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The records of New York Central subsidiaries (boxes 60, 76-154) are arranged alphabetically by railroad name. The records vary in quantity and quality, but documentation of most of these railroads is meager at best. The amount of material for individual companies ranges from one item to fifteen feet. Often the only records we have for a particular railroad are articles of incorporation or merger and consolidation agreements. Most railroads, however, are represented by one or more of the following types of material: board of directors' minutes, annual reports, reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission, operating statements and other financial records, mortgages, stock registers, and correspondence, usually of the secretary or treasurer. Although minutes are for the most part routine, recording elections of officers and resolutions passed, with little or no commentary, occasionally one finds more valuable information. For example, minutes of the Michigan Air Line Railroad dating from the 1870s contain an interesting discussion of competition with the Michigan Central Railroad.

The earliest records in this subgroup are minutes of the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad, which run from 1836 to 1851. Among the railroads that are somewhat better documented than most are the Mahoning Coal Railroad Company, the Lake Erie and Pittsburgh Railway, and the Chicago River and Indiana Railroad Company. The Michigan Central Railroad (boxes 126-140) constitutes the largest group of records among the New York Central subsidiaries, measuring 15 feet and dating back from 1846 to 1960. Records of the Michigan Central Railroad, which was incorporated in 1846, include minutes (1846-1959), correspondence of the secretary and treasurer, financial and legal files, and some early correspondence of the Pension Department concerning employee relations.

By contrast, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad (boxes 118-120), also a subsystem of the New York Central, is sparsely documented, containing only four feet of records, but including a 45-year run of board of directors' minutes (1869-1914). The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad was incorporated in 1869.