BV 2639-2640, CT 0572-0580. Two bound volumes, nine audiotapes. Collection guide online. Hedstrom grew up in Michigan City. He was employed on the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad, mainly as a motorman, from 1939 until 1982. By 1939, the South Shore Line was the only commuter rail line between South Bend and Chicago. The collection consists of tapes and transcripts of oral history interviews done by John D. Horachek with C. Edward Hedstrom. Topics include Hedstrom’s family history as Swedish-Americans in Michigan City and Hedstrom’s experiences as a railroad man for the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad commuter line in the Calumet region.

Hehman, Donald T. Collection, 1883-1982. M 0598. Six manuscript boxes, three photograph boxes. Collection guide online. Hehman was a railroad dispatcher for several different companies in Terre Haute from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was also a collector and researcher in railroad history. Records from Hehman’s railroad work, particularly with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, Terre Haute division, including manuals, dispatch information, schedules and accident reports. Also included are general railroad records and historic research compiled by Hehman that deal with accidents, employee safety and benefits, timetables, and railroad publications. Scrapbooks, centered on Terre Haute, contain news clippings, correspondence and photographs and include as topics routes, interurbans and accidents. Photograph topics include engines, interurbans, track, stations, bridges and accidents. There is also a sound recording honoring the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company.

Henry, Charles L. (Charles Lewis), 1849-1927. Recollections, ca. 1915. SC 2120. One folder. Charles Henry was born in Hancock County and attended Indiana Asbury College and Indiana Law School. He moved to Madison County in 1852 and to Indianapolis in 1903. He was active as a lawyer, a railroad executive, a promoter of interurban railroads and a developer of natural gas. He served in the Indiana Senate in 1881 and 1883, and in the U.S. Congress from 1895 to 1899. The collection consists of a typescript and carbon of Charles Henry’s “Recollections” of his business activities from 1889 to 1900, during which time he was mainly occupied with developing electric streetcar and interurban railroads in Anderson, Indianapolis and Missouri. The recollections were written sometime between 1900 and his death in 1927. The collection includes a typewritten transcript and carbon.

Hoback, Thomas Railroad Collection, 1903-1989. M 0887. One manuscript box, one oversized folder, one OVA acetate negative folder. Collection guide online. Thomas Hoback is a native of Peoria, Illinois. He attended Golden Gate University in San Fransisco where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in transportation and economics. In 1986 he founded the Indiana Rail Road Company, an Indianapolis-based regional railroad serving south central Indiana and eastern Illinois. The collection contains printed reports and historical sketches of railroads in Indiana. A folder of stock certificates that were never issued also resides in the collection. Correspondence of Willis A. McCaleb, the company photographer for the Nickel Plate Railroad during the transition from steam to diesel in the 1950s, is also present. The oversized manuscript folder contains time tables for the Indiana Railroad, Northwestern Pacific Railroad Co., and Ohio Electric Railway. There are also two blueprints of cars.

Holloway, W. R. (William Robeson), 1836-1911. Papers, 1795-1903. M 0145, BV 1478-BV 1495, BV 1865-BV 1871, F 0227-F 0229. Eleven manuscript boxes, 23 bound volumes, four reels of microfilm, four photograph folders. Collection guide online. Holloway ran the Indianapolis Times from 1880 to 1886 and became involved with the Indianapolis Cable Street Railway Company in 1887. He worked for the Republican party in the 1890s. The collection includes correspondence related to Holloway’s personal and business dealings. Business records concern Holloway’s activities with Indianapolis newspapers and the Indianapolis Cable Street Railway Company.

Horachek, John. Index to the Street Railway Journal and Electric Railway Journal, 1985. SC 1969. Seven folders. The collection consists of an index to the Street Railway Journal, vols. 9-26, 1893-1905 (missing vols. 12, 13, 14), and the Electric Railway Journal, vols. 27-36, 1906-1910. Included are subjects (usually state, city or railroad line), page number and item.

Iglehart, John E. Papers, 1853-1953 (bulk 1853-1934). M 0153, F 0232. Eight manuscript boxes, 25 bound volumes, one microfilm reel. Collection guide online. Evansville lawyer and Lincoln scholar John E. Iglehart joined the law firm of his father, prominent lawyer Judge Asa Iglehart, immediately after graduation in 1866. Much of John E. Iglehart’s practice throughout his career was as attorney for the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad Company. Collection includes 25 letterbooks, dating from 1853 to 1892, of the Iglehart law firm.

Indiana Interurban and Indianapolis Streetcar Photographs ca. 1912-ca. 1926. P 0392. Six photograph folders. Collection guide online. The first electric streetcar railway in Indiana, the Lafayette Street Railway, opened in South Bend on Aug. 30, 1888. By 1895, streetcar systems operated in Indianapolis, Richmond, Kokomo, Vincennes, Fort Wayne, Anderson, Muncie, Elwood, Terre Haute, Columbus, Logansport and Evansville. Streetcars operated in Indiana cities until 1953. The Indianapolis, Greenwood, and Franklin Railroad was the first interurban line to serve Indianapolis. The service opened in January 1900. By 1910, 12 companies operated direct routes between Indianapolis and major cities within a 120-mile radius. The rising popularity of the automobile and the passage of the Public Utility Holding Act in 1935 were deathblows to the interurban railway systems. The Public Utility Holding Act required holding companies to restrict their operations to a single, integrated system. Power companies and railway companies could not be owned by the same holding company. Electric railways no longer had access to integrated and thus inexpensive sources of power. The collection contains 25 black-and-white photographs of interurban cars and streetcars on railroad lines and in stations across Indiana. Scenes in the photographs date from ca. 1912 to ca. 1926, but the actual photographs may have been made after 1950. An unknown individual identified the photographs according to the content of the image and the date and place of the scene. Railroad companies represented in this collection include: Terre Haute, Indianapolis, and Eastern Traction Company; Union Traction Company; Indianapolis and Cincinnati Traction Company; and the Indiana Service Corporation.

Indiana Railroad Stock Certificates, ca. 1854-1900. SC 1561. One folder. Four stock-related certificates from four Indiana railroad companies. Materials include an unissued stock scrip (ca. 1854) for the Evansville & Crawfordsville Railroad, an unissued stock dividend (1855) for the Steubenville & Indiana Rail Road Company, a stock scrip (1896) for the Columbus & Indianapolis Central Railway Company, and an unissued stock certificate (ca. 1900) for the Indianapolis Southern Railway.

Indiana Stock Certificates, 1857-1932. M 0726. One manuscript box. Twenty-six stock certificates from Indiana businesses and organizations. Businesses include railroads. Locations include Indianapolis, Kokomo, Evansville and Hammond.

Indianapolis and Cincinnati Electric Railroad Company. Documents, 1913. SC 1653. One folder. The Indianapolis and Cincinnati Electric Railroad Company was formed to construct an extension of the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Traction Company’s electric railway line from Rushville to Harrison, Ohio. The collection includes petitions to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, filed by businessman William Noble Gordon of Metamora, businessman Louis Federmann of Brookville, and farmer William Simonson Jr., for the appropriation of aid from the railroad company in the construction of its railroad in Brookville Township, Franklin County. Also included are the board’s considerations of each petition.

Indianapolis Belt Railroad and Stock Yards Company. Records 1874-1968. M 0067, BV 0672-BV 0712. Ten manuscript boxes, 40 bound volumes, 12 reels audio tape. Collection guide online. Official company records from its incorporation to one year beyond its sale to Eli Lilly and Co. Most of the collection deals with the company’s management, capital stock, and property sales and leases. Topics include railroad rights-of-way, labor and management issues, advertising, and construction and expansion of the stockyards. Also included are papers of the Union Reduction Company of Cincinnati and the Indianapolis Stockyards Marketing Institute. Reel-to-reel tapes of company meetings, 1964-1967, are also included.

Indianapolis Bridge Photographs, ca. 1935. P 0354. Two photograph folders. Collection guide online. The collection contains photographs of road and railway bridges in Indianapolis, with views of College Avenue, New York Street and Garfield Park, among others.

Indianapolis Railroad Collection, 1891-1929. M 0232. Four manuscript boxes. Collection guide online. Twenty-seven interurban companies that served Indianapolis are represented. Indianapolis had a streetcar system by 1895, and interurbans by 1900. In 1904, an interurban terminal was built, and by 1910, Indianapolis was served by 400 trains a day. In 1920, Indiana had 2,600 miles of interurban lines linking Indianapolis to Terre Haute, Richmond, Fort Wayne, Lafayette and Louisville. Interurban trains used the tracks and electricity of Indianapolis street railways, and the city’s Board of Public Works regulated this use. The collection contains correspondence along with applications to the Indianapolis Board of Public Works and board ordinances, 1891-1929. Most deal with routes and rights of way. Also included are applications for switching permits and some general correspondence.

Indianapolis Street Railways Collection, 1899-1943. OMB 0020, BV 3038-BV 3049. One oversized box, 12 bound volumes, four folio folders. Collection guide online. The Indianapolis Street Railway Company was founded by Hugh J. McGowan in 1899. McGowan also founded the Indianapolis Traction and Terminal Co. After his death in 1911, the companies changed hands and were renamed several times. Competition from the automobile caused the last streetcar line to close in 1953, and the last trackless trolley ran in 1957. The collection includes company records and reports, city ordinances and a map. Oversize materials include monthly reports of the Indianapolis Traction and Terminal Co., 1906-1924; a 1939 map of the Indianapolis transit system; and a record of streetcar tracks abandoned in 1943. Bound volumes include records of transit companies, including the Indianapolis Street Railway Company, the Broad Ripple Traction Company, People’s Motor Coach Company, Indianapolis Car Equipment Company, and the Suburban Bus Company; street railway city ordinances up to 1909; and an inventory of street railway property in 1919.

Indianapolis Union Railway Company, Maintenance of Way Department. Records, 1885-1956, (bulk 1885-1930). M 0780, OMB 0090. Nine manuscript boxes, one oversized box, 23 oversized folders. Collection guide online. The Indianapolis Union Railway Company was founded in the 1850s. The company owned and maintained Indianapolis Union Station, and in 1882, leased the railway equipment, track and facilities of the Indianapolis Belt Railroad and Stockyard Company. The Indianapolis Union Railway Company planned and executed the elevation of the Union Station tracks and Belt Railroad line through Indianapolis between 1920 and the early 1930s. The collection includes correspondence, contracts, financial records and blueprint drawings created and accumulated by the Maintenance of Way Department of the Indianapolis Union Railway Company. Most material dates from 1885 to 1930. The records concern the elevation of the Union Station tracks and the Belt Railroad line, track maintenance, employee relations and the maintenance of Indianapolis Union Station. Financial records include payroll statistics, accounts payable and receivable, and inventories.

Indianapolis Union Railway Company Records, 1849-1991. M 0899, BV 3563-3606, OM 0449. One hundred ninety-two manuscript boxes, 44 bound volumes, three oversized folders, six photograph folders, artifacts. Collection guide online. In 1850, the Union Track Railway was created to manage the needs of the influx of rail lines entering the city of Indianapolis. This came after the realization that Indianapolis would be the first major city in the United States that would depend on railroads for its growth, rather than water transportation. In 1853, the name of the Union Track Railway was changed to the Indianapolis Union Railway Company and a union depot was built for the multiple railroads entering the city. Incorporation took place in 1872 through the agreement of the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis Railroad Company, the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway Company, the Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railway Company, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway Company, the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad Company, and the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Lafayette Railroad Company. The company was created to ease and streamline the exchange of freight and passengers between the above listed railroad companies. The collection is composed of five series. Series 1 contains business transaction records of the Indianapolis Union Railway Company, consisting mostly of accounts payable records, there are also some accounts receivable records, canceled checks and other financial records. These financial records run from 1884 to 1967. Series 2 consists of ledgers containing letters, maintenance of way materials lists, daily material reports and time books for the operations of the Indianapolis Union Railway Company. These records encompass the years 1893 to 1969. Series 3 includes all general correspondence regarding the business operations of the Indianapolis Union Railway Company and cover the years 1894-1990. Series 4 contains assorted business documents about the operations of the Railway. These documents include board meeting minutes, legal claims (including those regarding organized labor), business contracts, incorporation documents, and other various business records. This series covers the years 1849-1991. The final series, series 5, contains photographs and artifacts.

Indianapolis, Decatur and Springfield Railway Company. Statement, ca. 1875. SC 2079. One folder. Handwritten statement (1875?) showing miles of track completed, equipment on hand and the financial status of the Indianapolis, Decatur and Springfield Railroad.

Ingalls, Melville E. (Melville Ezra), 1842-1914. Papers, 1870-1907. M 0754. Five manuscript boxes. Collection guide online. Melville Ingalls (1842-1914) graduated from Harvard Law School in 1863 and practiced in Boston. He married Abbie M. Stimson of Gray, Maine, in 1867. He moved to Cincinnati in 1870 and became president of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Lafayette Railroad. Ingalls rescued the railway from bankruptcy in the late 1870s and formed a new company, the Cincinnati, St. Louis & Chicago Railway. This railway merged with the Vanderbilt-owned Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway in 1889 to become the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway (Big Four). Ingalls was also head of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and was instrumental in developing the coal mining industry in Kentucky. The collection contains approximately 2,000 letters, mostly pertaining to the legal and financial operation of railroads, and Ingalls’ personal and political life. Included is Ingalls’ correspondence with the New York firm Morton, Bliss & Company (1871-1888), and with his representative and advisor Charles W. Booth (1873-1878).

Interurbans’ Right of Way Deeds, 1899-1917. M 0168. Eight manuscript boxes. Right of way deeds for interurban railroad companies in Blackford, Delaware, Madison, Marion and Wells counties.

Johnson, Robert Underwood, 1853-1937. Letter, 26-27 February 1873, Washington, D.C., [to] Henry Johnson. SC 2071. One folder. Robert Underwood Johnson served on the staff of Century Magazine from 1873 to 1913. The collection consists of one letter (eight pages and typewritten transcript) from Johnson in Washington, D.C., to Henry Johnson, written from the reporters’ gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives. He describes the debate on the expulsion of Representatives Brooks and Ames during the Credit Mobilier scandal. The Credit Mobilier company was formed to construct the Union Pacific Railroad.

Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad Company Reports, 1877. OM 0418. One oversized folder. Collection guide online. In July 1869, the Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railway was incorporated. It operated in Indiana and eastern Illinois until its sale in April 1879. The LM&B ran from Muncie through Lafayette to Bloomington, Ill. Construction of the road began in 1869. There were many problems and complaints with the railroad, including both construction and freight hauling issues. Beginning in October 1876, the company leased the Lafayette, Bloomington and Mississippi Railroad. The collection consists of two ticket sales reports from the Lafayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad for the Alexandria Station in Madison County.

Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company. Records, 1927-1930. BV 2595. One bound volume. Collection guide online. The railroad ran west from Cleveland, on an east-west line from Muncie to Frankfort, and on a north-south line from Muncie to Newcastle and on to other points in southern Indiana. The collection consists of a register of ticket sales and freight shipments at the Springport and Mt. Summit stations in Henry County. Freight shipments include coal, stone, cement, oil, fertilizer, stock, steel and manure.

Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. Bills of Lading, 1864-1870. SC 1803. One folder. The collection consists of bills of lading for grain shipments to Toledo (Ohio) from Wanseon Station. Two are from the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Co., and one is from the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana R.R. Co.

Lane-Elston Family Papers, 1775-1936. M 0180, OM 0405. Six manuscript boxes, two oversized folders, one photograph folder. Collection guide online. The collection contains papers of Isaac Compton Elston, a prominent merchant, banker and land developer in Crawfordsville. Elston actively worked to bring in the railroad and became the first president of the Crawfordsville & Wabash Railroad, and his papers include letters relating to that railroad.

Love, John, 1820-1881. Papers, 1837-1886. M 0653, OM 0320. Three manuscript boxes, three oversized folders. Collection guide online. A native of Virginia, Love moved to Indianapolis and married Mary F. Smith. Love became involved in railroad finance with his father-in-law, Oliver H. Smith. The collection includes correspondence, rosters, leaflets, invitations, programs and clippings. Topics include Love’s work with Oliver H. Smith and Willard Carpenter raising funds for the Evansville, Indianapolis & Cleveland Straight Line Railroad Company.

Madison, Indianapolis and Lafayette Railroad Company Papers, 1822-1924. SC 2735. One folder. Collection guide online. The Madison, Indianapolis and Lafayette Rail-Road Company, later the Indianapolis & Madison, was chartered in February 1832. The first few years little progress was made as only engineering surveys were completed. In January 1836, the Indiana legislature identified the railroad as a state project and construction of the line began in September 1836. Issues regarding construction and financing followed the railroad in its early years. In 1841, public concern over the railroad’s cost led to a state investigation that discovered $2 million had been embezzled by railroad employees and state officials. The railroad was transferred to a private corporation, the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company in February 1843. By June of that year, the line was opened to Scipio about 30 miles from Madison. By July 1844, tracks reached Columbus and in September 1845, Edinburgh. On Oct. 1, 1847, the first train ran from Madison to Indianapolis. The M&I built a depot on South Street in Indianapolis.  In 1854, the M&I was consolidated with the Peru & Indianapolis Railroad Company, which later became part of the Nickel Plate Railroad. In September of that year, the consolidation was terminated due to stockholder complaints. By March 1862, the M&I was sold at foreclosure. Its assets were conveyed to the Indianapolis and Madison Railroad Company which issued securities, in reduced amounts, to creditors and stockholders of the former company. The collection contains one stock certificate issued to J.R. Watson from the Indianapolis & Madison Railroad Company. Also included are five letters from 1822 to 1924 that deal with the value of the stock issued by the company.

Merrill, Samuel, 1792-1855. Papers, 1812-1934. M 0204, OM 0132. Nine manuscript boxes, seven oversized folders. Collection guide online. Merrill came to Vevay in 1816. In 1819, he began his political career, serving in the state General Assembly and as state treasurer. He also was president of the State Bank of Indiana and the Madison and Indianapolis Rail Road Company, and founded the Merrill Publishing Company. The collection contains correspondence, deeds, receipts and other documents, including business papers dealing with Merrill’s activities as president of the Madison and Indianapolis Rail Road Company, as well as with other business ventures, and personal and family papers.

Michael, John R. Railroad Materials, 1883-1990. M 0891. One manuscript box, four oversized manuscript folders, three photograph folders. Collection guide online. John Richard Michael, born in 1919, went to work in the railroad industry like his father and grandfather before him. Both John and his father, Seth, worked for the Erie Railroad. John R. Michael was also a collector of railroad materials. He married Eloise Ruth Bickel in March 1937 and they had three sons. The records consist of a large number of timetable charts from the Chicago and Atlantic Railway and the Chicago and Erie Railroad. A book labeled “Long tally” contains descriptions, calculations and notes on railroad bridges, including an extract of the specifications of the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge. Another book in the collection details delays of trains during May 1928, as well as loose documents which were moved to folders 7 through 11 of the collection. A log book lists various notes from the operations in rail yards and on rail lines during 1939. Various receipts, orders, photos, clippings and publications relating to railroad work comprise the remainder of the collection.

Monon Railroad Dispatch Records, 1967. OM 0171. One oversized folder. Collection guide online. The origin of the Monon Railroad dates back to 1847 with the founding of the New Albany and Salem Railroad in Borden. The railroad got its nickname “Monon” from a creek near Bradford (now Monon). After several mergers, expansions and reorganizations, the Monon became an independent line in 1946. In 1971, it merged with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and in 1985, L. & N.’s successor, Seaboard System, removed the last of the old Monon rails. The collection consists of eight sheets of Monon dispatch records from Feb. 17 to 24, 1967. Information includes weather conditions, number of cars, tonnage, crew members and the time trains passed reporting stations.

Monon Railroad Photographs, ca. 1890s-ca. 1970s. P 0401. Eight photograph boxes, one color photograph box, one OVA photograph box, one graphics box, five negatives. Collection guide online. What began as the New Albany & Salem Railroad in 1847 would pass through several name changes and mergers with other rail companies before becoming the Monon Railroad in 1956 when the Chicago, Indianapolis, & Louisville Railroad officially took its longtime nickname as its corporate title. Monon would later merge with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1971. This collection consists of photographs depicting events and people throughout most of the history of the Monon Railroad. The collection is arranged in the following series: accidents, special events, passengers and visitors, personnel, physical plant (including crossings, depots, stations, bridges, shops and yards), rolling stock (trains), logos, and uncategorized photographs, and postcards and other printed materials. The rolling stock series also includes a few drawings and some train manufacturers’ specifications for engines.

Monon Railroad. Records, 1851-1971. M 0376, OMB 0046, BV 1996-2001. Six manuscript boxes, one oversized box, six bound volumes. Collection guide online. The Monon Railroad originated in 1847 as the New Albany and Salem Railroad in Providence (now Borden); it soon had tracks running from the Ohio River to the Great Lakes. In 1859, it was renamed the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad. The “Monon Route” was established in the 1880s, named after a creek near Bradford (now Monon). The railroad was purchased by the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railroad in 1897; it went bankrupt in 1933. It was reorganized in 1946 as an independent line under John W. Barriger. In 1971, it merged with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad as its Monon Division. The collection spans the history of the Monon Railroad and its predecessor companies, the New Albany and Salem Railroad; the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad; and the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railroad until its merger in 1971 with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. It includes published materials relating to the Monon and railroads in general, such as magazines, brochures and pamphlets; advertisements; clippings; annual reports; shipping statements and bills of lading; expense books; timetables; bound volumes of engine mileage and passenger car records; stock certificates; employee materials including pension lists; tickets; and reports and clippings on accidents. The collection also documents the financial status of the railroad through its various mergers.

New Albany and Salem Railroad Company. Payroll Ledger, 1855-1865. BV 3428. One bound volume, one pamphlet. Collection guide online. The New Albany and Salem Railroad Company was chartered in 1847 in Providence (now Borden). The railroad went into receivership in 1858 and was renamed the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad in 1859. In 1897, the company was reorganized as the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railway Company. The name was changed to “Monon” in 1956. The collection includes one payroll ledger for the New Albany and Salem Railroad Company (1855-1857), and a pamphlet titled “Douw D. Williamson, Trustee vs. New Albany and Salem Railroad.” The pamphlet addresses the company’s financial status and the role of receivership trustee Douw D. Williamson.

New York Central Railroad Company. New York Central System Photographs: James Whitcomb Riley Train, 1941. P 0027. One folder. Collection guide online. Railroads that comprised parts of the New York Central Railroad system began operating in 1850. The Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette line began operations in the late 1860s and was extended to Chicago in 1873 on Illinois Central trackage. During the 1940s, New York Central passenger trains made six daily round trips between Indianapolis and Chicago. The line was abandoned in early 1976. The collection contains 13 black-and-white photographs that document the introduction of the James Whitcomb Riley diesel passenger train on the New York Central Railway line in April 1941. The photographs appear to have been made for publicity reasons, possibly by Ed Nowack, the official photographer for the New York Central system during the 1940s. Exterior photographs show the streamline diesel locomotive and dignitaries at the dedication ceremony. The dignitaries include Gov. Henry F. Schricker and Gov. Schricker’s wife, Mari. The place of the dedication is not noted. Interior photographs show passengers and crew in the day coach, dining car and club car.

New York Central Railroad Company. Time Books, 1937-1957. M 0734. Four folders. Collection guide online. The collection consists of eight time record books kept for the New York Central Railroad Company between 1937 and 1957. The books list information about particular trains and may have been kept at the dispatcher’s office in Indianapolis.

New York Central System. Stock Certificates, 1840-1910. M 0230, OM 0119. One manuscript box, one oversized folder. Collection guide online. The collection includes stock and bond certificates, mainly from railroad companies that became part of the New York Central System.

Newby, Thomas T. (Thomas Thornburg), 1834-1919. Diary, 1868-1869. SC 2526. One folder. Collection guide online. Newby’s family were anti-slavery Quakers who moved from North Carolina to Ripley Township, Rush County. After the Civil War, he took an extended trip to visit family in High Point, N.C. The collection consists of Newby’s trip diary, December 1868 to March 1869, detailing travel, mostly by rail, from Knightstown through Virginia to North Carolina. He discusses the number of miles traveled daily, the cost of tickets and details of life while visiting.

Nickel Plate Railroad Collection, 1934-1949. SC 2737. Two folders.  Collection guide online. The first rails of the Nickel Plate Railroad (New York, Chicago & St. Louis) were laid between Arcadia and McComb, Ohio and the first train was run over the road in October 1882. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern quickly realized the value of the Nickel Plate and purchased the road, holding controlling interest until July 1916. By June 1922, the Nickel Plate operated 523 miles of track between Chicago and Buffalo. In July 1922, the Nickel Plate more than doubled the miles of track it operated by securing control of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company whose 707 miles of track were added. Another 453 miles were added when an affiliation with the Cloverleaf (Toledo, St. Louis & Western Railroad) was started. In 1949, the Nickel Plate Road leased the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway which it had controlled for a number of years. This line gave the Nickel Plate a financially stable railroad that was a consistent money maker. In the late 50s, the Nickel Plate found itself in a precarious competitive position. The potential merger of the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad forecasted competitive and financial disaster for the Nickel Plate. Looking for a strong ally in the merger conscious East, the Nickel Plate merged with Norfolk & Western to the benefit of both railroads. The Akron, Canton & Youngstown and the Pittsburgh & West Virginia railroads were forced to ask for inclusion in the new system. After more than four years of hearings and planning, the merger became a reality in October 1964. The collection consists of train order #41 which was for #98 at Redkey. It is identified as the last order from W.L. Bailey. Blueprints of passenger car equipment for the Nickel Plate Road with revisions for 1934, 1938 and 1948 are also included.

Northern Indiana Historical Society. Warwick: A History of the Midwestern Rural Village, 1995-1996. M 0685. One manuscript box. Collection guide online. This project was completed as part of an Indiana Heritage Research Grant awarded to the Northern Indiana Historical Society. The collection contains a project abstract, nine oral history transcripts and summaries of telephone interviews. Topics include the South Bend and Southern Railroad.

Ogborn, Albert Duret. Papers, 1894-1907. M 0222. Four manuscript boxes. Collection guide online. Ogborn was a lawyer and Republican politician. He served as state senator for Fayette, Henry and Union counties in the sessions of 1901 and 1903. Beginning in 1901, Ogborn was involved in the planning, financing and building of an interurban line from Lawrence through Knightstown to New Castle, a predecessor of the Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern line, which was incorporated in 1907. The collection includes letters relating to the Knightstown-New Castle interurban line from purveyors of all kinds of equipment, from cedar poles and railroad ties to storage batteries and electrical supplies. He also wrote several letters setting forth to potential investors the prospects of the line.

Pennsylvania Railroad. Elevated Track Construction Photographs, 1918-1923. P 0383. One photograph box, one oversized photograph box, one oversized photograph folder. Collection guide online. Herschel G. Wray was born in Oxford, Ohio, in 1890, received a civil engineering degree from Purdue University in 1913, and began his career with the Pennsylvania Railroad in June of that year. He was in charge of grade separation construction in Indianapolis and Cleveland for 10 years. The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway was created through mergers in 1890. In 1917, through more mergers with the Vandalia Railroad and other smaller lines, the company was reorganized as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, which came to be operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1921. The “elevated tracks movement” in Indianapolis was a controversial topic at the end of the 19th century, with political and legal battles going on for years between local civic and political leaders. Railroad tracks in the city, especially those surrounding Union Station and running south of the Warehouse District, created the dual problems of traffic congestion and public safety. Progress was slow, but by 1888, a tunnel was constructed under the tracks on Illinois Street, and in 1905, a temporary trestle was built at East 10th Street and Massachusetts Avenue. It was not until 1912 that the first large-scale track elevation project of the Pennsylvania Railroad began in Indianapolis. The photographs in this collection document part of that project from 1918 to 1922. This collection contains photographs that document two railroad construction projects: the construction of railroad track elevations and facilities in the mile-square area of Indianapolis between 1918 and 1922, and a track elevation project in Cleveland in 1923. The photographs were once owned by Herschel G. Wray. The Indianapolis photographs document the progress of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s elevated track construction between 1918 and 1922. The images have captions that identify them as either the Indianapolis or Louisville divisions of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. The remaining photographs omit this identification. The Cleveland images depict a Pennsylvania Railroad track elevation project in 1923. The images have captions that begin “Cleve. Trk. Elev.” followed by a “GR” number. These photographs illustrate only a two-week period in 1923 during this project.

Penny, Clarence. Reminiscences, 1998. SC 2670. Four folders. Collection guide online. Clarence Penny, born in 1926, is a native of Hammond, Lake County. After his graduation from Hammond High School in 1945, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He later graduated from college and taught school in Lake County for 32 years, retiring in the 1990s. The collection is a 252-page unpublished manuscript entitled Abby and Me – Slow Dancing in the Twilight. It focuses on Penny’s narrative about his retirement and relocation to Arizona. Interspersed in the manuscript are stories of his early years of growing up in Lake County during the 1930s and 1940s including working for the Monon Railroad while attending Hammond High School during World War II. The narrative is told in a somewhat fictional tone by a character named Charles Sparrow and his wife, Abby.

Peru and Indianapolis Railroad. Ticket Receipts, 1859-1866. F 0024. One hundred fifty-four leaves (on partial microfilm reel). Microfilm. One reel.

Pickett, Phineas, 1850-1932. Papers, 1849-1920. M 0051. One manuscript box. Collection guide online. Pickett was a teacher and farmer in Howard County and Plainfield, Hendricks County. Included in the papers is a right-of-way agreement with the Chicago & Northern Indiana Railway Company interurban.

Queen City Electric Railway Company Records, 1892-1893. OM 0434. One oversized folder. Collection guide online. The Queen City Electric Railway officially began in early 1891 under company president Russell B. Harrison. Construction of the tracks was not completed until late 1892. The Queen City Electric Railway competed with other Marion, Indiana street railways such as the Marion Street Railway and later the Marion City Railway. Having gone out of business, in 1895 the company was sold at auction to the Marion City Railway. The collection contains a company ledger for the years 1892 and 1893.

Railroad Company Waybills Collection, 1896-1904. OM 0432. One oversized folder. Collection guide online. This collection consists of nine waybills, documents giving details and instructions relating to a shipment of goods. Four are from the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad company from the years 1901 and 1902. Two are for the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad for the years 1899 and 1900. Also included are one each for the Toledo, St. Louis & Western Railroad Company (1904), the Wabash Railroad Company (1897), and the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company (1896).

Railroad Pattern Book, 1905. BV 2596. One bound volume. Collection guide online. This collection consists of a volume labeled “Pattern Book November 1905,” and contains penciled and inked entries with the numbers and descriptions of patterns for various railroad engine parts.

Railroad Surveying Letter, 1853. SC 2322. One folder. The collection consists of one letter from “N” in Somerset, Wabash County, to his sister, while engaged in laying out a railroad between Marion and Peru in 1853. Topics include his trip from Marietta to Peru, his surveying crew and attitudes about his wife.

Railroad Tickets and Receipts, 1954-1969. SC 2739. Two folders. Collection guide online. The collection consists of ticket stubs and receipts from different railway lines, including: the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York Central, the Erie-Lackawanna, the Erie Railroad Company and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Also included in the collection are forms for the Central Indiana Railway Company, a freight waybill and a monthly locomotive inspection and repair report from the New York Central System about a Central Indiana locomotive.

Railroadmen’s Federal Savings and Loan Association. Records, 1887-1994. M 0655, BV 3015-BV 3037. Three manuscript boxes, 23 bound volumes. Collection guide online. The Railroadmen’s Building and Savings Association was founded in Indianapolis in 1887 at the initiation of William Taylor Cannon for employees of railroads operating through Union Station. In 1939, the name changed to Railroadmen’s Federal Savings and Loan Association. It merged with other savings and loans in 1981, 1987 and 1990. In 1993, it was purchased by Huntington Bancshares of Ohio and became Huntington Bank of Indiana. The collection includes bylaws, annual reports, advertising, bank statements, clippings and press releases, and photographs documenting the savings and loan from its founding in 1887 to its sale in 1993.

Raisbeck, Samuel M. Papers, 1836-1904. M 0231. One manuscript box. Raisbeck was an officer in the Columbus, Picqua and Indiana Railroad, later known as the Columbus and Indianapolis Railroad (1852-1862); and a resident of Piqua, Ohio, and Tuckahoe, N.Y. The bulk of the collection consists of letters to Raisbeck concerning Columbus, Piqua and Indiana Railroad business, including correspondence relating to the acquisition of land and materials construction and operation of the railroad, and company finances (1852-1862). The collection also includes papers relating to Raisbeck’s acquisition of property in Piqua (1836-1881). Correspondents include Hervey Bates.

Rauh, Samuel E. (Samuel Elias), 1853-1935. Samuel E. and Charles S. Rauh Papers, 1900-1948. M 0406. Two manuscript boxes. Collection guide online. Rauh emigrated from Germany to Dayton, Ohio, as a child. After working in the family business there, he moved to Indianapolis in 1874 and ran a number of businesses in the areas of tanning, fertilizer production, meat packing, railroads, stockyards, banking, realty and public utilities. His son Charles S. joined him in business and succeeded him upon his death. The collection includes personal and business correspondence and documents dealing with family businesses in Indianapolis and Dayton, including the Indianapolis Belt Railroad and Stock Yards Company.

Small, Jay, 1917-2000, Postcard Collection, [ca. 1907-ca. 1940s]. P 0391. Thirty-one postcard boxes (apporximately 7,500 postcards). Collection guide online. Jay Small was an Indianapolis antiques dealer. His personal interests included collecting postcards and books related to Indiana history. The collection contains real photo and printed postcards from ca. 1907 to the 1940s, depicting views of towns and cities across Indiana, including interurbans and railway stations.

Stereograph Collection, ca. 1860-1939. P 0402. Six manuscript boxes. Collection guide online. A stereograph is a pair of nearly identical photographic images positioned side by side on a card intended to be viewed through a stereoscope designed to hold it. The two photographs were usually made simultaneously with a camera with two lenses. When looking at a stereograph through a stereoscope, one sees a single image that appears both three-dimensional and life-sized. The collection contains stereographs of scenes taken in various parts of Indiana. Subjects include train stations.

Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad Company Stock Certificate, 1888. SC 2734. One folder. Collection guide online. Originally chartered as the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad Company in 1847, by the end of the Civil War, the TH&R found itself as part of an increasingly important east-west trunk line. In March of 1865, the Indiana legislature changed the name to the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad to better reflect the reality of its travels. The Railroad represented an important asset by connecting Terre Haute to Indianapolis and therefore the eastern markets. When threatened by a Cincinnati syndicate in 1867, the board of directors voted William Riley McKeen its president. McKeen began a long and complicated series of maneuvers to keep the railroad independent. In 1868, McKeen made a deal with the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad to lease the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute to the TH&I. McKeen renamed the system the Vandalia Line and used the lease to keep the Pennsylvania at arm’s length. He employed the Vandalia to open branch lines into the Indiana coalfields and invested in other railroads promoting local growth. By 1872, dealing with various problems, McKeen saw fit to purchase a sizeable block of TH&I stock and replacing some members of the board with his friends and associates. Over the next year, McKeen made several adjustments to the organization and modernized and expanded the line. In June 1887, McKeen sold his stock in the TH&I to Henry Ives & Company who also owned the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton. Ives had purchased the TH&I and the CH&D in the hopes of using money from the lines to purchase the Baltimore & Ohio. Within two months, however, Henry Ives & Company had suspended operations and McKeen had been re-elected president of the railroad. In the brief tenure of Henry Ives & Company the railroad had accumulated a substantial debt. McKeen began fixing the financial problems once he resumed control. As 1892 came to a close, he brought lingering problems to satisfactory resolutions and things were beginning to look brighter for the TH&I. McKeen signed an agreement to sell the line to the Pennsylvania Company on Aug. 18, 1893 which gave him everything he had originally asked for when the Pennsylvania first expressed interest in 1885. Taking over during an economic depression, the railroad was not doing well in the following 10 years. At the end of 1904, the TH&I board voted to consolidate the company into an all new Vandalia Railroad Company. The vote passed and at midnight on Dec. 31, 1904, the 58-year history of the railroad came to a quiet end, and the next day the new Vandalia Railroad took its place. The collection consists of a stock certificate for 1888.

Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad Company Letter, 17 March 1851. SC 2738. One folder. Collection guide online. The Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad Company was chartered in January 1847. the line between Terre Haute and Indianapolis soon became the sole focus of the TH&R’s construction efforts (the eastern half of the line was recharted and completed as the Indiana Central Railroad), having started in late 1849. The entire 73 miles of the TH&R opened in February 1852. With the railroad in operation and immediately successful, the former president Chauncey Rose turned his attention toward extending the TH&R’s reach westward to St. Louis. For a time, the TH&R used the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis as its primary western connection. However, in April 1858, the TH&R board instructed its superintendent not to deliver any more freight to the Alton line. The Alton line had begun to delay its payments in an attempt to stay solvent accumulating a deficit in its account with the TH&R. Legal action was threatened if some form of regular payment was not initiated, and despite hostile relations, business as usual continued between the two lines. The Civil War caused the TH&R to cease being a small, hometown enterprise with additional traffic requiring more equipment, more locomotives and cars meaning increased shop space, more machinery and a bigger workforce. By the end of the war, the TH&R found itself part of an increasingly important east-west trunk line. In February 1865, with the incorporation of the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad a new western connection was made supplanting the Alton Line. In March 1865, the Indiana legislature changed the name of the TH&R to the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad to better reflect reality, and finally in 1905 it was taken over as the Vandalia Railroad Company. The collection consists of a letter from John Scott the treasurer of the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad Company to W. Robson regarding stock in the company.

Thompson, Richard W. (Richard Wigginton), 1809-1900. Papers, 1838-1899. SC 1914. Three folders. Thompson was an Indiana lawyer and politician, serving in the Indiana House and Senate, United States Congress, and as Secretary of the Navy under Hayes. The collection includes the letters of G.B. Roberts of the Pennsylvania Rail Road Company.

Trask, George Kellogg. Papers, 1855-1911. SC 1468, OM 0414. Five folders, one oversized folder.  Collection guide online. George Kellogg Trask was a journalist who was credited at the time of his death as being the originator of the railroad column in the American press. His first railroad column was published in the Evansville Evening Journal in 1870, and he went on to write railroad columns for the Indianapolis Journal and the The Indianapolis Star from 1871 to 1911. Trask was born and grew up in Massachusetts, and moved to Indiana around 1860. He worked on the Indianapolis, Peru and Chicago Railroad, and then for the American Express Company before becoming a journalist. Trask was married to Ellen Waite and had two daughters. He was affectionately known as “Uncle George” to generations of journalists and railroad men. He died on June 26, 1911. The collection includes correspondence of railroad executives with Trask in his capacity as a railroad columnist, two contractual agreements and one Civil War-era letter. Correspondents include: Elijah Walker Halford, secretary to President Benjamin Harrison; George C. Hitt, vice- and deputy consul of the United States in London, England; F.A. Murray of The Wall Street Journal; M.E. Ingalls of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company; and Harry S. New. The papers are arranged chronologically. A detailed list of the individual items is available in Folder 1.

Union & Logansport Railroad Company Promissory Notes, 1865-1867. SC 2736. One folder. Collection guide online. Construction on the Union & Logansport line began in 1863. It was built to link Union City, Randolph County, Indiana and Darke County, Ohio with Logansport in Cass County, Indiana further connecting the line with the Chicago & Great Eastern Railroad. With the Pennsylvania Railroad providing some of the financing, the line was completed in 1867. In February 1868, the Union & Logansport line was consolidated with the Columbus & Indiana Central and the Toledo, Logansport & Burlington to form the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central. This collection consists of three promissory notes for installment payments to the Union & Logansport Railroad Company. The notes lay out a payment plan in relation to the laying of track as well as other time factors.

Union Station (Indianapolis, Ind.) Collection, 1882-1996. M 0876, OMB 0143. Six manuscript boxes, two oversized manuscript boxes, two photograph folders, two color photograph folders, one oversized color photograph folder. Collection guide online. Originally built in 1853, Union Station had a dramatic effect on the growth and development of Indianapolis. The station prospered for decades serving up to 200 trains and thousands of people per day. The original depot was replaced in 1888 by a three-story Romanesque-Revival style structure know today as the Grand Hall. Union Station was one of the earliest attempts by a major American city to unite the passenger and express freight services of several competing railroad companies in a single convenient downtown terminal. In its original form, Union Station possessed a large iron train shed at street level. By the early 1900s, the surface-level traffic was getting entangled with growing vehicle traffic in the downtown area. The solution was to create an extensive new grade-separated right-of-way through downtown. As part of this project, the original iron train shed was replaced with a new, larger, poured concrete shed in 1916. The new shed offered twelve through passenger and two stub freight and express tracks. It’s this combination of 1888 headhouse with 1922 train shed which survives today. As rail travel declined throughout the 20th century, Union Station eventually became a dark, ghostly relic of a bygone era. By 1979, Union Station was largely vacant and served by only a few trains a day. In 1982, inspired by the success of adaptive reuse projects in cities like Boston’s Faneuil Hall area and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the city government stepped in and decided to try its hand at a similar project for Union Station. A local developer began a renovation project that turned the facility into an urban festival marketplace. The renovated Union Station opened its doors in 1986. The 1888 headhouse became the grand entrance to the complex, housing an upscale restaurant on the former concourse floor. The eastern half of the shed became a festival marketplace with specialty stores, bars and a food court, while the western half was converted into a hotel. Four tracks at the north and south ends were retained and stocked with old heavyweight Pullmans which were gutted to the shell and rebuilt with completely new interiors containing two rooms each. Faced with declining patronage and continued high maintenance costs, city officials shuttered the mall venture in 1996. Since then, the city has scrambled to find paying tenants for various parts of the property. The festival marketplace had been torn out, replaced by a go-cart track. The hotel is still in business, now in operation as a Crowne Plaza. The headhouse is essentially vacant, reduced to intermittent use as a ballroom floor for special events at the hotel. The collection consists of memorabilia from the Union Station in Indianapolis. There are accounts receivable ledgers, reports and other working papers from railroads that used the station. There are also brochures, maps, freight waybills, and rule books from railroad companies. The Pennsylvania Railroad has the most papers, including circulars, maps, brochures, and reports. There is some general railroad history material, primarily booklets, information about Pullman cars, and clippings. Information from when the station was renovated into a marketplace, such as photographs, mockups of the new interior, and flyers for one of the new establishments are included as well. Materials from the “Remember Union Station” program of 1986 are also present, these consist of correspondence, photographs and artifacts

Union Station (Indianapolis, Ind.) Records, 1852-1864. SC 2130. One folder. The collection contains photostats of seven items relating to the first Indianapolis Union Station, 1852-1864, including a front elevation of the building by Joseph Curzon and bill for same, two letters concerning the transportation of soldiers, a notice to sell no more tickets to Baltimore, a letter concerning the building of a bridge, and a bill.

W.H. Bass Photo Company Collection, ca. 1900­-ca. 1965. P 0130. Seventy-three manuscript boxes. Collection guide available in library. Digital images online. The W.H. Bass Photo Company Collection comprises approximately 200,000 items, including more than 144,000 black-and-white negatives and 20,000 photographic prints. Perhaps the company’s 1906 Indianapolis city directory advertisement best describes the surviving collection: “Photos of Any Thing, Any Where, Any Time.” Railroad-related images include: Interurban Railroads (2 folders); Railroad and Interurban Tracks (1 folder); Railroads (8 folders); Railroad Bridges (1 folder); Railroads – Illinois Central Railroad – Engines (1 folder); Railroads – Illinois Central Railroad – Pullman Accommodations (2 folders); Railroads – Illinois Central Railroad – Railroad Fair, 1948-1949 (2 folders); Railroads – Illinois Central Railroad – Publicity (2 folders); Streetcars (11 folders); Traction Railroads (12 folders); Train Wrecks (1 folder); Trains (10 folders); Trains – Interiors (1 folder); and Union Station – Indianapolis (7 folders).

Wetherhill, Thomas B. Deed, 1853. SC 2484. One folder. Collection guide online. The collection consists of one deed, April 1853, by Thomas B. Wetherhill to the Cincinnati Western Railroad Co. for two tracts of land in Hamilton County, Ohio. The railroad was planned to run from Cincinnati to New Castle.

Ziess, George Interurban Railroad Photographs, ca. 1925-ca. 1940, P 0503. Fourteen photograph boxes. Collection guide online. Although little is known about the originator of this collection, it is believed Mr. Ziess lived in New York State. The collection was “rescued” by a group of railroad collectors in 1990. The collection contains photographs of interurban railroads, primarily of the Indiana Railroad which acquired the Indiana Union Traction Company and the interurban operations of the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern line, as well as leasing the interurban operations of the ISC and Interstate (later Public Service of Indiana). Some of the images in the collection were unidentified and an attempt was made to correct this with the help of two volunteers. The collection contains over 4,000 copy photographs of interurban cars and lines. The collector gathered the photographs from many different sources and often the photographer’s names are stamped on the verso. The photographs were stored in 12 small file drawers and during processing the photographs were re-housed in archival boxes with the original order maintained. The manuscript material consists of index cars explaining the file philosophy of the collection, drawer index cars with the subjects and their arrangement, an inventory list supplied by the donors, and an alphabetical cross reference file. Categories established by the collector, Mr. Zeiss, were used to create the series separating the collection, these consist of: Manuscript materials, Indiana Railroad passenger cars, Indiana Railroad freight cars, Indiana Railroad city cars, Indiana Railroad accidents, Right of Way/Facilities, Miscellaneous cars, Outside Indiana, and Unidentified Right of Way and Miscellaneous.