Grossman Rail Image Archive
26 albums, 3500+ images
Grossman, Gerald. [Late 20th Century]. Gerald Grossman photographed trains from the 1960s until the late 1990s, documenting the tumultuous collapse and partial resurrection of the American rail system. He worked from the vantage point of the small village of Manchester in southeast Michigan.
In the early 1950s, the collection of incumbent private rail companies in the northeast of the United States were facing progressive financial difficulties. The rise of automobiles, trucks and air travel combined with a burdensome regulatory environment drove many small railroads in the region to the brink of collapse. In 1968, congress attempted to solve the problem by merging several of the companies into Penn Central (read the whole history here). By 1970, the company had settled into a gigantic bankruptcy.
The ultimate response to this turmoil was for congress to form Amtrak (in 1971) out of the remaining passenger rail routes and Conrail (in 1976) out of the remaining freight routes.
Grossman and several other young friends (all recent late 60s high school graduates) photographed the railroads in the southern Michigan region, and beyond, during this tumultuous period.
Grossman worked primarily with Nikon cameras, shooting Kodak TMax film, and several Kodak color films. He had a darkroom rig, and his collection of photos are a mix of hand developed and commercially developed images. He meticulously documented location, date and other information on the back of each image, using a combination of typewritten text, handwritten text, and custom stamps.
He would document friends in his community who would go on to found the Southern Michigan Railroad (a living rail museum which took possession of a local branch line, the Clinton Local), as well as the founding of NARCOA (the North American Railcar Operators Association) which preserves the maintenance vehicles used to assess rail lines.
The Archive focuses on a 6 album set of Amtrak photos documenting the Chicago to Detroit run from 1976-1982, and an 8 album set of Conrail photos documenting Conrail lines branching from the Jackson, Michigan rail yards. In addition to these large collections, Grossman assembled albums focusing on many of the preceding rail companies which fed into what became Penn Central, and ultimately Conrail/Amtrak.
The collection also includes several other topic focused albums, and numerous loose images and artifacts.
Amtrak Action
6 albums, 800+ images
Amtrak Action 1976-1977
8X10: 22 color, 95 bw
snapshots: 60 color
Amtrak Action 1978-1979
8X10: 3 color, 98 bw
snapshots: 44 color
Amtrak Action Jan 1980- Dec 1980
8X10: 9 color, 56 bw
snapshots: 40 color
Amtrak Action Jan 1983- Dec 1983
8X10: 64 bw, 26 color
5X7: 3 bw, 1 color
Amtrak Action Jul 1981- Dec 1982
8X10: 106 bw, 5 bigger bw, 1 color, 8 color bigger
5X7: 1 color
Amtrak F 40PH Rosters
8X10: 88 bw, 4 color, (55bw loose)
Snapshots: 15 color
Conrail Action
8 Albums, 1500+ images
Conrail Action on the Elkhart Branch
8X10: 4 BW
5X7: 27 color / 171 BW
Snapshot: 74 color
Conrail Leased Power (rosters)
8X10: 1 BW
5X7: 1 color / 89 BW
Snapshot: 32 color
Conrail Action at Jackson, Volume 1
8X10: 2 BW (signs)
5X7: 3 color / 142 BW
Snapshot: 66 color
Conrail Action at Jackson, Volume 3
8X10: 1 BW
5X7: 8 color / 173 BW
Snapshot: 4 color
Conrail Action, Jackson Yards (Vol 2?)
8X10: 1 BW / 1 color
5X7: 9 color / 117 BW
Snapshot: 67 color
Conrail Action, Tecumseh
8X10: 1 BW
5X7: 124 BW
Action on Conrail's Saginaw Branch
8X10: 1 BW
5X7: 22 color / 131 bw
Snapshot: 68 color
Conrail Mainline & Pennsy Action
8X10: 28 bw
5X7: 132 bw / 6 color
Snapshot: 1 bw / 3 color
Preceding Lines
12 Albums, 1200+ images
Canadian National
8X10: 1 color / 1 bw
5X7: 1 color Postcard, 8 color / 71 bw
Snapshot: 2 color
N&W
8X10: 80 bw / 4 color
Snapshot: 20 color
New York Central
8X10: 9 bw
5X7: 16 bw / 10 color (6 color postcards 5.5X9)
Snapshot: 23 bw / 25 color (7 color postcards)
CNW & Soo Line Action
8X10: 50 bw
5X7: 80 bw
Penn Central Action & Rosters
8X10: 10 bw / 1 color
5X7: 175 bw / 21 bw
Snapshot: 140 color / 4 bw
Rock Island
8X10: 8 bw
5X7: 11 color / 65 bw
Snapshot: 23 color
Western Railroad in Colorado
8X10: 2 BW / 2 color 66 BW (7X10)
5X7: (8 6X9 color Postcards)
Snapshot: 10 color,
9 color Postcards
Chessie System
8X10: 2 bw
5X7: 122 bw / 10 color
Snapshot: 30 color
Burlington
8X10: 88 bw
Snapshot: 25 color
Burlinton Northern
8X10: 66 bw
5X7: 1 bw
Snapshot: 1 bw
Train Orders (Volume 1)
Train Orders (Volume 2)
#Extra Train Albums and material (not currently included in the above Archive):
16 Volumes
#Great Northern Railway, 1999
#SS Badger and AART Meeting, Cadillac 1991
#Newspaper Railroad Clippings
#Amtrak Detroit to Chicago (Michigan Train Stations) (AADL) Snapshots: 53bw/135c
#Chessie Steam Special 8X10: 15c/39bw
#Algoma Central Snow Train 8X10: 26bw 5X7: 5c/57bw Snapshots: 23c
#Amtrak end of service Niagra run?
#Amtrak, Michigan Executive, 1975-1984 8X10: 79bw/27c 5X7: 1c Snapshots: 37c (AADL)
#Annie Passenger Extra
#Clinton Caboose Journey
#Construction of Amtrak Station in Ann Arbor (AADL)
#Jackson Amtrak Depot Gets New Life
#NARCOA Motor Car Parade
#Sesquicentennial Celebrates Michigan's Oldest Railroad
#Southern Michigan Railroad Society
#TTI Public Train Excursion
## Loose Image Archive
## 8mm Film Collection
## DVD and VHS Collection
## Rail History Books
### 8+ volumes of personal pictures, newspaper clippings, unsorted albums not yet assembled
#### Dark room equipment, Super 8 Canon Camera, Super 8 Projector, Unused Kodachrome 8mm stock