The Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society and Maine Central Railroad Historical Society recently received thousands of historic documents as donations from CSX Transportation. CSX obtained the documents after its 2022 purchase of Pan Am Railways. 

The historical societies said the donations were significant and included priceless, one-of-a-kind artifacts, some dating back to the early 19th century. The documents had been stored in buildings at Rigby Yard in South Portland, Maine, and at Iron Horse Park in North Billerica, Mass. 

Just some of the documents that were recently donated to the Maine Central and Boston & Maine historical societies. 

“The documents include vast quantities of engineering, mechanical, property, and signal records, maps, drawings, files, and indices. The old B&M vault includes early handwritten volumes from the B&M and predecessor companies dating to as early as 1804,” the B&MRHS wrote on social media. 

The two groups are currently trying to move as much of the material as possible before the building where some of it is stored is remodeled later this year.

—Justin Franz