Finding Aids

A collection amassed by a retired conductor successively employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Penn Central, Conrail and Amtrak. It consists partly of company publications and documents collected on the job, and partly of advertisements, timetables, brochures, maps and other railroadiana from many different companies bought from dealers and other collectors. It is particularly useful for the Amtrak manuals relating to things like consumer satisfaction, employee health and safety and equipment maintenance.

The Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) was incorporated in October 1974. It was formed under the auspices of the United States Railway Association, a quasi-public agency established for the purpose of solving the problems of bankrupt railroads in the Northeast and Midwest. The portfolio contains sixty-eight examples of proof copies of advertisements created by the advertising agency of Ogilvy & Mather, Inc. (later Ogilvy & Mather Partners, Inc.), between Conrail's start up in April 1976 and 1990. There are also two pages of proxy instructions that appear to date from the first CSX takeover bid in 1997.