The Mark Gelhaus Collection includes documents, timetables, operating instructions, equipment manuals, maps, equipment registers, photographs and sound recordings produced between 1885 and 1994. Railroad represented include the Northern Pacific, Burlington Northern, Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Milwaukee Road, Great Northern and other railroads. Many of these materials were accumulated by Michael D. Gelhaus and Al Bennett.
The Marty Johnston Collection is comprised of photographs of railroad subjects from the first half of the 1900's with emphasis on the Great Northern and other northwestern railroads. Some timetables, maps and newspaper clippings are also included. Materials were collected by Robert Pearson, Mr. Johnston's grandfather.
The Melvin Iszley Collection consists of documents from several Northwest railroads, including maps, plats, engineering drawings, and timetables from the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle, the Burlington Northern, and several other railroads, and operating manuals for a variety of diesel locomotives.
The Michael A. Rubin Collection assembles automatic signaling diagrams, several samples of United States Railroad Administration correspondence, a copy of Operator's Telephone Instructions, a ledger book with pasted telegrams, a Schedule for Telegraphers, and Form 19s.
The Michael Neale Collection includes Burlington Northern Railroad documents, Milwaukee Road documents, AMTRAK posters and calendars, glass bricks salvaged from the Auburn, Washington (Northern Pacific Railroad) diesel shops, a lock from the Union Pacific Railroad, a Tacoma belt buckle and copies of "Northwest Railfan" magazine.
The Michael Scuderi Collection takes in 2 US Army Corps of Engineers documents in printed and digital formats: "Relocation of NP Railway Facilities MP70.60 to 84.24 at Eagle Gorge (Washington)" and "Overview of Historic Railroad Bridges in King County, Washington".