Finding Aids

The Jackson and Sharp Company, a manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, was incorporated in Delaware on February 24, 1869, as the successor to the partnership of Jackson & Sharp. This collection consists of blueprint floor plans for eleven cars built between 1901 and 1905, primarily for narrow-gauge lines in Maine.

The Jackson and Sharp Company, a manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, was incorporated in Delaware on February 24, 1869, as the successor to the partnership of Jackson & Sharp. The drawings comprise materials salvaged from the plant. Most are detail drawings of brake rigging or of parts such as couplers, locks, ventilators, and plumbing fixtures. The projects include standard and narrow-gauge railroad cars and streetcars for both foreign and domestic customers. The materials date from 1895 to 1930.

Kenneth A. Browne (1905-1985) was the research director attached to the president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway system. This collection consists of his files and documents the history of the development of Train "X" from its beginnings in 1945 to the point at which the New York Central's "Xplorer" was introduced in 1956.

Raymond Loewy (1893–1986) was one of the most well known industrial designers during the middle decades of the twentieth century. In 1934, he signed a contract with the Pennsylvania Railroad that launched a two-decade relationship with the "Standard Railroad of the World." Loewy's work for the Pennsy did much to establish his reputation as the leading figure in the century's most noteworthy American design style: streamlining. This collection consists of twelve presentation renderings executed in tempera on illustration board. The mats bear Loewy's signature, although the work was actually executed by others. The renderings generally conform, with slight variations, to photographs that show the work as actually built.

William Liseter Austin (1852-1932) was an executive of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. Baldwin Locomotive Works was a manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 until 1972. The papers include correspondence, most of which is technical in nature; there is also a vertical file on the construction, sale, and parts of locomotives; specifications; sketches and sketchbooks; and engineering drawings. A very small portion of the collection covers Austin's personal affairs.