Don Ball, Jr. Railroad Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: 2003-0093

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The Don Ball, Jr. Railroad Collection consists of 887 photographic images, most of them taken by Mr. Ball, of stations, locomotives, and railroad related scenes of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and other New England and eastern United States railroad lines. Most of the images are photographic negatives.

The photographs that were not taken by Mr. Ball are starred (*).

Dates

undated, 1895-1975

Access

The collection is open and available for research.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.

Biography

Don Ball, Jr., born in 1938, was a resident of Chester, Vermont. He was a railway consultant, photographer and author. His eight books included Portrait of the Rails, Railroads, an American Journey, and America's Colorful Railroads. He was director of the Steamtown Foundation, which operates Steamtown U.S.A., a railroad museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and formerly of Bellows Falls, Vermont.

Mr. Ball died at the age of 48 on 15 October 1986, in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Extent

1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Don Ball, Jr. (1938-1986) was a railroad employee and photographer and author of books about railroads. The collection consists of several hundred photographic images, most of them taken by Mr. Ball, of locomotives, stations, and railroad related scenes of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and other New England and eastern United States railroad lines.

Arrangement

Series I: Photographic Negatives, New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (undated, 1895-1967) consists of images of stations and facilities, locomotives, and other scenes. Stations and facilities are those located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, eastern New York and Rhode Island. Images of the railroad's locomotives are organized by steam, electric and diesel, and multiple unit car and passenger cars, and thereunder by number. Other scenes are those that are of unidentified right-of-ways, stations, and tracks.

Series II: Photographic Negatives, Other Railroads in the Northeast United States (undated, 1933-1976) series consists of images, locomotives, and scenes of the American Freedom Train of 1975-1976, Amtrak, Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, Boston and Maine Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railway, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Central Vermont Railway, Claremont and Concord Railway, Conrail, Delaware and Hudson Railway, EMD, Erie-Lackawanna Railway, Grand Trunk Railway, Green Mountain Vermont Railroad, Long Island Railroad, Maine Central Railroad, Nickel Plate Road, Penn Central, Pennsylvania Railroad, Rutland Railroad, Saint Johnsbury & Lamoille County Railroad, Springfield Terminal Railway, Strasburg Railroad, and Union Pacific Railroad. It also includes images of Steamtown U.S.A. when it was located in Bellows Falls, Vermont, buses, and several unidentified railroad bridges and locomotives. [Note: negative 2003-0109.ph504 is housed in Box 3.]

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated in 2003.

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital reproductions of materials in this collection may also be found in the Archives & Special Collections digital repository

Related Material

Archives & Special Collections has a substantial collection of materials pertaining to the railroads of southern New England, particularly the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. For detailed information on these collections please contact the curator or ask at the Reading Room desk.

Subjects

Locomotives Subject Source: Fast
Negatives (photographs) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
New England (general region) Subject Source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Railfans Subject Source: Fast
Railroad stations Subject Source: Fast
Railroads Subject Source: Fast