Finding Aids

Incorporated in 1830, Beaver Meadow Railroad & Coal Company transported anthracite coal mined in Beaver Meadow to Philadelphia markets. The company merged into the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1864. Their records consist of stock transfer books in two volumes, dated 1833 to 1846 and 1861 to 1863, which list transactions of the company shares and changes in ownership.

The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey operated a main line between New York and Scranton with numerous branches within the state of New Jersey. It was one of the more important anthracite-carrying railroads, with important commuter and terminal facilities in the New York area. The collection primarily consists a set of incomplete minutes of parent, predecessor, and subsidiary companies.

The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad was one of the largest and most prosperous anthracite mining and transporting companies in Pennsylvania. Their records consist of minutes of the DL&W and its two direct predecessors.

The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a major anthracite mining and transporting firm in eastern Pennsylvania between 1822 and 1954. This collection consists of one outbound letterpress copybook dating from 1844 to 1848 of Edwin A. Douglas (1805-1859), Chief Engineer & Superintendent; three outbound letterbooks of William Reed, Chief Clerk at Mauch Chunk, dating from 1852 to 1859; thirteen outbound letterbooks of George Ruddle (1828-1904), Chief Clerk, Treasurer, and Real Estate Agent, dating from 1860 to 1878; and four inbound letterbooks of George Ruddle dating from 1870 to 1874. The letterbooks contain the correspondence of some of the chief field officers at Mauch Chunk, much of it regular exchanges with the officers at the Philadelphia headquarters.

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.

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.

Vulcan Iron Works was a producer of mine and industrial locomotives, mine hoists, and other colliery machinery. Vulcan's locomotives were designed for mine, logging, plantation and factory work, including steam, electric and battery models for underground haulage. A large number were sold to strip mine and earth moving contractors. The majority of the collection consists of original negatives (glass plate and film) dating from about the 1880s to 1943. These are builder's photographs, recording the construction of locomotives and machinery, although there are some photographs of the plants themselves (interiors and exteriors), employees at work, the town of Wilkes-Barre, and equipment installed and in service, particularly at collieries in the anthracite fields. About half the pictures are of locomotives and the rest are of mining equipment. There are also 1,340 negatives of drawings and plans, chiefly of mining equipment hoists. The collection also contains about 2,400 copy photographs made to preserve the images on original nitrate negatives which had extensively deteriorated. The collection is organized into five series: Railroad; Mining and manufacturing equipment; Factory, mill, and shop views; Drawings; and People.

Vulcan Iron Works produced mine and industrial locomotives, mine hoists, and other colliery machinery. Vulcan's locomotives were designed for mine, logging, plantation, and factory work, including steam, electric, and battery models for underground haulage. A large number were sold to strip mine and earthmoving contractors. This small salesman sample album of industrial locomotives contains fifty factory photographs of 4-ton and 20-ton internal combustion engine locomotives for mining companies, brick and concrete manufacturers, logging companies, and others. The images are of locomotives (mostly side views), either built or serviced by Vulcan Iron Works between 1923 and 1928.

The Wurts family were involved in the anthracite coal industry. In 1823 four brothers: Maurice Wurts (1783-1854), William Wurts (1788-1858), Charles Stewart Wurts (1790–1859), and John Wurts (1792-1861) founded the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company originally to mine anthracite coal and transport the resource to New York. The company built the Delaware and Hudson Canal and later became the Delaware and Hudson Railway. The Wurts family papers were collected by John Sparhawk Wurts (1876-1958) and reflect both family papers and business records.