Collection Development -- Railroad History Collection

The Railroad History Collection consists of over 50 individual sets of papers, records and collections of a variety of archival materials related to southern New England's railroad heritage, dating from the 1830s and the birth of railroad transportation in the United States to the 1980s. The materials are particularly strong in representing the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, better known as the New Haven Railroad, which was the predominant railroad in the region from 1872 to 1969. Coverage is strong for the New Haven Railroad's predecessor lines, particularly the Central New England Railway, the New York & New England Railroad, and the Old Colony Railroad.

The largest and most significant railroad collection is the corporate records of the New Haven Railroad, which consist of administrative, real estate, legal and financial files as well as an extensive array of financial ledgers and board of director's minutes for virtually every predecessor railroad, including street railways, that merged with or were leased by the New Haven Railroad. The collection also holds an almost complete collection of right-of-way track maps of the NHRR system and other maps and railroad station drawings of properties and land owned by the railroad. Also included are many thousands of photographs of locomotives, railroad stations, crossings, equipment and personnel. There are several collections of research files compiled by railroad fans and historians.

The railroad history collections are often used in tandem with the business, CHPC, Connecticut history, personal papers and organizational records, and political collections. More information about the railroad history collections, including online exhibits, can be found at http://railroads.uconn.edu/. Digital images of locomotives and railroad track maps can be found at http://images.lib.uconn.edu/. Over 2000 ph otographs of Connecticut railroad stations can be found in Connecticut History Online, at http://www.cthistoryonline.org./

The Dodd Research Center collects:

Historical materials related to the New Haven Railroad and its predecessor railroad lines
On a selective basis materials related to other historical southern New England railroads and the successors of the New Haven Railroad, including Penn Central, Conrail, and Amtrak
Photographs, particularly from the post-steam era [1950s-60s], and maps

For inquiries about the collection or possible donations please contact the curator, Laura Katz Smith or (860) 486-2516.

This page is maintained by L. Smith