The F. B. C. Bradlee collection contains materials collected pertaining to ships, particularly steamships, and railroads. This collection has been divided into three series.

Series I. Steamships contains materials relating to Bradlee's interest in steamships. It does contain material on ships that are not steamships; however, the majority of the ships are steamships. This series has been divided into four subseries. Subseries A. Ships' Papers contains papers relating to individual ships, such as bills of lading, invoices, and bills of sale. Subseries B. Research contains Bradlee's research on steamships, such as notes, and transcriptions of new clippings and articles. This subseries also contains an article that Bradlee wrote. Subseries C. Correspondence contains correspondence related to Bradlee's research. There is also a folder of correspondence relating to a controversy surrounding facts about a steamship, Dreadnought, which Bradlee participated in. Subseries B. Other contains miscellaneous steamship material, such as catalogs of Bradlee's personal steamboat views, negatives, models, and relics. Also found in this subseries are stock certificates, custom house book, and a poem.

Series II. Railroads contains materials relating to Bradlee's interest in railroads. It contains stock certificates, Bradlee's research notes, and related correspondence.

Series III. Other contains material that Bradlee collected about Pierre "Peter" C. L'Enfant, the architect and civil engineer, who designed the layout of Washington D. C. This series also contains correspondence relating to Bradlee genealogy, in addition to miscellaneous correspondence.