Lehigh Valley Railroad glass plate negatives 1971.598

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Audiovisual Collections PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Lehigh Valley Railroad glass plate negatives 1971.598

Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Historical Note ...... 3 Scope and Content ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 4 Controlled Access Headings ...... 5 Collection Inventory ...... 5

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Summary Information

Repository: Audiovisual Collections Title: Lehigh Valley Railroad glass plate negatives ID: 1971.598 Date [inclusive]: circa 1934 to 1948 Physical Description: 23 item(s) General Physical 15 glass negatives : b&w ; 4.25 x 6.5 in., 1 box : 4.75 x 7 x 1 in., 7 Description note: glass negatives : b&w ; 5 x 7 in. Language of the English . Material: Abstract: This collection consists of twenty-two glass negatives and one box. Most photographs depict the rolling stock of Lehigh Valley Railroad dating to approximately some point between 1934 and 1948, based on engine numbers.

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Historical Note

This collection was purchased in 1971 as part of a lot that included a number of other small collections. The photographer is unknown, but a box included in the collection, as well as the images themselves, associate fifteen of the twenty-two images with the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Lehigh Valley Railroad was first incorporated as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad on April 21, 1846, and its primary function was to transport anthracite coal from Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania to Easton, Pennsylvania. Following decades of growth and geographic expansion, during which the railroad also began transporting additional forms of cargo as well as human passengers, the railroad was name was changed to the Lehigh Valley Railroad on January 7, 1853.

While the photographs in this collection are undated, engine numbers visible in the images suggest that these glass negatives were created no earlier than 1934 and no later than 1948, assuming that they were taken roughly contemporaneously. These were the early years of a period of slow decline for the railroad industry, which had suffered during the Great Depression and was by then facing competition from alternate means of transport, such as automobiles and airplanes. Following a bankruptcy in 1970, the Lehigh Valley Railroad was merged in to the federal government's Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) on April 1, 1976.

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Scope and Content

This collection consists of fifteen glass negatives depicting locomotives and passenger cars belonging to the Lehigh Valley Railroad, as well as the original box that once held all or most of these fifteen plates. While these photographs are undated, engine numbers visible in the images suggest that these glass negatives were created no earlier than 1934 and no later than 1948, assuming that they were taken roughly contemporaneously. There are an additional seven glass negatives, larger than the first fifteen, depicting a small variety of undated, unidentified scenes. The relationship of these items to the negatives depicting the rolling stock of the Lehigh Valley Railroad is unclear, as is their relationship to one another. These seven glass negatives depict a naval sailing vessel that is probably the USS Constitution, the shipwrecked SS Morro Castle, a group photograph in front a church, and two views of an outdoor natural recreation area. The image of the SS Morro Castle likely dates to 1934, and the remaining six may as well.

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Administrative Information

Publication Statement Audiovisual Collections

PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library

Existence and Location of Copies View collection online in the Hagley Digital Archives.

Access to Collection Collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.

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Controlled Access Headings

• Railroads -- Rolling stock • Railroads. • Photography of railroads • Glass negatives • Lehigh Valley Railroad Company

Collection Inventory

Title/Description Instances Lehigh Valley Railroad business car #353, circa 1941 box 1 folder 1 Scope and Contents note

a group of unidentified men in from of Lehigh Valley Railroad Business Car #353, which was delivered to the Lehigh Valley Railroad on September 6, 1916 by the Pullman Company, Chicago, Illinois at a cost of $33,000.

Lehigh Valley Railroad business car #353, circa 1941 box 1 folder 2 Scope and Contents note

a group of unidentified men in from of Lehigh Valley Railroad Business Car #353, which was delivered to the Lehigh Valley Railroad on September 6, 1916 by the Pullman Company, Chicago, Illinois at a cost of $33,000.

Locomotive at station, circa 1941 box 1 folder 3 Scope and Contents note

possibly Pittston, Pennsylvania.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #1156, circa 1941 box 1 folder 4

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #5005, circa 1941 box 1 folder 5 Scope and Contents note

Lehibuilt by the American Locomotive Company in 1925 and retired in 1948.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #288, circa 1941 box 1 folder 6

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #786, circa 1941 box 1 folder 7

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #4028, circa 1941 box 1 folder 8

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Scope and Contents note

built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1917 and scrapped in 1951.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive in transit, circa 1941 box 1 folder 9

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive in transit, circa 1941 box 1 folder 10 Scope and Contents note

railroad cars and a partially identified locomotive at an unidentified location.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #5128, circa 1941 box 1 folder 11 Scope and Contents note

built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1934 and scrapped in 1951.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #5128, circa 1941 box 1 folder 12 Scope and Contents note

scrapped in 1951.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #5125, circa 1941 box 1 folder 13 Scope and Contents note

built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1934 and scrapped in 1951.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive #706, circa 1941 box 1 folder 14 Scope and Contents note

built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1899 and scrapped in 1951.

Lehigh Valley Railroad locomotive in transit, circa 1941 box 1 folder 15

Defender Photo Supply Company glass negatives box, circa 1941 box 1 Scope and Contents note

Original housing associated with the Lehigh Valley Railroad negatives in this collection. Eastman Kodak Company plates manufactured for the Defender Photo Supply Company of Rochester, New York. Emulsion number 7304.

Lehigh & New England Railroad locomotive #45, circa 1934 box 1 folder 16 Scope and Contents note

Lehigh and New England Railroad Class E-6 2-8-0 Camelback (#45). The photo was taken at the Lehigh and New

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England's Engine Facilities in Pen Argyl, PA. Railroad and location identified by patron feedback.

Lehigh & New England Railroad locomotive #301, circa 1934 box 1 folder 17 Scope and Contents note

Lehigh and New England Railroad locomotive (#301). The photo was taken at the Lehigh and New England's Engine Facilities in Pen Argyl, PA. Railroad and location identified by patron feedback.

USS Constitution, circa 1934 box 1 folder 18 Scope and Contents note

an undentified naval sailing ship, likely the USS Constitution.

SS Morro Castle, circa 1934 box 1 folder 19 Scope and Contents note

Likely photographed shortly after catching fire on September 8, 1934, while the ship was still beached off Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Group photograph, Central Baptist Church, circa 1934 box 1 folder 20 Scope and Contents note

an unidentified group. The geographic location is unidentified, but the sign behind the group reads 'Central Baptist Church'.

Scenic landscape, circa 1934 box 1 folder 21

Scenic landscape, circa 1934 box 1 folder 22

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