Offered here is a spectacular, museum-grade 6-document (3 sets of two components) industrial archive from January 1883, detailing an unbroken supply chain on the highly collectible Clove Branch Rail Road and the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (NYC&HR). This archive contains three perfectly matched pairs of mainline transport receipts and local shortline waybills. Together, they provide a flawless paper trail tracking the massive volume of raw charcoal required to fuel the high-heat blast furnaces of the historic Clove Spring Iron Mining Company (C.S.I.M. Co.) at Sylvan Lake in Dutchess County, New York.
The Clove Branch Rail Road was a tiny, specialized 4.25-mile iron ore line. Intact operational records from this corridor—let alone perfectly paired interchange manifests—are exceptionally rare in private hands.
* ARCHIVAL NOTE ON PHYSICAL INTEGRITY: The matching New York Central and Clove Branch document sets are still physically held together at the top corner by their original, 1883-applied black treasury gum/mucilage. They remain exactly as they were joined by the railroad station agent over 140 years ago, offering spectacular, unblemished archival provenance.
ITEM ANALYSIS
PAIR 1: THE EARLY-MONTH RUN (CAR #18)
* 1. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Freight Bill (January 5, 1883)
- Details: Form tracking Car #18 loaded with 20,000 lbs of raw charcoal shipped out of Eldred. Authorized and signed off by the freight agent .
- Financials: Mainline shipping charges totaled $28.00.
* 2. Clove Branch Rail Road Way Bill - Form No. 11 (January 5, 1883)
- Details: Tracks the local interchange delivery of Car #18 after being transferred at the Millerton yard to the Clove Branch line for final delivery to the C.S.I.M. Co. at Sylvan Lake.
- Financials: Carries the $28.00 "Advanced Charges" from the NYC&HR plus a $9.00 local delivery fee, bringing the bill total to $37.00.
PAIR 2: THE MID-MONTH RUN (CARS #16 & #670)
* 3. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Freight Bill (January 13, 1883)
- Details: Tracks a two-car industrial haul (Cars #16 and #670) packing 40,000 lbs of charcoal from Eldred, signed by the agent.
- Financials: Mainline shipping charges totaled $56.00.
* 4. Clove Branch Rail Road Way Bill - Form No. 11 (January 15, 1883)
- Details: Tracks local shortline transit for Cars #16 and #670 from the Millerton junction to the Sylvan Lake iron works.
- Financials: Reconciles the $56.00 advanced mainline fee with an $18.00 local Clove Branch fee, totaling $74.00.
PAIR 3: THE LATE-MONTH HEAVY HAUL (CARS #12, #16, #678, & #688)
* 5. New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Freight Bill (January 27, 1883)
- Details: A massive 4-car heavy industrial shipment (Cars #12, #16, #678, and #688) managing 80,000 lbs of raw charcoal from Eldred, signed by the agent.
- Financials: Mainline shipping charges totaled $112.00.
* 6. Clove Branch Rail Road Way Bill - Form No. 11 (January 29, 1883)
- Details: The final delivery manifest bringing the 80,000 lbs of charcoal into the Sylvan Lake depot to feed the iron smelting operations.
- Financials: Reflects a massive $112.00 "Advanced Charge" from the NYC&HR coupled with a $36.00 Clove Branch freight fee, totaling $148.00.
COLLECTOR SIGNIFICANCE
On nineteenth-century invoices, "Dr." indicates that the customer (Clove Spring Iron Mining Co.) was a "Debtor" to the railroad for services rendered. This collection provides an incredible, scannable look into Gilded Age heavy industry, iron ore smelting, and regional New York rail operations. The handwriting is incredibly crisp, the signatures are prominent, and the papers are beautifully preserved. A cornerstone addition for any advanced Northeast railroadiana or ephemera collector. All 6 documents are guaranteed authentic originals.