Railroad Resources

Historic Documentation Company, Inc. principals & associates have inventoried, assessed and documented hundreds of individual railroad resources in urban, suburban and rural locations including 

• Passenger stations and freight depots
  
  
• Yards and associated buildings and equipment such as turntables, coaling and watering towers, switch gear, scales, sheds and loading docks
  
  
• Bridges and tunnels including overhead signal bridges
  
  
• Subways and tlevated track and stations
  
  
• Grade crossing elimination bridges and warning signal equipment
  
  
• Electrification equipment such as generating stations, substations, catenary towers and bridges.
  
  

Click picture for close up view

NYCRR West Side Elevated Freight Line, NYC, "The Highline" HAER Documentation The Highline is an elevated railroad viaduct of steel frame and concrete construction designed specifically for freight loading. It was built 1929-1933 as part of New York Central Railroad's improvement of its 13 mile West Side Freight Line, one of the largest and most expensive grade-crossing elimination projects ever undertaken in the US. As Manhattan's only freight line, it played a vital role in the development of the island.
Just Completed Railroad Grade Crossing Elimination Bridges, NH During the Depression the federal government funded thousands of highway and railroad overpass bridges to eliminate dangerous crossings at grade. These bridges were often of exceptional design and materials, as in the case of the 1938 Boston & Maine RR bridge over Rt. 10/302 in Haverihill NH, pictured. The extra heavy double top flanges and field welded connections was the state-of-the-art for plate girder bridges. HDC recorded this and two other bridges to HAER standards for NHDOT.
Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line, Pennsylvania Survey/Assessment/HAER Documentation State-level recordation and assessment of 65 railroad bridges, overhead highway bridges, and railroad tunnels, built by the Pennsylvania, the Reading, and other railroads. Follow-up work included HAER documentation of eight 19th century railroad tunnels & two steel truss signal bridges.
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Rutherford Yard, Swatara, PA HAER Documentation Construction of this massive rail yard outside Harrisburg began in 1901. At the time HAER documentation was undertaken for Conrail in 1994, only eleven historic resources remained from the 100-plus buildings and structures built throughout the yard over the years. The reinforced-concrete coaling station, pictured, represented the latest in design & equipment technology when completed in 1928.