Railroads have been an important business in U.S. history. Their contribution to the U.S. economy and strong regulations meant that financial information on the companies has been of interest to many consequently, publication of this type of information directly from the companies and private publishing houses has been plentiful.
This section covers financial information such as expenses, taxes, employees and compensation, and equipment. We have also included titles that look at sources of revenue for freight and passenger traffic as well as older titles whose perspective might help researchers understand the way the industry worked during certain periods of time. Many of these texts are out of copyright and in the public domain and might be found on Google Books or Project Gutenberg.
The items here are those that have data and discussions related to revenue, sales, and operating expenses. It is not a complete listing of titles that contain this type of information, but include those that can provide a lot of information at a glance or may be easier to access and use. Additional sources can be found searching our catalog or in the General Resources section of this guide. The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.
Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States, the Interstate Commerce Commission for the year endingAnnual Report on Transport Statistics in the United States for the year ended ... by Bulletin of Revenues and Expenses of Roads in the United States by Distribution of the Rail Revenue Contribution by Commodity Groups by Earning Power of Railroads
Handbook of Railroad ExpensesInterstate Commerce Commission Reports. Valuation Reports : Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United StatesInvestigation of Ownership and Control by Holding Companies of Common Carriers by Preliminary Report on Income Accounts of Railways in the United States by Railway Expenditures: Their Extent, Object and EconomyRailroad Freight Rates in Relation to the Industry and Commerce of the United States by Railroad Operating Costs; A Series of Original Studies in Operating Costs of the Leading American RailroadsRailroad Statistics, Comparative Operating Statistics of 53 of the Principal Railroads in the United States ... by Railroads: Rates and RegulationRailway statistics of the United States of America by Report of the Railway Accounting Officers by "A Review of Railroad Financing, 1920-1938: I. Volume and Cost of Railroad Capital." The Journal of Land & Public Utility Economics by United States Interstate Commission. Valuation Reports. (Indexes) by Statistics of Railways by Statistical Record of Railroad Transportation in the United States by Statistics of Railways of Class I, United States by Valuation Docket. Interstate Commerce CommissionWhite & Kemble's Atlas and Digest of Railroad MortgagesIf you are looking for more recent information for companies that are public, SEC filings and annual reports will be the place to start. The SEC has filings from 1994 on its website and the Library of Congress subscribes to the module Mergent Archives which currently includes 10K filings.
Special attention needs to be given to the sources published by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Both were long-term publishers of detailed financial information on companies. Both offer similar information that is organized similarly although the time periods covered by each vary.
It is possible that these volumes are digitized somewhere on the Internet but the Moody's manuals and the Moody's/Mergent Transportation Manual are digitized and available via the Mergent Archives subscription database which is accessible for on-site researchers at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.
The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.
Moody's.
The Library has several collections of pamphlets that were grouped together with limited cataloging information. Links to the catalog records for the collections are below. Each record does include a full inventory and many of the titles reference particular companies and particular people.
Anyone wanting to view this material must request it in person and use it in the Science & Business Reading Room on the 5th floor of the Adams Building.
The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.
