This collection contains a set of accounting ledgers for the Norfolk and Western Railroad. The ledgers record the expenses of each of the company's several divisions (i.e., Clinch Valley, Durham, Kenova, Lynchburg, Norfolk, North Carolina, Pocahontas, Pulaski, Radford, Roanoke, Scioto Valley, Shenandoah and Winston-Salem). Included in each ledger are statements titled "accounts charged from vouchers" (changed to "detail of operating expenses for the month" in later volumes) for the individual divisions, followed by a sheet providing the system-wide totals. Also included are monthly summaries of accounts charged from vouchers payable, listing transactions by voucher number, with a breakdown of expenditures under various headings (general expenses, Commercial Department, maintenance of way, maintenance of engines, maintenance of cars, conducting transportation). A third set of sheets in each ledger appears to consist of the original account entries, listing individual voucher numbers and associated expenditures, again listed under the several different categories of expenses. Affixed to the inside covers of the ledgers are monthly statements titled "Amounts Charged Under 100 Year Mortgage from Vouchers," "Earnings and Expenses," "Percentages for Expenses Based on Car Mileage," and "Analysis of Earnings and Expenses for the Month." At the end of the ledger set is a single volume, dated February 1895 and stamped "new acct." and bearing the names of the receivers, F. J. Kimball and Henry Fink.

Also included in the collection are a set of ledgers specifically relating to the company's Scioto Valley Division, its records apparently having been kept separate from the remaining divisions from February 1895 forward. These ledgers contain the same type of accounting entries as those described above.