Overview of the Collection |
|
| Creator: | New York Central Railroad Company. |
| Title: | New York Central Railroad Company Chief Engineer's Office Transit Book Collection |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1850-1898 |
| Quantity: | 6 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | 76 field notebooks of the Hudson River, Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris, Albany & Schenectady, Schenectady & Utica, Utica & Syracuse, Syracuse North, Syracuse & Rochester, Auburn, Buffalo & Niagara Falls, and Buffalo & Lockport Branches of the New York Central Railroad as well as the Rhinebeck & Connecticut and Hudson River Railroads and the Hudson River Bridge Company. Volumes include detailed surveyor's drawings, calculations and comments on the land and structures along the line; orders and accounts for supplies needed by field offices; land transactions; and a few humorous drawings. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: | Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Library 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 http://scrc.syr.edu |
The New York Central Railroad was formed in 1853 by the merger of ten smaller regional railroads, under the encouragement of industrialist and Mohawk Valley Railroad owner Erastus Corning. Headquartered in New York City, the railroad served most of the Northeast United States, including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Massachusetts, as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Grand Central Terminal in New York City is one of its best known landmarks. In 1869 the NYC merged with Cornelius Vanderbilt's Hudson River Railroad, becoming the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad.
"Transits" are surveying instruments designed to measure horizontal and vertical angles; they generally consist of telescope, spirit level, graduated plates, verniers, various leveling screws, and often a compass. Transit books are used for recording the information thus gathered.
Spanning 1850-1898, the New York Central Railroad Company Chief Engineer's Office Transit Book Collection comprises 76 field notebooks of the Hudson River, Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris, Albany & Schenectady, Schenectady & Utica, Utica & Syracuse, Syracuse North, Syracuse & Rochester, Auburn, Buffalo & Niagara Falls, and Buffalo & Lockport Branches of the New York Central Railroad as well as the Rhinebeck & Connecticut and Hudson River Railroads and the Hudson River Bridge Company. The notebooks include detailed surveyor's drawings, calculations and comments on the land and structures along the line; orders and accounts for supplies needed by field offices; land transactions; and a few humorous drawings.
The original alphanumeric designation for each volume has been retained in the inventory below. For each volume, inclusive dates are given and also, when appropriate, a more specific breakdown of dates. The name of the branch is given, as written in the notebook; if not given, the volume is noted as [unspecified branch]. In some cases the researcher may deduce the branch name from the contents, but no attempt was made to do so during processing. If the notebook included surveyor name(s), these are included in the inventory below preceded by a slash "/".
COLLECTION IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO RESEARCHERS.
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Special Collections Research Center has extensive holdings related to regional railroad companies, as well as related companies such as coal, shipping and ferries. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
New York Central Railroad Company Chief Engineer's Office Transit Book Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Library
Purchase, 1997.
Created by: PRB
Date: 1998
Revision history:
| Transit books | |||||||||||
| Access Restrictions | |||||||||||
| RESTRICTED: COLLECTION IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO RESEARCHERS. | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | A : [unspecified branch] undated | ||||||||||
| Fonda to Little Falls | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 1A : Troy & Schenectady 1856 | ||||||||||
| Green Island/River Bridge to 4 miles east of Schenectady (16.86mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 2A : Troy & Schenectady 1856 | ||||||||||
| Schenectady (east) to Schenectady (State St.) (4mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 3A : Albany & Schenectady 1856 | ||||||||||
| Albany to Albany/Schenectady County line (12mi.) / A. Mason Peek | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 4A : Albany & Schenectady 1856 | ||||||||||
| Albany/Schenectady line to Schenectady/Montgomery line (14mi.) / A. Mason Peek | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 5A : Schenectady & Utica 1856 | ||||||||||
| Schenectady/Montgomery line to Fonda (east corp. line) (16.12mi.) / A. Mason Peek | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 6A : Schenectady & Utica 1856 | ||||||||||
| Fonda to Fort Plain Depot (15.5mi.) / A. Mason Peek | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 7 : Schenectady & Utica 1856 | ||||||||||
| Fort Plain Station to 3.5 miles east of Little Falls (11.6mi.) / A. Mason Peek, Ogden Edwards | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 8 : Schenectady & Utica 1856 | ||||||||||
| Little Falls to .75 miles east of Ilion (12.2mi.) / Ogden Edwards | |||||||||||
| 9 : number missing from sequence | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 10A : Utica & Syracuse 1856 | ||||||||||
| Utica Depot (west end) to Utica (west corp. bounds) (1.1mi.) / Ogden Edwards | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 11A : Utica & Syracuse 1856 | ||||||||||
| Utica (western boundary) to Green’s Corners (16.5mi.), "Dumpy Level" illustration | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 12A : Utica & Syracuse 1856 | ||||||||||
| .5 miles east of Green’s Corners to Canastota/Chittenango 1.5 miles west of canal crossing (18mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 13A : Utica & Syracuse 1856 | ||||||||||
| Canastota/Chittenango 1.5 miles west of canal crossing to Syracuse (west end of depot) (16.75mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 14A : Syracuse & Rochester 1856 | ||||||||||
| Geddes canal crossing to Owasco Outlet (25.5mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 15A : Syracuse & Rochester 1856 | ||||||||||
| Owasco Outlet to 3.25 miles west of Lyons (23mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 16A : Syracuse & Rochester 1856 | ||||||||||
| 3.25 miles west of Lyons to 1.5 miles east of Fairport (20.8mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 17A : Syracuse & Rochester 1856 | ||||||||||
| 1.5 miles east of Fairport to Rochester Depot (west end) (11.5mi.) / James P. Green | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 18A : Auburn 1856 | ||||||||||
| Syracuse Depot (west) to Cayuga & Seneca canal (40.7mi.) / M. C. Fremyre | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | 19 : Auburn 1856 | ||||||||||
| Cayuga & Seneca canal to Canandaigua (32.78mi.) / M. C. Fremyre | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 20A : Auburn 1856 | ||||||||||
| Canandaigua Landing to between Brighton and Rochester (28.22mi.), Auburn, and Canandaigua / M. C. Fremyre | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 21A : [unspecified branch] 1862-1882 | ||||||||||
| 1862, 1864, 1882 - Herkimer, St. Johnsville | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 22A : [unspecified branch] 1852 | ||||||||||
| Clyde, Palmyra, Charlotte, Brighton (39.75mi.) / A. B. Raymond | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 23 : [unspecified branch] 1859-1860 | ||||||||||
| 1859 - Fonda
1860 - Little Falls |
|||||||||||
| Box 2 | 23A : Syracuse & Rochester 1873? | ||||||||||
| Savannah to Clyde, including details of several culverts | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 24A : Buffalo & N.F. 1873-1877 | ||||||||||
| 1873
- unspecified
1877 - Lockport, Niagara |
|||||||||||
| Box 2 | 25A : Buffalo & N.F. 1865 | ||||||||||
| Tonawanda / Charles H. Fisher | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 26A : [unspecified branches] 1860-1865 | ||||||||||
| 1860 - Spencerport, Tonawanda, Medina
1863 - Tonawanda 1864 - Lewiston 1865 - Rochester Freight Yard |
|||||||||||
| Box 2 | 27A : [unspecified branches] 1858-1861 | ||||||||||
| 1858 - Patroons Creek from Mud Creek to Albany & Schenectady Turnpike
1861 - Survey to locate the "Grove Spring"for proposed reservoir |
|||||||||||
| 28 : number missing from sequence | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 29A : Syracuse & Rochester 1858-1878 | ||||||||||
| 1858-1864 - Syracuse & westward
1878 - Palmyra |
|||||||||||
| Box 2 | 30A : [unspecified branch] 1870 | ||||||||||
| Buffalo (9.16mi.) | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 31A : Auburn 1862-1870 | ||||||||||
| Ontario County / Charles W. Fisher, W. J. Kellogg | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 32A : [unspecified branch] undated | ||||||||||
| Rochester to Batavia / William P. Northway | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 33A : [unspecified branches] 1871-1886 | ||||||||||
| 1871 - Fonda / Lush, Fields, Usborn
1872 - Non-freight yard Dewitt / Lush, McCool, Usborn, Gillett 1873 - Stuyvesant 1878 - Rhinebeck / C. B. Gerard 1886 - Kirkville, Manlius |
|||||||||||
| Box 2 | 34A : [unspecified branch] 1869 | ||||||||||
| Rochester (Mill St. Depot) to Old Falls Road, Spencerport / Lush, McWhorter | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 35A : Spuyten Duyvil & Port Morris 1873 | ||||||||||
| Harlem River / C. B. Gerard | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 36A : Syracuse & Rochester 1856 | ||||||||||
| Branches and side tracks, depot buildings, town and county lines / F. E. Peek | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 37A : [unspecified branches] 1857-1860 | ||||||||||
| 1857 - Auburn / F. E. Peek
1860 - Auburn / A. M. Peek 1857 - Cayuga Station / F. E. and A. M. Peek 1858 - Seneca Falls, Geneva / F. E. Peek |
|||||||||||
| 38 : number missing from sequence | |||||||||||
| Box 2 | 39A : Hudson River RR 1873 | ||||||||||
| Amsterdam / J. B. Yates | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 40A : [unspecified branch] 1862 | ||||||||||
| Seneca County / C. H. Fisher, E. C. Lewis | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 41A : Western Division 1858-1861 | ||||||||||
| Miscellaneous notes on Tonawanda, Niagara Falls, Canandaigua / Chas. Hilton | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 42A : [unspecified branch] 1857-1858 | ||||||||||
| 1857 - Irondequoit Creek culvert
1858 - Clyde wood yard, Weedsport Depot |
|||||||||||
| Box 3 | 43A : Oswego Railroad 1874 | ||||||||||
| Geddes to Clyde / Rob't H. Canfield | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 44A : Syracuse North Line 1872 | ||||||||||
| Syracuse, Salina, Liverpool / Woodward | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 45A : Utica & Syracuse 1860-1883 | ||||||||||
| 1860 - Utica, Manlius
1860 - Saquoit Creek, Fonda 1862 - Canastota 1862 - Verona 1862 - Green's Corners 1883 - Utica |
|||||||||||
| Box 3 | 46A : [unspecified branch] 1866-1877 | ||||||||||
| 1866 - Syracuse
1868 - Syracuse 1877 - Syracuse |
|||||||||||
| Box 3 | 47A : [unspecified branch] 1873 | ||||||||||
| Land lines and structures from Batavia to Buffalo / W. G. Marshall | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 48A : [unspecified branch] 1854-1858 | ||||||||||
| 1854 - Measurements for monthly estimates - Lyons office
1858 - Auburn, Geneva, Canandaigua / F. Emmett Peek, G. C. Rice |
|||||||||||
| Box 3 | 49A : [unspecified branch] 1878 | ||||||||||
| Rochester / Lush, Thompson, Tracy, Goold | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 50A : Buffalo & Niagara Falls 1855 | ||||||||||
| Tonawanda to Niagara Falls / D. O. Allen | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 51A : [unspecified branch] 1867 | ||||||||||
| Albany / Arthur Wortete | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 52A : [unspecified branch] undated | ||||||||||
| Original cross sections & swings of line | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 53A : Hudson 1873 | ||||||||||
| East Albany / C. B. Gerard | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 54A : [unspecified branch] 1876 | ||||||||||
| Land lines from Rochester to Batavia | |||||||||||
| 55 : number missing from sequence. | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 56A : [unspecified branch] 1858 | ||||||||||
| Cayuga, Seneca Falls, Geneva, Canandaigua, Auburn, Owasco Outlet / F. E. Peek | |||||||||||
| Box 3 | 57A : Buffalo 1860-1879 | ||||||||||
| 1860 - Buffalo, Rochester Tunnel
1860 - Bergen 1876-1880 - Levels at Buffalo 1879 - Exchange St. Depot, Hamburg and Erie Canal soundings |
|||||||||||
| Box 3 | 58A : Rochester & Buffalo 1873 | ||||||||||
| From East end of river bridge to Canal
Field notes of the subdivision of sundry lots in the Village of Charlotte Survey of Mill Race at Leroy |
|||||||||||
| Box 3 | 59A : [unspecified branch] 1871-1880 | ||||||||||
| 1871 - East Albany
1880 - Troy |
|||||||||||
| Box 4 | 60A : [unspecified branch] 1851 | ||||||||||
| Land transaction records | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 60B : [unspecified branch] undated | ||||||||||
| Rochester street survey, miscellaneous notes / H. Church | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 61 : Western Division 1850 | ||||||||||
| Notes of location between Syracuse and Rochester / Harry Taylor | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 62 : Hudson River Bridge Co 1856 | ||||||||||
| Van Rensselaer Island, Hudson River Bridge | |||||||||||
| 63-65 : numbers missing from sequence | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 66 : Rochester & Syracuse undated | ||||||||||
| Notes of location from Mud Creek to Seneca River | |||||||||||
| 67-69 : numbers missing from sequence | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 70 : Rochester & Syracuse undated | ||||||||||
| Phelps, Clyde | |||||||||||
| 71-73 : numbers missing from sequence | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 74 : Syracuse & Utica undated | ||||||||||
| Vernon | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 75 : Syracuse & Utica 1874 | ||||||||||
| Frankfort, Rome & Watertown, Rome & Mohawk | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 75 : Syracuse & Utica undated | ||||||||||
| Utica Plank Rd Crossing Erie Canal | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 76 : Rochester & Syracuse undated | ||||||||||
| Levels at sta. 190-700 | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 77 : Buffalo & Niagara Falls undated | ||||||||||
| Tonawanda to Lower Black Rock | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 78 : [unspecified branch] 1855-1856 | ||||||||||
| 1855 - White Brook Creek near Canton
Geddes Canal crossing Syracuse White Brook bridge Levels for ditching swamp east of Jordan Cost of flagging at Syracuse Seneca River bridge Canal crossing near Pittsford Macedon 1856 - Water levels at Albany |
|||||||||||
| 79-88 : numbers missing from sequence | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 89 : Buffalo & Lockport 1851 | ||||||||||
| Black Rock Dam north to junction with Rochester & Niagara Falls RR
Black Rock Dam south to junction with Buffalo & Niagara Falls RR |
|||||||||||
| Box 4 | 90A : Auburn 1857 | ||||||||||
| Miscellaneous transit notes / F. E. Peek
Notes of reconnaissance from Batavia to Lyons |
|||||||||||
| Box 4 | 92A : [unspecified branch] 1874 | ||||||||||
| Batavia surveys | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 93 : [unspecified branch] undated | ||||||||||
| Amsterdam - masonry, cross-sections, curves / Daniel Boutecore | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 94 : [unspecified branch] 1873 | ||||||||||
| Distances to culverts, cattle guards - Mohawk River, Amsterdam to Fonda
Lists of supplies requisitioned, plans received, furniture and stationery required at Schenectady, Amsterdam and St. Johnsville |
|||||||||||
| Box 4 | 317 : Hudson River RR 1890 | ||||||||||
| Mt. St. Vincent, Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil, Yonkers yard / Richard Vere Hunt | |||||||||||
| Box 4 | 549 : [unspecified branch] 1898 | ||||||||||
| Curves at Brutus, Elbridge, Camillus / D. B. Metcalf | |||||||||||