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Herbert R. Tinkham
Railroad Memorabilia Collection, 1868-2006

SC23280

Quantity: 1 box (0.25 cubic ft.)
Access: Open to research
Acquisition: Gift of Herbert R. Tinkham, July 2013
Processed By: Kayleigh Paster, Student Assistant (University at Albany), Manuscripts & Special Collections, March 2014

View catalog record

Scope and Content Note:

Originally compiled in the form of an album by Herbert R. Tinkham, the collection is comprised chiefly of photographs, postcards and news clippings related to railroads in New York State. Other railroad-related materials in the collection are timetables, tickets, and a book on the history of the New York Central Railroad. The materials in the collection date from 1868 to 2006, and were removed from their album for preservation purposes.

The bulk of the news clippings, some of which are photocopies, date from between 1868 and 1889 and from 1936 to 1939. Many of the clippings contain handwritten notes about their subjects: the New York Central Company, the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, the West Shore Railroad, the Hudson River Railroad, the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the United Traction Company, and the train derailment at Little Falls, New York, in April of 1940.  The postcards in the collection date from between 1906 and 1962 and depict the railways and trains of New York State. Subjects portrayed by these postcards include trains and locations related to the New York Central Lines and the Delaware and Hudson Railroad.

The collection also contains items unrelated to New York State railroads, such as news clippings regarding the blizzards in the Albany, New York and surrounding area during the winters of 1947-1948. There is also a small number of materials related to early public transportation in the Albany, New York, area, the subway system of New York City circa 1939, World War II rationing, and the 1936 presidential campaign of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The collection also includes a small amount of ephemera related to New York State government agencies and Memory's Garden Cemetery in Albany, New York.

Box and Folder List:


Box Folder Description
1 1 Railroad Stations and Timetables, Envelope from Lake Shore and Michigan Southern
  1. Calendar picture, West Troy Railroad Station, ca. 1880s
  2. Envelope, from Treasurer's Office of Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Co., Grand Central Depot, New York, to Van Allen Whitebeck, Coeymans, N.Y.,  January 11, 
  3. News clipping, Timetable, West Shore Railroad and Hudson River Railroad, May 12, 1889
  4. News clipping, photograph of New York Central Railroad Station, West Fayette Street, [Syracuse, N.Y.], 1897
  5. News clipping, Timetable, Albany & Susquehanna Railroad Timetable, May 12, 1868
1 2 Statue of Liberty
  1. Double-sided magazine clipping; first side is a print of Edward Moran's Unveiling the Statue of Liberty, the second side is a print of Winslow Homer's The Herring Net
  2. American Mint mail advertisement for Five Dollar "Statue of Liberty" Coin, addressed to Mr. Herbert L. [sic] Tinkham
1 3 Railroad Stations and Crossings, Rochester, New York, aqueduct,
  1.  Postcard, "Canal boats going over Aqueduct, Rochester, N.Y."
  2.  Clipping, "Late Nineteenth Century Photograph of the Milford Depot," [Cooperstown, N.Y.]
  3. News clipping, photograph of Perry's Railroad Station on Center Street, [Perry, N.Y.]; description says photograph dates to 1920s; handwritten note reads "New in 1898".
  4. News clipping of a photograph of a 1842 fire hydrant
  5. Photocopy of a picture of the D & H [Delaware and Hudson] Railroad depot, Cobleskill, N.Y.; accompanying note contains brief history of the depot
  6. Photocopy of a picture of the Adams Street Railroad Crossing in [Troy], N.Y, ca. early 1900s
  7. Photocopy of a picture of the Adams Street Railroad Crossing in [Troy], N.Y., ca. early 1900s
1 4 New York Central Lines
  1.  Photograph of New York Central Lines #3405, "First Electric Train," September 30, 1906
  2. Photograph of New York Central Lines #3000
1 5 Postcards; Syracuse, New York, and New York Central Railroad
  1. View of Savings Bank, Erie Canal, and Opera House in Syracuse, N.Y., Illustrated Postal Card Co., N.Y., addressed to Flora M. Knight, November 1, 1906
  2. "Depot, New York Central Lines, Rochester, N.Y."
  3. "Electricity Versus Steam." The Rochester News Company, Rochester, N.Y. [Eastern Rapid Railroad and Auburn branch of New York Central and Hudson River Railroad tracks], Anna Rice to George Pfersich, Rochester, [N.Y.], August 16, 1907
  4. Niagara Type Locomotive, New York Central System, June 15, 1962
1 6 World War II ration book and tokens, train ticket
  1.  Two OPA [Office of Price Administration] Red Point tokens, [ca. 1942-1945]
  2.  Train ticket for the Delaware & Hudson Company, Cohoes, [N.Y.] to Troy, [N.Y.]
  3. War Ration Book Three, Frances R. Weideman, Voorheesville, N.Y., contains consumer declaration for the Solid Fuels Administration for war and a blank application for home canning sugar allowance
1 7 Ulster and Delaware Railroad, Albany-Nassau-Cohoes bus line, Grand Central Station, Times Square Station
  1. Ulster and Delaware Railroad Timetable for Main Line, Stony Clove and Kaaterskill Branch, and Hunter Branch, September 10, 1922
  2. Photograph of Grand Central Station, New York City, [N.Y.], ca. 1920s
  3. News clipping of a photograph of a bus from the Albany-Nassau-Cohoes Bus Line, ca. 1925
  4. Envelope from Times Square Station, pre-addressed to the Fifth Avenue Bank, New York, N.Y.
1 8 Train depots and crossings
  1. Photograph of Voorheesville train depot, October 27, 1962; back of photograph contains notes
  2. Photograph of D&H [Delaware and Hudson] #805 train crossing West Shore towards Albany, [New York]
  3. Reproduction of a photograph of "Highway Flashing Light Signals and Station Crossing in Delmar, N.Y."; back of photograph contains notes  
1 9 The New York Central Railroad, 1831-1915 by Alfred Holland Smith and the New York Central Railroad Company, 1916, 31p.
1 10 Railroad service in Syracuse, New York; subway service in New York City
  1. News clipping, map of routes operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in New York City, [circa 1939]
  2. News clipping of a photograph of the last trains to run through Syracuse, New York, September 24, 1936
  3. News clipping of an article about the history of railroad services in Syracuse, New York
1 11 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, train derailment at Little Falls, New York
  1. Photocopy of a picture of the DL&W [Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western] station; notes contain a brief history of the station
  2. Photocopy of a newspaper article regarding the history of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in Syracuse, New York, from the [Syracuse Post-Standard, October 22, 1941]
  3. Photocopy of a picture of the aftermath of the derailment of Train #19, The Lake Shore Limited, [New York Central Railroad], at Little Falls, New York, April 20, 1940; back of photocopy contains notes
  4. News clipping, photographs and article regarding the train derailment at Little Falls, New York, [ca. April, 20, 1940]
  5. Photocopy of newspaper photograph, Syracuse passenger station of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad, [September 29, 1940]
  6. Photocopy of newspaper photograph, last train to leave the Lackawanna station, [Syracuse, New York, September 27, 1940]
1 12 Franklin D. Roosevelt Campaign Poster
  1.  "Carry on with/Franklin D. Roosevelt" [includes portrait], 1936
1 13 Railroads, trolleys, heavy snowfall in Albany (1947-1948)
  1. News clipping, Paul Grondahl, "Lincoln, Albany were linked in tragedy",  Times Union, April 24, 2006
  2. News clipping, "That Storm Really Piled the Snow Up Along Broadway," Knickerbocker News, Albany, New York, December 27, 1947
  3. News clipping, "Mercury Plunges to -14 in Wake of Heavy Snow,"  Knickerbocker News, Albany, New York, December 27, 1947
  4. News clipping regarding heavy snowfall in Albany, [ca. December 27, 1947]
  5. News clipping of photograph of heavy snowfall in Albany, [ca. December 27, 1947]
  6.  News clipping, advertisement for the Pacemaker 17-Hour Coach Flyer, July 26, 1939
  7. News clipping, a brief history of the United Traction Company
  8. News clipping, photograph of trolleys in downtown Albany, [New York], ca. 1900
  9. News clipping, photograph of snowfall in Albany, New York, January 29, 1948
  10. News clipping regarding cold weather in Albany, New York, January 31, 1948
1 14 Miscellaneous
  1. News clipping, "An end-to-end train picture" citing statistics relative to trains , [November, 1936]
  2. Blank datebook from John McCabe & Co., Large Stationery Store, New York, [N.Y.], 1943
  3. Program, Tenth Annual Day of Remembrance Service, Memory's Garden, Albany, N.Y., June 3, 1951
  4. Blank card acknowledging receipt of correspondence, from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, September 27, 1971
  5. Envelope, State Civil Service Commission to Walter C. Longleway, Albany, N.Y., October 7, 1902
Last Updated: March 7, 2022