PRR) Company Documents 2421
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents 2421 This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents 2421 Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Biographical Note .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Scope and Content ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 4 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 5 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 6 - Page 2 - Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents 2421 Summary Information Repository: Manuscripts and Archives Creator - cre: Watson, Robert B. Title: Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents ID: 2421 Date [inclusive]: 1876-1968 Date: bulk 1900-1957 Physical Description: 6.2 Linear Feet Language of the English . Material: Abstract: The collection consists of materials documenting Watson's work for PRR, particularly mechanical engineering and rolling stock. Records largely focus on the development of PRR locomotives and passenger cars in the mid-twentieth century. ^ Return to Table of Contents Biographical Note Robert B. Watson was born at Altoona on June 29, 1931, and graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1953. As a consequence of being in the R.O.T.C. program, he was also commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers and served in active duty in Railway Battalions during the end stage of the Korean War. He had begun working for the PRR in college and returned to the company full time in 1955, following the normal career path leading from Junior Engineer to Motive Power Inspector, Enginehouse Foreman, Assistant Trainmaster/Assistant Road Foreman of Engines, and Master Mechanic, while being rotated around the system. Watson completed his education by attending the Yale University Graduate School's Railway Operations & Economics Program under a Strathcona Fellowship, graduating with a Certificate of Transportation in 1958. In this program he studied under Prof. Kent T. Healy, one of the mid-twentieth century's leading experts in railroad operations and management. In February 1966 he became Master Mechanic at Philadelphia. Based on his accomplishments, the company chose Watson to be its Coordinator on the Northeast Corridor Demonstration Project in September 1966. This program of the Johnson Administration was the first attempt to develop high-speed rail passenger service in imitation of the famous Shinkansen or "Bullet Trains" recently introduced in Japan. The program involved both upgrading the existing track and signaling infrastructure to take the extra wear and tear of high-speed operation and developing - Page 3- Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents 2421 high-speed equipment that eventually debuted in 1969 as the first Metroliners. Watson was a member of the team that developed a high-speed test track between New Brunswick and Trenton, N.J., and ran numerous tests with a train of four experimental cars built by the Budd Company for the U.S. Department of Commerce, later the Department of Transportation. The Metroliners were rushed into production without adequate testing and debugging, and American high-speed rail has continued to lag behind its European and Asian counterparts. With the completion of the design phase of the Northeast Corridor Project, Watson left what was now the bankrupt and doomed Penn Central Transportation Company at the end of 1971 and joined the Philadelphia consulting engineering firm of LTK Engineering Services, formerly Louis T. Klauder and Associates, where he worked on a number of projects related to rail passenger service and rolling stock until his retirement in December 1998. Watson has been active in the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society and other groups of former PRR managers and has authored several articles on the history of PRR mechanical engineering and rolling stock development. ^ Return to Table of Contents Scope and Content The collection consists of materials documenting Watson's work for PRR, particularly mechanical engineering and rolling stock. Records largely focus on the development of PRR locomotives and passenger cars in the mid-twentieth century. ^ Return to Table of Contents Arrangement Arranged alphabetically by subject/title. ^ Return to Table of Contents Administrative Information Publication Statement Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 - Page 4- Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents 2421 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Provenance Gift of Robert B. Watson ^ Return to Table of Contents Related Materials Related Material William McKinley Keller Papers (Accession 1580), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library Raymond Loewy - PRR Renderings (Accession 2349), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library A history of the Conway Yard development (Accession 2373), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library Pennsylvania Railroad System Locomotive Rosters (Accession 2386), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library Pennsylvania Railroad Miscellany (Accession 2412), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library ^ Return to Table of Contents Controlled Access Headings • Railroads. • Mechanical engineering • Railroads -- Rolling stock • Pennsylvania Railroad - Page 5- Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents 2421 Collection Inventory Title/Description Instances A.A.R. Passenger locomotive tests, 1938 box 1 Altoona Shops (from History of Blair County) box 1 Altoona Works -- Supervisory seminar, 1958 box 1 American Arch Company -- Sectional brick arches for locomotives, box 1 1914 American Throttle Company, Inc., 1939 box 1 Anniversaries -- 100th -- Trains, Mutual Magazine, etc., 1946 box 1 Anniversaries -- 50th -- Railway World, 1896 box 1 "The Brakeman at Church", undated box 1 Broad Street Station -- Closing program, 1952 box 1 Budd Company -- Coaches and diners, 1939 box 1 Bureau of New Ideas (Bruce B. Watson), 1927-1937 box 1 Business car No. 1000, 1965 box 1 C.T. 200 -- Adjusted tonnage ratings, 191519241965-66 box 1 Cab signal questions and answers box 1 Car cooling schemes box 1 "A Century of Motive Power on the Pennsylvania Railroad" box 1 Century of Progress Exposition, 1933 box 1 C.I.O. News, 1945 box 1 Class GG1 electric locomotives box 1 Class K4s steam locomotive -- Miscellaneous box 1 Class L5 electric locomotive -- Tests box 1 Class Q2 duplex steam locomotive, 1946-1948 box 1 Class S2 steam turbine locomotive, 1944-1945 box 1 Class T1 duplex steam locomotive, 1942-1945 box 1 Class V1 turbine locomotive (Proposed) -- Diagram drawing, 1945 box 1 "Classification of Locomotives and Tenders", 1916-1952 box 1 "Classification of Cars" box 1 "Classification of Tenders" box 1 - Page 6- Robert B. Watson collection of Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) Company documents 2421 Clippings -- Mutual Magazine -- Main Line of Public Works, 1931 box 1 Clippings -- Railway Age, 1928-1929 box 1 Coal & Water consumption of locomotives at different drawbar box 1 pulls, 1929 Coal-burning turbine locomotives, 1947 box 1 Coal inspection (Bruce B. Watson), 1933-1938 box 1 Coal Research Group -- First reunion dinner, 1941 box 1 Cost of diesel vs. electric locomotives, 1959 box 1 Dayton Union Railway Company -- Special instructions, 1959 box 1 Diagram books : Diesel, electric and steam locomotives box 2 Diagram books : Freight cars box 2 Diagram books : Lines West steam locomotives box 2 Diagram books : Passenger cars box 2 Diagram books : Special equipment box 2 Diagram books : Trucks box 2 Diesel locomotive roster, circa 1957 box 3 Diesel locomotives -- Miscellaneous, 1956-1963 box 3 Diesel locomotives -- Reclassification, 1951 box 3 Dining car lines -- Eastern District, 1938 box 3 Dividend notice, 1933 box 3 Early steam locomotive roster, circa 1847-1883 box 3 Electrification power system, 1963 box 3 Employee benefit plans, 1957 box 3 Employee relations, 1952 box 3 "The Enforcement of Specifications," by Charles B. Dudley, 1907 box 3 Floating equipment lettering diagrams, 1903 box 3 "Some Fundamentals" (Supervisors' motivational