Joseph R. Snopek Railroad Collection
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of timetables, publications, maps, train accident reports, photographic prints and negatives, postcards and ephemera of railroads of New England, particularly the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, better known as the New Haven Railroad, as well as its successor railroads of Penn Central, Conrail and Amtrak.
Series I: Timetables, publications, maps, and ephemera, consists of timetables (employee and public), books, publications, maps, fliers, ephemera, and accident reports of railroads in New England and the northeast United States, particularly those that were functioning in the period between the 1930s and the 1990s. Railroads represented include Amtrak, the Boston & Albany Railroad, the Boston & Maine Railroad, New York Central Railroad, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, and Penn Central. Also included is literature produced by railfan groups of the northeast United States, including the New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association and the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts. Of special interest are locomotive operating and instruction manuals and Interstate Commerce Commission accident reports.
These papers were collected by Mr. Snopek for his personal interest and as research materials in preparation for writing the book Diesels to Park Avenue: The FL-9 Story.
Series II: Photographs, consists of images collected and taken by Mr. Snopek throughout his lifetime, of locomotives, railroad stations and other railroad-related scenes, mostly of railroads in the northeast United States with a few from Canada and the western United States.
Prior to the donation of the collection to Archives & Special Collections the materials, particularly the photographs, were organized and meticulously listed by Robert A. LaMay, Mr. Snopek's co-author on the book Diesels to Park Avenue: The FL-9 Story. The lists Mr. LaMay created are available in each box of photographic prints as aids for access.
Dates
- Creation: undated, 1902-1999
Access
The collection is open and available for research.
Restrictions on Use and Copyright Information
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/History
Joseph R. Snopek was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1943. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and worked for Allied Resources Corporation in East Hartford, Connecticut, as the Director for Technical Services Engineered Safety Systems and Chief Engineer. He was a resident of Granby, Massachusetts, beginning in 1965 and a member of the Civil Air Patron and the National Guard. He died on November 4, 2000, in Holyoke.
Mr. Snopek was a co-author, with Robert A. LaMay, of Diesels to Park Avenue: The FL-9 Story (Granby, MA : New England Rails Pub. Co., 1997). The EMD FL9 (New Haven Class EDER-5) was a dual-power electro-diesel locomotive, capable of diesel-electric operation and of operation as an electric locomotive powered from a third rail. Sixty units were built between October 1956 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
Extent
13 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Author of Diesels to Park Avenue: The FL-9 Story (New England Rails Publishing Company, 1997). Collection consists of photographs, timetables, track guide maps, operator manuals and freight schedules principally of northeastern United States railroads, including the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Penn Central, Conrail, and Amtrak.
Provenance and Acquisition
The collection was donated by Mrs. Virginia Snopek of Granby, Massachusetts, in 2003.
General Physical Description note
13 linear feet.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Joseph R. Snopek Railroad Collection
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Archives & Special Collections staff
- Date
- 2012 December
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, University of Connecticut Library Repository
University of Connecticut Library
405 Babbidge Road Unit 1205
Storrs Connecticut 06269-1205 USA US
860-486-2524
archives@uconn.edu