Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
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Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Biographical Note ...... 3 Scope and Content ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 5 Related Materials ...... 5 Controlled Access Headings ...... 6 Collection Inventory ...... 6 SEPTA ...... 6 Philadelphia Transportation Company ...... 12 Philadelphia & Western Railroad Company ...... 14 Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co...... 17 Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co...... 21 Bryn Mawr Corporation ...... 22 Lehigh Valley Transit Company ...... 22 Consultant's Reports ...... 23 Transit & Electric Railway Ephemera ...... 24 Personal ...... 30
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Summary Information
Repository: Manuscripts and Archives Creator: DeGraw, Ronald, 1942-2006 Title: Ron Degraw Transit Collection ID: 2397 Date [inclusive]: 1859-2002 Date: bulk 1920-1990 Physical Description: 28 Linear Feet Language of the English . Material: Abstract: The collection consists of official documents produced or used by Ronald DeGraw during his career as a public transit official and transit consultant, materials from pre-SEPTA operators of the Philadelphia transit system that he preserved from loss or destruction, research materials that he amassed for writing his published and projected books, and photographs and ephemera collected out of his interest in the history of transit systems, particularly electric traction lines or what came to be called light rail transit.
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Biographical Note
Ronald DeGraw was born on December 7, 1942. His father was a motorman for the Philadelphia & Western Railroad, an electric traction line running between Upper Darby and Norristown, Pa., that was later merged into the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company (PSTC). The PSTC operated a network of trolleys and buses that fanned out through the western suburbs from the terminus of the Market Street Subway-Elevated Line at 69th Street in Upper Darby. Six other family members had worked for the P&W since 1909. Between 1965 and 1970, Degraw was a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, often covering the transit system at a time when it was moving from private to public ownership.
DeGraw was hired by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in 1970 as Director of Development of its Red Arrow Division, acquired that year by condemnation from the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company. He was promoted to Senior Project Engineer in 1976, when SEPTA took over the Schuylkill Valley Lines, Inc., operating buses in the farther
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DeGraw maintained throughout his life a deep interest in the history of the company for which three generations of his family had worked and its place in the suburban communities where he lived. He was the author of three books. The first, Red Arrow, was published in 1972. He then worked on an updated and expanded version of the original work that was planned to encompass three volumes. The first, Red Arrow: The First Hundred Years, 1848-1948, was published in 1985. The second, Pig & Whistle: The Story of the Philadelphia & Western Railway, was published posthumously in 2007. DeGraw never finished the third volume that would have covered the lines' history after 1948, and he was collecting material for a fourth volume on the history of the Lehigh Valley Transit Company when he died on January 30, 2006.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of official documents produced or used by Ron DeGraw during his career as a public transit official and transit consultant, materials from pre-SEPTA operators of the Philadelphia transit system that he preserved from loss or destruction, research materials that he amassed for writing his published and projected books, and photographs and ephemera collected out of his interest in the history of transit systems, particularly electric traction lines or what came to be called light rail transit. Some of the files were acquired from earlier streetcar historians such as Howard P. Sell of Allentown and Howard L. Price.
The bulk of the collection naturally concerns the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company and Philadelphia & Western Railway, including their subsequent management as part of the SEPTA system and the PSTC's evolution into a Florida real estate concern called Bryn Mawr Corporation and ultimately the Dixon Ticonderoga Company. DeGraw also amassed a vertical file of articles, clippings, maps, publications and ephemera on historic trolley and interurban lines, mostly in Pennsylvania but including the transit systems of Boston, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal and Toronto, and on modern light rail transit. There are some reports from DeGraw's work as a consultant, along with personal correspondence with other traction enthusiasts and news stories he wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer early in his career.
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Administrative Information
Publication Statement Manuscripts and Archives
PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library
Access Restrictions Original SEPTA documents less than 25 years old are closed to researchers.
Provenance Gift of Ronald DeGraw's executor
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Related Materials
Related Material Harold E. Cox Transportation Collection (Collection 3158), Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Edward R. Stickel Collection (Accession 2056), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
John F. Tucker Transit Collection (Accession 2046), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
Pennsylvania Railroad Company Records (Accession 1807/1810), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company Records (Accession 1370), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
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Reading Company Records (Accession 1520), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Records (Accession 2123), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library
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Controlled Access Headings
• Railroads. • Local transit • Street-railroads • Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company • Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
Collection Inventory
SEPTA Scope and Content
Consists of documents from DeGraw's official tenure at SEPTA. The primary focus is on the Red Arrow or Suburban Transit Divisions, and particularly on the old Philadelphia & Western Railway, then called the Norristown High Speed Line, the rebuilding and reequipping of which was a major project during DeGraw's term of office. DeGraw collected a large number of daily newsclippings during and after his tenure at SEPTA, which reflect the recurring funding crises and political infighting at the agency, particularly the very brief and controversial management of William Stead and the following administrations of Louis C. Gambaccini and David Gunn. Oversized items include SEPTA transit maps, and architect's plans for the rebuilding of the 69th Street Terminal in 1985.
Title/Description Instances Alternate service providers, 1982-1997 box 1
Analysis of regional light rail system -- Peat Marwick, 1994 box 1
Annual operating budget, FY 2001 box 1
Annual service plan, FY 1999 FY 2006 box 1
Bicentennial service, 1976 box 1
"Blueliners" box 1
Bond issues, 1968-1988 box 1
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Brochures and flyers box 1
Brochures and flyers -- Regional Rail box 1
Business audit, 1997 box 1
Capital needs analysis, 1983-1990 box 1
Car barns & depots box 1
Car rosters and assignments box 1
Census data box 1
Center City Commuter Connection, 1984 box 1
Commuter rail operations -- Burlington, N.J. corridor, 1995 box 1
Conrail -- Transfer of commuter service to SEPTA, 1982 box 1
Conversion of heavy rail to light rail study, 1995 box 1
Cross County Metro, 1989-1995 box 1
Defining the Role of SEPTA in Lower Bucks County, 1998 box 1
Deficits, 1976 box 1
Delaware Avenue/Penn's Landing -- Historic trolleys box 1
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission box 1
Downingtown timetable, November 2, 1981 box 1
Experimental Services Committee -- Initial reports, 1993-1994 box 1
Fact sheets box 1
Fare policy study, 2001 box 1
Fares box 1
Financial report, 1995 box 1
Five year plan, FY 1999-FY 2003 box 1
Frontier Division -- Transit guides box 1
Funding crisis, 1981 box 1
A Future for the Philadelphia Surface Streetcar System, 1989 box 1
The Future of Regional Rail, 1995 box 1
Germantown Avenue historic trolleys box 1
Harrisburg Line, 1990-1997 box 1
Homicide of Sgt. Thomas Sewell, 1989 box 1
King of Prussia and Chesterbrook transportation study, 1989 box 1
"Liberty Liners" box 1
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Light rail analysis -- Peat Marwick, 1994 box 1
Light rail network -- Proposed expansion, 1992 box 1
Light rail vehicle procurement & systems integration, 1994 box 1
Light rail vehicles box 1
Management -- David Gunn, 1984-1991 box 1
Management -- Louis J. Gambaccini, 1992-1997 box 1
Managing SEPTA Strategically, 1979 box 2
Maps box 2
Maps -- Center City transit routes box 2
Public transportation lines in S.E. Pennsylvania map, 1969 drawer MD-25
Suburban service map, circa 1985 drawer MD-25
Transit map, 1998 drawer MD-25
Market-Frankford El cars box 2
Media-Sharon Hill Line box 2
Media-Sharon Hill Line cars box 2
Miscellaneous publications, 1978-2000 box 2
Monthly management reports, 1982-1995 (incomplete) box 2
News releases box 2
News clippings -- Howard L. E. Price, 1970-1988 box 2
News clippings -- SEPTA management box 2
News clippings -- Service box 2
News clippings -- Transit history box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: Accident to car no. 209, 1972 box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: Accidents -- Clippings box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: Accidents -- Reports box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: "Bullet" cars box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: Bus substitution box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: C.T.A. replacement cars box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: Capital improvement program, 1988 box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: Capital improvements box 2
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Norristown High Speed Line: Car fires, 1973-1988 box 2
Norristown High Speed Line: Comparative data with Paoli Line box 2 and Reading Line, 1972
Norristown High Speed Line: General, 1986-1992 box 3
Norristown High Speed Line: Modernization box 3
Norristown High Speed Line: Modernization -- Cars box 3
Norristown High Speed Line: N-5 Cars, 1988-1993 box 3
Norristown High Speed Line: N-5 Cars -- Contract documents, box 3 1986
Norristown High Speed Line: Operations, 1983-2003 box 3
Norristown High Speed Line: Passenger survey, 1972 box 3
Norristown High Speed Line: Signal modernization, 1985 box 4
Norristown High Speed Line: Stafford cars, 1989 box 4
Norristown High Speed Line: Superelevation study, 1990 box 4
Norristown High Speed Line: System development, 1983 box 4
Norristown High Speed Line: Timetables, 1970-1992 box 4
Norristown High Speed Line: Vehicle purchase, 1986 box 4
Norristown Transportation Center box 4
Norristown Transportation Center -- Field inspection, 1988 box 4
Northeast Metro, 1995 box 4
Operating budgets, FY 2005 FY 2006 box 4
Operating data, 1995-1996 box 4
Operating goals, FY 1991 box 4
"Operating Idiosyncrasies of a Subway-Surface System", 1977 box 4
Operating statistics, 1981-1990 (incomplete) box 4 Scope and Contents note
Incomplete.
Operations manuals: Antique trolleys, 1976 box 4
Operations manuals: N-5 Cars, 1993 box 4
Operations manuals: P.C.C. Cars, 1976 box 4
Operations manuals: Single-end LRV, 1985 box 4
Organization charts box 4
P.C.C. Cars - Page 9- Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
box 4
Passes, tickets and transfers box 4
The Philadelphia Belt Line Railroad Company, 1994 box 4
"A Plan for Better Public Transportation", 1989 box 4
A Plan for SEPTA'S Regional Metrorail System, 1993 box 4
Planning, 1987-1997 box 4
R.D.C. Cars, 1976 box 4
Rail transit stations -- Parking inventory, 2002 box 4
Red Arrow Division: Alternatives for operation box 4
Red Arrow Division: Clippings box 4
Red Arrow Division: Notices box 4
Red Arrow Division: Program appraisal & review, 1973 box 4
Red Arrow Division: Report on reverse riding, 1971 box 4
Red Arrow Division: Service changes chronology, 1953-1986 box 4
Red Arrow Division: Track & signal diagrams box 4
Red Arrow Division: Transfers, zone checks, etc., 1970 box 4
Red Arrow Division: Vehicles box 4
Red Arrow Improvement Project -- Phases I & II, 1982-1985 box 4
Purchase of Red Arrow Lines by SEPTA, 1969-1970 box 4
Red Arrow Lines trademark, 1991 box 4
"Regional Rail -- The Philadelphia Story", 1994 box 4
Regional Rail Division -- Service standards & process, 2005 box 4
Regional Rail Improvement Study -- Gannett Fleming, 2000 box 4
Regional Rail ridership census, 1997 oversize 1
Regional Rail Lines -- Chronology of SEPTA operations, box 5 1983-1986
"Reinventing Transportation Policy", 1993 box 5
"Report on the Conrail Crisis", 1982 box 5
"Report on the State of SEPTA", 1997 box 5
Resources utilization plan, 1974 box 5
Ridership box 5
Ridership statistics, FY 1993 FY 1996 FY 2003 box 5
Rolling stock -- Disposal of box 5 - Page 10- Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
Route 62 Chester Avenue extension, 1994 box 5
Routes box 5
Rule books, 1970-1992 box 5
Safety box 5
Safety -- 1981 Inquirer series box 5
Schuylkill Valley Lines, Inc., 1974-1976 box 5
Schuylkill Valley Metro, 1996-1999 box 5
Schuylkill Valley Metro final report, 1998 oversize 1
"SEPTA at the Crossroads", 1997 box 5
SEPTA enabling act, 1963 box 6
SEPTA history box 6
SEPTA management -- Booz Allen, 1978 box 6
"SEPTA Needs Dedicated Funding", 1991 box 6
"SEPTA -- State of the Business", 1995 box 6
Service standards & process box 6
Short Term Improvements for SEPTA's Regional Rail System, box 6 1994
69th Street Terminal & neighborhood box 6
69th Street Terminal improvement project -- Plan set, 1985 box roll
69th Street Terminal improvement project -- Plan set, 1986 oversize 1
69th Street Terminal maintenance complex, 1988 box 6
"Speed & Superelevation on an Interurban Electric Railway", box 6 1991
Status report for Gov. Shapp, 1970 box 6
William G. Stead interview, 1987 box 6
William G. Stead - Investigation of charges against SEPTA, 1988 box 6
Storms box 6
Strafford Branch box 6
Strafford Branch hiking trail box 6
Strike of 1995 -- Press clippings box 6
Strikes box 6
Suburban light rail lines, 1978 box 6
Suburban Newsletter (Suburban Operations Division), 1990-1996 box 6
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Suburban Station Concourse redevelopment, circa 1995 box 6
Suburban Transit Division - Miscellaneous box 6
Suburban Transit Division - Service standards & process, 2004 box 6
Track standards manual, 1986 box 6
Transportation Management Association of Chester County, 1997 box 6
Transportation Options for the International Corridor in box 6 Delaware County
Trends and forecasts data book, 1995 box 6
Trolley tracks on Philadelphia streets, 1976 box 6
Turnout designations -- Old Red Arrow Lines, 1986 box 6
U.S. Open, 1981 box 6
U.S. Route 422 transit activity centers, 1993 box 6
Union agreements, 1971-1992 box 6
Woodland car barn, 1975 box 6
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Philadelphia Transportation Company Scope and Content
Consists of documents, clippings and notes concerning the Philadelphia Transportation Company and is predecessor the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company. The PTC became the City Lines of SEPTA, and DeGraw's official involvement with them came at the very end of his career and his interest in them was much less than with the Red Arrow Division. The only original documents concern the PTC's lines in Delaware County that interfaced with those of the Red Arrow, plus specimen stock certificates from PTC and its predecessor companies. There are the usual maps, route guides and historical articles, including a copy of a seminar paper on Thomas E. Mitten's system of labor relations, schematic track maps showing to contraction of street railway service, and architectural plans of the original subway terminal at 69th Street.
Title/Description Instances Agreements, 1907-1939 box 7
Annual meeting notice, 1968 box 7
Annual report -- Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. to Pa. P.U.C., box 7 1938
Buses box 7
Clippings & copies -- Newspapers box 7
Clippings & copies -- Trade press box 7
Co-Operative Fund regulations, 1922 box 7
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Delaware River Bridge Line box 7
Flyers & notices box 7
Folsom Bus Garage -- Plan, 1943 box 7
Frankford Elevated Railway box 7
History box 7
Maps box 7
Maps -- Route maps pocket book box 7
Car route guide, June 1922 drawer MD-25
Official map of the Phila. Rapid Transit Co., 1904 drawer MD-25
69th Street Terminal -- Architectural plans, circa 1955 drawer MD-25
Track map, September 1954 drawer MD-25
Track map, March 1958 drawer MD-25
Miscellaneous statistics & notes box 7
Mitten, Thomas E. box 7
Ordinances, 1917 box 7
Organization chart box 7
P.C.C. cars box 7
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Air Service box 7
Red Arrow Lines -- Proposed purchase of, 1963 box 7
Replacing Essington-Media trolleys with buses, 1938 box 7
Replacing Essington trolleys with buses, 1938 box 7
Route guides box 7
Schedules box 7
Southwestern Division history box 7
Stock certificates (including predecessor companies) box 7
Subway car -- Plans box 7
Tickets, tokens & transfers box 7
Willow Grove Park box 7
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Philadelphia & Western Railroad Company Scope and Content
Consists of similar material about the Philadelphia & Western Railroad and its predecessors. While there are more original records, which DeGraw and his friends salvaged from the company, the greater part is composed of clippings, tear sheets and research notes assembled by DeGraw in writing his books. The original records include engineering plans and profiles of the original projected line from Philadelphia to Parkesburg and the Norristown Branch, and a single contractor's payroll from May 1905 showing the earnings of anonymous Italian laborers.
Title/Description Instances Accident register box 8
Accidents box 8
Accounts box 8
Beechwood Civic Association box 8
Beechwood Park box 8
Bonds & mortgages box 8
Bridges box 8
Brill "Bullet" cars box 8
Brill "Bullet" cars -- Plan & elevation oversize 1
Brill "Bullet" cars -- Wind tunnel tests box 8
Buses box 8
Car mileage sheets box 8
Chronology box 8
Clippings (H. Price) box 8
Clippings & articles box 8
Construction, Original box 8
Construction vouchers box 8
Contractor's payroll (Shreve & Co.), May 1905 oversize 2
The Conway Corporation box 8
Discipline records box 8
Dispute with PTC over free transfers, 1940 box 9
Employees box 9
Employment records box 9
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Fare increase, 1949 box 9
Fare increase case, 1947 box 9
Financial statements box 9
Historical writings box 9
Ithan substation box 9
Lehigh Valley Transit Co./Lehigh Valley Transportation Co. box 9
Main Line Transfer Company box 9
Management personnel box 9
Maps box 9
General map, circa 1946 oversize 1
General map, circa 1946 drawer MD-25
Map & location -- Philadelphia to Parkesburg, 1902 oversize 2
Map section no. 1 -- Upper Darby, circa 1902 oversize 2
Profile -- Villanova to Norristown, 1911 (map) oversize 2
Profile -- 69th Street to Norristown, 1978 (map) oversize 2
Norristown Branch -- Projected location, 1910 (map) item 2
Merger with PTC, 1951-1954 box 9
Minute book extracts box 9
Miscellaneous notes box 9
Montgomery Bus Co., Inc. -- Free transfers, 1935 box 9
Newspaper extracts, 1906-1967 box 9
Norristown extension box 9
Norristown terminal box 9
Norristown Transit Company box 9
Passenger counts box 9
Pennsylvania Railroad Company box 9
Philadelphia & Western Home Owners Association box 9
"The Philadelphia & Western Story," vol. 3 box 9
P&W vs. PRT -- Turning trains at 69th Street, 1920 box 9
Phoenixville, Valley Forge & Strafford Street Railway Co. box 9
Property owners' suit vs. overcapitalization, 1910-1913 box 9
Publications -- Miscellaneous - Page 15- Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
box 9
Publications -- P&W News box 9
Real estate box 9
Reorganization - Bondholder list box 9
Reorganization - Bondholders' suit box 9
Reorganization - Briefs box 10
Reorganization - Clippings box 10
Reorganization - Day & Zimmermann report, 1934 box 10
Reorganization - Exhibits & statements box 10
Reorganization - Miscellaneous box 10
Orders box 10
Plans & notices box 10
Right of way maps box 10
Rolling stock box 11
Routes box 11
Signals box 11
Southeastern Construction Company, 1907-1908 box 11
Stock acquisition by PSTC, 1946-1948 box 11
Stockholder lists box 11
Strafford-Valley Forge bus service box 11
Syndicate and voting trust box 11
Tariffs -- Applications box 11
Third rail box 11
Tickets (H. Price) box 11
Timetables box 11
Tokens -- History box 11
Trade journal extracts box 11
United Gas Improvement Company, 1912 box 11
Upper Darby Shops box 11
Wages box 11
Werner Bus Line, 1947 box 11
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Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. Scope and Content
Consists of material about the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, known by its slogan of "Red Arrow Lines." This section contains a larger portion of original company documents, particularly a run of legal case files relating to the organization of companies, the application for franchises or abandonment of service, and disputes with other companies. Also of note are the "Historical Notes," which are notebooks in which someone recorded service changes and other items of interest between 1925 and 1970. There are also transit maps and guides and plans for 69th Street Terminal and surrounding area.
Title/Description Instances Abandonment -- Westgate Hills to West Chester box 12
Accidents box 12
Agreements -- Philadelphia Electric Company, 1947-1963 box 12
Analysis of Operations, 1928-1942 box 12
Annual reports to the Pennsylvania P.U.C. - Darby, Media & box 12 Chester Street Railway Company, 1933
Annual reports to the Pennsylvania P.U.C. - John M. Drew Auto box 12 Bus Line, 1928-1929
Annual reports to the Pennsylvania P.U.C. - Southern box 12 Pennsylvania Bus Company, 1950-1955
Annual reports to the Pennsylvania P.U.C. - The Short Line, Inc., box 12 of Pennsylvania, 1945-1949
Ardmore Extension box 12
Aronimink Transportation Company box 12
Board meeting, April 1, 1937 box 12
Castle Rock Park box 12
Chronology box 12
Clippings -- Miscellaneous box 12
Cost of property box 12
Delaware County Passenger Rail-Road Company box 12
Destination roll signs box 12
Electroliners/Liberty Liners box 12
Employees box 12
Express bus -- Swarthmore-Chester, 1938 box 12
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Fares box 12
Financial statements box 12
Garrett Road shops (Upper Darby) -- Transportation map, circa item 1 1920
Haverford Township map, December 1925 drawer MD-25
Historical notes, 1925-1970 box 12
Historical notes -- Miscellaneous box 12
Historical writings box 12
Labor relations box 12
Legal files - Abandoning trolleys -- Llanerch to Westgate Hills, box 13 1957
Legal files - Ardmore trolley abandonment, 1966 box 13
Legal files - Main Line Transfer Company, 1921-1952 box 13
Legal files - Main Line Transfer Company -- Abandonments, 1952 box 13
Legal files - Market Street Subway, 1930-1946 box 13
Legal files - Montgomery Bus Co., Inc. box 13
Legal files - Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co. -- box 13 Miscellaneous briefs
Legal files - Philadelphia & West Chester Tpk. Road Co. -- box 14 Condemnation, 1894-1916
Legal files - Philadelphia & West Chester Tpk. Road Co. -- box 14 Dissolution, 1920-1940
Legal files - Route changes -- Maps box 14
Legal files - Sharon Hill Extension, 1916 box 14
Legal files - Sharon Hill trolley junction, 1934 box 14
Legal files - Strafford Line -- Abandonment, 1956-1960 box 14
Legal files - Supplemental bus service on West Chester Pike, 1948 box 14
Legal files - West Chester freight ordinance, 1898-1918 box 14
Legal files - West Chester Line -- Extending double track, 1927 box 14
Legal files - West Chester Street Railway Company box 14
Llanerch shops & car barn box 14
Map -- Schematic track map, circa 1940 oversize 1
Media-Sharon Hill Line box 14
Mileages box 14 - Page 18- Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
Motor vehicles box 14
Multiple-zone chart, 1969 box 14
Norristown Terminal box 14
Office payrolls, 1955-1956 box 15
Organization charts box 15
Passenger counts box 15
Philadelphia & Lancaster Turnpike Road Company box 15
Philadelphia & West Chester Turnpike Road Company box 15
Philadelphia & Western Division box 15
Philadelphia & Western Railway -- Reorganization box 15
Philadelphia & Western Railway -- Station abandonments box 15
Philadelphia, Castle Rock & West Chester Railway Co. -- box 15 Dissolution, 1920
Philadelphia-Norristown express bus, 1954 box 15
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company -- Yeadon bus route, box 15 1937-1938
Philadelphia Transportation Company -- Proposed merger box 15
Rail-Bus operation box 15
Real estate box 15
Records index box 15
Red Star Lines, 1931 box 15
Rentals box 15
Right-of-way appraisal, 1957 box 15
Rights-of-way & franchises box 15
Rolling stock box 15
Rolling stock -- Roster data box 15
Routes (including maps) box 15
Rule books - Aronimink Transportation Company box 15
Rule books - Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company box 15
Rule books - Philadelphia & Western Railway Company box 15
Rule books - Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company box 15
SEPTA -- Sale of assets to box 15
Signage & notices box 15
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69th Street -- Springfield Real Estate Co. development map, 1919 oversize 2
69th Street area -- Land analysis (presentation book), circa 1954 oversize 1
69th Street area -- Plan, circa 1936 oversize 1
69th Street Terminal box 15
69th Street Terminal -- Rental data box 15
69th Street Terminal -- Specifications, 1936 box 16
69th Street Terminal -- Traffic counts, 1919 box 16
Snow storms box 16
Southern Pennsylvania Bus Company box 16
Station -- New Ardmore Road, 1928 box 16
Stations box 16
Statistics box 16
Statistics -- Comparative box 16
Stockholder lists, 1960 1963 1965 1966 1969 box 16
Strafford Branch -- Condemnation for highway, 1965 box 16
Strikes box 16
Subsidy, 1968 box 16
Tax returns -- All companies, 1928-1930 box 16
Taylor, A. Merritt box 16
Timetables - Aronimink Transportation Company box 16
Timetables - Bryn Mawr, Pa. box 16
Timetables - Chester, Pa. box 16
Timetables - Chester Valley Bus Lines, Inc. (The Short Line) box 16
Timetables - John M. Drew Bus Line box 16
Timetables - Main Line Transfer Co. box 16
Timetables - Montgomery Bus Co., Inc. box 16
Timetables - Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. -- Buses box 16
Timetables - Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. -- Media- box 16 Sharon Hill
Timetables - Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Co. -- box 17 Norristown/Strafford
Timetables - Red Arrow Lines/Bridgeton Transit -- New York box 17 service
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Timetables - Schuylkill Valley Lines, Inc. box 17
Tariffs, 1934-1965 box 17
Tickets, passes & transfers box 17
Track & property maps box 17
Track charts box 17
Transit guides -- Red Arrow Lines box 17
Travel bureau sales box 17
Trolley parks box 17
Union agreements box 17
Women employees box 17
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Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Co. Scope and Content
Consists of a small group of records from the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company. The most important are a group of payroll records from the early 1900s and two consultant's reports on the company from 1918.
Title/Description Instances Employees -- Eye test records box 18
Map box 18
Miscellaneous notes & ephemera box 18
Notice of express freight service, 1911 oversize 1
Plan of car, 1924 drawer MD-25
Payrolls, 1901-May 1905 box 18
Payrolls, June 1905-August 1906 box 19
Pepper & Register vs. P&WC Traction Co., 1900-1902 box 19
Timetables box 19
Track chart, 1927 box 19
Report on increased fares (Ford, Bacon & Davis), 1918 box 19
Valuation report (Ford, Bacon & Davis), 1918 box 19
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Bryn Mawr Corporation Scope and Content
Consists of annual reports and stockholder mailings that DeGraw received as a stockholder in the Bryn Mawr Group, Inc., as the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company was renamed after the sale of its transit system to SEPTA in 1970. The Taylor family retained its local office building and other real estate and the New Jersey-New York bus route that was reincorporated as Garden State Coachways, Inc. They reinvested the proceeds in Florida real estate, including a series of recreational vehicle parks and resorts. However, they ceased active home and condo development in 1972, when the stagflation of the 1970s adversely affected both travel and Florida real estate, and the company lost money thereafter. In 1978, it was taken over by PVM Company, L.P., venture capitalists of Wilmington, Del., and reincorporated in Delaware as Bryn Mawr Corporation on Aug. 22, 1978. PVM then used Bryn Mawr Corporation as a platform to launch a takeover of The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, best known as a manufacturer of lead pencils. Bryn Mawr Corporation was renamed Dixon Ticonderoga Company on September 21, 1983. Garden State Coachways, Inc., the last element of the old Taylor family transit operation, was sold in 1986.
Title/Description Instances Bryn Mawr Group, Inc./Bryn Mawr Camp Resorts, Inc., box 19 1970-1978
Bryn Mawr Corporation, 1979-1983 box 19
Dixon Ticonderoga Company, 1983-1986 box 19
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Lehigh Valley Transit Company Scope and Content
Consists of material that DeGraw had collected for a projected book on the Lehigh Valley Transit Company, a large streetcar system whose lines stretched from western New Jersey to the western and northern suburbs of Allentown, Pa. It also operated an electric interurban line, advertised as the "Liberty Bell Route," between Allentown and Norristown, where it connected with the Philadelphia & Western for Upper Darby, a fact that accounts for DeGraw's interest in it. Because DeGraw did not work for Lehigh Valley Transit, there are few original documents, mostly newspaper and trade journal clippings and similar sources. Many of these came from Howard P. Sell, a Lehigh Valley traction historian/enthusiast. Among the original items are a corporate family tree chart, maps, and a reprint of a brochure about the company's Central Park amusement park, circa 1910. Most of the material deals with the decline of service and rolling stock.
Title/Description Instances Accidents box 20
Central Park (Rittersville, Pa.) box 20
Corporate family tree, 1922 box 20
Electric railway directories box 20
Engineering thesis, 1919 box 20
Fares box 20
Freight service - Page 22- Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
box 20
History box 20
Maps box 20
Miscellaneous notes box 20
Newsclippings (Howard P. Sell), 1945-1949 1952-1953 box 20
Old cuts box 20
Operations box 20
Philadelphia & Western Railroad box 20
Rate increase/Switch to buses box 20
Rolling stock box 20
Rolling stock -- Easton Transit Company box 21
Street Railway Journal/Electric Railway Journal/Transit Journal box 21 articles
Tariffs box 21
Timetables box 21
Through service to 69th Street -- Elimination, 1949 box 21
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Consultant's Reports Scope and Content
Consists of consultant's reports either received or prepared by Ron DeGraw. Most of them deal with transportation improvements in the Delaware Valley or with developments in light rail transit in the U.S. and Europe.
Title/Description Instances Chester County Public Transportation Study, 1979 box 21
Coatesville Transit Improvements, 2002 box 21
Delaware County Long Range Bus Service, 2001 box 21
Doylestown Bus Study, 2000 box 21
Elywn to Wawa -- Service restoration, 2000 box 21
Getting around in Newtown, 2004 box 21
Light rail -- Europe box 21
Light rail -- TRB/AFTA box 21
Light rail -- U.S.A. box 21
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Light rail -- U.S.A. box 22
Light rail vehicles box 22
Louis T. Klauder & Assoc. -- Engineering & management services box 22 for railroads
Making SEPTA More Rideable, 2004 box 22
Nassau County, N.Y., 1974 box 22
New Jersey Transit box 22
Norristown High Speed Line -- 2.5 minute service, 2002 box 22
Quakertown Rail Restoration, 1998 box 22
Rail cars box 22
SEPTA's Light Rail Network Expansion, 1992 box 22
Somerville, N.J. -- Community bus shuttles, 2002 box 22
Suburban Route Changes -- Delaware County, 2000 box 22
Transit coordination -- MSBA, LIRR, NYCTA, 1977 box 22
Transportation -- Miscellaneous box 22
Tri-Borough Transit, 2003 box 22
Vintage trolleys, 1992 box 22
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Transit & Electric Railway Ephemera Scope and Content
Consists of a vertical file of materials collected by Ron DeGraw on a variety of transit companies and transit subjects. Many of the files contain clippings and tear sheets, maps, fact sheets, or at times whole issues, from the railroad and traction enthusiast magazines. There are a number of company data sheets, maps and rosters prepared by traction historian Ben Rohrbeck of West Chester, Pa. There are also a number of calendars featuring historic photos of individual transit systems, publications of trolley museums, plans of the Brill Bullets, Electroliners and other rolling stock, plus a smaller number of system maps, guides and timetables for older electric railways and modern municipal transit authorities, particularly those in major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada. Of particular note is a series of New York subway maps showing the gradual restoration of service in lower Manhattan after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.
Title/Description Instances ACF-Brill buses box 23
Altoona & Logan Valley Electric Railway Company box 23
American European Express, Inc. box 23
Atlantic City box 23
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Atlantic City & Shore Railroad Company box 23
Atwater Kent Museum -- Railroad exhibit, 1996 box 23
Baltimore Streetcar Museum box 23
Baltimore Transit Company box 23
Battery cars box 23
Beaver Valley Traction Company box 23
Birney car box 23
Boyertown & Pottstown Railway box 23
Bridgeton & Millville Traction Company box 23
Brill "Bullets" box 23
"Brilliners" box 23
Broad Street Subway box 23
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company box 23
Buckingham Valley Trolley Association box 23
Burlington & Mount Holly Traction Company box 23
Butler Railways Company box 23
Cape May, Delaware Bay & Sewells Point Railroad box 23
Carlisle & Mount Holly Railway Company box 23
Chadds Ford & Brandywine Railway, Inc. box 23
Chambersburg & Gettysburg Electric Railway Company box 23
Chambersburg, Greencastle & Waynesboro Street Railway box 23 Company
Chicago, Aurora & Elgin Railway box 23
Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad box 23
Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad box 23
Chicago Transit Authority box 23
Cincinnati box 23
Cincinnati & Lake Erie Railway box 23
Cinders (Philadelphia Chapter, National Railway Historical box 23 Society)
Cleveland Transit System box 23
Coachways, Inc. box 23
Conestoga Traction Company box 23
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Connecticut Company box 23
Conrail box 23
Conway, Thomas, Jr. box 23
D.C. Transit System, Inc. box 23
Delaware County (Pa.) -- Transportation box 23
Delaware Electric Power Company box 23
Delaware River Port Authority box 23
East Penn Traction Company box 23
East Penn Valley Traction, Inc. box 23
Electroliners/Liberty Liners box 23
Electroliners -- Plans drawer MD-25
England & British Isles box 23
Ephrata & Lebanon Street Railway Company box 23
Erie Lackawanna Railroad Company box 23
Erie Railways Company box 23
Federal Electric Railways Commission box 23
Florida box 23
France box 23
Germany box 23
Gould, George J. box 23
Hagerstown & Frederick Railway Company box 24
Hazleton, Pa. box 24
Hershey Transit Company box 24
Indiana County Street Railway box 24
Indiana Railroad System (includes timetables) box 24
J.G. Brill Company box 24
Jamestown, Westfield & Northwestern Railroad Company box 24
Jersey Shore & Antes Fort Railway Company box 24
Jim Thorpe, Pa. box 24
Johnstown Traction Company box 24
Keokuk, Iowa -- Use of ex-SEPTA cars box 24
Key System - Page 26- Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
box 24
Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad Company box 24
Lake Shore Electric Railway box 24
Lancaster & York Furnace Street Railway Company box 24
Lancaster, Ephrata & Lebanon Street Railway Company box 24
Lewisburg, Milton & Watsontown Passenger Railway Company box 24
Lewistown & Reedsville Electric Railway Company box 24
Light rail transit -- Miscellaneous box 24
Long Island Electric Railway Company box 24
Long Island Rail Road Company box 24
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority box 24
Los Angeles Railway Company box 24
Magee Transportation Museum box 24
Main Line-Delaware County suburbs box 24
Maryland Mass Transit Administration box 24
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority/Boston box 24
Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company box 24
Metropolitan Philadelphia Railway Association box 24
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NY) box 24
Monorails box 24
Montreal Transit Commission box 24
Morristown & Erie Railroad Company box 24
Motor Coach Age box 24
National City Lines, Inc. box 24
New Jersey -- Miscellaneous box 24
New Jersey Transit Corporation box 24
New York City transit system box 24
New York Museum of Transportation box 24
New York State -- Miscellaneous box 24
Northumberland County Railway box 24
Northwestern Pennsylvania Railway Company box 24
Ohio Electric Railway box 24
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Pacific Electric Railway Company box 24
P.C.C. Cars box 24
P.C.C. Cars -- Plans drawer MD-25
Penn Center box 25
Pennsylvania -- Miscellaneous box 25
Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, Inc. -- Timetable box 25
Pennsylvania Railroad Company box 25
Pennsylvania state electric railway reports box 25
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co./Philadelphia Transportation Co. box 25
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co./Philadelphia Transportation Co. -- box 25 Cars
Philadelphia Trolley Coalition box 25
Pittsburgh area trolleys/Pittsburgh Railways Company box 25
Point Pleasant Traction Company box 25
Port Authority of Allegheny County box 25
Port Authority of Allegheny County -- Timetables box 25
Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation box 25
Pottstown Passenger Railway box 25
Public Service Coordinated Transport box 25
Rail buses box 25
Rail cars box 25
Railfan & Railroad box 25
Railpace box 25
Railways to Yesterday, Inc. box 25
Reading Company box 25
Reading Transit Company box 25
Reading Transportation Company box 25
Red Arrow Lines -- Cars box 25
Red Arrow Lines -- Miscellaneous clippings & notes box 25
Road-rail vehicles box 25
Rolling stock -- Miscellaneous plans
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drawer MD-25
San Francisco area -- Miscellaneous box 25
Schuylkill Railway Company box 25
Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport, Maine box 25
Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority box 25
Southern Cambria Railway Company box 25
Southern Pennsylvania Traction Company box 25
Staten Island Rapid Transit box 25
Stroudsburg, Water Gap & Portland Railway Company box 25
Tarentum, Brackenridge & Butler Street Railway Company box 25
Taylor, A. Merritt and family box 25
Toronto -- Toronto Transit Commission & GO Transit box 25
The Tram Subways of Philadelphia (photocopy) box 25
Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc. box 25
Transport Central box 25
Trenton, Bristol & Philadelphia Street Railway Company box 25
Trenton Transit Company box 25
Trolley & interurban history -- General box 25
Trolley Fare -- Pennsylvania Railway Museum Association box 25
Trolley Talk box 25
Valley Railways box 25
Warren & Jamestown Street Railway Company box 25
Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Railway Company box 25
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority box 25
West Chester, Kennett & Wilmington Electric Railway box 25
West Chester Street Railway Company box 25
West Jersey & Seashore Railroad Company box 25
West Jersey Rails box 25
West Penn Railways box 25
Wilkes-Barre & Hazleton Railway Company box 25
Wilkes-Barre Railway Company box 25
Wilmington & Philadelphia Traction Company box 25 - Page 29- Ron Degraw Transit Collection 2397
Wilmington & Western Railroad box 25
York Railways box 25
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Personal Scope and Content
Consists of personal correspondence with other traction historians, biographical sketches, obituaries and miscellaneous notes and jottings for DeGraw's projects that could not be assigned to more specific subjects. There are also typed texts and clippings for the many news stories, mostly transit related, that DeGraw wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer at the beginning of his career.
Title/Description Instances Biographies & obituaries box 26
Maps for Red Arrow: The First 100 Years box 26
Maps for The Pig & Whistle oversize 1
Notes & memos box 26
Personal correspondence box 26
Philadelphia Inquirer articles box 26
Philadelphia Inquirer articles -- Clippings box 26
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