The collection is open for research.
Permission to publish material from Norfolk & Western Railroad and Railway Company Records must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Norfolk & Western Railroad and Railway Company Records, Ms2017-015, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Norfolk & Western Railroad and Railway Company Records were purchased by Special Collections in March 2017.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Norfolk & Western Railroad and Railway Company Records was completed in June 2017.
The Norfolk & Western Railroad originated with the 1838 chartering of the City Point Railroad, a line between Petersburg and City Point, Virginia. The line was purchased by the South Side Railroad in 1854, which, in turn, merged with the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad and the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad, forming the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad in 1870. The AM&O fell into bankruptcy and was purchased in 1881, the new owners incorporating under the name Norfolk and Western Railroad, with a line extending from Virginia's coast to Southwest Virginia. The N&W went into receivership in 1895 and was reorganized as the Norfolk & Western Railway the following year.
The collection includes administrative documents and correspondence from the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company (later the Norfolk & Western Railway Company) dating from 1876 to about 1935. There are receipts and billing documents, letters, telegrams, and internal reports, as well as a few maps, blueprints, and handwritten notes. The collection is arranged into two series: Administrative Records and Correspondence.
Series I: Administrative Records, 1883-1935, n.d., primarily includes internal handwritten and type reports and a variety of billing documents and receipts. In addition, it contains one published 1892 N&W Railroad agreement, some internal circulars, some ephemeral notes, and three maps/blueprints.
This series is arranged by type of material. Within each folder, whenever possible, materials are in chronological order with undated items as the back of the folder.
Series II: Correspondence, 1876-1914, n.d. contains letters written to and from N&W Railroad Company and N&W Railway Company between 1876 and 1906. It also includes a small collection of telegrams to the company, sent between 1896 and 1914. The correspondence exchanges between the railroad and other companies, individuals, and clients.
This series is arranged by type of material. Within each material type. items are in chronological order, with undated items at the back of the folder.
Special Collections continued to collection materials relating to railroad history. We have more than 30 collections of materials from the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company, the Norfolk & Western Railway Company, and many subsidiary and associated companies. A list of Norfolk & Western collections can be viewed here. A list of larger list of all our railroad manuscript collections can be viewed here.