The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) first began operations on May 1, 1971, following the passage of the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970. Through the passage of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, Congress authorized the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (NECIP), a comprehensive program with the goal of improving intercity rail passenger service between Washington, D.C., through New York City, to Boston, the most heavily used passenger train corridor in the United States. Records related to Amtrak's involvement in the NECIP include preliminary and ongoing technical and financial reports, leases and agreements, as well as minutes, agendas, and other working project files.

Edward R. Stickel (1928-2008) worked for the Penn Central Transportation Company, Amtrak, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). His collection consists of copies of official documents relating to the commuter rail operations of SEPTA and its predecessors.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was the largest railroad in the United States in terms of corporate assets and traffic from the last quarter of the nineteenth century until the decline of the northeast's and midwest's dominance of manufacturing. These records provide nearly comprehensive coverage of corporate matters for the entire time span and reasonably complete coverage of the functional departments from 1920 to 1950, with less coverage from 1893 to 1920 and from 1950 to 1968.