NYCS Employee ID Card

Around 25 years ago I discovered a New York Central System Employee Identification Card inside a piece of furniture that I purchased at a yard sale. The card is old (issued on 4/27/42) but it's in great condition. The card includes the individual's name, photograph, signature, DOB, place of birth, SS#, occupation, location, and date of issue. I'd completely forgotten about it until this past weekend when I was cleaning out my shed. I would like to pass the ID card on to the descendants or nearest relatives of the individual. I've googled the name without success. Any thoughts on how I might proceed will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Joe

The New York Central Railroad no longer exists per se - it was merged into Penn Central in 1968, and PC went into Conrail in 1976. So there is no company headquarters you can contact, and no nice convenient repository of employee records etc.

I would suggest you post the info here, leaving out the SS number and perhaps the DOB. It's a long shot, but if we know John Smith was a Car Inspector in Buffalo in 1942, just maybe someone can give you a lead. (and let's hope the name is something less common than the "Smith" I just used as an example )

You might want to start by asking American Financial Froup and American Premire Underwriters, they are the closest corporate sucessors to Penn Central.

NEW YORK CENTRAL SYSTEM
EMPLOYE IDENTIFICATION CARD
Name: Walter Joseph Judd
Occupation: Machinist
Dep’t: Motive Power
Location: W. Albany Loco Shop
Social Security No. xxx-xx-xxxx
Date of Birth: xx/xx/98
Place of Birth: Albany, NY
Sex: M
Hair: Br
Height: 5’11”
Eyes: Blue
Weight: 190
Complexion: Light
Issued: 4/27/42

Contact the New York Central System Historical Society. They have many active members from the Albany / Selkirk area who may be able to provide some information.

shlustig wrote:Contact the New York Central System Historical Society. They have many active members from the Albany / Selkirk area who may be able to provide some information.

I sent them an email with my query before coming here. Their response? "I guess searching the name, if it is legible, would be a start."

12GA wrote:

shlustig wrote:Contact the New York Central System Historical Society. They have many active members from the Albany / Selkirk area who may be able to provide some information.

I sent them an email with my query before coming here. Their response? "I guess searching the name, if it is legible, would be a start."

I didn't see the email. Just curious who you talked to? I'll see if I can't help spread the word.

www.nycshs.org

-otto-

Hey Otto - PM sent. Thanks.
Joe

Too bad this did not surface a few months earlier when Harold Crouch was alive - I believe he spent some time there just after the war. Obviously there were hundreds of men there but he knew quite a few of them.

Kamen Rider wrote:You might want to start by asking American Financial Froup and American Premire Underwriters, they are the closest corporate sucessors to Penn Central.

Not a good idea. None of the above named would have any employee records relating to the railroad.

http://nycshs.blogspot.com/2008/05/nyc- ... cords.html

=otto=

Still trying to get this ID card to somebody...

You may have better luck trying city or county records for birth or death certificates and land records. You might find the names of descendants. This would be a nice gift for the Judd family.

You might try CSX. For some reason the records of at least Penn Central employees apparently are in the custody of CSX. So perhaps NYC RR employees records were sent to them too.

Did you look in the telephone directory for Albany?

If someone knows a machinist in Selkirk, that would be a good start. The machinist union may have some archives as to it's past members. This guy may be long gone. Some of the retirees, who are still retired members of the union may have worked with this guy early in their careers.

I went into superpages.com which gives phone #s and address info. I punched in Walter Judd for Albany and one name popped up, a namesake, no junior or the 3rd or 4th with an address and phone # in Wynantskill which is a suburb of Troy. This Walter J Judd is shown as over 65 yrs of age. I'll forward the info to you or you can get it yourself. Good luck.