Views of steam locomotives from various railroads, including the Lehigh Valley Railroad, Reading Railroad, Atlantic City Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Pennsylvania Railroad, B. & O. Railroad, and the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, including some built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Also views of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania and surrounding areas, probably from the 1880s and 1890s, including scenic views. Also views of railroad stations in Pennsylvania.

None of the negatives are captioned, but some have been identified. The majority of the identifiable locations in these photographs are places in Pennsylvania, though a small number of photographs from New York state and Ontario, Canada are also present. Many locations are not identified. Several of these pictures have been identified from other sources as having been taken by photographers William Rau or James Zellner, but may not be the original negatives, as many negatives appear to be copies of originals. Most images do not have a known photographer.

All of the photographs in this collection are also undated, though some of them can be assigned approximate dates based on information available. Most of the images in this collection appear to have been captured between approximately 1860 and 1950.

The Rolling stock series covers images of rolling stock (locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, cabooses, etc.). Railway companies represented in this series includes the Atlantic City Railroad Company; Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company; Central Railroad of New Jersey; Delaware and Hudson Railroad Corporation; Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company; Erie Railroad Company; Grand Trunk Railway; Lehigh Valley Railroad Company; New York Central Railroad Company; Pennsylvania Railroad; Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Co.; Reading Company; New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad; and the Utica, Ithaca, and Elmira Railroad.

Railroad station series documents railroad stations, all located in Pennsylvania. These stations include Philadelphia's Chelten Avnue Station and Chestnut Hill Station (both operated by Reading Co.) and Wingohocking Station. Stations outside of Philadelphia include Jenkintown Station, Lehigh Valley Railroad stations in Glen Onoko and Mauch Chunk, and Bethlehem's Union Station.

Railroad tracks and bridges includes photographs of railroad infrastructure such as railroad yards, tracks, tunnels, and bridges. Most of the images in this series are undated and unidentified.

William H. Rau photographs series mostly photographs taken during an 1895 commission with the Lehigh Valley Railroad. 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. One photograph, however, is of Rau's photographer train used during a similar, earlier commission with the Pennsylvania Railroad.

James Zellner photographs series document scenes in and around his hometown of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania.

Various locations series includes a variety of cityscapes and landscapes, most of which are undated and unidentified. The few identifiable locations include a photograph of Niagara Falls, an image of Chestnut Hill Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and two images of the S.S. Robert W.E. Bunsen in Welland Canal in Ontario Canada. Some images in this series may be attributable to William H. Rau or James Zellner, but cannot be verified as such at this time.