Usage conditions may apply for digital images, video, and sound recordings linked within SOVA collections. While digital content may be restricted, SOVA collection descriptions and catalog records are available CC0 for re-use. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Guide to the Charles B. Chaney Jr. Railroad Photographic Collection
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NMAH.AC.1167
- Creators:
-
Chaney, Charles B.
- Dates:
-
19721850-1947undated
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
21 Cubic feet92 boxes
- Repository:
Approximately 20,000 negatives of railroad related subjects with an emphasis on the eastern lines, especially the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Besides locomotives, other subjects include freight trains, passenger cars, bridges and tracks, stations, yards, tunnels, shops and engine houses, and train wrecks.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
An extensive and detailed guide to this collection was created by the Division of Transportation (now the Division of Work and Industry, National Museum of American History in 1991 and published by the Smithsonian Institution which is available upon request in the Archives Center. The guide provides a name or number of the locomotive or railroad scene, builder, type, date built, negative number and a brief description or caption for each negative. The collection was also scanned to video disc.
The collection contains approximately 20,000 negatives of railroad-related subjects, with the vast majority of the images being various views of locomotives. Some of the photographs were taken by Mr. Chaney, although a large number are copy negatives made from existing photographs. Many are copies of builders' photographs. The emphasis is on the eastern lines, especially the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Besides locomotives, other subjects include freight trains, passenger cars, bridges and tracks, stations, yards, tunnels, shops and engine houses, and train wrecks. The collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1, Negatives, circa 1850-1947, undated, consists primarily of film negatives which are copies from old prints dating from 1850-1900, and the remaining are those taken by Mr. Chaney between 1910-1947. The negatives vary greatly as to composition and quality. There are also one hundred glass plate negatives found among these materials. The negatives are arranged by number and are contained in sixty-eight boxes currently stored in an offsite facility.
Series 2, Microfilm, 1972, consists of thirty two reels of microfilm housed in six boxes. The microfilm reels were created by the Museum in May 1972 and contain approximately 16,156 images from series one. They are arranged in alphabetical order by the name of the railroad line. An index was created for these materials by the Museum.
Series 3,: Nitrate Negatives 1850-1947, undated, consists of 11,185 images similar to those in series one. These negatives are contained in eighteen boxes and are stored at an offsite facility. The negatives are arranged by number.
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1: Negatives, circa 1850-1947, undated
Series 2: Microfilm, 1972
Series 3: Nitrate Negatives, 1850-1947, undated
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
Charles B. Chaney Jr. was born February 7, 1875 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the oldest of seven children born to Charles B. and Mary E. Chaney. At an early age he developed an interest in locomotives while playing in and around local railroad yards. His lifelong passion for locomotives resulted in photographing and collecting materials related to the subject. As a young man Chaney moved to New York, where he began a career as a draftsman in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Charles B. Chaney Jr. retired in 1942 and returned to Baltimore, where he died on April 5, 1948.
Administration
Author
Vanessa Broussard-Simmons
Custodial History
Transferred from the Division of Work and Industry, Engineering and Industries Collections (now Division of Work and Industry), National Museum of American History, to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History in 2009.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The materials were originally collected for the Division of Engineering and Industries (now the Division of Work and Industry) in 1948.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, 2013.
The original guide to the Charles B. Chaney Jr. Railroad Photographic Collection was authored by the Division of Transportation in 1991. Revised by Vanessa Broussard- Simmons, archivist, May 2013.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Preferred Citation
Charles B. Chaney Jr. Railroad Photographic Collection, 1850-1947; 1972, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
More Information
Other Finding Aids
Other Finding Aids
An inventory for the Charles B. Chaney railroad photographs is available.
Keywords
| Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Microfilms | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
| Black-and-white negatives | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu
