The American Memory collections contain many references about railroads in various formats, including photographs, prints, maps, songs and oral histories. See the collections below for specific references.
The Conservation Movement brings together a variety of materials concerning railroads, including statues, images, and personal histories.
The California As I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 contains a number of passages about railroads including an account of journalist Fremont Older (1856-1935), who went to California in 1873 and became one of the state's most controversial newspapermen in his work at the San Francisco Call and Bulletin. He provides fascinating details of his fight against political corruption in San Francisco, a chronicle of graft, labor violence, fraud, and rampant bribery centering on his fight against the Southern Pacific Railroad and its political "ring" and personal battles with Republican boss Abraham Ruef, Mayor Eugene Schmitz, and Patrick Calhoun, head of United Railroads.
The Detroit Publishing Company Collection has many images of railroads including photographs of various trains and depots.
Panoramic Photographs includes images of railroad stations, trains and train accidents.
The Voices from the Dust Bowl collection contains several songs about the railroads, such as Railroader.
Selected Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865 contains many railroad images including Men repairing single-track railroad after Battle of Stone's River and Locomotive on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad.
By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, has the image of "The attack on the President's life--Scene in the ladies' room of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad depot."
Daguerreotype Portraits and Views, 1839-1864 contains an image of railroad workers standing on crank handcar.
Washington as it Was: Photographs by Theodor Horydczak, 1923-1959 includes photographs of trains, stations and details of trains.
Words & Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years has Samuel F.B. Morse's colored sketch of a railway telegraph, ca. 1838.
Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century America: Photographs by Samuel Gottscho and William Schleisner, 1935-1955 contains a railroad exhibit at World's Fair.
The Early Films collections includes Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904 and has "Panorama exterior Westinghouse works / Railroad from Pittsburg to Stewart, Westinghouse works Railroad panorama, Pittsburg to Stewart, Westinghouse works."
WPA Life Histories contains information about people's family education, income, occupation, and political views. Railroads and railroaders are mentioned numerous times in the personal histories.
The Color Photographs from the Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information, ca. 1938-1944 collection has many railroad photographs including locomotives, freight cars and depots.