Erie Lackawanna Railroad

Inventory

Prepared by Cara Gilgenbach and Paul Gregor

The University of Akron Archival Services

June, 1996

Historical Note

The Erie Lackawanna Collection at The University of Akron is primarily legal and financial in nature. It consists of materials used and produced throughout the Railroad's final reorganization and liquidation process which began in 1972 and ended in 1991. Included are a large number of Interstate Commerce Commission valuation maps, real estate sales files, land agreements, leases, mortgages, conveyance documents, and other legal and financial materials. There are also board minutes, annual reports, and reports to the ICC. Materials from and about the 1938 Erie reorganization and the 1960 Erie-Lackawanna merger are also included. The bulk of materials in the collection dates from 1960-1991. However, the collection also contains inherited records from the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and Erie Railroads, some of which date from as early as 1850.

This collection is comprised of 300 cubic feet of material including many oversized items. (A cubic foot is approximately the size of one records center box measuring 15" X 12" X 10").

The collection has been organized into the following series and sub-series. Select any series or sub-series name to see the inventory for materials in that section.

• A: Annual Reports to the ICC (4 boxes)
• B: Annual Reports to the Stockholders (2 boxes)
• C: Meeting Minutes (19 boxes)
• D: Erie Reorganization, 1938-1942 (6 boxes)
• E: Erie - Lackawanna Merger, 1960 (5 boxes)
• F: DERECO/Norfolk & Western, 1968-1972 (4 boxes)
• G: Erie Lackawanna Reorganization/Liquidation, 1972-1991 (97 boxes)
• H: Legal Instruments (74 boxes)
  • Agreement Packets
  • Bonds
  • Deeds
  • Mortgages
• I: Maps (60 boxes + oversized materials)
  • Interstate Commerce Commission Valuation Maps
  • USGS Topographical Maps
  • Miscellaneous Maps
• J: Miscellanea (18 boxes + oversized materials)

The University of Akron has only a portion of Erie Lackawanna's and its predeccessor companies' corporate records. Syracuse University has many Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company records. This collection is processed, and a register of its contents was published in 1964. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Division of Archives & Manuscripts houses minute books of the subsidiary companies of the Erie Railroad Company from 1859-1940. The Erie Lackawanna Historical Society also collects material from and about the Railroad and its precursors. Contact ELHS directly for more information (http://erielackhs.org/). Additionally, the Hagley Library in Delaware (formerly Eleutherian Mills) has a variety of Delaware, Lackawanna and Western records.

Grant, H. Roger. Erie Lackawanna: Death of an American Railroad, 1938-1992.

Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 1994.

Hungerford, Edward. Men of Erie: A Story of Human Effort.

New York: Random House, 1946.

King, Sheldon S. The Route of Phoebe Snow: A Story of the Delaware, Lackawanna

and Western Railroad. Flanders, NJ: Railroad Avenue Enterprises, 1986.

Lowenthal, Larry and William T. Greenberg, Jr. The Lackawanna Railroad in

Northwest New Jersey. Morristown, NJ: Tri-State Railway Historical Society, 1987.

The following title offers full-color photographic views of the route of the Erie Lackawanna.

DeYoung, Larry. Erie Lackawanna: In Color. Edison, NJ: Morning Sun Books, 1991-1994.

Volume 1: The West End

Volume 2: New York State

Volume 3: The East End