Railroad History Archive

Digital Resources and Online Exhibits

Several digital collections composed of or including the railroad history resources at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center are available.

New Haven Railroad Valuation Maps, via the UConn Libraries' Digital Mosaic at http://images.lib.uconn.edu/. One of our highest use collections, the set of New Haven Railroad system maps created for the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1915, is now available online. These maps are detailed trackplans showing the railroad's property with historical information on when and from whom the property was purchased. Currently we have up 1184 maps from the entire collection of over 2600. The maps you see now are all of Connecticut (note that there are gaps in the routes -- our map collection is not absolutely complete) and all but a handful from Rhode Island. We are now at work on the eastern New York and Massachusetts maps and hope to get those to you soon.

Connecticut History Online, at http://www.cthistoryonline.org/, is a collaborative effort of the Connecticut Historical Society, the Mystic Seaport Museum, Connecticut State Archives, New Haven Museum and Historical Society, and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, to establish a comprehensive, Web-based virtual collection of graphic images, personal papers and archives, posters and broadsides, sound recordings and transcripts, and maps that document the Connecticut community. Railroad history resources include images of Connecticut railroad stations.

Steam and Electric Locomotives of the New Haven Railroad Digital Project, at http://railroads.uconn.edu/locomotives/ shows 460 images of New Haven Railroad motive equipment owned by the railroad in the early 1900s. The images were taken by railroad enthusiast Fred Otto Makowsky, a resident of Springdale, Connecticut.

The Connecticut Historic Preservation Collection, at http://chpc.lib.uconn.edu/, has archaeological and architectural surveys and documentation studies of Connecticut properties, including many railroad stations and sites in Connecticut.

Railroad Stations in Southern New England, at http://railroads.uconn.edu/exhibits/railroadstations/index.html, show photographs from the Railroad History Collections, many of which were displayed in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center from August to October 2004.

A Tribute to Union Station of Canaan, Connecticut, at http://railroads.uconn.edu/exhibits/canaan/index.html. The Canaan Station was destroyed by arson in October 2001. Shown here are images of the station, in its prime and after the fire, that are held in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center.

This page is maintained by L. Smith.