Can't find a company you think operated a railroad? It may mean:

• I have not yet discovered that company. See Types of companies included in this guide.
• I have chosen to exclude that particular company. See my Certificate Decision Tree. Also see my list of specific companies I have chosen to exclude.
• The company may not have been a railroad company at all. See my list of deceptive names that sound like railroads, but are not.

My primary goal is to include all legitimate railroad companies that may have issued stocks or bonds.

My goal is NOT to include every company that ever had a rail operation or was peripherally related to railroading. My special page titled Thoughts about which companies to include in the database ... and which to reject explains my logic in more detail.

Thousands of non-railroad companies operated forms of railroads. Many collectors collect artifacts and paper from peripheral companies, so I try to be somewhat inclusive in the companies I classify as "railroad-related." However, not every company that ever owned a rail car, a length of steel rail, or moved freight classifies as a "railroad company."

I must draw the line somewhere.

Several times a year, collectors try to convince me to expand the database to include one specialty or another. I understand their motivations. There is, however, a certain reality...

In other words, every minute I spend describing certificates from non-railroad companies is one less minute I have for genuine railroad certificates.

No matter how I define my limits, collectors sooner or later find certificates within the vast "gray area."

Here are types of companies and types of operations that I do NOT knowingly include in the database. You may also want to look at my large list of companies with similar, but deceptive names that I classify as non-railroads.

• Amusement park railroads are excluded, regardless equipment authenticity or scale. (For instance, I do NOT consider the the full scale railroad at Dollywood to be a legitimate railroad company.)
  
• Airport operations are excluded including trolley buses, loop railways, and subways. (For instance, I do NOT include the tram at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport nor the underground train at Denver International Airport.)
  
• Bridge companies are excluded. I include four companies because auction catalogers commonly include those companies among railroads by custom. See a more detailed discussion at bridge companies excluded.
  
• Certain manufacturers are excluded for which railroading is or was a small part of their businesses. (I do NOT include CF&I Steel, for instance, even though it was a large manufacturer of rails.) See detailed discussion at "gray area" parts companies excluded.
  
• All freight and express companies are excluded unless 1) they included "rail" in their corporate names or 2) they directly owned operating equipment, or 3) they operated exclusively on railroads and nowhere else. Freight companies often used railroads for conveyances, of course, but they also used barges, riverboats, sailing ships, lake vessels, ocean-going freighters, buses, trucks, stagecoaches, wagons. etc. Please alert me if you discover freight companies still in the database that fail these tests.
  
• Miniature railroads are excluded.
  
• Toy companies are excluded. (I do not include Lionel.)
  
• Replica railroads are excluded, regardless of scale.
  
• Associations and labor unions are excluded. There are several conductor, engineer, and trainmen associations and unions and some issued "stock" and membership certificates. While their membership worked for railroad companies, the associations did not carry freight nor passengers, nor did they manufacture goods for railroads. See detailed discussion at labor unions excluded.
  
• Mining companies are excluded, even those that operated underground trams. I DO include a tiny number of mining companies when they indicated the importance of railroading by including "railroad" in their corporate names. See detailed discussion at mining companies excluded.
  
• Equipment supply companies are generally excluded. Just because companies sold parts to railroads does not make them "railroad companies." A few are included when they included railroad in their corporate names.
  
• Consumable supply companies are generally excluded. I DO include a few supply companies when they included references to railroading in their corporate names. However, Just because companies sold brake pads, coal, oil, grease, headlights, upholstery, food, coffee or other supplies to railroads does not make them "railroad companies."
  
• Major diversified companies are excluded. I do NOT include highly diversified companies unless railroading constituted core parts of their businesses.
  
• Industries other than railroading. I do NOT include companies such as US Steel, The Anaconda Co, or Coors Brewing, even though they operate, or once operated, rails. See detailed discussion at industries exluded.
  
• Utility companies are excluded. (I have a special page that explains tightly-constrained conditions under which I include a few.) See more discussion at utilities excluded.
  
• Holding companies are usually excluded. (See this special page that explains conditions under which I include a few.)
  
• Real estate companies are excluded. Essentially every railroad company dealt with real estate transactions. I consider real estate companies as having purposes related to but separate from railroading. See detailed discussion at real estate companies excluded.
  
• Railroad museums and societies are excluded. (I include a few if they issued stock)
  
• Modern "depot" companies unrelated to railroading are excluded. Many modern real estate companies include "depot" in their names and are unrelated to railroading and passenger traffic.
  
• Modern "tie and timber" landscaping companies are excluded. Many modern companies purposely sound like old-time lumber railroads.
  
• Plantation companies are excluded. While many plantations used ex-logging company equipment, I deem them industry-related, but too far afield. See detailed discussion at plantations excluded.