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Story Bibliography
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The Railroad in Pennsylvania Bibliography
Further Reading

. "Altoona and the Pennsylvania Railroad.." Pennsylvania Legacies (May 2004).

Issue-length treatment with eight articles on the topic.

Albrecht, Harry P. Broad Street Station. Clifton Heights, Pa.: Self-published, 1972.

Pictorial story of PRR's palatial Philadelphia station 1881-1952.

Archer, Robert F. A History of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, "The Route of the Black Diamond.". Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North Books, 1977.

Standard history of LVRR.

Baer, Christopher. The Pennsylvania Railroad: Its Place in History 1846-1996. . Edited by Chuck Blardone Wayne, Pa: Philadelphia Chapter, Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 1996.

A summary history accompanied by a bibliography and resource guide.

Beaver, Roy C. Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad 1869-1969. Marino, Calif.: Golden West Books, 1969.

Company-sponsored history of Bandle by its vice president.

Bezilla, Michael. Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad 1895-1968. University Park, Pa. and London: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1980.

Scholarly, footnoted history of PRR's electrification program.

Blardone, Chuck, ed.. Lewiston and the Pennsylvania Railroad: From Moccasins to Steel Wheels. Altoona, Pa.: PRR Technical and Historical Society, 2000.

Illustrated description of PRR's first terminus (1849) and the role of railroading in Mifflin County.

Brown, John K. The Baldwin Locomotive Works 1888-1915: A Study in American Industrial Practice. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.

Description of the Philadelphia-based steam-locomotive builder, America's largest.

Coates, Wes. Electric Trains to Reading Terminal. Flanders, N.J.: Railroad Avenue Enterprises, 1990.

Account of Reading Company's electrification of its Philadelphia suburban operations.

Cupper, Dan. Crossroads of Commerce: The Pennsylvania Railroad Calendar Art of Grif Teller. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2003.

Illustrated history of PRR's advertising calendars.

Daughen, Joseph R. and Peter Binzen. The Wreck of the Penn Central. Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Co.,, 1971.

Earliest account of the Penn Central bankruptcy.

Dolzall, Gary W. and Stephen F. Dolzall. Diesels From Eddystone: The Story of Baldwin Diesel Locomotives. Milwaukee, Wis.: Kalmbach Publishing Co., 1984.

History of Baldwin's diesel-locomotive production, by writer-historian brothers.

Frailey, Fred. "Still the World’s Busiest Mountain Railroad.." Trains (January 1985).

Account of Conrail operations over the Allegheny ridge.

Grant, H. Roger. Erie Lackawanna: Death of an American Railroad, 1938-1992. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1994.

Account of the merger, bankruptcy and dissolution of the Erie and Lackawanna railroads.

Gunnarsson, Robert L. The Story of the Northern Central Railway. Sykesville, Md: Greenberg Publishing Co., 1991.

History of Pennsylvania's only north-to-south border-to-border route.

Hare, Jay V. History of the Reading: The Collected Articles of Mr. Jay V. Hare, Onetime Secretary of the Reading Company. Philadelphia: John Henry Strock, 1966.

Originally published in serial form 1909-1914.

Hartzler, John G. The Ol'Hook and Eye: A History of the Kishacoquillas Valley Railroad. Belleville, Pa.: self-published, 1988.

Illustrated history of the nine-mile-long KVRR, presided over by one man, a physician, from start to finish, 1892-1940.

Harwood, Herbert H. Jr. Royal Blue Line. Sykesville, Md.: Greenberg Publishing Co., Inc., 1990.

History of Baltimore and Ohio's New York-Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington line by one of the nation's pre-eminent railroad historians.

Helmer, William F. O and W: The Long Life and Slow Death of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway. Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North, 1959.

History of the hapless NYO and W, a 500-mile-long anthracite carrier that was among the first major American railroads to be abandoned.

Hilton, George W. The Ma and Pa: A History of the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad, Second Edition. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Account of one of Pennsylvania's most colorfully named short lines by a prominent professor and economic historian.

Holton, James L. The Reading Railroad: History of a Coal Age Empire Vol. 1, the Nineteenth Century and Vol. 2, the Twentieth Century. Laury’s Station, Pa: Garrigues House Publishers, 1989 and 1992.

Independent history of the Reading by a former Associated Press reporter.

Kennedy, Miles C. and George H. Burgess. Centennial History of the Pennsylvania Railroad 1846-1946. N.P.: Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 1949.

Company-sponsored 835-page account with all the weaknesses of that genre–dry writing, uncritical and one-sided viewpoint–but is the only attempt to date at a comprehensive review of PRR history

Kulp, Randolph L., ed. Railroads in the Lehigh River Valley. Allentown, Pa: Lehigh Valley Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, 1979.

Spiral-bound guide to the history of railroads around Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton.

Loeb, Betty Wagner. Altoona and the Pennsylvania Railroad: Between a Roar and a Whimper. Altoona, Pa.: Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 1999.

Accounts of the PRR's impact and influence in Altoona and Blair County.

McCullough, Hax and Mary Brignano. The Search for Safety: A History of Railroad Signals and the People Who Made Them. Pittsburgh: Union Switch and Signal Division, American Standard Inc., 1981.

Company-sponsored history of signaling.

McLean, Harold. Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. San Marino, Calif.: Golden West Books, 1980.

Company-sponsored centennial history, written by its chief lawyer.

Meader, Stephen W. The Long Trains Roll. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1944.

Juvenile fiction based on Nazi attempt to sabotage PRR's Horseshoe Curve.

Morgan, David P. "World’s Busiest Mountain Railroad.." Trains (April 1957).

Account of Pennsylvania Railroad operations over the Allegheny ridge.

Pietrak, Paul. Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway. North Boston, N.Y.: self-published, 1992.

Pictorial account of a western Pennsylvania regional carrier that was merged into Baltimore and Ohio in 1934.

Rainey, Lee and Frank Kyper. East Broad Top. San Marino, Calif.: Golden West Books, 1982.

Illustrated and well-researched standard history of one of Pennsylvania's best-known and most celebrated short-line coal railroads.

Shaughnessy, Jim. Delaware and Hudson. Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North Books, 1967.

History of one of Pennsylvania's earliest railroads.

Taber, Thomas T. Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in the Nineteenth Century. Muncy, Pa.: Thomas T. Taber III, 1977.

First half of an exhaustive history of D L and W.

Taber, Thomas T. III. Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century. Muncy, Pa.: Thomas T. Taber III, 1980.

Sequel to above, completed by father-son historians.

Taber, Thomas T. III. Railroads of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia and Atlas. Muncy, Pa: self-published, 1987.

Although self-printed and difficult to read, this county-by-county compilation of railroad construction in Pennsylvania represents years of research.

Treese, Lorett. Railroads of Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2002.

A wide-ranging look at history, culture, tourist lines, and rails-to-trails efforts.

Westhaeffer, Paul J. History of the Cumberland Valley Railroad 1835-1919. Washington, D.C.: Washington Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, 1979.

Thoroughly researched account of one of Pennsylvania's earliest regional railroads.


Web Guide



Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site http://www.nps.gov/alpo/

National Park Service site between Altoona and Johnstown.

Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum http://www.railroadcity.com/

Museum dedicated to telling the story of life in a railroad city where 15,000 men worked in the shops. Also covers the Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark.

Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society http://www.bellefontetrain.org/

Centre County tourist railroad with a stop at a historic iron-making village.

Bridges and Tunnels of Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, Pa http://pghbridges.com/index.htm

Exhaustively researched field notes for highway and railroad engineering features in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

CSX Transportation (freight railroad) http://www.csx.com/

The official site of the second-biggest rail freight service provider in Pennsylvania –after Norfolk Southern

East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company http://www.ebtrr.com/

A rare narrow-gauge line, EBT is one of the most historic surviving coal railroads in America; now operated as a steam-powered tourist railroad, with much original equipment, in Huntingdon County.

Erie Lackawanna Historical Society http://www.erielackhs.org/

Covers the history of the Erie, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and the merged Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

Hagley Museum and Library http://digital.hagley.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16038coll12

This comprehensive history of the Pennsylvania Railroad was prepared for the company's 1946 centennial.

History and Heritage of Civil Engineering http://live.asce.org/hh/index.mxml?versionChecked=true

Site dedicated to engineering aspects of this railroad landmark north of Scranton.

Keystone Crossings http://kc.pennsyrr.com/

Privately run site covers all aspects of Pennsylvania Railroad history and culture, including model railroading.

Lehigh Valley Railroad Historical Society http://www.lvrrhs.org/history/index.htm

This site provides a history of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which once linked New York and Buffalo via Allentown and Wilkes-Barre, as well as links to museums and other information. 

Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad Historical Society http://www.maparailroadhist.org/

This group is dedicated to preserving the history of this short-line railroad that once connected York and Baltimore.

National Railway Historical Society http://www.nrhs.com/

Based in Philadelphia, this enthusiasts" group has more than a dozen Pennsylvania chapters.

Norfolk Southern Corporation http://www.nscorp.com/nscorp/index.jsp

Official site of the largest provider of rail freight service in Pennsylvania.

Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad http://octrr.clarion.edu/

Tourist railroad that runs through a state park and interprets the oil industry's beginnings in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society http://www.prrths.com/

Organization dedicated entirely to PRR history, equipment, operations, and culture.

Pennsylvania State Archives http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/state_archive...

The state archives tower in Harrisburg is repository for many PRR records.

Pennsylvania's Engineering Marvels http://www.gribblenation.com/papics/eng/kinzua.html

Privately maintained site in the history of the Kinzua Viaduct, with photographs and hotlinks to related websites.

Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Historical Society http://www.plerrhs.org/

Dedicated to preserving the history of a railroad (now merged into CSX) that served the steel industry.

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/

This state-owned collection of rolling stock, memorabilia, photographs, and books is based at Strasburg.

Railway and Locomotive Historical Society http://rlhs.org/

Founded in 1921, North America's oldest railroad history organization.

Reading Company Technical and Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/

Based in Leesport, this group is centered on the history of the Reading Railroad and owns many former-Reading locomotives and cars.

Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, Pennsylvania http://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm

National Park Service museum on site of former Lackawanna Railroad roundhouse in Scranton.

Strasburg Rail Road http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/

The nation's most successful steam tourist railroad is situated in Strasburg, across the street from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

The Broad Way, A Pennsylvania Railroad Homepage http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/

Privately maintained website devoted to the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The Erie Lackawanna Collection at The University of Akron http://www3.uakron.edu/archival/ErieLack/erie1.htm

Repository for many holdings of the Erie, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and Erie Lackawanna archives.

The Friends of the East Broad Top, Inc http://www.febt.org/

Volunteer organization that provides help to preserve the East Broad Top.

Train Collectors Association Strasburg, Pennsylvania http://www.traincollectors.org/

National group of toy train collectors, founded in Yardley, Pa. in 1954, and now headquartered in Strasburg.

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