Other Resources
Primary source documentation on the historic railroads of the Catskills is there; it's just scattered. Company ledgers at a university here, period newspaper accounts at a library there.
Here's a good listing of some of the resources I've found useful.
Vedder Research Library - Coxsackie, NY
Contains probably the most extensive research collection on the Beach Lines - the narrow-gauge Catskill Mountain Railway, Catskill & Tannersville Railway, and Otis Elevating Railway controlled by Charles Beach, owner of the Catskill Mountain House. In addition to vertical files containing a melee of period photographs from all the Catskill railroads, there is particular emphasis on the Catskill Mountain Railway (1881-1919), with two collections devoted expressly toward it. The Frank J. Ruf Memorial Collection contains the photographs of Frank Ruf, a thirty-year C.M.Ry. employee who was a prolific photographer of the line, and the A. Fred Saunder Collection features extensive research files on the C.M.Ry. assembled by Mr. Saunders.
https://vedderresearchlibrary.org/frank-j-ruf-collection
https://vedderresearchlibrary.org/a-fred-saunders-collection
The Vedder Research Library also has in its collection microfilmed copies of years and years of Catskill-area newspapers, and the Catskill Examiner and Catskill Recorder reported on the Beach Lines profusely in the 19th century.
They also have copies of employee rulebooks for all the Beach lines.
National Register of Historic Places
Three Ulster & Delaware Railroad stations are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Phoenicia (1899), South Gilboa (1905), and Haines Falls (1913). The National Register can be written for complete records of the three stations, including a detailed architectural report on each.
New York Public Library
The NYPL is in possession of two subledgers for the Stony Clove & Catskill Mountain Railroad, including one on construction and equipment, as part of its Penn Central Transportation Company Records.
Colgate University Library
The Winfield W. Robinson Collection has extensive research files on all of the Catskill railroads.
https://archives.colgate.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/75417
Syracuse University Library
Holds a Kaaterskill Railroad construction and equipment subledger as part of its New York Central Railroad Company Records.
Also holds the Charles Hommel ledger, which might have interesting information about the shipment of bluestone and other stone product over the Ulster & Delaware.
Southern Methodist University
SMU's DeGolyer Library in Dallas, TX holds an appreciable photo record of Ulster & Delaware scenes and locomotives.
Cornell University Library
Van Santvoord Papers - includes correspondence about the Catskill Mountain Railway, Catskill & Tannersville Railway, and Otis Elevating Railway.
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