This series is divided into nine subseries. Published histories of the Pennsylvania Railroad constitute the first subseries, Histories. The remaining subseries are arranged alphabetically.
The second and third subseries are annual reports of the parent company, 1847-1966, and of the parent and its subsidiaries, 1905-1916, 1918-1935, and 1937. Bylaws and Organization consists of several sets of bylaws from the period 1893 to 1922.
The General Manager - Western Region subseries (boxes 184-191) includes correspondence, agreements, specifications, plans, maps, photographs, and legal papers related to the Muskegon to Milwaukee car ferry. Also in this subseries are Locality Files of the Grand Rapids Division, consisting primarily of correspondence, memoranda, and agreements having to do with improvements or abandonment of equipment, facilities, and stations in Michigan and Indiana towns and cities.
The Miscellaneous subseries (box 183; listed as part of description for box 191) contains timetables, a 1956 hiring manual, and a 1946 report, "The Growth of Highway Traffic in Michigan." The Superintendent--Toledo Division subseries (boxes 192-195) consists of locality files for Detroit, Toledo, and various Ohio towns and subject files containing studies, maps, diagrams, rules, instructions, and other material.
The Vice-President and General Counsel subseries (boxes 195-197) is comprised of the legal department's car ferry files, which include some photographs, and miscellaneous files including reports, agreements, a court opinion, and a history of the Eastern Division of the Central Region, Pennsylvania Railroad.
Pennsylvania Railroad Company: Subsidiaries (boxes 198-247) is the final subseries and contains minutes, ledgers, journals, annual reports, and, occasionally, correspondence of railroads in which the Pennsylvania held a majority interest. Of these, the richest files are those of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, incorporated in 1855, and the Mackinac Transportation Company. Records of the latter are concerned with the company's applications to the Interstate Commerce Commission to abandon car ferry service; some photographs are included.