Southern Railway archives available at Atlanta History Center
Materials donated by Norfolk Southern can be studied by appointment
THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY ARCHIVES are now open to the public by appointment at the Atlanta History Center. Additionally, a group of more than 11,000 photos from the collection are beginning to be made available online, indicates an announcement by the History Center.
The archives were donated in 2021 by Norfolk Southern Railway [see “Norfolk Southern to donate …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 25, 2021], which also contributed a $50,000 grant to help catalog, organize and digitize the materials.
The materials involved document the Southern Railway’s history and that of its predecessors from 1828 to 2007. The collection spans nearly 250 linear feet, and includes annual reports, company publications, rule books, timetables, employee records, correspondence, and meeting minutes, among other items.
As an example, more than 3,000 construction contracts detail the building of stations, rail lines, bridges, yard offices, and other structures. In a blog post announcing the opening of the archives, the History Center writes, “The construction contracts provide researchers with a conceptual understanding of the company’s overall goals by showcasing the change in operational and structural needs during different periods in time, as well as the shift in geographic locations as the company continued to grow and acquire additional railroads and companies.”
The collection also holds records from more than 100 predecessor railroads. This group of records paints a picture of how the railroads came to be, operations, financial standing, challenges, and relationships with other railroads. In the group are records from the South Carolina Canal & Railroad, Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis Consolidated Railroad, Central of Georgia Railway, and Cincinnati, New Orleans, & Texas Pacific Railway.
The Southern Railway collection is open only by appointment, which can be made by emailing reference@atlantahistorycenter or calling (404) 814-4040.
More than 2,000 photos from the Southern collection are now online, and others will be added throughout 2024. They can be accessed at the search page of the center’s website.