Penn Central Transportation Company Records, 1835-1981 (majority within 1835-1960)

Summary

Creator:

Penn Central Transportation Company.

Abstract:

Records of railroad companies, mainly Michigan lines, absorbed with the merger of the New York Central Railroad Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company into the Penn Central Transportation Company.

Extent:

273 linear feet
144 oversize volumes

Language:

English.

Call Number:

87400 BB.1 Bb.1

Authors:

Finding aid prepared by: Karen Mason and Catherine Arnott

Background

Scope and Content:

The nature of the records of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad reflects the recent history of the two companies. When the Penn Central Transportation Company was formed in 1968, the offices of New York Central--the junior merger partner--were dismantled and only a small percentage of records retained. Therefore, the extant New York Central records consist almost entirely of minutes and account books of a routine nature. By contrast, records of the Pennsylvania Railroad were relatively undisturbed by the merger and are today richer and more varied than those of the New York Central. The Penn Central records are most useful for their documentation of the growth of the railroad industry. They depict an industry in constant flux due to the opportunities for success offered by a burgeoning industry and the intense competition among railroads that resulted. A single volume of records often contains minutes of two or more railroads, reflecting either the failure of the original company or its takeover by or merger with another company.

Besides documenting the history of individual railroads and of the railroad industry as a whole, the Penn Central records are a good source on the economic and commercial development of Michigan and neighboring states, and provide insight into the rise and decline of various towns along the railroad. Minutes of New York Central subsidiaries, for example, contain discussions of negotiations with town officials over the proposed construction of tracks, bridges, depots, and the like. Similarly, the locality files in the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad records consist of correspondence and memoranda regarding improvements to, or the abandonment of, stations in small towns in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. This series also contains substantial correspondence files on Toledo, Detroit, and Grand Rapids.

Labor and social historians will find the Penn Central records useful in illuminating the lives of workers and in documenting relations between management and workers. More than 40 feet of labor relations files of the Ann Arbor Railroad include agreements between the company and unions, grievances, petitions concerning work rules and pay, wage and hour schedules, and circular letters. There are small series of labor relations files of other companies scattered throughout the collection. Researchers will also find information on the workplace and working conditions in the locality files of the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad; these files contain, for example, memoranda concerning clubrooms and sleeping quarters for workers in city depots.

There is very little technical material in the Penn Central records; photographs are likewise scarce. The most notable exceptions are in the car ferry files, found in three subseries of the Pennsylvania Railroad records: General Manager--Western Region, Vice-President and General Counsel, and Subsidiaries: Mackinac Transportation Company. The car ferry files include maps, plans, specifications, blueprints, and some photographs.

A large portion of the collection consists of records of small railroads that ran through Michigan or were based in Michigan. Records of these companies are brief, often including nothing more than articles of incorporation, a few pages or a volume or two of minutes, and perhaps some annual reports and financial records. Although many of these railroads were subsidiaries of either the Michigan Central Railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, or the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, they have been filed under the parent company of which the sub-system was a part (New York Central, Pennsylvania, or Ann Arbor Railroad) to promote ease of access. Thus, for example, records of the Canada Southern Bridge Company, a subsidiary of Michigan Central Railroad, are filed under New York Central Railroad, the parent company of Michigan Central. Researchers uncertain of the parentage of a particular railroad should look in the subsidiaries section of the contents list under Ann Arbor, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Railroads. The railroads in each of these subsidiaries sections are arranged in alphabetical order.

Brief histories of individual railroads can be found in the "Green Books"--the annual reports of the New York Central Railroad Company and its subsidiaries. There are several published histories of the Pennsylvania Railroad in boxes 183 and boxes 155-157 and on microfilm in box 60.

A card file giving the date of incorporation, name changes, and parentage of subsidiaries of the Michigan Central Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad has been photocopied and can be found in box 1 of the collection. This folder also contains a list of records in the Public Archives of Canada of Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway system properties in the United States. Finally, there is a section of Aids, Gifts, Grants and Donations to Railroads Including Outline of Development and Successions in Titles to Railroads in Michigan by the Michigan Railroads Commission (1919).

Information in this finding aid concerning the histories of the various railroads was drawn from the collection itself, from sources compiled by the project archivists, and from the following published sources: William Frederick Dunbar All Aboard! A History of Railroads in Michigan (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969) and Henry E. Riggs, The Ann Arbor Railroad Fifty Years Ago (Ann Arbor Railroad Company, 1947?)

Biographical / Historical:

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was formed in 1846 and expanded rapidly in the 1860s and 1870s, eventually controlling over 800 corporations. The New York Central Railroad Company was organized in 1853 and merged with the Hudson River Railroad in 1869 to form the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad; in 1914 the name was again changed to the New York Central Railroad Company.

The Penn Central Transportation Company was formed in 1968 through the merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads. The company did not prosper and went bankrupt in 1970. The company was reorganized in 1971 with the help of the Federal Government and the creation of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK) which assumed long distance passenger service and in 1976 with the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) which took over the viable parts of Penn Central and five other bankrupt rail lines. Penn Central was reorganized as the Penn Central Corporation in 1978; it liquidated most of its rail subsidiaries and property and became a general holding company with subsidiaries in energy, electronics, equipment, manufacture, and real estate.

Acquisition Information:

The Penn Central Transportation Company records (donor no. 7310 ) include the records of hundreds of companies that were initially independent but were eventually absorbed by the New York Central Railroad Company or the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The records were acquired by the Bentley Library as part of the Penn Central Railroad Appraisal Project. This project was funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and lasted from April 1, 1984 to October 15, 1986. The project's team of archivists appraised the records of Penn Central and distributed them to seven repositories: the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Hagley Museum and Library, the New York Public Library, the New Jersey State Archives, Temple University, Penn State University, and the Bentley Historical Library.

The records of the Pennsylvania Railroad were divided among the seven repositories on a roughly geographical basis, with the Bentley Library receiving records of all companies that were subsidiaries of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, a subsystem of the Pennsylvania Railroad. About one-third of the Grand Rapids and Indiana subsidiaries' lines ran within the boundaries of Michigan.

The New York Central Railroad records were distributed in a similar fashion, with the Bentley receiving records of the Michigan Central Railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and their subsidiaries.

The Bentley also received the records of the Ann Arbor Railroad, an independently-operated company in which the Pennsylvania Railroad held a majority interest, and the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad. The Ann Arbor Railroad was formed in 1895 through the reorganization of the Toledo, Ann Arbor, and North Michigan Railroad. The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad was created in 1905 through a series of consolidations of Ohio and Michigan railroad lines. Henry Ford purchased the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton in 1920 and sold it in 1929 to Pennroad, a holding company that was owned principally by Pennsylvania Railroad stockholders. The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton continued to be operated separately, but its purchase by Pennroad assured that the Pennsylvania Railroad's interests would be protected.

Processing information:

Boxes 67, 78-79, 83, 85-86, 134, 141, 158-164, 201, 214, and 231 were eliminated during reprocessing.

Arrangement:

The Penn Central Transportation Company records date from 1835 to 1981. They measure 273 linear feet plus 144 oversize volumes. Included are 28 reels of microfilm received with the paper records. The records are divided into five subgroups: Ann Arbor Railroad Company; Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Company; New York Central Railroad Company; Pennsylvania Railroad Company; and Miscellaneous Railroad Records.

Summary Contents List

1. Ann Arbor Railroad Company [boxes 1-59; 269-271; 274]
   • Administrative Records [Boxes 1-7; 269]
     • Annual Reports [box 1]
     • Minutes: Board of Directors and Executive Committee [boxes 2-7; 269; 274]
   • Financial Records [boxes 7-16; 270-271]
   • Legal and Other Records [boxes 16-17; 271]
   • Labor Relations Files [boxes 18-59]
   • Ann Arbor Railroad Company: Subsidiaries [boxes 61-66; 272; 274]
2. Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Company [boxes 66-69; 274-275]
3. New York Central Railroad Company
   • New York Central Records (prior to November 1, 1869) [box 70]
   • New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company (November 1869-December 1914)
     • Annual Reports [box 70]
     • Minutes of Board of Directors and Executive Committee [box 60]
   • New York Central Records (following name change from New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company in December 1914)
     • Annual Meeting of Shareowners: Reports [box 71]
     • Annual Reports [boxes 60, 71-72]
     • Reports to Interstate Commerce Commission [boxes 72-75]
     • Annual Reports (Green Books) [boxes 254-267]
   • New York Central Railroad Company: Subsidiaries [boxes 60, 76-154; 276-290; oversize volumes 1-75 and 142]
     • Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company [boxes 118-120; oversize volumes 24-27, 48]
     • Michigan Central Railroad Company [boxes 126-140, 287-289; oversize volumes 28-35, 37-47]
4. Pennsylvania Railroad Company
   • Histories [boxes 60, 155-157, 183]
   • Annual Reports: Pennsylvania Railroad and Controlled Lines East and West of Pittsburgh [boxes 172-182]
   • Bylaws and Organization [box 183]
   • General Manager - Western Region [boxes 184-191]
   • Miscellaneous [box 183]
   • Superintendent - Toledo Division [boxes 192-195]
   • Vice-President and General Counsel [boxes 195-197]
   • Pennsylvania Railroad Company: Subsidiaries [boxes 198-247; 290; oversize volumes 76-141]
     • Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad/Railway Company [boxes 213-229; oversize volumes 94-128, 135-141]
5. Miscellaneous Railroad Records [boxes 248-253; 290]

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Business records.
Ferries -- Great Lakes.
Railroads -- Michigan -- Employees.
Railroads -- United States.
Railroads -- Michigan.
Ferries.
Interiors.
Railroads -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee.
Railroads -- Michigan -- Manistee.

Formats:

Photographs.

Names:

Ann Arbor Railroad Company.
Bay View, Little Traverse and Mackinac Rail Road Company.
Canada Southern Bridge Company.
Canada Southern Railway Company.
Caro and Lake Huron Railroad Company.
Chicago River and Indiana Railroad Company.
Detroit and Bay City Railroad Company.
Detroit Manufacturers' Railroad Company.
Detroit, Monroe & Toledo Short Line Railway.
Detroit River Tunnel Company.
Detroit Terminal Railroad Company.
Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton Railroad.
Detroit Union Railroad, Depot & Station Company.
Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company.
Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad Company.
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway.
Mackinac Transportation Company.
Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad Company.
Manistique, Marquette and Northern Railroad Company.
Michigan Air Line Railroad Company.
Michigan Central Railroad Company.
Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad Company.
Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company.
New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company.
New York Central Railroad Company.
Pennsylvania Railroad.
Traverse City Railroad Company.
Western Transit Company.
Wisconsin and Michigan Transportation Company.

Places:

Manistee (Mich.)
Milwaukee (Wis.)