No restrictions.
Pennsylvania Railroad Glass Plate Negative Collection, 1907-1917, AIS.2012.03, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotive Negative Collection, ca. 1935-1940, AIS.2014.03, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotive Negative Collection, ca. 1935-1940, AIS.2014.03, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), an American Class I railroad, was founded in 1846. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted a charter to the Pennsylvania Railroad to build a private rail line that would connect Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. For the first half of the twentieth century, the PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S., and was at one time the largest publicly traded corporations in the world. By the 1920s it carried about three times the traffic (measured by ton-miles of freight) as other railroads of comparable length, operating over 10,515 miles of rail line.
At a time when the city of Pittsburgh was emerging as one of the greatest industrial centers of the world, the three primary railroad lines which converged within the city were all owned by separate companies. This resulted in numerous difficulties when it came to coordinating operations between the private railroads, and proved to be a hindrance to further economic growth. Thus in 1920, the Pennsylvania Railroad took over operation of all the western railroads (the previously consolidated Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad Company, and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company), as well as the former "Lines East of Pittsburgh," to form a unified Pennsylvania Railroad Company. This unified company emerged as the foremost railroad company in the United States, and, while its headquarters were located in Philadelphia, the city of Pittsburgh rapidly became its most important hub.
Throughout its 122 year history, the Pennsylvania Railroad was responsible for pioneering many operating procedures and inventions which have since become standards within the railroad industry; two such examples which remain industry standards include the vestibulated passenger train, and the use of position-light signals. Moreover, the PRR was truly unique among American railroad companies, as it designed and built most of its steam locomotive classes itself in its Altoona Works. The PRR is believed to have been the fourth most prolific U.S. builder of steam locomotives.
Ultimately, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its rival, the New York Central Railroad, in 1968 to form the Penn Central Transportation Company, which was later transferred to Conrail in 1976. In 1999, the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation acquired Conrail in approximately equal portions. Norfolk Southern now owns most of the former Pennsylvania Railroad, including the Harrisburg to Pittsburgh segment of the old Pennsy Main Line across Pennsylvania. Amtrak currently owns the remaining segments east of Harrisburg.
Gift of Ken Kobus in October 2014.
The Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive photographs were exchanged and collected sometime between 1935-1940 by railroad fans, some of whom may have been employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The photos depict locomotives of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at various locations along the company's extensive track lines, notably at the Conway Yard north of Pittsburgh and freight yards in Columbus (Oh.), Erie (Pa.), and Camden (NJ). The majority of trains pictured are steam locomotives built between 1910-1930 by the Pennsylvania Railroad in their Altoona and Juniata shops or by nearby subcontractors such as Baldwin Locomotive Works. There are three negatives depicting a Baltimore & Ohio Line Locomotive in Cumberland, Maryland.
Photographs are arranged in acid-free envelopes by locomotive number.
The actual lineage of the photographs is difficult to trace. They have been held by multiple people prior to them being donated to the ASC by Ken Kobus in October 2014. Kobus received them from railroad fan Joe Jack, who received them from Vince McDonaugh, who received them from his father, Frank McDonaugh. Both McDonaughs worked for J&L at Aliquippa and are not known to have an assoication with the PRR. The collection images were in envelopes addressed to Donald B. Horner, a railroad fan and/or rail photographer. Envelopes originally housing the negatives in the collection contain notes as to which images were included and which images of his were being requested. It is very difficult to verify if he was the photographer of all of the images.
Horner and his family have been traced in the cenus records in 1910 and 1940 verifying that he lived at the address listed on the envelopes. Donald Horner does not seem to have had any employment with the railroad. The 1940 census lists his employment as timekeeper in a steel mill when he was 33 years old. His father, Howard Horner, did work for the PRR as a fireman at the time of the 1910 census and by 1940 he was listed as locomotive engineer. Donald Horner was in his 20s when the postal marks are dated reflected the bulk of his image sharing. One of the envelopes in this collection also has a note that reads, "5 of mine returned- for which I am in his debt." This seems to indicate that he was a photographer of some of the images. It is also possible that his father took the photographs for him given his job in the railroad and the access he would have had to the locations.
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook