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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Pennsylvania State Archives

    Railroad Employees

    The main genealogical series The Pennsylvnia State Archives preserves for PRR employees is the Enrollment Cards, 1881-1968 (300 cubic ft.) of the PRR's Voluntary Relief Department {series #286m.417}.

    Railroad Employees

    Note: None of records held by the Pennsylvania State Archives provide comprehensive information about the employees of any railroad. Documentation is incomplete at best, and often non-existent.

    Railroad Retirement Board Records

    You may wish to consult the genealogical website of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board(opens in a new tab), a federal board that has administered a comprehensive retirement benefit program for railroad workers nationwide since 1937. Genealogical searches of Railroad Retirement Board records can be requested as per the instructions given on their website.

    Holdings at the PA State Archives

    Pennsylvania Railroad

    Enrollment Cards

    The main genealogical series we have for PRR employees is the Enrollment Cards, 1881-1968 (300 cubic ft.) of the PRR's Voluntary Relief Department {series #286m.417}.

    Other series with information relating to PRR employees

    If you do not find your PRR ancestor in the Voluntary Relief Dept. Enrollment Cards, the following series may also contain select information relating to PRR employees:

    PRR personnel-related records at other institutions

    If you have no luck finding information about your PRR ancestor in any of these records, you may want to try contacting the following institutions, which also hold some PRR personnel-related records:

    Hagley Museum & Library(opens in a new tab)
    P.O. Box 3630
    Greenville, DE 19807
    (302) 658-2400

    Urban Archives(opens in a new tab)
    Paley Library
    Temple University
    Philadelphia, PA 19122
    (215) 204 5750

    Railroaders Memorial Museum(opens in a new tab)
    1200 Ninth Ave.
    Altoona, PA 16602
    (814) 946-0834

    Other Railroads

    If your ancestor worked for another railroad line or industry not subsumed by the PRR, consult the research guide page entitled State Archives Collections Relating to Railroads.

    The following series may be of assistance to you:

    Finally, you may want to refer to the topical indices and tables of contents for Robert Dructor's Guide to Genealogical Sources at the Pennsylvania State Archives, 2nd edition.