EAD
TABLE OF CONTENTSInventory |
Guide to the William Rugen Collection of Long Island Rail Road Records
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator | Rugen, William J., 1904-1996 | |
| Title | William Rugen Collection of Long Island Rail Road Records, | |
| Dates: | 1844-1970 | |
| Abstract: | Nearly all items are in printed form, and many consist of by-laws, agreements, and similar documents in booklet form. Items in this collection are dated ca 1880-1960, with the majority being for the 1890-1930 period. | |
| Extent: | 4 boxes, 1.6 cubic feet | |
| Identification: | R-2 | |
| Location: | The material is located in the Archives at Queens Library. | |
Historical/Biographical Note
Mr. William Rugen of Richmond Hill was a retired employee of the Long Island Railroad when he donated this small group of records to the Library in 1968. An avid railroad buff, he gathered the items in this collection over a number of years, as well as amassing a very large photograph collection during the same period.
Return to the Table of Contents
Scope and Content Note
Nearly all items are in printed form, and many consist of by-laws, agreements, and similar documents in booklet form. Items in this collection are dated ca 1880-1960, with the majority being for the 1890-1930 period.
The collection is divided into three sub-groups as follows: Printed Booklets, Loose Papers such as letters and memoranda arranged by subject, Non-Textual Items.
Printed Booklets The printed booklets or pamphlets are actually-such documents as By-Laws, Agreements and the like pertaining to the Long Island Railroad, as well as some of the smaller railroad lines in existence at the time, some of which were many years later to be amalgamated into the New York City Subway and Elevated transportation systems. They have been grouped together by category, and within category, by date. Nearly all are of a uniform size and vary in length from about a dozen pages to seventy or more pages. A complete listing follows below, titles generally being taken from front covers.
By-Laws of Long Island Railroad Company, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1912.
Agreements Agreement between the Long Island Railroad Company and the Western Union Telegraph Company, Jun 8, 1880
Agreement between the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway Company and the Long Island Railroad Company, Oct 1, 1885
Agreement between the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad Company and the Long Island Rail road Company; also Agreement between the Long Island Railroad Company, the New York and Rockaway Beach Railway Company, and the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad Company with Frederick Uhlmann, Receiver, etc. and the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company, Apr 13, 1898
Agreement between the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company and the Long Island Rail Road Company, Apr 1, 1899
Equipment Trust Agreement and Lease between the Fidelity Trust Company, Trustee and the Long Island Railroad, Feb 1, 1906
Agreement between the City of New York and the Long Island Railroad Company, Feb 13, 1906
Agreement between the Sea Beach Railway Company and the Long Island Railroad Company, Apr 23, 1906
Agreement between the Sea Beach Railway Company and the Long Island Railroad Company, Mar 21, 1907 Agreement between the City of New York, and the Pennsylvania, New York and Long Island Rail road Company with the Long Island Railroad Company, Jun 21, 1907 Agreement between the City of New York and the Long Island Railroad Company, Jul 21, 1911 Agreement between the New York Municipal Railway Corporation and the New York Consolidated Railroad Company with the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway Company and the Long Island Railroad Company, Jan 6, 1914 (2 copies—1 is defective)
Equipment Trust Series "B” Agreement between Fidelity Trust Company and William P. Gest, Trustees, Feb 1, 1917
Equipment Trust Series "CM Agreement between Fidelity Trust Company and William P. Gest, Aug 1, 1920
By-Laws of Other Railroad or Related Companies Certificate of Incorporation, By-Laws and Organization of The Jamaica and South Shore Railroad Company, Aug 1904
Certificate of Incorporation, Franchises, By-Laws and Organization of The Glen Cove Railroad Company, Feb 1906
Certificate of Incorporation, By-Laws and Organization of the Montauk Steamboat Company, Limited, Apr 1906
Articles of Association, By-Laws and Organization of the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway Company, Jun 1906
Certificate of Incorporation, By-Laws and Organization of the Montauk Water Company, Jul 1906
Articles of Association, By-Laws and Organization of the New York and Rockaway Beach Railway Company, Jul 1906
Articles of Association, By-Laws and Organization of the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad Company, Jul 1906
Articles of Association, Franchises, By-Laws and f^ Organization of the Huntington Railroad Company, Jul 1910
Leases Lease of the Atlantic Avenue Railroad Company of Brooklyn to the Long Island Railroad Company, Mar 26, 1877
Lease of the Prospect Park and Coney Island Rail road Company to the Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company, Jun 17, 1899
Lease of the Long Island Railroad Company North Shore Branch to the Long Island Railroad Company, Jul 1, 1904
Lease of the New York and Rockaway Beach Railway Company to the Long Island Railroad Company, Jul 1, 1904
Mortgages Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad Company, First Mortgage, Jan 18, 1886
Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad Company Agreement Supplementary to First Mortgage, May 2, 1889
Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad Company, Second Mortgage, Feb 25, 1891
Unified Mortgage, The Long Island Railroad Company to United States Mortgage and Trust Company as Trustee, Mar 1, 1899
Refunding Mortgage, The Long Island Railroad Company to the Equitable Trust Company of New York, Sep 1, 1903
Miscellaneous Papers, the Long Island Railroad Company Refunding Mortgage, Jan 1904
Miscellaneous Certificate of the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners for the City of New York to the Long Island Railroad Company, Jun 22, 1907
Income Bond of the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad Company, May 1, 1880 (1 sheet)
Loose Papers Consisting of a few letters, memoranda, reports and similar items, as well as some documents previously described, such as agreements, these papers have been arranged principally by subject. These agreements differ from those described previously in that they are not printed but rather in typescript. Some bear notations and accompanying letters of transmittal. Perhaps, at least some of them may never have been printed. The following subjects are found in this group:
Agreements ca. 15 items; ca. 1902-1920
Cedarhurst Cutoff ca. 10 items including a blueprint of the trackage involved; ca. 1929-1934
Central Railroad Company of Long Island 1 item, a blueprint sketch of the Stewart Line, May 24, 1940
Rockaway Area Divisions ca. 12 items including an 1897 timetable, another time table with a picture advertising the New York, Woodhaven and Rockaway Railroad; and a memorandum dated 1933 regarding proposed sale of the Rockaway lines, ca. 1887-1933
Side Tracks ca. 10 items consisting basically of agreements regarding various side tracks; ca. 1888-1904
Superintendent's Office ca. 8 items consisting of letters or copies of letters and memoranda addressed to the Long Island Railroad Company's Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent or Train Master regarding various complaints; ca. 1910-1914, 1926
Track Inspection 2 items consisting of a small pamphlet giving the itinerary of an inspection trip made in 1927; and a leaflet describing the route of a special inspection train, 1916
Train Orders ca. 10 items consisting essentially of copies of orders given to railroad engineers; ca 1889-1963
Western Union Telegraph Company 5 items consisting of k blank telegrams and 1 small booklet containing 3 telegram delivery sheets listing names of individuals to whom telegrams were delivered in 1912
Wrecks ca. 8 items consisting principally of reports issued by the New York State Public Service Commission regarding accidents involving the Railroad; ca. 1913, 1949-1951
Freight Documents ca. 35 items consisting principally of "Freight-Way Bills" from terminals in Long Island City, for the most part to the village of Yaphank (1905). A few other types of documents also included and perhaps can best be referred to as agent of Station Master Records. These include such items as "Daily Record of Trains"; "Daily Check of Cars"; "Express Forwarded"; and similar items. These are dated in the 1880s and 1890s, as well as a few for the 1920s and as late as 1946. Generally speaking these refer to villages in the Town of Brookhaven such as Setauket, Cutchogue, and Port Jefferson.
Miscellaneous ca. 8 items including a blank receipt book evidently used by pick-up express agents; and a prospectus covering the "5 percent Refunding Mortgage Gold Bonds...". 1863, 1880s, 1930, 1941, 1949, 1962, undated
Non-Textual Items Not very numerous in quantity, these Items are, nevertheless, interesting by their very nature. It is possible that one or two items may not be, strictly speaking, Long Island Railroad material. Each item is described below: Badge, metal, in oval form on which is written "Crossing Watchman L.I.R.R. 526"
Badge, metal, in square form on which is written "L.I.R.R. Paycheck 5351"
Patch, probably rayon, depicting man running. Caption reads "The Route of the Dashing Commuter, The Long Island Rail Road". Colors are orange, red, blue and yellow.
Wooden souvenir in circular shape on which is written on one side "Wooden Nickel Souvenir", and on the other "L.I.R.R. Route of the Week End Chief. For Reservations RE. 9-4200". One side depicts an Indian character. Such wooden nickels may have been used for parlor car seat reservations.
Pin depicting running man (symbol of the commuter 'Dashing Dan’). Reads “Long Island Rail Road Tours".
Square ash tray manufactured by Samuel Lewis Co. of NYC, probably 1940s-1950s. One side bears Long Island Railroad name. The other sides spell out the inscription, "Grade Crossings are Dangerous, Take No Chances".
Button (metal) on which is written "N.Y.C.T.S.". Manufactured by the Waterbury Button, Company of Connecticut.
Button, same as above, but smaller
Button (metal) on which is written “M and QTC”. On reverse is written, "Superior Quality”
Lapel button depicting what appears to be a man in the dress of the French Foreign Legion.
Locomotive #Plate 28—from G5s class 10-wheeler (4-6-0). Built for LIRR by Pennsylvania Railroad’s Juniata shop, 2/25. Stricken from LIRR list 6/22/55. This class locomotive originally had round number plates (See Ron Ziel’s Steel Rails to the Sunrise for installation of keystone plate, as well as more information on the class). Locomotives had 68H driving wheels. Engine alone weighed 237,000 lbs.
#111—H10s class consolidation (2-8-0) Built Vl6 Brooks locomotive works for PRR, originally numbered 8239. Later transferred (date unknown) to LIRR roster. Retired 9/2/55.
Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Creator of item, date of item (if known), identification of item, if a photograph its control number. The William Rugen Collection of Long Island Rail Road Records, Archives at Queens Library, Queens Borough Public Library.
Provenance
The photographs were purchased by the Library and are separately cataloged. Though not a very large collection (about 1 cubic foot), it is an interesting one for it contains much material difficult to duplicate today. Some items were actually gathered by 1 or 2 other individuals, and then given to Mr. Rugen who in turn donated them to the Library.
Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions. Manuscripts are only available in the Archives at Queens Library, please call (718) 990-0770 for hours. Manuscript users will be required to complete the division's Manuscript Usage Form and deposit their photograph identification or Queens Borough Public Library card with a staff member. The identification will be returned to the user after she/he has returned the material. Manuscript users will deposit all their personal items behind the reference desk. Manuscript users must use the division's loose sheets of paper for note taking. To reiterate, no pen of any type is permitted. Paper and a pencil are available upon request. Manuscript users may be required to use special handling procedures depending on the conditions of the material.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
- Archives at Queens Library
- Queens Borough Public Library
- 89-11 Merrick Boulevard
- Jamaica, NY 11432
- Phone: (718) 990-0770.
Return to the Table of Contents
Access Points
Subject Names:
- Rugen, William J., 1904-1996
Subject Organizations:
- Long Island Rail Road
Subject Places:
- Long Island (N.Y.)
Return to the Table of Contents
Inventory
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]
