The Lehigh Valley Railroad Company was one of the major anthracite railroads and formed a secondary trunk line between Jersey City, New Jersey and Buffalo, New York. Their records consist of minute books, corporate histories, voluntary reorganization plans, and an illustrated brochure on Claremont Terminal.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad company in the northeastern United States primarily used to haul anthracite coal from Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania, to Easton, Pennsylvania. This collection consists of twenty-two glass negatives and one box. Most photographs depict the rolling stock of Lehigh Valley Railroad dating to approximately some point between 1934 and 1948, based on engine numbers.

This collection consists of glass plate negatives and photographic copy prints which were made directly from the negatives. The images document an array of subjects, though the majority of the images are of locomotives, railroad cars, railroad stations, and other railroad infrastructure. Various landscape and cityscape photographs are also included. Where it is possible to identify the locations, the majority of images document sites in Pennsylvania, though photographs of sites in New York state and Ontario are also present.

Lukens Steel Company was a medium-sized producer of specialty steel products and one of the top three U.S. producers of steel plate. The Lukens Steel Company records documents all aspects of the business from the early nineteenth century through the 1970s.

The majority of files within this series consist of court hearings before the Interstate Commerce Commission related to rates on various freight commodities, tax cases, and other issues such as passenger fares. The rate cases apply to lines ranging from the Southwest, New England, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic, and include, among others, cases involving the Lehigh Valley RR and the Baltimore & Ohio, Langdon’s employers for much of the 1930s. Along with the Lehigh Valley and B&O hearings, Langdon served as general counsel in most of the other cases within the series.

Subseries B contains numerous House, Senate, and ICC hearings focusing on competitive shipping rates throughout the transportation industry with a particular emphasis on trucking and water rates. There are also several reports and studies detailing the effects of fluctuating railroad freight rates on other industries. Moreover, the subseries includes analysis on the effects of ICC regulations and the impact of new technologies and energy sources on railroads. Subseries C includes numerous speeches given by Langdon and other railroad executives cover subjects such as their opposition to competitive rate rules, general railroad operations, and the need for less restrictive regulations on railroads and other freight carriers.

Chartered in 1871, Reading Company was the holding company for the system of railroads, canals and coal mines assembled by the predecessor Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company between 1833 and 1896. The collection consists of the corporate records of the Reading Company (1871-1976), the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company (1833-1896), the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company (1896-1923), and 159 predecessors and subsidiaries.

William H. Rau (1855-1920) was prominent Philadelphia photographer. During the 1870s and 1880s, William H. Rau would become best known for his work photographing scenic views from around the world. In 1895, Rau received a commission from the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Once again traveling in a customized passenger car, Rau traveled on the Lehigh Valley Railroad’s lines from New York City to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania and upstate New York, documenting hundreds of landscapes along the way. Over two hundred images from this appointment would later be placed in Lehigh Valley Railroad terminals and public sites along the railroad’s reach.