This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
Amassed through a life of collecting, the Edwin Shearin Railroad Memorabilia Collection covers 50 years of railroading in America. With the help of friends and family, Edwin Shearin compilied the various pieces of railroad memorabilia held within this collection.
Amassed through a life of collecting, the Edwin Shearin Railroad Memorabilia Collection covers 50 years of railroading in America. With the help of friends and family, Edwin Shearin compilied the various pieces of railroad memorabilia held within this collection.
The latter half of the twentieth century was a turbulent time for much of the United States railroads. With an increase in automobile and airplane traffic, America's railroad industry saw a marked decrease in rail traffic. Icons of the era like the California Zephyr and Twentieth Century Limited would complete their final runs. This era of railroading was captured in the song "City of New Orleans," penned by Steve Goodman and made famous by folk singer Arlo Guthrie in 1972. Rail traffic, which was at its height during the Second World War, declined sharply over the next 40 years. In 1959, the Interstate Commerce Commission approved the merger of Virginian Railway and Norfolk & Western. This merger ushered in the modern railroad mergers and consolidations. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with New York Central to create Penn Central, which would declare for Chapter 7 bankruptcy two years later on June 21, 1970. This era was punctuated in 1971, when President Richard Nixon along with Congress created Amtrak, via the Rail Passenger Service Act.
This collection is divided into five series. The first series contains publicity pamphlets distributed by various railroad companies marketing their freight and passenger train lines. The second series contains small time tables given to passengers from various railroad companies for their passenger trains. The third series contains miscellaneous information about the United States' railroad industry, and the fourth series contains two volumes of national timetables for all train travel in the United States and Canada. The fifth series contains photographs, cards and postcards, and printed material depicting locomotives and railcars used by railroad companies around the country. The contents of series five may have originally been mounted in an album.
This collection is divided into 5 series:
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries' "Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain" and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.
[Identification of item], Edwin Shearin Railroad Memorabilia Collection, MC 00374, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Gift of Edwin Shearin, 2005 (Accession no. 2005.0008
Jason Smith, 2005 May.
The collection is organized into five principal series:
Containing pamphlets for passenger and freight trains, this series covers named trains throughout the United States. Included in this series is information on the Broadway Limited, California Zephyr, and a pamphlet distributed by General Motors for its diesel freight line. This series also includes information about Santa Fe's Chiefs and Super Chiefs.
28 folders
This series contains small timetables for the various railroad companies. These passenger timetables provide information concerning the many stops on a rail line. This series contains information from Amtrak, Union Pacific, Rock Island and many smaller rail companies.
63 folders
This series contains periodicals about America's rail industry. It covers information about the history of the rail industry and named passenger cars. This series also contains two quizzes concerning America's Railroads.
6 folders
This series contains two volumes that are timetables for rail travel throughout the United States and Canada. These volumes provide all the information from the smaller timetables, but from the many rail companies. Only covering one month each, these large timetables serve as the official standards for rail travel.
2 volumes
The materials in series 5 may have been removed from a scrapbook or album. This series includes photographs, cards and postcards, and printed material depicting locomotives produced by General Motors, locomotives and railcars used by several railroad companies from around the country, and assorted railroad postcards and trading-card calendars.
13 folders
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
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[Identification of item], Edwin Shearin Railroad Memorabilia Collection, MC 00374, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries' "Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain" and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.
The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.