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| C. & N.W. R.R., Mrs. Dorothy Lucke, employed as a wiper at the roundhouse, Clinton, Iowa via Flickr the Commons |
Researching railroading ancestors can be
difficult due to company mergers and lack of personnel records but the
following ideas may help you find some information you can use. Because it can
be difficult to get personnel records for railroad workers, you may want to
tackle the research by looking for historical
information so that family members can better understand what it was like to
work on the railroad.
Websites
Various genealogy subscription sites have documents relating
to the railroads. One example can be found at Genealogy Today. You can see what railroad employee records
they have by looking at their homepage for these records here .
To access these records you will need to purchase a subscription to Genealogy
Today. You can learn more about a paid
subscription to the site here.
While starting with railroad specific sources are important,
don’t neglect to research the catalogs of regional archives as well. One example is the Online Archive of California which lists various railroad records from the Southern Pacific and Central
Pacific railroads, among others. The
Online Archive of California is a catalog of archives throughout California . These
records contain everything from administration records to a photograph album of
employees.
Also consider local museums that are close to or in the same
city as a railroad hub. These museums might have information or artifacts about
the history of the local railroad.
Railroad Retirement
Board
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board is
one of the first sources that people think of when they contemplate researching
their ancestor. However, not every
ancestor who worked for a railroad will be found in the records of the Railroad
Retirement Board.
The Board only has records for those who worked for the
railroad after 1936. To learn what information to send to have them conduct a
record search for a worker consult their genealogy page .
Some records involving railroads may be at the National
Archives, however you can still consult the Railroad Retirement Board and they
will let you know what your next steps should be. To learn more about railroad
records at NARA, see the article Riding the Rails up Paper Mountain:Researching Railroad Records in the National Archives by David A. Pfeiffer.
Archives/Museums
Railroad archives and museums provide resources donated from
individual workers as well as railroads.
Consult a railroad archive in the area your ancestor worked.
Maps
The Library of Congress, site American Memory has a webpage entitled Railroad Maps 1828-1900.
Aside from these maps helping you learn more about the routes of the railroad
your ancestor worked on it also provides historical information about the
development of the railroad through time.
Other websites you may be interested in include Cyndi’s List: Railroads and the National Railway Historical Society
Women on the Railroad
Did you female ancestor work for the railroad? You might want to check out these websites:
Did you female ancestor work for the railroad? You might want to check out these websites:
- Pioneering Women of the Railroad Pre WWII and Women and Railroads During World War II from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
As with any
genealogical research, remember that research begins with the Internet
(genealogy sites, history sites, archives and libraries) and continues with
brick and mortar repositories like archives, museums, public libraries and
university libraries.
