I've Been Working on the Railroad . . .

Railroads play an important role in the lives of many of our 19th century ancestors (and even 20th century ancestors). A recently distributed government document details many of the cartographic resources relating to railroads that are available in the National Archives. Entitled Records Relating to Railroads in the Cartographic Section of the National Archives and published as Reference Information Paper 116, the 142 page government document describes each collection for researchers. The 2010 edition was compiled by Peter F. Brauer and can be found in most depository libraries under the SUDOC classification AE 1.124:116. Be sure to check an individual library's catalog as there are some libraries which incorporate government documents in Dewey or LC classification numbers.