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Pennsylvania Railroad

March 24, 2023

"Pennsylvania System" redirects here. For the prison system known as the Pennsylvania System, see separate system and Eastern State Penitentiary.

The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named for the commonwealth in which it was established. By 1882, Pennsylvania Railroad had become the largest railroad (by traffic and revenue), the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world. Its budget was second only to the U.S. government.[1]

Pennsylvania Railroad
PRR system map, cumulative up to 1945
Overview
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Reporting markPRR
LocaleNortheastern United States
Dates of operationApril 13, 1846 (1846-04-13)–January 31, 1968 (1968-01-31) (renamed to Penn Central Transportation Company)
SuccessorPenn Central Transportation Company
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gaugeat one time 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm)
Electrification12.5 kV 25 Hz AC:
New York City-Washington, D.C./South Amboy; Philadelphia-Harrisburg; North Jersey Coast Line
Length11,640.66 miles (18,733.83 kilometers) (1926)

Over the years, it acquired, merged with, or owned part of at least 800 other rail lines and companies.[2] At the end of 1926, it operated 11,640.66 miles (18,733.83 kilometers) of rail line;[notes 1][3] in the 1920s, it carried nearly three times the traffic as other railroads of comparable length, such as the Union Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. Its only formidable rival was the New York Central (NYC), which carried around three-quarters of the Pennsy's ton-miles.

In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its rival New York Central Railroad and the railroad eventually went by the name of Penn Central Transportation Company, or "Penn Central" for short. The former competitors' networks integrated poorly with each other, and the railroad filed for bankruptcy within two years.[4]: Chapter 1 

Bankruptcy continued and on April 1, 1976, the railroad gave up its railroad assets, along with the assets of several other failing northeastern railroads, to a new railroad named Consolidated Rail Corporation, or Conrail for short. Conrail was itself purchased and split up in 1999 between the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation, with Norfolk Southern getting 58 percent of the system, including nearly all of the remaining former Pennsylvania Railroad trackage. Amtrak received the electrified segment of the Main Line east of Harrisburg.

After 1976, the railroad eventually became an insurance company and now goes by the name of American Premier Underwriters and is now a subsidiary of American Financial Group.

History

 
1857 map of the Pennsylvania Railroad system

Beginnings

With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the beginnings of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828, Philadelphia business interests became concerned that the port of Philadelphia would lose traffic. The state legislature was pressed to build a canal across Pennsylvania and thus the Main Line of Public Works was commissioned in 1826.[5] It soon became evident that a single canal would not be practical and a series of railroads, inclined planes, and canals was proposed.[6] The route consisted of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, canals up the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, an inclined plane railroad called the Allegheny Portage Railroad, a tunnel across the Allegheny Mountains, and canals down the Conemaugh and Allegheny rivers to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the Ohio River; it was completed in 1834. Because freight and passengers had to change conveyances several times along the route and canals froze in winter, it soon became apparent that the system was cumbersome and a better way was needed.[6][7]

There were two applications made to the Pennsylvania legislature in 1846. The first was for a new railroad called The Pennsylvania Railroad Company to build a line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The second was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), which wanted to build to Pittsburgh from Cumberland, Maryland. Both applications were granted with conditions. If the Pennsylvania Railroad did not raise enough capital and contract to build enough railroad within a year, then the B&O bill would become effective and the Pennsy's void, thereby allowing the B&O to build into Pennsylvania and on to Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Railroad fulfilled the requirements and Letters Patent were issued by the Pennsylvania governor on February 25, 1847. The governor declared the B&O's rights void the following August.[3]

Early years

In 1847, the Pennsy's directors chose J. Edgar Thomson, an engineer from the Georgia Railroad, to survey and construct the line. He chose a route that followed the west bank of the Susquehanna River northward to the confluence with the Juniata River, following its banks until the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains were reached at a point that would become Altoona, Pennsylvania.[6] To traverse the mountains, the line would climb a moderate grade for 10 miles (16 km) until it reached a split of two mountain ravines which were cleverly crossed by building a fill and having the tracks ascend a 220-degree curve known as Horseshoe Curve that limited the grade to less than 2 percent. The crest of the mountain would be penetrated by the 3,612 ft (1,101 m) Gallitzin Tunnels, from which the route descended by a more moderate grade to Johnstown.[citation needed]

The western end of the line was simultaneously built from Pittsburgh, eastward along the Allegheny and Conemaugh rivers to Johnstown, while the eastern end was built from Harrisburg to Altoona. In 1848, the Pennsy contracted with the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mountjoy and Lancaster Railroad (HPMtJ&L) to buy and use equipment over both roads, providing service from Harrisburg east to Lancaster.[3] In 1851, tracks were completed between Pittsburgh and Johnstown. In 1852, a continuous railroad line ran between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh over the tracks of several entities including the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1853, the Pennsy was granted trackage rights over the Philadelphia and Columbia, providing a connection between the two cities and connecting with the HPMtJ&L at Lancaster and Columbia.[3] By 1854, the Pennsy completed its line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, eliminating the use of the inclined planes of the Allegheny Portage Railroad.[citation needed]

In 1857, the PRR purchased the Main Line of Public Works from the state of Pennsylvania. This purchase included 275 miles (443 km) of canal, the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, and the New Portage Railroad (which replaced the now abandoned Allegheny Portage Railroad).[3] The Pennsy abandoned most of the New Portage Railroad in 1857 as it was now redundant with the Pennsylvania Railroad's own line. In 1861, the Pennsy leased the HPMtJ&L to bring the entire stretch of road between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia under its control.[citation needed]

The Johnstown to Pittsburgh stretch of canal was abandoned in 1865 and the rest of the canals sold to the Pennsylvania Canal Company in 1866.[3]

The main line was double track from its inception, and by the end of the century, a third and fourth track were added. Over the next 50 years, the Pennsy expanded by gaining control of other railroads by stock purchases and 999-year leases.[7][notes 2] At the end of its first year of operation, the Pennsylvania Railroad paid a dividend, and continued the dividend without interruption until 1946.[citation needed]

Expansion

 
Pennsylvania Railroad system map, 1893

The Pennsy's charter was supplemented on March 23, 1853, to allow it to purchase stock and guarantee bonds of railroads in other states, up to a percentage of its capital stock. Several lines were then aided by the Pennsy in hopes to secure additional traffic. By the end of 1854, the Pennsy purchased stock in the Ohio & Pennsylvania, Ohio & Indiana, Marietta & Cincinnati, Maysville & Big Sandy, and Springfield, Mt. Vernon & Pittsburgh railroads, totalling $1,450,000 (equivalent to $43.7 million in 2021). The Steubenville & Indiana was assisted by the Pennsy in the form of a guarantee of $500,000 worth of bonds. In 1856, a controlling interest was purchased in the Cumberland Valley Railroad and the Pennsy constructed additional lines in Philadelphia. In 1857, the aforementioned Main Line of Public Works was purchased for $7,500,000 ($218 million in 2021).[3]

Empire Transportation Company

Main article: Empire Transportation Company

The Empire Transportation Company was founded in 1865 by Joseph D. Potts and became a multimodal freight transportation subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It owned oil tanker cars and used them to transport refined oil for mostly independent oil refiners during the era of John D. Rockefeller's and Standard Oil's oil refinery mergers of the 1870s. The company also owned grain freight boats on the Great Lakes and oil pipelines in the oil regions of Pennsylvania. When the company attempted to buy and build some oil refineries in 1877, Standard Oil bought the company.[8][9]

Penn Central merger, Conrail and today

 
Penn Central Company stock certificate
Main article: Penn Central Transportation Company

The controlling, non-institutional shareholders of the PRR during the early 1960s were Henry Stryker Taylor, who was a part of the Jacob Bunn business dynasty of Illinois, and Howard Butcher III, a principal in the Philadelphia brokerage house of Butcher & Sherrerd (later Butcher & Singer).

On February 1, 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its longtime arch-rival, the New York Central Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad absorbed the New York Central and eventually went by the name of Penn Central Transportation Company.[10]

The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) required that the ailing New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH) be added in 1969. A series of events including inflation, poor management, abnormally harsh weather, and the withdrawal of a government-guaranteed $200 million operating loan forced Penn Central to file for bankruptcy protection on June 21, 1970.[4] In May 1971, passenger operations, including equipment, were transferred to a new government-subsidized company called the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak. This was devised to relieve the Penn Central (and other railroads) of money-losing passenger service. Penn Central rail lines, including ex-Pennsy lines, were transferred to Conrail in 1976, and eventually Amtrak received the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor lines.

After Conrail was divided between the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation, most of the former Pennsy's remaining trackage went to Norfolk Southern. The few parts of the Pennsylvania Railroad that went to CSX after the Conrail split were (1) the western end of the Fort Wayne Line across western Ohio and northern Indiana, (2) the Pope's Creek Secondary in Maryland, just to the east of Washington, (3) the Landover Subdivision, a former Pennsy freight line in DC which connects to Amtrak's ex-Pennsy Northeast Corridor and CSX's ex-B&O Alexandria Extension on the north end and CSX's RF&P Subdivision on the south end via the ex-Pennsy "Long Bridge" across the Potomac River, and (4) the Terre Haute, Indiana-to-East St. Louis, Illinois segment of the St. Louis main line (the segment east of Terre Haute is former-New York Central).

The Pennsylvania Railroad still exists, but has since switched to an insurance company and now goes by the name American Premier Underwriters and currently serves as a subsidiary of American Financial Group.

Timeline

Revenue freight traffic, in millions of net ton-miles[notes 3]
Year Traffic
1925 44,864
1925 48,890
1933 26,818
1944 71,249
1960 42,775
1967 50,730
Source: ICC annual reports
Revenue passenger traffic, in millions of passenger-miles[notes 4]
Year Traffic
1920 7,325
1925 4,518
1933 2,017
1944 13,047
1960 2,463
1967 1,757
Source: ICC annual reports
  • 1846: The Pennsylvania Railroad Company is chartered to construct a rail line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • 1850s: Renamed the Pennsylvania Central Railway.
  • 1850: Construction begins on Altoona Works repair shop at Altoona, Pennsylvania.
  • 1857: The Main Line of Public Works of Pennsylvania purchased.
  • 1865: First US railroad to use steel rails.[11]
  • 1868: The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway is formed and controlled by the Pennsy.
  • 1869: Leases the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, formally giving it control of a direct route into the heart of the Midwestern United States and Chicago, Illinois.
  • 1870: "Pennsylvania Central" is split into lines east (renamed Pennsylvania Railroad) and lines west Pennsylvania Company is formed to hold securities from companies West of Pittsburgh; Use of track pans begins on PRR at Sang Hollow, Pennsylvania;[12] Pennsy reaches Cincinnati, Ohio, with lease of Little Miami and St. Louis, Missouri, with control of the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute.
  • 1871: Pennsylvania Railroad reaches Jersey City, New Jersey, and the New York City area via lease of the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company.
  • 1872: Air-brakes first used on the Pennsylvania Railroad.[13]
  • 1873: Pennsy reaches Washington, D.C., via the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad.
  • 1877: Thomas A. Watson demonstrates telephone to PRR officials at Altoona;[14] Pittsburgh Riots destroys property of Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • 1881: Pennsy purchases control of Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad thereby providing a direct route between Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., access to Delmarva Peninsula; Broad Street Station opens.[3]
  • 1885: The Congressional Limited Express from New York to Washington is introduced.
  • 1887: Pennsylvania Limited service begins between New York and Chicago; first vestibuled train.[15]
  • 1900: The Pennsy gains access to Buffalo, New York, via lease of Western New York & Pennsylvania.
  • 1902: Pennsylvania Special service begins between New York and Chicago replacing the Pennsylvania Limited.[16]
  • 1906: An accident in Atlantic City kills 53 people.
  • 1907: Union Station in Washington, D.C., completed.
  • 1910: Completion of the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River, providing direct service from New Jersey to Manhattan on electrified lines, terminating at the massive new Penn Station.
  • 1912: The second vice-president of the PRR, John B. Thayer, died in the sinking of RMS Titanic at age of 49.[17]
  • 1912: Broadway Limited was inaugurated, replacing the Pennsylvania Special.
  • 1915: The Pennsylvania electrifies its suburban Philadelphia lines to Paoli, Pennsylvania;[18] PRR Position-Light signals first used, between Overbrook and Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.[19]
  • 1916: The Pennsy adopts new motto, "Standard Railroad of the World"; The first I1s Decapod locomotive is completed, and switching locomotives of the A5s and B6sb class are introduced.
  • 1917: Completion of the New York Connecting Railroad and the Hell Gate Bridge speed access to the New England states.
  • 1918: Pennsy stock bottoms at $40¼ (equal to $725.12 today), the lowest since 1877, due largely to Federal railroad control; Emergency freight is routed through New York Penn Station and the Hudson River tunnels by the USRA to relieve congestion; The Pennsy electrifies suburban commuter line to Chestnut Hill, PA.
  • 1925: Chicago Union Station opens.
  • 1928–1938: The Pennsylvania electrifies its New York—Washington, D.C., and Chicago—Philadelphia lines between Harrisburg and Paoli, several Philadelphia and New York area commuter lines, and major through freight lines.
  • 1937: Pennsy acquires its first diesel, a model SW switcher engine from Electro-Motive Corporation.
  • 1943: An accident at Frankford Junction, Pennsylvania, kills 79.
  • 1946: The Pennsylvania Railroad reported a net loss for the first time in its history.[20]
  • 1951: An accident in Woodbridge, New Jersey, kills 85 people.
  • 1957: Steam locomotives are removed from active service in the PRR fleet; Merger talks begin with the New York Central Railroad.
  • 1968: The PRR absorbs NYC and eventually changes its name to Penn Central Transportation Company (PC).

Presidents

J. Edgar Thomson

Thomson (1808–1874) was the entrepreneur who led the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1852 until his death in 1874, making it the largest business enterprise in the world and a world-class model for technological and managerial innovation. He served as the Pennsy's first Chief Engineer and third President.[21] Thomson's sober, technical, methodical, and non-ideological personality had an important influence on the Pennsylvania Railroad, which in the mid-19th century was on the technical cutting edge of rail development, while nonetheless reflecting Thomson's personality in its conservatism and its steady growth while avoiding financial risks. His Pennsylvania Railroad was in his day the largest railroad in the world, with 6,000 miles of track, and was famous for steady financial dividends, high quality construction, constantly improving equipment, technological advances (such as replacing wood fuel with coal), and innovation in management techniques for a large complex organization.[22]

The railroad's other presidents were:

The Pennsylvania Railroad's board chairman/CEOs were:

  • Martin W. Clement (June 16, 1949 – December 31, 1951)
  • James M. Symes (November 1, 1959 – October 1, 1963)
  • Stuart T. Saunders (October 1, 1963 – January 31, 1968)

Major routes

Main Line

Main article: Main Line (Pennsylvania Railroad)

The Pennsy's main line extended from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington lines

Main article: Northeast Corridor
 
PRR Philadelphia to New York City coach ticket, c. 1955

In 1861, the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the Northern Central Railway, giving it access to Baltimore, Maryland, and points along the Susquehanna River via connections at Columbia, Pennsylvania, or Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[23]

On December 1, 1871, the Pennsy leased the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, which included the original Camden and Amboy Railroad from Camden, New Jersey (across the Delaware River from Philadelphia) to South Amboy, New Jersey (across Raritan Bay from New York City), as well as a newer line from Philadelphia to Jersey City, New Jersey, much closer to New York, via Trenton, New Jersey. Track connection in Philadelphia was made via the Pennsy's Connecting Railway and the jointly owned Junction Railroad.[24]

The Pennsy's Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road opened on July 2, 1872, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. This route required transfer via horse car in Baltimore to the other lines heading north from the city. On June 29, 1873, the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel through Baltimore was completed. The Pennsylvania Railroad started the Pennsylvania Air Line service ("air line" at the time being understood as a nearly-straight and nearly-flat route with distance similar to "as the crow flies") via the Northern Central Railway and Columbia, Pennsylvania. This service was 54.5 miles (87.7 km) longer than the old route but avoided the transfer in Baltimore. The Union Railroad line opened on July 24, 1873. This route eliminated the transfer in Baltimore. Pennsy officials contracted with both the Union Railroad and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) for access to this line. The Pennsy's New York–Washington trains began using the route the next day, ending Pennsylvania Air Line service. In the early 1880s, the Pennsylvania acquired a majority of PW&B Railroad's stock. This action forced the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) to build the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad to keep its Philadelphia access, where it connected with the Reading Railroad for its competing Royal Blue Line passenger trains to reach New York.

In 1885, the PRR began passenger train service from New York City via Philadelphia to Washington with limited stops along the route. This service became known as the "Congressional Limited Express."[25] The service expanded, and by the 1920s, the Pennsy was operating hourly passenger train service between New York, Philadelphia and Washington. In 1952, 18-car stainless steel streamliners were introduced on the Morning Congressional and Afternoon Congressional between New York and Washington, as well as the Senator from Boston to Washington.[26]

New York-Chicago

On July 1, 1869, the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway (PFtW&C) in which it had previously been an investor. The lease gave the Pennsy complete control of that line's direct route through northern Ohio and Indiana as well as entry into the emerging rail hub city of Chicago, Illinois. Acquisitions along the PFtW&C: Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad, Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, Toledo, Columbus and Ohio River Railroad, and Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railway gave the Pennsy access to the iron ore traffic on Lake Erie.[7]

On June 15, 1887, the Pennsylvania Limited began running between New York and Chicago. This was also the introduction of the vestibule, an enclosed platform at the end of each passenger car, allowing protected access to the entire train. In 1902 the Pennsylvania Limited was replaced by the Pennsylvania Special which in turn was replaced in 1912 by the Broadway Limited which became the most famous train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad.[27][28] This train ran from New York City to Chicago, via Philadelphia, with an additional section between Harrisburg and Washington (later operated as a separate Washington–Chicago train, the Liberty Limited).

New York-St. Louis

In 1890, the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (PCC&StL), itself the merged product of numerous smaller lines in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Commonly called the Panhandle Route, this line ran west from Pittsburgh to Bradford, Ohio, where it split, with one line to Chicago and the other to East St. Louis, Illinois, via Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1905, the acquisition of the Vandalia Railroad gave the Pennsy access across the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri.[7]

Double-tracked for much of its length, the line served the coal region of southern Illinois and as a passenger route for the Pennsylvania Railroad's Blue Ribbon named trains The St. Louisan, The Jeffersonian, and the Spirit of St. Louis.[29]

"Low-grade" lines

See also: Category:Pennsylvania Railroad Through-freight Lines

By 1906, the Pennsylvania built several low-grade lines for freight to bypass areas of steep grade (slope) and avoid congestion. These included:

Some other lines were planned, but never completed:

  • The Pennsylvania and Newark Railroad was incorporated in 1905 to build a low-grade line from Morrisville, Pennsylvania, to Colonia, New Jersey. It was never completed,[35] but some work was done in the Trenton area, including bridge piers in the Delaware River. North of Colonia, the alignment was going to be separate, but instead two extra tracks were added to the existing line. Work was suspended in 1916.[36]
  • A low-grade line was planned between Radebaugh (near Greensburg) and Derry, Pennsylvania.[31] Work was begun on this line, but it was never completed.[37]
  • A low-grade route across the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, bypassing the congestion at Pittsburgh, was contemplated but never built.[38] It would have used existing segments of the Northern Central Railway, Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, and Allegheny Valley Railway's Low Grade Division. Then, new construction would have connected from Red Bank to the Fort Wayne Line at Enon.[39] The Western Allegheny Railroad later ran over a route similar to the envisioned new line,[40] and was for a time owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which, it seems, purchased it for this planned bypass.[41][42]

Electrification

Further information: Amtrak's 25 Hz traction power system
 
PRR DD1 electric locomotive used in the New York City terminal area and tunnels
 
A GG1 electric locomotive pulls The Congressional out of the North River Tunnels, 1965

Early in the 20th century, the Pennsy tried electric power for its trains. Its first effort was in the New York terminal area, where tunnels and a city law restricting the burning of coal precluded steam locomotives. In 1910, the railroad began operating a direct current (DC) 650-volt system whose third-rail powered Pennsy locomotives (and LIRR passenger cars) used to enter Penn Station in New York City via the Hudson River tunnels.[43]

The next area to be electrified was the Philadelphia terminal area, where Pennsy officials decided to use overhead lines to supply power to the suburban trains running out of Broad Street Station. Unlike the New York terminal system, overhead wires would carry 11,000-volt 25-Hertz alternating current (AC) power, which became the standard for future installations. On September 12, 1915, electrification of the line from Philadelphia to Paoli, Pennsylvania, was completed.[44] Other Philadelphia lines electrified were the Chestnut Hill Branch (March 30, 1918),[45] White Marsh (1924), the main line to Wilmington, Delaware (September 30, 1928),[45] West Chester (December 2, 1928),[45] Trenton line (June 29, 1930),[45] and completed on July 20, 1930 the Schuylkill Branch to Norristown, Pennsylvania,[45] later followed by the rest of the main line to Trenton, New Jersey.

In 1928, PRR's president William Wallace Atterbury announced plans to electrify the lines between New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Harrisburg. In January 1933, through main-line service between New York and Philadelphia/Wilmington/Paoli was placed in operation. The first test run of an electric train between Philadelphia and Washington occurred on January 28, 1935. On February 1 the Congressional Limiteds in both directions were the first trains in regular electric operation between New York and Washington, drawn by the first of the GG1-type locomotives.[46]: 74 

In 1934, the Pennsylvania received a $77 million loan from the New Deal's Public Works Administration[47] to complete the electrification project begun in 1928. Work was started January 27, 1937, on the main line from Paoli to Harrisburg; the low-grade freight line from Morrisville through Columbia to Enola Yard in Pennsylvania; the Port Road Branch from Perryville, Maryland, to Columbia; the Jamesburg Branch and Amboy Secondary freight line from Monmouth Junction to South Amboy; and the Landover-South End freight line from Landover, Maryland, through Washington to Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Virginia. [notes 7] In less than a year, on January 15, 1938, the first passenger train, the Metropolitan, went into operation over the newly electrified line from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. On April 15, the electrified freight service from Harrisburg and Enola Yard east was inaugurated, thus completing the Pennsy's eastern seaboard electrification program.[48] The railroad had electrified 2,677 miles (4,308 km) of its track, representing 41% of the country's electrically operated standard railroad trackage. Portions of the electrified trackage are still in use, owned and operated by Amtrak as the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor high-speed rail routes,[49] by SEPTA,[50] and by NJ Transit.[51]

Equipment

The Pennsylvania Railroad's corporate symbol was the keystone, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's state symbol, with the letters "PRR" intertwined inside. When colored, it was bright red with a silver-grey inline and lettering.

Freight cars

 
A PRR wooden freight car with steel underframe

The Pennsylvania Railroad bought its first 75 freight cars in 1849. [3]: 20  Two years later, the Pennsy owned 439 freight cars. By 1857, it had 1,861 cars, and in 1866, 9,379 cars.[52]: 663  Freight equipment was either acquired new from builders or built by the railroad itself.[3]: 433 

The Pennsy acquired more cars from the railroads it absorbed. In some instances, privately owned cars were either purchased from a builder or railroad acquisition. One such example was the 1877 purchase of Empire Transportation merchandise and oil cars.[52]: 666 

By the mid-1860s, the railroad had 9,379 freight cars; a decade later, 32,718; the mid-1880s, over 49,000; 1896, more than 87,000.[52]: 666 

The Pennsy changed its car reporting methods around 1900.[52]: 667  The railroads owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad system were now included in reports, in addition to the Pennsylvania Railroad proper. So, in 1900, the Pennsy had over 180,000 freight cars; by 1910, 263,039. The zenith of freight car ownership was reached in 1919 when the Pennsy owned a reported 282,729 freight cars.[52]: 668 

 
PRR boxcar No. 19103 of PRR class X54

Steel in freight car construction began during the later part of the 19th century, when cars were now being built with a steel underframe and wooden bodies or were all steel. The Pennsy steadily replaced their wooden cars with steel versions until there were no more wooden cars by 1934.[52]: 669 

During the first quarter of the 20th century, the average capacity of a Pennsylvania Railroad freight car increased from 31 to 54 short tons (28 to 48 long tons; 28 to 49 t). This increased to 55 short tons (49 long tons; 50 t) in the mid-1930s and then to 56 short tons (50 long tons; 51 t) in 1945.[52]: 669 

By the start of 1946, the Pennsy's freight car ownership decreased to 240,293 cars[52]: 663  and in 1963, down to 140,535. The Pennsylvania Railroad used a classification system for their freight cars. Similar to their locomotives, the Pennsy used a letter system to designate the various types and sub-types of freight and maintenance cars.[53]

A — Tank
F — Flat
G — Gondola
H — Hopper
R — Refrigerator
K — Stock
N — Cabin (Caboose)
S — Poling
T — Tool
U — Side Dump
W — Wreck Crane
X — Box
Y — Test Weight
Z — Business

Paint schemes

As noted, Pennsy colors and paint schemes were standardized. Locomotives were painted in a shade of green so dark it seemed almost black. The official name for this color was DGLE (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel), though often referred to as "Brunswick Green." The undercarriage of the locomotives were painted in black, referred to as "True Black." The passenger cars of the Pennsy were painted Tuscan Red, a brick-colored shade of red. Some electric locomotives and most passenger-hauling diesel locomotives were also painted in Tuscan Red. Freight cars of the Pennsy had their own color, known as "Freight Car Color," an iron-oxide shade of red. On passenger locomotives and cars, the lettering and outlining was originally done in real gold leaf. After World War II, the lettering was done in a light shade of gold, called Buff Yellow.[54]

Locomotives

Steam

 
PRR I1sa #4483 on display at Hamburg, New York
 
K4s at Aberdeen, Maryland, April 1944

For most of its existence, the Pennsylvania Railroad was conservative in its locomotive choices and pursued standardization, both in locomotive types and their component parts.[55] Almost alone among U.S. railroads, the Pennsy designed most of its steam locomotive classes itself. It built most of them at Altoona Works, outsourcing only when Pennsy facilities could not keep up with the railroad's needs. In such cases, subcontractors were hired to build to PRR designs,[56] unlike most railroads that ordered to broad specifications and left most design choices to the builder.[55]

The Pennsy's favorite outsourced locomotive builder was Baldwin Locomotive Works, which received its raw materials and shipped out its finished products on Pennsy lines. The two companies were headquartered in the same city; Pennsy and Baldwin management and engineers knew each other well. When the Pennsy and Baldwin shops were at capacity, orders went to the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio.[56] Only as a last resort would the Pennsy use the American Locomotive Company (Alco), based in Schenectady, New York, which also built for Pennsy's rival, the New York Central.

The Pennsylvania Railroad had a design style that it favored in its locomotives. One example was the square-shouldered Belpaire firebox. This British-style firebox was a Pennsy trademark that was rarely used by other locomotive builders in the United States. The Pennsy also used track pans extensively to retrieve water for the locomotive while in motion. Using this system meant that the tenders of their locomotives had a comparatively large proportion of coal (which could not be taken on board while running) compared to water capacity. Locomotives of the Pennsylvania had a relatively clean look to them. Only necessary devices were used and they were mounted neatly on the locomotive.[55] Smoke box fronts bore a round locomotive number board denoting a freight locomotive or a keystone number board denoting a passenger locomotive. Otherwise the smoke box was uncluttered except for a headlamp at the top and a steam-driven dynamo generator behind it. In later years the positions of the two were reversed, since the generator needed more maintenance than the lamp.[55]

Each class of steam locomotive was assigned a class designation.[57] Early on this was simply a letter, but when these ran short the scheme was changed so that each wheel arrangement had its own letter, and different types in the same arrangement had different numbers added to the letter. Sub-types were indicated by a lower-case letter; super-heating was designated by an "s" until the mid-1920s, by which time all new locomotives were super-heated. A K4sa class was a 4-6-2 "Pacific" type (K) of the fourth class of Pacifics designed by the Pennsy. It was super-heated (s) and was of the first variant type (a) after the original (unlettered). Steam locomotives remained part of the Pennsy fleet until 1957.

Further information: Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive classification

The Pennsy's reliance on steam locomotives in the mid-20th century contributed to its decline. Steam locomotives require more maintenance than diesel locomotives, are less cost efficient, and require more personnel to operate. Plus, coaling and watering facilities and machine shops added greatly to steam-related costs. Like other railroads, the Pennsy was unable to update its roster at will during the World War II years; by the end of the war their roster was in rough shape. In addition, the Pennsy was saddled with unsuccessful experimental steam locomotives such as the Q1, S1, and T1 "Duplex Drive" locomotives, and the S2 turbine locomotive. Unlike most of their competition, the Pennsy did not acquire any Northerns or Berkshires.

Pennsy competitors managed this period better with their diesel locomotive rosters.[58] The Pennsylvania Railroad voluntarily preserved a roundhouse full of representative steam locomotives at Northumberland, Pennsylvania in 1957 and kept them there for several decades. These locomotives, with the exception of I1sa #4483 which is on display at Hamburg, New York, are now at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. In sharp contrast, the New York Central's President, Alfred E. Perlman, deliberately scrapped all but two steam locomotives,[59] with the older one (L2d) surviving only by accident.

On December 18, 1987, the State of Pennsylvania designated the Pennsy's K4s as the official State Steam Locomotive. The two surviving K4s are No. 1361, which is undergoing restoration to operating condition at the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, and No. 3750, which remains on static display at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg.[60]

As of 2020 the only operable Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive is class B4a engine # 643, built in July 1901 in Altoona. Engine 643 is maintained by volunteers of the Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association outside of Harrisburg, and is operated several weekends each summer.[61] As of 2020 however, a major construction project has been underway since 2014, building a new operational example of a class T1 engine numbered 5550, as all original class T1 locomotives have been scrapped. The project is being undertaken by the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust and is projected to be finished by 2030.[62]

Electric

 
PRR FF1 experimental locomotive

When work on the Hudson River tunnels and New York's Penn Station was in progress, the type of electric locomotives to be used was an important consideration. At that time only a few electric locomotives existed. Several experimental locomotives were designed by railroad and Westinghouse engineers and tried on the West Jersey & Seashore Railroad track. From these tests the DD1 class was developed.[43] The DD1s were used in pairs (back-to-back). Thirty-three of these engines having Westinghouse equipment were built at Altoona. They were capable of speeds up to 85 miles per hour (137 km/h). Placed in service in 1910, they performed well, lasting in regular service through the 1940s.[46]: 74–75 

Steel suburban passenger cars capable of being electrified for MU operation were designed due to the need for such cars in service to Penn Station through its associated tunnels and were designated MP54.[63] Designs for corresponding cars accommodating baggage and mail were produced also. Eight of these cars were electrified with DC equipment to provide shuttle service from Penn Station to Manhattan Transfer between 1910 and 1922. More extensive electrification plans required AC electrification, starting with 93 cars for the Paoli Line in 1915. With the expansion of the AC electrification, additional MP54 cars were electrified or purchased new until a total of 481 cars was reached in 1951. Replacement with newer types of cars began in 1958 and the last MP54 cars were retired in the early 1980s.[64]

The single FF1 appeared in 1917 and ran experimentally for a number of years in preparation for electrification over the Allegheny Mountains that never came to fruition. Its AC induction motors and side-rod drive powered six axles.[43] It developed a starting tractive force of 140,000 pounds (64,000 kg), which was capable of ripping couplers out of the fragile wooden freight cars in use at the time.[65]: 123 

In 1924, another side-rod locomotive was designed: (the L5 class).[43] Two DC locomotives were built for the New York electrified zone and a third, road number 3930, was AC-equipped and put in service at Philadelphia. Later 21 more L-5 locomotives were built for the New York service. A six-wheeled switching engine was the next electric motive power designed, being classified as B1.[43] Of the first 16 AC engines, two were used at Philadelphia and 14 on the Bay Ridge line, while 12 DC-equipped engines were assigned to Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York.

The O1 class was a light passenger type.[43] Eight of these engines were built from June 1930 to December 1931. The P5 class was also introduced, with two of this class being placed in service during July and August 1931.[66] Following these came the P5A, a slightly heavier design capable of traveling 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) and with a tractive force of 56,250 pounds (25,510 kg). In all, 89 of these locomotives were built. The first had a box cab design and were placed in service in 1932. The following year, the last 28 under construction were redesigned to have a streamlined type of cab. Some engines underwent re-gearing for freight service.[46]: 74–75 

In 1933, two entirely new locomotives were being planned: the R1 and the GG-1 class. The R-1 had a rigid frame for its four driving axles, while the GG-1 had two frames which were articulated. Both of these prototypes, along with an O-1, a P5A and a K4s steam locomotive underwent exhaustive testing. Testing was conducted over a special section of test track near Claymont, Delaware, and lasted for nearly two years.[66]

As a result of these experiments, the GG1 type was chosen and the construction of 57 locomotives was authorized. The first GG1 was finished in April and by August 1935 all 57 were completed. These first GG1 engines were designated for passenger service, while most of the P5A type were made available for freight service. Some of the later-built GG1s were assigned to freight service as well. The total number of GG1s built was 139. They are rated at 4,620 hp (3,450 kW) at speeds of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).[46]: 75 

On August 26, 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued commemorative 33-cent All Aboard! 20th Century American Trains stamps. These commemorative stamps featured five celebrated American passenger trains from the 1930s and 1940s. One of the five stamps features an image of a GG-1 locomotive pulling the "Congressional Limited Express." The official Pennsylvania State Electric Locomotive is the GG-1 #4859. It received this designation on December 18, 1987, and is currently on display in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.[60]

Diesel

 
PRR Baldwin DS-4-4-660 switcher locomotive
 
PRR EMD E8A passenger locomotive
 
PRR EMD SD45 freight locomotive

In June 1937, the Pennsy acquired its first diesel locomotive: a 600-hp diesel-electric switch engine from Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), a predecessor of General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). EMC called it an SW model; the railroad dubbed it class ES6.[67]

The Pennsy bought its second diesel, another switcher, in October 1941: an EMD NW2 (Pennsy class ES10). Wartime restrictions soon restricted locomotive builders' production of diesels intended for freight service. Still, the Pennsy managed to add 15 Baldwin switchers and one EMD switcher.

After the war, the Pennsy began to buy diesel locomotives in earnest. From 1945 through 1947, the railroad bought roughly 100 switcher, freight, and passenger diesels from various builders, then another 800 or so (total) in 1948 and 1949.[67]

Passenger Units

For passenger units, the PRR purchased 60 E7-class locomotives from EMD, which the Pennsy dubbed the EP20 class. 46 of this number were designated "A" units, meaning that they had a cab for the train crew. The remaining 14 were "B" units, cabless booster units controlled by an "A" unit. The Pennsy also acquired 15 Alco PA1/PB1 units (class AFP20) and 27 Baldwin DR-6-4-2000 (class BP20) units.[67] The Baldwin units were originally for the passenger service fleet, but these locomotive proved troublesome and some were reclassified as BF16z freight locomotives.[68]

The Pennsy also bought 24 Baldwin DR-12-8-1500/2s, called "Centipedes" and classified by Pennsy as BP60. The Centipede had an immense weight of 593.71 short tons (538,600 kg) and a starting tractive effort of 205,000 pounds. Unreliable and expensive to maintain, they were quickly relegated to helper service.[69]

From 1950 to 1952, the Pennsy bought 74 EMD E8A locomotives, the successor to the E7, and classified them EP22s. Also, the PRR purchased 40 dual-service EMD FP7 units which were similar to the E7/8 units, but using 4 axles instead of 6.

Freight Units

From the late 1940s through to the merger with the New York Central in 1968, the Pennsy purchased about 1,500 diesel freight units.[67][notes 8] 2/3 of these units were built by EMD, primarily F3s, F7s, GP9s, GP35s, SD40s, and SD45s. Early on in dieselization of freight units, the Pennsy purchased cab units from Alco, Baldwin, EMD, and Fairbanks Morse. Heading into the 1950s, the Pennsy continued to add more diesel units to their fleet. Still preferring EMD, the Pennsy did add FA units and BLH RF-16 "Sharks". In 1956, the Pennsy called for bids to supply a large order of diesel locomotives. GM/EMD gave the Pennsy an exceptional deal on new, reliable GP9s, and received the entire order. When this large diesel order arrived the following year, the Pennsy retired all of its remaining steam engines. One of the losing bidders, Baldwin Locomotive Works — a longtime supplier of Pennsy locomotives — had been counting on winning at least some of the work. When EMD won it all, the 126-year-old Baldwin declared bankruptcy.[70]

For the last decade of Pennsy's existence (1960s), the Pennsy was ordering 4-axle power, buying Alco's 'Century' series locomotives, newcomer General Electric (GE) U25Bs, and EMD GP30s and GP35s. But by 1965, the Pennsy turned exclusively to 6-axle power, buying Alco's C628 and C630, GE's U25C, U28C, and U30C, and EMD's SD35, SD40, and SD45.[67]

Signaling

Main article: Railway signal
 
Position light signals

The Pennsylvania Railroad was one of the first railroads to replace semaphore signals with position-light signals.[57] Such signals, which featured a large round target with up to eight amber-colored lights in a circle and one in the center, could be lit in various patterns to convey different meanings, were more visible in fog, and remained effective even when one light in a row was inoperative.[71]

Signal aspects, or meanings, were displayed as rows of three lit lights. The aspects corresponded with upper-quadrant semaphore signal positions: vertical for "proceed", a 45° angle rising to the right for "approach", horizontal for "stop", a 45° angle rising to the left for "restriction", a "X" shape for "take siding", and a full circle (used in electrified territory) for "lower pantograph". Additional aspects were conveyed with a second target head below the first, either a single light, a partial target, or a full target. Separate Manual Block signal aspects existed as well.[71]

In later years, interlocking home signals north and west of Rockville (near Harrisburg) were modified so that the two outside lights in the horizontal "stop" row had red lenses; the center lamp would be extinguished when the signal displayed "stop".[71] Such "red-eye" lenses were also temporarily installed at Overbrook Interlocking near Philadelphia.[71]

Starting in the late 1920s, the Pennsy installed Pulse code cab signaling along certain tracks used by high-speed passenger trains. Information traveled through the rails using track circuits, was picked up by a sensor on the locomotive, and displayed in the engineer's cab. The Pennsy ultimately installed cab signals on its New York-Washington, Philadelphia-Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh-Indianapolis lines (the latter which was later downgraded by PC and ultimately abandoned by Conrail). The Pennsylvania also experimented with cab signals without wayside signals, an approach later expanded by Conrail (Conemaugh line) and Norfolk Southern Railway (Cleveland line). Cab signals were subsequently adopted by several other U.S. railroads, especially on passenger lines. This technology, advanced for its time, is still used by Amtrak.[71]

Facilities

Shops

The main shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad were located at Altoona. Additional repair facilities were located in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Renovo, and Mifflin. Fort Wayne, Indiana, also became a key shop for the railroad.

Altoona Works

Main article: Altoona Works
 
Juniata Shops, part of the PRR Altoona Works
 
Map of the Altoona Works, c. 1931

In 1849, Pennsy officials developed plans to construct a repair facility at Altoona. Construction started in 1850, and soon, several small buildings housed a machine shop, woodworking shop, blacksmith shop, locomotive repair shop, and foundry. These facilities were later demolished to make room for continuing expansion.

By 1926, the Altoona Works occupied 217.82 acres (88.15 ha) and consisted of four units: the Altoona Machine Shops, Altoona Car Shops, Juniata Shops, and South Altoona Foundries.[3]: 432–436 

  • The Altoona Machine Shops consisted of over a dozen buildings and performed locomotive repairs, plus made locomotive repair parts and non-metal castings.
  • The Altoona Car Shops were built beginning in 1869. By 1926, it included a dozen buildings, built passenger and freight cars, and repaired same.
  • The Juniata Shops were built out of need for more shop space at Altoona, in 1889. These shops consisted of 10 buildings, and constructed locomotives and performed heavy repairs of locomotives.
  • The South Altoona Foundries were built, again, out of need for more space at Altoona, in 1904. The shops primarily made gray iron castings.

In 1875, the Altoona Works started a Test Department for Pennsy equipment, both built and purchased.[3]: 435  In following years, the Pennsylvania Railroad led the nation in the development of research and testing procedures of practical value for the railroad industry. Use of the testing facilities was discontinued in 1968.[4]: Chapter 1 

By 1945, the Altoona Works had become one of the largest repair and construction facilities for locomotives and cars in the world. Since 1968, many of the structures of Altoona Works were demolished.[4]: Chapter 4 

Yards

The Pennsylvania Railroad had several railroad yards (rail yards) throughout its system.

  • Conway Yard was built in the 1880s, 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Pittsburgh in Conway, Pennsylvania. Conway was built strategically in the middle of the Pennsylvania's system and started as a poling yard. The yard was made into a hump yard in 1901 to increase the volume of cars handled.[72] By 1957, it was the world's largest automatic classification yard.[73]
  • Crestline Yard was built by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway around 1863 and significantly improved in the early 1920s by the Pennsy to speed Chicago shipments and eliminate east and westbound freight classification at Fort Wayne.[74] Crestline is located about halfway between Pittsburgh and Chicago in Crestline, Ohio, and could hold over 1,600 cars.[75]
  • Enola Yard was built in the early 1900s and lies across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg. The yard grew from humble beginnings of 12 tracks to over 140 miles (230 km) of tracks, capable of handling thousands of freight cars and becoming the world's largest freight rail yard by the 1940s.[46]: 58 
  • Sunnyside Yard was completed in 1910 for use with Penn Station in New York City. The yard is across the East River from Penn Station in Manhattan, situated in Sunnyside, Long Island. Sunnyside yard was capable of storing over 1,000 passenger cars, occupying a roughly rectangular area 8,815 feet (2,687 m) long by 1,625 feet (495 m) wide; 192 acres (78 ha) in all.[76]

Major passenger stations

Main article: Pennsylvania Station

The Pennsy built several grand passenger stations, alone or with other railroads. These architectural marvels, whose city name was usually preceded by "Penn Station", were the hubs for the PRR's passenger service. Many are still in use today, served by Amtrak and regional passenger carriers.

Major Passenger Stations of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Location Station Name Photo Description
Baltimore, MD Penn Station
 
Main article: Pennsylvania Station (Baltimore)

The main station of Baltimore, this Beaux-Arts building was built in 1911 from a design by architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison. It is currently served by Amtrak and MARC commuter service. Both approaches to the station are via tunnels, the B&P Tunnel to the south and the Union Tunnel to the north.

Chicago, IL Union Station
 
Main article: Chicago Union Station

The PRR, along with the Milwaukee Road and the Burlington Route, built Chicago's Union Station, the only one of Chicago's old stations still used as an intercity train station. It was designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White in the Beaux-Arts style and opened in 1925.

New York, NY Penn Station
 
Main articles: Pennsylvania Station (New York City) and Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963)

The original Pennsylvania Station was designed by the noted architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White and was modeled on the Roman Baths of Caracalla; it was notable for its high vaulted ceilings. The station opened in 1910 to provide access to Manhattan from New Jersey without having to use a ferry, making the Pennsy the only railroad to enter New York City from the south. The station was served by the Pennsy's own trains as well as those of its subsidiary, the Long Island Rail Road. Infamously, the station's headhouse was demolished for redevelopment in 1963. However, most of the station's rail infrastructure (platforms, tracks, concourses, waiting room) and staircases were below street level, and survived as the current Pennsylvania Station. The station continues as an underground operation (serving Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and the LIRR) and is the busiest intercity railroad station in the United States.[77]

Newark, NJ Penn Station
 
Main article: Pennsylvania Station (Newark)

Newark's Pennsylvania Station was designed by McKim, Mead and White. It opened in 1935, was completed in 1937 and was refurbished in 2007.[78] Its style is a mixture of Art Deco and Neo-Classical. All Amtrak trains stop here, and the station serves three commuter lines, PATH rapid transit to Jersey City and Manhattan, and the Newark Light Rail.

Philadelphia, PA Broad Street Station
 
Main article: Broad Street Station (Philadelphia)

Broad Street Station was the first of the great passenger stations built by the Pennsy. Opened in 1881 at a cost of $4,272,268.53 ($120 million in 2021),[3] the station was expanded in the early 1890s by famed Philadelphia architect Frank Furness. For most of its existence it was, with City Hall, one of the crown jewels of Philadelphia's architecture, and until a 1923 fire, had the largest train shed in the world (a 91 m span). It was the terminal for the Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, bringing trains into the center of the city at Broad and Filbert streets. The station was demolished in 1953 after the Pennsy moved passenger service to 30th Street Station.

Philadelphia, PA 30th Street Station
 
Main article: 30th Street Station

30th Street Station displays its majestic—and traditional—architectural style with its enormous waiting room and its vestibules. The station, in spite of its architectural classicism, opened in 1933, when modern and Art Deco styles were more popular. Its construction was needed to accommodate increased intercity and suburban traffic. It replaced the 32nd Street Station (West Philadelphia). It is now the primary rail station in Philadelphia, serving long-distance and commuter trains.

Pittsburgh, PA Penn Station
 
Main article: Union Station (Pittsburgh)

The original station was built in 1865 and was destroyed by fire in 1877 during the Pittsburgh Riots. A temporary station was quickly built but, remained in service until the early 1900s, when the present station was built between 1898–1903, renovated in 1954, and partially repurposed in 1988.[79] The station was originally called "Union Station" as the terminal for the Allegheny Valley, PFtW&C, and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Washington, DC Union Station
 
Main article: Union Station (Washington, DC)

Union Station, built jointly with the B&O, served as a hub for Pennsy passenger services in the nation's capital, with connections to the B&O, and Southern Railway. The station was designed by architect Daniel Burnham and opened in 1908. The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad provided a link to Richmond, Virginia, about 100 miles (160 km) to the south, where major north–south lines of the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line railroads provided service to North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Today, Union Station is the location of Amtrak headquarters and serves Amtrak and regional commuter railroads (MARC and VRE).

Heritage Units

 
Norfolk Southern Pennsylvania Railroad Heritage Unit at Lewistown, Pennsylvania

As a part of Norfolk Southern's 30th anniversary, they painted 20 new locomotives into predecessor schemes. NS #8102, a GE ES44AC, was painted into the Pennsylvania RR scheme.

 
ALP-46A 4636 Enters Convent Station

As a part of New Jersey Transit's 40th anniversary in 2019, three locomotives were painted into predecessor schemes. Bombardier ALP-46A #4636 was wrapped into the Pennsylvania RR scheme.[80]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ This mileage includes companies independently operated. PRR miles of all tracks, which includes first (or main), second, third, fourth, and sidings, totalled 28,040.49 at the end of 1926.
  2. ^ In the years after the American Civil War, railroad leases were a common arrangement: a railroad contemplating an expansion, but reluctant to assume new risks or finance construction itself, would form a new railroad company or acquire a controlling interest in an existing company, lease the new railroad to itself (the "parent" railroad), and sell stock in the new corporation if necessary. The new line was frequently operated as if it was an integral part of the parent company. See John F. Meck, Jr., and John E. Masten, "Railroad Leases and Reorganization: I 2019-04-27 at the Wayback Machine", Yale Law Journal 49:626-659, (1940) pp. 630-31.
  3. ^ Totals for Pennsylvania Lines; not included are the following independently operated lines: Long Island Railroad, West Jersey & Seashore/Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, Pennsylvania & Atlantic, Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic, Baltimore & Eastern, Ohio River & Western, Philadelphia & Beach Haven, Rosslyn Connecting, and Waynesburg & Washington, which added up to 21 million ton-miles in 1925.
  4. ^ Totals for Pennsylvania Lines; Long Island Railroad and West Jersey & Seashore/Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines not included.
  5. ^ Abandoned by Conrail in 1989.
  6. ^ The latter abandoned by Conrail in 1990.
  7. ^ Now called the Landover Subdivision and RF&P Subdivision of CSX.
  8. ^ Freight units as classified by the PRR.

Citations

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  62. ^ "FAQ Section – The T1 Trust". The T1 Trust. 2016. from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  63. ^ James (2010).
  64. ^ Cudahy, Brian J. (2003). A Century of Subways: Celebrating 100 Years of New York's Underground Railways. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 246. ISBN 0-8232-2292-6. from the original on 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  65. ^ Schafer, Mike; Brian Solomon (2009) [1997]. Pennsylvania Railroad. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2930-6. OCLC 234257275.
  66. ^ a b . ZTrains.com. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  67. ^ a b c d e "Pennsylvania Railroad Roster". The Diesel Shop. August 30, 2018. from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  68. ^ Garner, Tim (Summer 2015). "PRR Baldwin Freight Sharks BF-15 and BF-16" (PDF). The Keystone Modeler. 93: 12. (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  69. ^ Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years. Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co. p. 320. ISBN 0-89024-258-5.
  70. ^ Miller, Matt (April 2005). . The Gauge Magazine. 1 (3). Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  71. ^ a b c d e . Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. Philadelphia Chapter Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2007-03-09. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  72. ^ Cushing, W. C. (1905-05-12). "Progress in Yard Design". The Railroad Gazette. New York. XXXVIII (19): 480. from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  73. ^ "Conway Yard on the Pennsylvania Railroad" (PDF). MultiModalWays.org. Pennsylvania Railroad. 1957. (PDF) from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  74. ^ "Advance Planning Increases Efficiency of New Facility". Railway Age. East Stroudsburg, PA: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company. 85 (16): 775. October 20, 1928. from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2020 – via Google Books.
  75. ^ Ayers, Bill (November 30, 2002). "Crestline PRR Engine Facility History". CrestlinePRR.com. from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  76. ^ Couper, William, ed. (1912). History of the Engineering, Construction and Equipment of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's New York Terminal and Approaches. New York: Isaac H. Blanchard Co. p. 76. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  77. ^ Grynbaum (2010).
  78. ^ "Newark Penn Station". HallGC.com. from the original on 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  79. ^ "Pittsburgh, PA (PGH) – Great American Stations". The Great American Stations. from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  80. ^ "NJ Transit provides more details on heritage units | Trains Magazine". TrainsMag.com. from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-04-10.

Sources

  • Chandler, Alfred D. Jr. (1965). "The Railroads: Pioneers in Modern Corporate Management". Business History Review. 39 (1): 16–40. doi:10.2307/3112463. JSTOR 3112463. S2CID 156613209.
  • Doubleday, Russell (August 1902). "New York to Chicago (In) 20 Hours: A Description Of A Trip On The New Trains That Make The Fastest Long Run In The World". The World's Work: A History of Our Time. II: 2455–2462. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  • Dubin, Arthur D. (1964). Some Classic Trains. Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 76–95. ISBN 978-0890240113.
  • Fischer, Ian S. (2002). PRR Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment (Volume 3). Morning Sun Books. ISBN 1-58248-073-7.
  • Grynbaum, Michael M. (2010-10-18). "The Joys and Woes of Penn Station at 100". New York Times. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  • Harwood, Herbert H. Jr. (1990). Royal Blue Line. Sykesville, MD: Greenberg Publishing. ISBN 0-89778-155-4.
  • James, William (Winter 2010). "Pennsylvania Railroad MP54 Multiple Unit Cars". The Keystone. Kutztown, Pennsylvania: Kutztown Publishing. 43 (4).
  • Kratville, William W. (1962). Steam Steel and Limiteds. A Saga of the Great Varnish Era. Omaha, NE: Barnhart Press. OCLC 1301983.
  • Messer, David W. (1999). Triumph II. Baltimore: Barnard, Roberts & Co. ISBN 0-934118-24-8.
  • Schafer, Mike; Solomon, Brian (1997). Pennsylvania Railroad. Osceola, WI: MotorBooks International. ISBN 978-0-7603-0379-5. OCLC 36676055.
  • Schotter, H. W. (December 1927). The Growth and Development of The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 1846–1926. Philadelphia, PA: Allen, Lane & Scott.
  • Springirth, Kenneth (17 May 2017). Remembering the Pennsylvania Railroad. Fonthill Media. GGKEY:XEDWBTBGNK8.
  • Staufer, Alvin F. (1993). Pennsy Power III (1847 - 1968). Medina, OH: Alvin F. Staufer. ISBN 978-0944513101. OCLC 31825736.
  • Walsh, Joe (1999). Pennsy Streamliners: the Blue Ribbon Fleet. Kalmbach Publishing Co. ISBN 0-89024-293-3.
  • Ward, James A. (Spring 1975). "Power and Accountability on the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1846–1878". Business History Review. 49 (1): 37–59. doi:10.2307/3112961. JSTOR 3112961. S2CID 155491864.

Further reading

  • Alexander, Edwin P. (1967). The Pennsylvania Railroad – A Pictorial History. New York: Bonanza Books.
  • Cresson, B. F. Jr. (September 1910). "The New York tunnel extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad". Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers. LXVIII.
  • Churella, Albert J. (2013). The Pennsylvania Railroad: Volume I, Building an Empire, 1846–1917. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4348-2. OCLC 759594295.
  • Jacobs, Timothy (1988). The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Bonanza Books. ISBN 0-517-63351-5.
  • Orr, John W. (2001). Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904–1949. Penn State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-02056-3.
  • Thomas III, William G.; Barnes, Brooks Miles; Szuba, Tom (July 31, 2007). . Southern Spaces. Archived from the original on January 10, 2011.
  • Ward, James A. (January 1976). "J. Edgar Thomson And Thomas A. Scott: A Symbiotic Partnership?". Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 100 (1): 37–65.
  • White, John H. Jr. (Spring 1986). "America's most noteworthy railroaders". Railroad History. 154: 9–15.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pennsylvania Railroad.
  • Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society
  • Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Strasburg, Pennsylvania — museum with many PRR artifacts
  • PRR Chronology — in depth — year-by-year listing of events related to or impacting the Pennsylvania Railroad
  • RR Picture Archives — Photos of PRR equipment
  • Archival collections of the Pennsylvania Railroad[permanent dead link] at Hagley Museum and Library
  • Hagley Digital Archives: Pennsylvania Railroad negatives
  • History of transportation in Ohio — maps of railroads in Ohio including the Pennsylvania Railroad
  • Harvard College: 20th century great American business leaders — Martin W. Clement
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Alumni hall of fame: Alexander J. Cassatt
  • Ray Hiebert papers at the University of Maryland Libraries are a collection of official press releases from the first 50 years of the Pennsylvania Railroad

March 24, 2023
pennsylvania, railroad, pennsylvania, system, redirects, here, prison, system, known, pennsylvania, system, separate, system, eastern, state, penitentiary, reporting, mark, legal, name, company, also, known, pennsy, american, class, railroad, that, established. Pennsylvania System redirects here For the prison system known as the Pennsylvania System see separate system and Eastern State Penitentiary The Pennsylvania Railroad reporting mark PRR legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the Pennsy was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia Pennsylvania It was named for the commonwealth in which it was established By 1882 Pennsylvania Railroad had become the largest railroad by traffic and revenue the largest transportation enterprise and the largest corporation in the world Its budget was second only to the U S government 1 Pennsylvania RailroadPRR system map cumulative up to 1945OverviewHeadquartersPhiladelphia Pennsylvania U S Reporting markPRRLocaleNortheastern United StatesDates of operationApril 13 1846 1846 04 13 January 31 1968 1968 01 31 renamed to Penn Central Transportation Company SuccessorPenn Central Transportation CompanyTechnicalTrack gauge4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gaugePrevious gaugeat one time 4 ft 9 in 1 448 mm Electrification12 5 kV 25 Hz AC New York City Washington D C South Amboy Philadelphia Harrisburg North Jersey Coast LineLength11 640 66 miles 18 733 83 kilometers 1926 Over the years it acquired merged with or owned part of at least 800 other rail lines and companies 2 At the end of 1926 it operated 11 640 66 miles 18 733 83 kilometers of rail line notes 1 3 in the 1920s it carried nearly three times the traffic as other railroads of comparable length such as the Union Pacific and Atchison Topeka amp Santa Fe railroads Its only formidable rival was the New York Central NYC which carried around three quarters of the Pennsy s ton miles In 1968 the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its rival New York Central Railroad and the railroad eventually went by the name of Penn Central Transportation Company or Penn Central for short The former competitors networks integrated poorly with each other and the railroad filed for bankruptcy within two years 4 Chapter 1 Bankruptcy continued and on April 1 1976 the railroad gave up its railroad assets along with the assets of several other failing northeastern railroads to a new railroad named Consolidated Rail Corporation or Conrail for short Conrail was itself purchased and split up in 1999 between the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation with Norfolk Southern getting 58 percent of the system including nearly all of the remaining former Pennsylvania Railroad trackage Amtrak received the electrified segment of the Main Line east of Harrisburg After 1976 the railroad eventually became an insurance company and now goes by the name of American Premier Underwriters and is now a subsidiary of American Financial Group Contents 1 History 1 1 Beginnings 1 2 Early years 1 3 Expansion 1 4 Empire Transportation Company 1 5 Penn Central merger Conrail and today 1 6 Timeline 2 Presidents 2 1 J Edgar Thomson 3 Major routes 3 1 Main Line 3 2 New York Philadelphia Baltimore and Washington lines 3 3 New York Chicago 3 4 New York St Louis 3 5 Low grade lines 4 Electrification 5 Equipment 5 1 Freight cars 5 2 Paint schemes 5 3 Locomotives 5 3 1 Steam 5 3 2 Electric 5 3 3 Diesel 5 4 Passenger Units 5 5 Freight Units 5 6 Signaling 6 Facilities 6 1 Shops 6 1 1 Altoona Works 6 2 Yards 6 3 Major passenger stations 7 Heritage Units 8 See also 9 References 9 1 Notes 9 2 Citations 9 3 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External linksHistory Edit 1857 map of the Pennsylvania Railroad system Beginnings Edit With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and the beginnings of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in 1828 Philadelphia business interests became concerned that the port of Philadelphia would lose traffic The state legislature was pressed to build a canal across Pennsylvania and thus the Main Line of Public Works was commissioned in 1826 5 It soon became evident that a single canal would not be practical and a series of railroads inclined planes and canals was proposed 6 The route consisted of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad canals up the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers an inclined plane railroad called the Allegheny Portage Railroad a tunnel across the Allegheny Mountains and canals down the Conemaugh and Allegheny rivers to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on the Ohio River it was completed in 1834 Because freight and passengers had to change conveyances several times along the route and canals froze in winter it soon became apparent that the system was cumbersome and a better way was needed 6 7 There were two applications made to the Pennsylvania legislature in 1846 The first was for a new railroad called The Pennsylvania Railroad Company to build a line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania The second was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad B amp O which wanted to build to Pittsburgh from Cumberland Maryland Both applications were granted with conditions If the Pennsylvania Railroad did not raise enough capital and contract to build enough railroad within a year then the B amp O bill would become effective and the Pennsy s void thereby allowing the B amp O to build into Pennsylvania and on to Pittsburgh The Pennsylvania Railroad fulfilled the requirements and Letters Patent were issued by the Pennsylvania governor on February 25 1847 The governor declared the B amp O s rights void the following August 3 Early years Edit In 1847 the Pennsy s directors chose J Edgar Thomson an engineer from the Georgia Railroad to survey and construct the line He chose a route that followed the west bank of the Susquehanna River northward to the confluence with the Juniata River following its banks until the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains were reached at a point that would become Altoona Pennsylvania 6 To traverse the mountains the line would climb a moderate grade for 10 miles 16 km until it reached a split of two mountain ravines which were cleverly crossed by building a fill and having the tracks ascend a 220 degree curve known as Horseshoe Curve that limited the grade to less than 2 percent The crest of the mountain would be penetrated by the 3 612 ft 1 101 m Gallitzin Tunnels from which the route descended by a more moderate grade to Johnstown citation needed The western end of the line was simultaneously built from Pittsburgh eastward along the Allegheny and Conemaugh rivers to Johnstown while the eastern end was built from Harrisburg to Altoona In 1848 the Pennsy contracted with the Harrisburg Portsmouth Mountjoy and Lancaster Railroad HPMtJ amp L to buy and use equipment over both roads providing service from Harrisburg east to Lancaster 3 In 1851 tracks were completed between Pittsburgh and Johnstown In 1852 a continuous railroad line ran between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh over the tracks of several entities including the Pennsylvania Railroad In 1853 the Pennsy was granted trackage rights over the Philadelphia and Columbia providing a connection between the two cities and connecting with the HPMtJ amp L at Lancaster and Columbia 3 By 1854 the Pennsy completed its line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh eliminating the use of the inclined planes of the Allegheny Portage Railroad citation needed In 1857 the PRR purchased the Main Line of Public Works from the state of Pennsylvania This purchase included 275 miles 443 km of canal the Philadelphia amp Columbia Railroad and the New Portage Railroad which replaced the now abandoned Allegheny Portage Railroad 3 The Pennsy abandoned most of the New Portage Railroad in 1857 as it was now redundant with the Pennsylvania Railroad s own line In 1861 the Pennsy leased the HPMtJ amp L to bring the entire stretch of road between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia under its control citation needed The Johnstown to Pittsburgh stretch of canal was abandoned in 1865 and the rest of the canals sold to the Pennsylvania Canal Company in 1866 3 The main line was double track from its inception and by the end of the century a third and fourth track were added Over the next 50 years the Pennsy expanded by gaining control of other railroads by stock purchases and 999 year leases 7 notes 2 At the end of its first year of operation the Pennsylvania Railroad paid a dividend and continued the dividend without interruption until 1946 citation needed Expansion Edit Pennsylvania Railroad system map 1893 The Pennsy s charter was supplemented on March 23 1853 to allow it to purchase stock and guarantee bonds of railroads in other states up to a percentage of its capital stock Several lines were then aided by the Pennsy in hopes to secure additional traffic By the end of 1854 the Pennsy purchased stock in the Ohio amp Pennsylvania Ohio amp Indiana Marietta amp Cincinnati Maysville amp Big Sandy and Springfield Mt Vernon amp Pittsburgh railroads totalling 1 450 000 equivalent to 43 7 million in 2021 The Steubenville amp Indiana was assisted by the Pennsy in the form of a guarantee of 500 000 worth of bonds In 1856 a controlling interest was purchased in the Cumberland Valley Railroad and the Pennsy constructed additional lines in Philadelphia In 1857 the aforementioned Main Line of Public Works was purchased for 7 500 000 218 million in 2021 3 Empire Transportation Company Edit Main article Empire Transportation Company The Empire Transportation Company was founded in 1865 by Joseph D Potts and became a multimodal freight transportation subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad It owned oil tanker cars and used them to transport refined oil for mostly independent oil refiners during the era of John D Rockefeller s and Standard Oil s oil refinery mergers of the 1870s The company also owned grain freight boats on the Great Lakes and oil pipelines in the oil regions of Pennsylvania When the company attempted to buy and build some oil refineries in 1877 Standard Oil bought the company 8 9 Penn Central merger Conrail and today Edit Penn Central Company stock certificate Main article Penn Central Transportation Company The controlling non institutional shareholders of the PRR during the early 1960s were Henry Stryker Taylor who was a part of the Jacob Bunn business dynasty of Illinois and Howard Butcher III a principal in the Philadelphia brokerage house of Butcher amp Sherrerd later Butcher amp Singer On February 1 1968 the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its longtime arch rival the New York Central Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad absorbed the New York Central and eventually went by the name of Penn Central Transportation Company 10 The Interstate Commerce Commission ICC required that the ailing New York New Haven amp Hartford Railroad NH be added in 1969 A series of events including inflation poor management abnormally harsh weather and the withdrawal of a government guaranteed 200 million operating loan forced Penn Central to file for bankruptcy protection on June 21 1970 4 In May 1971 passenger operations including equipment were transferred to a new government subsidized company called the National Railroad Passenger Corporation or Amtrak This was devised to relieve the Penn Central and other railroads of money losing passenger service Penn Central rail lines including ex Pennsy lines were transferred to Conrail in 1976 and eventually Amtrak received the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor lines After Conrail was divided between the Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation most of the former Pennsy s remaining trackage went to Norfolk Southern The few parts of the Pennsylvania Railroad that went to CSX after the Conrail split were 1 the western end of the Fort Wayne Line across western Ohio and northern Indiana 2 the Pope s Creek Secondary in Maryland just to the east of Washington 3 the Landover Subdivision a former Pennsy freight line in DC which connects to Amtrak s ex Pennsy Northeast Corridor and CSX s ex B amp O Alexandria Extension on the north end and CSX s RF amp P Subdivision on the south end via the ex Pennsy Long Bridge across the Potomac River and 4 the Terre Haute Indiana to East St Louis Illinois segment of the St Louis main line the segment east of Terre Haute is former New York Central The Pennsylvania Railroad still exists but has since switched to an insurance company and now goes by the name American Premier Underwriters and currently serves as a subsidiary of American Financial Group Timeline Edit Revenue freight traffic in millions of net ton miles notes 3 Year Traffic1925 44 8641925 48 8901933 26 8181944 71 2491960 42 7751967 50 730Source ICC annual reports Revenue passenger traffic in millions of passenger miles notes 4 Year Traffic1920 7 3251925 4 5181933 2 0171944 13 0471960 2 4631967 1 757Source ICC annual reports 1846 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company is chartered to construct a rail line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 1850s Renamed the Pennsylvania Central Railway 1850 Construction begins on Altoona Works repair shop at Altoona Pennsylvania 1857 The Main Line of Public Works of Pennsylvania purchased 1865 First US railroad to use steel rails 11 1868 The Pittsburgh Cincinnati and St Louis Railway is formed and controlled by the Pennsy 1869 Leases the Pittsburgh Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway formally giving it control of a direct route into the heart of the Midwestern United States and Chicago Illinois 1870 Pennsylvania Central is split into lines east renamed Pennsylvania Railroad and lines west Pennsylvania Company is formed to hold securities from companies West of Pittsburgh Use of track pans begins on PRR at Sang Hollow Pennsylvania 12 Pennsy reaches Cincinnati Ohio with lease of Little Miami and St Louis Missouri with control of the St Louis Vandalia amp Terre Haute 1871 Pennsylvania Railroad reaches Jersey City New Jersey and the New York City area via lease of the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company 1872 Air brakes first used on the Pennsylvania Railroad 13 1873 Pennsy reaches Washington D C via the Baltimore amp Potomac Railroad 1877 Thomas A Watson demonstrates telephone to PRR officials at Altoona 14 Pittsburgh Riots destroys property of Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 1881 Pennsy purchases control of Philadelphia Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad thereby providing a direct route between Philadelphia Baltimore and Washington D C access to Delmarva Peninsula Broad Street Station opens 3 1885 The Congressional Limited Express from New York to Washington is introduced 1887 Pennsylvania Limited service begins between New York and Chicago first vestibuled train 15 1900 The Pennsy gains access to Buffalo New York via lease of Western New York amp Pennsylvania 1902 Pennsylvania Special service begins between New York and Chicago replacing the Pennsylvania Limited 16 1906 An accident in Atlantic City kills 53 people 1907 Union Station in Washington D C completed 1910 Completion of the North River Tunnels under the Hudson River providing direct service from New Jersey to Manhattan on electrified lines terminating at the massive new Penn Station 1912 The second vice president of the PRR John B Thayer died in the sinking of RMS Titanic at age of 49 17 1912 Broadway Limited was inaugurated replacing the Pennsylvania Special 1915 The Pennsylvania electrifies its suburban Philadelphia lines to Paoli Pennsylvania 18 PRR Position Light signals first used between Overbrook and Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania 19 1916 The Pennsy adopts new motto Standard Railroad of the World The first I1s Decapod locomotive is completed and switching locomotives of the A5s and B6sb class are introduced 1917 Completion of the New York Connecting Railroad and the Hell Gate Bridge speed access to the New England states 1918 Pennsy stock bottoms at 40 equal to 725 12 today the lowest since 1877 due largely to Federal railroad control Emergency freight is routed through New York Penn Station and the Hudson River tunnels by the USRA to relieve congestion The Pennsy electrifies suburban commuter line to Chestnut Hill PA 1925 Chicago Union Station opens 1928 1938 The Pennsylvania electrifies its New York Washington D C and Chicago Philadelphia lines between Harrisburg and Paoli several Philadelphia and New York area commuter lines and major through freight lines 1937 Pennsy acquires its first diesel a model SW switcher engine from Electro Motive Corporation 1943 An accident at Frankford Junction Pennsylvania kills 79 1946 The Pennsylvania Railroad reported a net loss for the first time in its history 20 1951 An accident in Woodbridge New Jersey kills 85 people 1957 Steam locomotives are removed from active service in the PRR fleet Merger talks begin with the New York Central Railroad 1968 The PRR absorbs NYC and eventually changes its name to Penn Central Transportation Company PC Presidents EditJ Edgar Thomson Edit John Edgar Thomson Thomson 1808 1874 was the entrepreneur who led the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1852 until his death in 1874 making it the largest business enterprise in the world and a world class model for technological and managerial innovation He served as the Pennsy s first Chief Engineer and third President 21 Thomson s sober technical methodical and non ideological personality had an important influence on the Pennsylvania Railroad which in the mid 19th century was on the technical cutting edge of rail development while nonetheless reflecting Thomson s personality in its conservatism and its steady growth while avoiding financial risks His Pennsylvania Railroad was in his day the largest railroad in the world with 6 000 miles of track and was famous for steady financial dividends high quality construction constantly improving equipment technological advances such as replacing wood fuel with coal and innovation in management techniques for a large complex organization 22 The railroad s other presidents were Samuel V Merrick March 31 1847 September 1 1849 William C Patterson September 1 1849 February 2 1852 John Edgar Thomson February 3 1852 May 27 1874 Thomas A Scott June 3 1874 June 1 1880 George B Roberts June 1 1880 January 30 1897 Frank Thomson February 3 1897 June 5 1899 Alexander J Cassatt June 9 1899 December 28 1906 James McCrea January 2 1907 January 1 1913 Samuel Rea January 1 1913 October 1 1925 William W Atterbury October 1 1925 April 24 1935 Martin W Clement April 24 1935 June 16 1949 Walter S Franklin June 16 1949 May 31 1954 James M Symes May 31 1954 November 1 1959 Allen J Greenough November 1 1959 January 31 1968 The Pennsylvania Railroad s board chairman CEOs were Martin W Clement June 16 1949 December 31 1951 James M Symes November 1 1959 October 1 1963 Stuart T Saunders October 1 1963 January 31 1968 Major routes EditMain Line Edit Main article Main Line Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsy s main line extended from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania New York Philadelphia Baltimore and Washington lines Edit Main article Northeast Corridor PRR Philadelphia to New York City coach ticket c 1955 In 1861 the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the Northern Central Railway giving it access to Baltimore Maryland and points along the Susquehanna River via connections at Columbia Pennsylvania or Harrisburg Pennsylvania 23 On December 1 1871 the Pennsy leased the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company which included the original Camden and Amboy Railroad from Camden New Jersey across the Delaware River from Philadelphia to South Amboy New Jersey across Raritan Bay from New York City as well as a newer line from Philadelphia to Jersey City New Jersey much closer to New York via Trenton New Jersey Track connection in Philadelphia was made via the Pennsy s Connecting Railway and the jointly owned Junction Railroad 24 The Pennsy s Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road opened on July 2 1872 between Baltimore and Washington D C This route required transfer via horse car in Baltimore to the other lines heading north from the city On June 29 1873 the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel through Baltimore was completed The Pennsylvania Railroad started the Pennsylvania Air Line service air line at the time being understood as a nearly straight and nearly flat route with distance similar to as the crow flies via the Northern Central Railway and Columbia Pennsylvania This service was 54 5 miles 87 7 km longer than the old route but avoided the transfer in Baltimore The Union Railroad line opened on July 24 1873 This route eliminated the transfer in Baltimore Pennsy officials contracted with both the Union Railroad and the Philadelphia Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad PW amp B for access to this line The Pennsy s New York Washington trains began using the route the next day ending Pennsylvania Air Line service In the early 1880s the Pennsylvania acquired a majority of PW amp B Railroad s stock This action forced the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad B amp O to build the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad to keep its Philadelphia access where it connected with the Reading Railroad for its competing Royal Blue Line passenger trains to reach New York In 1885 the PRR began passenger train service from New York City via Philadelphia to Washington with limited stops along the route This service became known as the Congressional Limited Express 25 The service expanded and by the 1920s the Pennsy was operating hourly passenger train service between New York Philadelphia and Washington In 1952 18 car stainless steel streamliners were introduced on the Morning Congressional and Afternoon Congressional between New York and Washington as well as the Senator from Boston to Washington 26 New York Chicago Edit On July 1 1869 the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the Pittsburgh Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway PFtW amp C in which it had previously been an investor The lease gave the Pennsy complete control of that line s direct route through northern Ohio and Indiana as well as entry into the emerging rail hub city of Chicago Illinois Acquisitions along the PFtW amp C Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad Toledo Columbus and Ohio River Railroad and Pittsburgh Youngstown and Ashtabula Railway gave the Pennsy access to the iron ore traffic on Lake Erie 7 On June 15 1887 the Pennsylvania Limited began running between New York and Chicago This was also the introduction of the vestibule an enclosed platform at the end of each passenger car allowing protected access to the entire train In 1902 the Pennsylvania Limited was replaced by the Pennsylvania Special which in turn was replaced in 1912 by the Broadway Limited which became the most famous train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad 27 28 This train ran from New York City to Chicago via Philadelphia with an additional section between Harrisburg and Washington later operated as a separate Washington Chicago train the Liberty Limited New York St Louis Edit In 1890 the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the Pittsburgh Cincinnati Chicago and St Louis Railroad PCC amp StL itself the merged product of numerous smaller lines in Ohio Indiana and Illinois Commonly called the Panhandle Route this line ran west from Pittsburgh to Bradford Ohio where it split with one line to Chicago and the other to East St Louis Illinois via Indianapolis Indiana In 1905 the acquisition of the Vandalia Railroad gave the Pennsy access across the Mississippi River to St Louis Missouri 7 Double tracked for much of its length the line served the coal region of southern Illinois and as a passenger route for the Pennsylvania Railroad s Blue Ribbon named trains The St Louisan The Jeffersonian and the Spirit of St Louis 29 Low grade lines Edit See also Category Pennsylvania Railroad Through freight Lines By 1906 the Pennsylvania built several low grade lines for freight to bypass areas of steep grade slope and avoid congestion These included 1871 The Western Pennsylvania Railroad completed its line from Blairsville to Allegheny City Pennsylvania and a connection with the Pittsburgh Fort Wayne amp Chicago 3 63 1874 The low grade line of the Allegheny Valley Railroad from Driftwood to Red Bank Pennsylvania 3 121 1877 The Port Perry Branch connecting the main line to Pennsylvania Railroad s Pittsburgh Virginia and Charleston Railway near Pittsburgh 1890 The Ohio Connecting Railway is built by the Pennsylvania Railroad providing a low grade bypass around Pittsburgh via the Panhandle Route PV amp C and Port Perry Branch and via the Brilliant Cutoff and the Duff Scully Branch at later dates 30 1892 The Trenton Branch and Trenton Cut Off Railroad from Glen Loch Pennsylvania east to Morrisville Pennsylvania 31 not only a low grade line but a long distance shortcut and bypass of Philadelphia 1904 Reopening of the New Portage Railroad from the Gallitzin Tunnel east to New Portage Junction then continuing north over the Hollidaysburg Branch to Altoona 3 287 or bypassing Altoona and continuing on the Petersburg Branch to Petersburg 31 1904 The Brilliant Cutoff between the main line and the Allegheny Valley Railway and Conemaugh Line 1905 The Scully Branch providing via a low grade bypass on the Panhandle Route along Chartiers Creek 32 33 34 1906 Philadelphia and Thorndale Branch from Thorndale Pennsylvania east to Glen Loch 31 notes 5 1906 Atglen and Susquehanna Branch from Harrisburg via the Northern Central Railway south to Wago Junction then east to Parkesburg Pennsylvania 31 notes 6 Some other lines were planned but never completed The Pennsylvania and Newark Railroad was incorporated in 1905 to build a low grade line from Morrisville Pennsylvania to Colonia New Jersey It was never completed 35 but some work was done in the Trenton area including bridge piers in the Delaware River North of Colonia the alignment was going to be separate but instead two extra tracks were added to the existing line Work was suspended in 1916 36 A low grade line was planned between Radebaugh near Greensburg and Derry Pennsylvania 31 Work was begun on this line but it was never completed 37 A low grade route across the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania bypassing the congestion at Pittsburgh was contemplated but never built 38 It would have used existing segments of the Northern Central Railway Philadelphia and Erie Railroad and Allegheny Valley Railway s Low Grade Division Then new construction would have connected from Red Bank to the Fort Wayne Line at Enon 39 The Western Allegheny Railroad later ran over a route similar to the envisioned new line 40 and was for a time owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad which it seems purchased it for this planned bypass 41 42 Electrification EditFurther information Amtrak s 25 Hz traction power system PRR DD1 electric locomotive used in the New York City terminal area and tunnels A GG1 electric locomotive pulls The Congressional out of the North River Tunnels 1965 Early in the 20th century the Pennsy tried electric power for its trains Its first effort was in the New York terminal area where tunnels and a city law restricting the burning of coal precluded steam locomotives In 1910 the railroad began operating a direct current DC 650 volt system whose third rail powered Pennsy locomotives and LIRR passenger cars used to enter Penn Station in New York City via the Hudson River tunnels 43 The next area to be electrified was the Philadelphia terminal area where Pennsy officials decided to use overhead lines to supply power to the suburban trains running out of Broad Street Station Unlike the New York terminal system overhead wires would carry 11 000 volt 25 Hertz alternating current AC power which became the standard for future installations On September 12 1915 electrification of the line from Philadelphia to Paoli Pennsylvania was completed 44 Other Philadelphia lines electrified were the Chestnut Hill Branch March 30 1918 45 White Marsh 1924 the main line to Wilmington Delaware September 30 1928 45 West Chester December 2 1928 45 Trenton line June 29 1930 45 and completed on July 20 1930 the Schuylkill Branch to Norristown Pennsylvania 45 later followed by the rest of the main line to Trenton New Jersey In 1928 PRR s president William Wallace Atterbury announced plans to electrify the lines between New York Philadelphia Washington and Harrisburg In January 1933 through main line service between New York and Philadelphia Wilmington Paoli was placed in operation The first test run of an electric train between Philadelphia and Washington occurred on January 28 1935 On February 1 the Congressional Limiteds in both directions were the first trains in regular electric operation between New York and Washington drawn by the first of the GG1 type locomotives 46 74 In 1934 the Pennsylvania received a 77 million loan from the New Deal s Public Works Administration 47 to complete the electrification project begun in 1928 Work was started January 27 1937 on the main line from Paoli to Harrisburg the low grade freight line from Morrisville through Columbia to Enola Yard in Pennsylvania the Port Road Branch from Perryville Maryland to Columbia the Jamesburg Branch and Amboy Secondary freight line from Monmouth Junction to South Amboy and the Landover South End freight line from Landover Maryland through Washington to Potomac Yard in Alexandria Virginia notes 7 In less than a year on January 15 1938 the first passenger train the Metropolitan went into operation over the newly electrified line from Philadelphia to Harrisburg On April 15 the electrified freight service from Harrisburg and Enola Yard east was inaugurated thus completing the Pennsy s eastern seaboard electrification program 48 The railroad had electrified 2 677 miles 4 308 km of its track representing 41 of the country s electrically operated standard railroad trackage Portions of the electrified trackage are still in use owned and operated by Amtrak as the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor high speed rail routes 49 by SEPTA 50 and by NJ Transit 51 Equipment EditThe Pennsylvania Railroad s corporate symbol was the keystone the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania s state symbol with the letters PRR intertwined inside When colored it was bright red with a silver grey inline and lettering Freight cars Edit A PRR wooden freight car with steel underframe The Pennsylvania Railroad bought its first 75 freight cars in 1849 3 20 Two years later the Pennsy owned 439 freight cars By 1857 it had 1 861 cars and in 1866 9 379 cars 52 663 Freight equipment was either acquired new from builders or built by the railroad itself 3 433 The Pennsy acquired more cars from the railroads it absorbed In some instances privately owned cars were either purchased from a builder or railroad acquisition One such example was the 1877 purchase of Empire Transportation merchandise and oil cars 52 666 By the mid 1860s the railroad had 9 379 freight cars a decade later 32 718 the mid 1880s over 49 000 1896 more than 87 000 52 666 The Pennsy changed its car reporting methods around 1900 52 667 The railroads owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad system were now included in reports in addition to the Pennsylvania Railroad proper So in 1900 the Pennsy had over 180 000 freight cars by 1910 263 039 The zenith of freight car ownership was reached in 1919 when the Pennsy owned a reported 282 729 freight cars 52 668 PRR boxcar No 19103 of PRR class X54 Steel in freight car construction began during the later part of the 19th century when cars were now being built with a steel underframe and wooden bodies or were all steel The Pennsy steadily replaced their wooden cars with steel versions until there were no more wooden cars by 1934 52 669 During the first quarter of the 20th century the average capacity of a Pennsylvania Railroad freight car increased from 31 to 54 short tons 28 to 48 long tons 28 to 49 t This increased to 55 short tons 49 long tons 50 t in the mid 1930s and then to 56 short tons 50 long tons 51 t in 1945 52 669 By the start of 1946 the Pennsy s freight car ownership decreased to 240 293 cars 52 663 and in 1963 down to 140 535 The Pennsylvania Railroad used a classification system for their freight cars Similar to their locomotives the Pennsy used a letter system to designate the various types and sub types of freight and maintenance cars 53 A Tank F Flat G Gondola H Hopper R Refrigerator K Stock N Cabin Caboose S Poling T Tool U Side Dump W Wreck Crane X Box Y Test Weight Z Business Paint schemes Edit As noted Pennsy colors and paint schemes were standardized Locomotives were painted in a shade of green so dark it seemed almost black The official name for this color was DGLE Dark Green Locomotive Enamel though often referred to as Brunswick Green The undercarriage of the locomotives were painted in black referred to as True Black The passenger cars of the Pennsy were painted Tuscan Red a brick colored shade of red Some electric locomotives and most passenger hauling diesel locomotives were also painted in Tuscan Red Freight cars of the Pennsy had their own color known as Freight Car Color an iron oxide shade of red On passenger locomotives and cars the lettering and outlining was originally done in real gold leaf After World War II the lettering was done in a light shade of gold called Buff Yellow 54 Locomotives Edit Steam Edit PRR I1sa 4483 on display at Hamburg New York K4s at Aberdeen Maryland April 1944 For most of its existence the Pennsylvania Railroad was conservative in its locomotive choices and pursued standardization both in locomotive types and their component parts 55 Almost alone among U S railroads the Pennsy designed most of its steam locomotive classes itself It built most of them at Altoona Works outsourcing only when Pennsy facilities could not keep up with the railroad s needs In such cases subcontractors were hired to build to PRR designs 56 unlike most railroads that ordered to broad specifications and left most design choices to the builder 55 The Pennsy s favorite outsourced locomotive builder was Baldwin Locomotive Works which received its raw materials and shipped out its finished products on Pennsy lines The two companies were headquartered in the same city Pennsy and Baldwin management and engineers knew each other well When the Pennsy and Baldwin shops were at capacity orders went to the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima Ohio 56 Only as a last resort would the Pennsy use the American Locomotive Company Alco based in Schenectady New York which also built for Pennsy s rival the New York Central The Pennsylvania Railroad had a design style that it favored in its locomotives One example was the square shouldered Belpaire firebox This British style firebox was a Pennsy trademark that was rarely used by other locomotive builders in the United States The Pennsy also used track pans extensively to retrieve water for the locomotive while in motion Using this system meant that the tenders of their locomotives had a comparatively large proportion of coal which could not be taken on board while running compared to water capacity Locomotives of the Pennsylvania had a relatively clean look to them Only necessary devices were used and they were mounted neatly on the locomotive 55 Smoke box fronts bore a round locomotive number board denoting a freight locomotive or a keystone number board denoting a passenger locomotive Otherwise the smoke box was uncluttered except for a headlamp at the top and a steam driven dynamo generator behind it In later years the positions of the two were reversed since the generator needed more maintenance than the lamp 55 Each class of steam locomotive was assigned a class designation 57 Early on this was simply a letter but when these ran short the scheme was changed so that each wheel arrangement had its own letter and different types in the same arrangement had different numbers added to the letter Sub types were indicated by a lower case letter super heating was designated by an s until the mid 1920s by which time all new locomotives were super heated A K4sa class was a 4 6 2 Pacific type K of the fourth class of Pacifics designed by the Pennsy It was super heated s and was of the first variant type a after the original unlettered Steam locomotives remained part of the Pennsy fleet until 1957 Further information Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive classification The Pennsy s reliance on steam locomotives in the mid 20th century contributed to its decline Steam locomotives require more maintenance than diesel locomotives are less cost efficient and require more personnel to operate Plus coaling and watering facilities and machine shops added greatly to steam related costs Like other railroads the Pennsy was unable to update its roster at will during the World War II years by the end of the war their roster was in rough shape In addition the Pennsy was saddled with unsuccessful experimental steam locomotives such as the Q1 S1 and T1 Duplex Drive locomotives and the S2 turbine locomotive Unlike most of their competition the Pennsy did not acquire any Northerns or Berkshires Pennsy competitors managed this period better with their diesel locomotive rosters 58 The Pennsylvania Railroad voluntarily preserved a roundhouse full of representative steam locomotives at Northumberland Pennsylvania in 1957 and kept them there for several decades These locomotives with the exception of I1sa 4483 which is on display at Hamburg New York are now at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg Pennsylvania In sharp contrast the New York Central s President Alfred E Perlman deliberately scrapped all but two steam locomotives 59 with the older one L2d surviving only by accident On December 18 1987 the State of Pennsylvania designated the Pennsy s K4s as the official State Steam Locomotive The two surviving K4s are No 1361 which is undergoing restoration to operating condition at the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona and No 3750 which remains on static display at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg 60 As of 2020 update the only operable Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive is class B4a engine 643 built in July 1901 in Altoona Engine 643 is maintained by volunteers of the Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association outside of Harrisburg and is operated several weekends each summer 61 As of 2020 update however a major construction project has been underway since 2014 building a new operational example of a class T1 engine numbered 5550 as all original class T1 locomotives have been scrapped The project is being undertaken by the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust and is projected to be finished by 2030 62 Electric Edit PRR FF1 experimental locomotive PRR GG1 4890 at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin When work on the Hudson River tunnels and New York s Penn Station was in progress the type of electric locomotives to be used was an important consideration At that time only a few electric locomotives existed Several experimental locomotives were designed by railroad and Westinghouse engineers and tried on the West Jersey amp Seashore Railroad track From these tests the DD1 class was developed 43 The DD1s were used in pairs back to back Thirty three of these engines having Westinghouse equipment were built at Altoona They were capable of speeds up to 85 miles per hour 137 km h Placed in service in 1910 they performed well lasting in regular service through the 1940s 46 74 75 Steel suburban passenger cars capable of being electrified for MU operation were designed due to the need for such cars in service to Penn Station through its associated tunnels and were designated MP54 63 Designs for corresponding cars accommodating baggage and mail were produced also Eight of these cars were electrified with DC equipment to provide shuttle service from Penn Station to Manhattan Transfer between 1910 and 1922 More extensive electrification plans required AC electrification starting with 93 cars for the Paoli Line in 1915 With the expansion of the AC electrification additional MP54 cars were electrified or purchased new until a total of 481 cars was reached in 1951 Replacement with newer types of cars began in 1958 and the last MP54 cars were retired in the early 1980s 64 The single FF1 appeared in 1917 and ran experimentally for a number of years in preparation for electrification over the Allegheny Mountains that never came to fruition Its AC induction motors and side rod drive powered six axles 43 It developed a starting tractive force of 140 000 pounds 64 000 kg which was capable of ripping couplers out of the fragile wooden freight cars in use at the time 65 123 In 1924 another side rod locomotive was designed the L5 class 43 Two DC locomotives were built for the New York electrified zone and a third road number 3930 was AC equipped and put in service at Philadelphia Later 21 more L 5 locomotives were built for the New York service A six wheeled switching engine was the next electric motive power designed being classified as B1 43 Of the first 16 AC engines two were used at Philadelphia and 14 on the Bay Ridge line while 12 DC equipped engines were assigned to Sunnyside Yard in Queens New York The O1 class was a light passenger type 43 Eight of these engines were built from June 1930 to December 1931 The P5 class was also introduced with two of this class being placed in service during July and August 1931 66 Following these came the P5A a slightly heavier design capable of traveling 80 miles per hour 130 km h and with a tractive force of 56 250 pounds 25 510 kg In all 89 of these locomotives were built The first had a box cab design and were placed in service in 1932 The following year the last 28 under construction were redesigned to have a streamlined type of cab Some engines underwent re gearing for freight service 46 74 75 In 1933 two entirely new locomotives were being planned the R1 and the GG 1 class The R 1 had a rigid frame for its four driving axles while the GG 1 had two frames which were articulated Both of these prototypes along with an O 1 a P5A and a K4s steam locomotive underwent exhaustive testing Testing was conducted over a special section of test track near Claymont Delaware and lasted for nearly two years 66 As a result of these experiments the GG1 type was chosen and the construction of 57 locomotives was authorized The first GG1 was finished in April and by August 1935 all 57 were completed These first GG1 engines were designated for passenger service while most of the P5A type were made available for freight service Some of the later built GG1s were assigned to freight service as well The total number of GG1s built was 139 They are rated at 4 620 hp 3 450 kW at speeds of 100 miles per hour 160 km h 46 75 On August 26 1999 the U S Postal Service issued commemorative 33 cent All Aboard 20th Century American Trains stamps These commemorative stamps featured five celebrated American passenger trains from the 1930s and 1940s One of the five stamps features an image of a GG 1 locomotive pulling the Congressional Limited Express The official Pennsylvania State Electric Locomotive is the GG 1 4859 It received this designation on December 18 1987 and is currently on display in Harrisburg Pennsylvania 60 Diesel Edit PRR Baldwin DS 4 4 660 switcher locomotive PRR EMD E8A passenger locomotive PRR EMD SD45 freight locomotive In June 1937 the Pennsy acquired its first diesel locomotive a 600 hp diesel electric switch engine from Electro Motive Corporation EMC a predecessor of General Motors Electro Motive Division EMD EMC called it an SW model the railroad dubbed it class ES6 67 The Pennsy bought its second diesel another switcher in October 1941 an EMD NW2 Pennsy class ES10 Wartime restrictions soon restricted locomotive builders production of diesels intended for freight service Still the Pennsy managed to add 15 Baldwin switchers and one EMD switcher After the war the Pennsy began to buy diesel locomotives in earnest From 1945 through 1947 the railroad bought roughly 100 switcher freight and passenger diesels from various builders then another 800 or so total in 1948 and 1949 67 Passenger Units Edit For passenger units the PRR purchased 60 E7 class locomotives from EMD which the Pennsy dubbed the EP20 class 46 of this number were designated A units meaning that they had a cab for the train crew The remaining 14 were B units cabless booster units controlled by an A unit The Pennsy also acquired 15 Alco PA1 PB1 units class AFP20 and 27 Baldwin DR 6 4 2000 class BP20 units 67 The Baldwin units were originally for the passenger service fleet but these locomotive proved troublesome and some were reclassified as BF16z freight locomotives 68 The Pennsy also bought 24 Baldwin DR 12 8 1500 2s called Centipedes and classified by Pennsy as BP60 The Centipede had an immense weight of 593 71 short tons 538 600 kg and a starting tractive effort of 205 000 pounds Unreliable and expensive to maintain they were quickly relegated to helper service 69 From 1950 to 1952 the Pennsy bought 74 EMD E8A locomotives the successor to the E7 and classified them EP22s Also the PRR purchased 40 dual service EMD FP7 units which were similar to the E7 8 units but using 4 axles instead of 6 Freight Units Edit From the late 1940s through to the merger with the New York Central in 1968 the Pennsy purchased about 1 500 diesel freight units 67 notes 8 2 3 of these units were built by EMD primarily F3s F7s GP9s GP35s SD40s and SD45s Early on in dieselization of freight units the Pennsy purchased cab units from Alco Baldwin EMD and Fairbanks Morse Heading into the 1950s the Pennsy continued to add more diesel units to their fleet Still preferring EMD the Pennsy did add FA units and BLH RF 16 Sharks In 1956 the Pennsy called for bids to supply a large order of diesel locomotives GM EMD gave the Pennsy an exceptional deal on new reliable GP9s and received the entire order When this large diesel order arrived the following year the Pennsy retired all of its remaining steam engines One of the losing bidders Baldwin Locomotive Works a longtime supplier of Pennsy locomotives had been counting on winning at least some of the work When EMD won it all the 126 year old Baldwin declared bankruptcy 70 For the last decade of Pennsy s existence 1960s the Pennsy was ordering 4 axle power buying Alco s Century series locomotives newcomer General Electric GE U25Bs and EMD GP30s and GP35s But by 1965 the Pennsy turned exclusively to 6 axle power buying Alco s C628 and C630 GE s U25C U28C and U30C and EMD s SD35 SD40 and SD45 67 Signaling Edit Main article Railway signal Position light signals The Pennsylvania Railroad was one of the first railroads to replace semaphore signals with position light signals 57 Such signals which featured a large round target with up to eight amber colored lights in a circle and one in the center could be lit in various patterns to convey different meanings were more visible in fog and remained effective even when one light in a row was inoperative 71 Signal aspects or meanings were displayed as rows of three lit lights The aspects corresponded with upper quadrant semaphore signal positions vertical for proceed a 45 angle rising to the right for approach horizontal for stop a 45 angle rising to the left for restriction a X shape for take siding and a full circle used in electrified territory for lower pantograph Additional aspects were conveyed with a second target head below the first either a single light a partial target or a full target Separate Manual Block signal aspects existed as well 71 In later years interlocking home signals north and west of Rockville near Harrisburg were modified so that the two outside lights in the horizontal stop row had red lenses the center lamp would be extinguished when the signal displayed stop 71 Such red eye lenses were also temporarily installed at Overbrook Interlocking near Philadelphia 71 Starting in the late 1920s the Pennsy installed Pulse code cab signaling along certain tracks used by high speed passenger trains Information traveled through the rails using track circuits was picked up by a sensor on the locomotive and displayed in the engineer s cab The Pennsy ultimately installed cab signals on its New York Washington Philadelphia Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Indianapolis lines the latter which was later downgraded by PC and ultimately abandoned by Conrail The Pennsylvania also experimented with cab signals without wayside signals an approach later expanded by Conrail Conemaugh line and Norfolk Southern Railway Cleveland line Cab signals were subsequently adopted by several other U S railroads especially on passenger lines This technology advanced for its time is still used by Amtrak 71 Facilities EditShops Edit The main shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad were located at Altoona Additional repair facilities were located in Harrisburg Pittsburgh Renovo and Mifflin Fort Wayne Indiana also became a key shop for the railroad Altoona Works Edit Main article Altoona Works Juniata Shops part of the PRR Altoona Works Map of the Altoona Works c 1931 In 1849 Pennsy officials developed plans to construct a repair facility at Altoona Construction started in 1850 and soon several small buildings housed a machine shop woodworking shop blacksmith shop locomotive repair shop and foundry These facilities were later demolished to make room for continuing expansion By 1926 the Altoona Works occupied 217 82 acres 88 15 ha and consisted of four units the Altoona Machine Shops Altoona Car Shops Juniata Shops and South Altoona Foundries 3 432 436 The Altoona Machine Shops consisted of over a dozen buildings and performed locomotive repairs plus made locomotive repair parts and non metal castings The Altoona Car Shops were built beginning in 1869 By 1926 it included a dozen buildings built passenger and freight cars and repaired same The Juniata Shops were built out of need for more shop space at Altoona in 1889 These shops consisted of 10 buildings and constructed locomotives and performed heavy repairs of locomotives The South Altoona Foundries were built again out of need for more space at Altoona in 1904 The shops primarily made gray iron castings In 1875 the Altoona Works started a Test Department for Pennsy equipment both built and purchased 3 435 In following years the Pennsylvania Railroad led the nation in the development of research and testing procedures of practical value for the railroad industry Use of the testing facilities was discontinued in 1968 4 Chapter 1 By 1945 the Altoona Works had become one of the largest repair and construction facilities for locomotives and cars in the world Since 1968 many of the structures of Altoona Works were demolished 4 Chapter 4 Yards Edit The Pennsylvania Railroad had several railroad yards rail yards throughout its system Conway Yard was built in the 1880s 22 miles 35 km northwest of Pittsburgh in Conway Pennsylvania Conway was built strategically in the middle of the Pennsylvania s system and started as a poling yard The yard was made into a hump yard in 1901 to increase the volume of cars handled 72 By 1957 it was the world s largest automatic classification yard 73 Crestline Yard was built by the Pittsburgh Fort Wayne amp Chicago Railway around 1863 and significantly improved in the early 1920s by the Pennsy to speed Chicago shipments and eliminate east and westbound freight classification at Fort Wayne 74 Crestline is located about halfway between Pittsburgh and Chicago in Crestline Ohio and could hold over 1 600 cars 75 Enola Yard was built in the early 1900s and lies across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg The yard grew from humble beginnings of 12 tracks to over 140 miles 230 km of tracks capable of handling thousands of freight cars and becoming the world s largest freight rail yard by the 1940s 46 58 Sunnyside Yard was completed in 1910 for use with Penn Station in New York City The yard is across the East River from Penn Station in Manhattan situated in Sunnyside Long Island Sunnyside yard was capable of storing over 1 000 passenger cars occupying a roughly rectangular area 8 815 feet 2 687 m long by 1 625 feet 495 m wide 192 acres 78 ha in all 76 Major passenger stations Edit Main article Pennsylvania Station The Pennsy built several grand passenger stations alone or with other railroads These architectural marvels whose city name was usually preceded by Penn Station were the hubs for the PRR s passenger service Many are still in use today served by Amtrak and regional passenger carriers Major Passenger Stations of the Pennsylvania Railroad Location Station Name Photo DescriptionBaltimore MD Penn Station Main article Pennsylvania Station Baltimore The main station of Baltimore this Beaux Arts building was built in 1911 from a design by architect Kenneth MacKenzie Murchison It is currently served by Amtrak and MARC commuter service Both approaches to the station are via tunnels the B amp P Tunnel to the south and the Union Tunnel to the north Chicago IL Union Station Main article Chicago Union Station The PRR along with the Milwaukee Road and the Burlington Route built Chicago s Union Station the only one of Chicago s old stations still used as an intercity train station It was designed by Graham Anderson Probst amp White in the Beaux Arts style and opened in 1925 New York NY Penn Station Main articles Pennsylvania Station New York City and Pennsylvania Station 1910 1963 The original Pennsylvania Station was designed by the noted architectural firm of McKim Mead and White and was modeled on the Roman Baths of Caracalla it was notable for its high vaulted ceilings The station opened in 1910 to provide access to Manhattan from New Jersey without having to use a ferry making the Pennsy the only railroad to enter New York City from the south The station was served by the Pennsy s own trains as well as those of its subsidiary the Long Island Rail Road Infamously the station s headhouse was demolished for redevelopment in 1963 However most of the station s rail infrastructure platforms tracks concourses waiting room and staircases were below street level and survived as the current Pennsylvania Station The station continues as an underground operation serving Amtrak New Jersey Transit and the LIRR and is the busiest intercity railroad station in the United States 77 Newark NJ Penn Station Main article Pennsylvania Station Newark Newark s Pennsylvania Station was designed by McKim Mead and White It opened in 1935 was completed in 1937 and was refurbished in 2007 78 Its style is a mixture of Art Deco and Neo Classical All Amtrak trains stop here and the station serves three commuter lines PATH rapid transit to Jersey City and Manhattan and the Newark Light Rail Philadelphia PA Broad Street Station Main article Broad Street Station Philadelphia Broad Street Station was the first of the great passenger stations built by the Pennsy Opened in 1881 at a cost of 4 272 268 53 120 million in 2021 3 the station was expanded in the early 1890s by famed Philadelphia architect Frank Furness For most of its existence it was with City Hall one of the crown jewels of Philadelphia s architecture and until a 1923 fire had the largest train shed in the world a 91 m span It was the terminal for the Pennsylvania in Philadelphia bringing trains into the center of the city at Broad and Filbert streets The station was demolished in 1953 after the Pennsy moved passenger service to 30th Street Station Philadelphia PA 30th Street Station Main article 30th Street Station 30th Street Station displays its majestic and traditional architectural style with its enormous waiting room and its vestibules The station in spite of its architectural classicism opened in 1933 when modern and Art Deco styles were more popular Its construction was needed to accommodate increased intercity and suburban traffic It replaced the 32nd Street Station West Philadelphia It is now the primary rail station in Philadelphia serving long distance and commuter trains Pittsburgh PA Penn Station Main article Union Station Pittsburgh The original station was built in 1865 and was destroyed by fire in 1877 during the Pittsburgh Riots A temporary station was quickly built but remained in service until the early 1900s when the present station was built between 1898 1903 renovated in 1954 and partially repurposed in 1988 79 The station was originally called Union Station as the terminal for the Allegheny Valley PFtW amp C and the Pennsylvania Railroad Washington DC Union Station Main article Union Station Washington DC Union Station built jointly with the B amp O served as a hub for Pennsy passenger services in the nation s capital with connections to the B amp O and Southern Railway The station was designed by architect Daniel Burnham and opened in 1908 The Richmond Fredericksburg amp Potomac Railroad provided a link to Richmond Virginia about 100 miles 160 km to the south where major north south lines of the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line railroads provided service to North and South Carolina Georgia and Florida Today Union Station is the location of Amtrak headquarters and serves Amtrak and regional commuter railroads MARC and VRE Heritage Units Edit Norfolk Southern Pennsylvania Railroad Heritage Unit at Lewistown Pennsylvania As a part of Norfolk Southern s 30th anniversary they painted 20 new locomotives into predecessor schemes NS 8102 a GE ES44AC was painted into the Pennsylvania RR scheme ALP 46A 4636 Enters Convent Station As a part of New Jersey Transit s 40th anniversary in 2019 three locomotives were painted into predecessor schemes Bombardier ALP 46A 4636 was wrapped into the Pennsylvania RR scheme 80 See also Edit Railways portalConrail successor to Penn Central from 1976 Horseshoe Curve Altoona Pennsylvania List of Pennsylvania Railroad lines east of Pittsburgh List of Pennsylvania Railroad lines west of Pittsburgh List of Pennsylvania Railroad passenger trains List of Pennsylvania Railroad predecessor railroads Monopoly One of the railroads in the Atlantic City themed version of the game is the PRR New York Central Railroad longtime adversary eventual merger partner New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad longtime partner in run through trains also became part of Penn Central Norfolk Southern Railway successor to Conrail in former PRR territory Penn Central Transportation Company successor to the PRR and NYC in 1968 Pennsylvania Company holding company incorporated in 1870 to own operate lines west of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Lines LLC Conrail subsidiary that owned ex PRR trackage and PRR reporting mark Pennsylvania Station the name for several major stations Pennsylvania Railroad Freight Building Pennsylvania Railroad Office Building PRR locomotive classification Unification to standard gauge on May 31 1886References EditNotes Edit This mileage includes companies independently operated PRR miles of all tracks which includes first or main second third fourth and sidings totalled 28 040 49 at the end of 1926 In the years after the American Civil War railroad leases were a common arrangement a railroad contemplating an expansion but reluctant to assume new risks or finance construction itself would form a new railroad company or acquire a controlling interest in an existing company lease the new railroad to itself the parent railroad and sell stock in the new corporation if necessary The new line was frequently operated as if it was an integral part of the parent company See John F Meck Jr and John E Masten Railroad Leases and Reorganization I Archived 2019 04 27 at the Wayback Machine Yale Law Journal 49 626 659 1940 pp 630 31 Totals for Pennsylvania Lines not included are the following independently operated lines Long Island Railroad West Jersey amp Seashore Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines Pennsylvania amp Atlantic Baltimore Chesapeake amp Atlantic Baltimore amp Eastern Ohio River amp Western Philadelphia amp Beach Haven Rosslyn Connecting and Waynesburg amp Washington which added up to 21 million ton miles in 1925 Totals for Pennsylvania Lines Long Island Railroad and West Jersey amp Seashore Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines not included Abandoned by Conrail in 1989 The latter abandoned by Conrail in 1990 Now called the Landover Subdivision and RF amp P Subdivision of CSX Freight units as classified by the PRR Citations Edit Albert J Churella 2012 The Pennsylvania Railroad Volume 1 Building an Empire 1846 1917 U of Pennsylvania Press pp ix x 501 ISBN 978 0 8122 0762 0 Archived from the original on 2019 06 30 Retrieved 2018 08 08 Pennsylvania Railroad Company Inspection of Physical Property Board of Directors and Arbiters RailsAndTrails com November 10 1948 Archived from the original on 2021 02 07 Retrieved 2007 08 27 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Schotter 1927 a b c d Paige John C May 1989 A Special History Study Pennsylvania Railroad Shops and Works Altoona Pennsylvania National Park Service Special History Study United States National Park Service Archived from the original on 2019 06 12 Retrieved 2019 09 07 Messer 1999 a b c Schafer amp Solomon 1997 a b c d Staufer 1993 Hawke David Freeman 1980 John D The Founding Father of the Rockefellers Harper amp Row pp 109 112 ISBN 978 0060118136 Mintz S McNeil S 2018 Business Regulation Chapter 5 Empire s Challenge to Standard PDF Digital History Archived PDF from the original on October 22 2020 Retrieved September 7 2019 Lennon J Establishing Trails on Rights of Way Washington D C United States Department of the Interior p 51 First Steel Rails Historical Marker Explore PA History Archived from the original on July 4 2020 Retrieved October 14 2019 Track Pan American Rails com Archived from the original on October 14 2019 Retrieved October 14 2019 Alfred Randy March 5 2008 March 5 1872 Westinghouse Gives Railroads a Brake Wired Archived from the original on September 24 2020 Retrieved October 14 2019 The Pennsylvania Railroad Telephone and Telegraph Department Page Cedar Knoll Telephone com May 20 2008 Archived from the original on November 18 2019 Retrieved October 14 2019 Dubin 1964 pp 76 77 Dubin 1964 p 82 John B Thayer Obituary Railway Age Gazette Chicago Simmons Boardman Publishing Co 52 17 979 April 26 1912 Archived from the original on February 2 2021 Retrieved November 18 2020 The Electrification of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Broad Street Terminal Philadelphia to Paoli The Electric Journal Pittsburgh PA The Electric Journal Co XII 12 536 541 December 1915 Baer Christopher T June 2004 PRR Chronology 1915 PDF Pennsylvania Railroad Historical and Technical Society Archived PDF from the original on October 30 2020 Retrieved October 14 2019 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 100th Annual Report Report The Pennsylvania Railroad Company February 12 1947 Chandler 1965 Ward 1975 Harwood 1990 p 22 PRR Chronology 1871 PDF PRR Research Philadelphia Chapter Pennsylvania Railroad Technical amp Historical Society January 2005 Archived from the original PDF on 2013 10 14 Retrieved 2007 08 27 The Congressional Service American Rails com Archived from the original on 2021 01 27 Retrieved 2019 09 08 The Congressionals and the Senator SteamLocomotive com Archived from the original on 2007 08 17 Retrieved 2019 09 07 Dubin 1964 pp 76 96 Doubleday 1902 Walsh 1999 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company The Corporate Financial and Construction History of Lines Owned Operated and Controlled To December 31 1945 Volume III Lines West of Pittsburgh Hagley Digital Archives Hagley Digital Archives Archived from the original on February 3 2021 Retrieved December 26 2019 a b c d e Fifty sixth Annual Report The Pennsylvania Railroad Company Report 1902 p 24 Archived from the original on 2021 02 02 Retrieved 2019 12 26 The Pennsylvania Railroad Company The Corporate Financial and Construction History of Lines Owned Operated and Controlled To December 31 1945 Volume III Lines West of Pittsburgh Hagley Digital Archives digital hagley org Archived from the original on February 3 2021 Retrieved December 26 2019 Jacobs Dick 1994 A Little Bit of a Mess PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2021 07 24 Retrieved 2021 07 23 Railway Signaling and Communications Simmons Boardman Publishing Corporation April 10 1934 Archived from the original on February 2 2021 Retrieved February 13 2020 via Google Books Hart Powers Fusco May 31 1956 State of New Jersey Forty sixth Annual Report of the Board of Public Utility Commissioners PDF Report State of New Jersey Department of Public Utilities p 71 Archived PDF from the original on February 2 2021 Retrieved October 12 2019 Leedom Ceil May 28 2009 Dayton s Five Corners and the Pennsylvania and Newark Railroad PDF South Brunswick Post Vol 52 no 22 Archived from the original PDF on October 13 2019 Retrieved October 13 2019 Mike Coke Oven March 8 2014 Old Industry of Southwestern Pennsylvania Derry Donohoe Jeannette Branch of The Pennsylvania Railroad Archived from the original on December 26 2019 Retrieved December 26 2019 Redbank Valley Rail Trail History TrailLink Archived from the original on October 13 2019 Retrieved October 13 2019 Fifty sixth Annual Report The Pennsylvania Railroad Company Report 1902 p 25 Archived from the original on 2021 02 03 Retrieved 2019 12 26 Queen Junction to West Pittsburg PA Abandoned Rails www abandonedrails com Archived from the original on 2019 12 26 Retrieved 2019 12 26 B amp LE and PRR Western Allegheny PA track plan HO Appalachian Railroad Modeling Archived from the original on 2019 12 26 Retrieved 2019 12 26 Western Allegheny Bessemer amp Lake Erie Archives Archived from the original on 2019 12 26 Retrieved 2019 12 26 a b c d e f Pennsylvania RR Electrification North East Rails Archived from the original on 2021 02 03 Retrieved 2007 08 25 The Electrification of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Broad Street Terminal Philadelphia to Paoli The Electric Journal Pittsburgh PA 12 12 536 541 December 1915 Archived from the original on 2021 02 02 Retrieved 2015 08 31 a b c d e Springirth 2017 p 41 a b c d e Jacobs Timothy 1988 The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Bonanza Books ISBN 0 517 63351 5 P R R Will Spend 77 000 000 AT ONCE Atterbury Outlines Projects Under PWA Loan Giving Year s Work to 25 000 To Extend Electric Line Sees Buying Power Restored and Industry Stimulated by Wide Building Program The New York Times January 31 1934 Archived from the original on February 27 2014 Retrieved February 11 2017 Electrification History to 1948 Pennsylvania Railroad Electrification RailsAndTrails com Archived from the original on 2012 09 08 Retrieved 2007 08 25 Amtrak Company Profile FY 2018 PDF Report Amtrak March 1 2019 Archived PDF from the original on April 12 2019 Retrieved October 14 2019 Van Hattem Matt June 30 2006 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority SEPTA Trains Magazine Archived from the original on October 14 2019 Retrieved October 14 2019 Van Hattem Matt June 30 2006 New Jersey Transit Trains Magazine Archived from the original on October 14 2019 Retrieved October 14 2019 a b c d e f g h The Pennsylvania Railroad Company Corporate Financial and Construction History of Lines Owned Operated and Controlled to December 31 1945 Report Vol I New York N Y Coverdale amp Colpitts 1947 pp 663 669 Wallis Crawford November 27 1916 Classification of Cars PDF Report Pennsylvania Railroad Company p 1 Archived PDF from the original on March 9 2021 Retrieved October 12 2019 Fischer 2002 a b c d February 2006 Meeting National Railway Historical Society Rivanna Chapter National Railway Historical Society January 15 2006 Archived from the original on 2007 09 30 Retrieved 2007 08 31 a b Pennsylvania Railroad Mikados Steam Locomotive com February 8 2007 Archived from the original on September 27 2007 Retrieved 2007 08 31 a b Roy s Super Toy Shop presents PRR Steam Roy s Super Toy Shop Roy s Super Toy Shop Archived from the original on 2007 09 29 Retrieved 2007 08 26 Railfan s Guide to the Altoona Area TrainWeb org Archived from the original on 1999 10 09 Retrieved 2007 08 24 New York Central L2d 2033 and New York Central L3a 3001 permanent dead link a b Hello Pennsylvania State Symbols Pennsylvania General Assembly Archived from the original on 2007 08 30 Retrieved 2007 09 01 Williams Grove Railroad Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association Williams Grove Railroad Archived from the original on 2019 07 16 Retrieved 2019 09 07 FAQ Section The T1 Trust The T1 Trust 2016 Archived from the original on August 24 2019 Retrieved September 7 2019 James 2010 Cudahy Brian J 2003 A Century of Subways Celebrating 100 Years of New York s Underground Railways New York Fordham University Press p 246 ISBN 0 8232 2292 6 Archived from the original on 2021 02 03 Retrieved 2020 11 18 Schafer Mike Brian Solomon 2009 1997 Pennsylvania Railroad Minneapolis MN Voyageur Press ISBN 978 0 7603 2930 6 OCLC 234257275 a b Ztrains The PRR Class GG1 ZTrains com Archived from the original on 2007 09 28 Retrieved 2007 08 26 a b c d e Pennsylvania Railroad Roster The Diesel Shop August 30 2018 Archived from the original on February 2 2021 Retrieved September 8 2019 Garner Tim Summer 2015 PRR Baldwin Freight Sharks BF 15 and BF 16 PDF The Keystone Modeler 93 12 Archived PDF from the original on 2019 03 12 Retrieved 2019 09 09 Marre Louis A 1995 Diesel Locomotives The First 50 Years Waukesha WI Kalmbach Publishing Co p 320 ISBN 0 89024 258 5 Miller Matt April 2005 Pennsylvania Railroad s EMD E8 History The Gauge Magazine 1 3 Archived from the original on 2007 05 18 Retrieved 2007 08 19 a b c d e PRR Signals Pennsylvania Railroad Technical amp Historical Society Philadelphia Chapter Pennsylvania Railroad Technical amp Historical Society Archived from the original on 2007 03 09 Retrieved 2007 08 24 Cushing W C 1905 05 12 Progress in Yard Design The Railroad Gazette New York XXXVIII 19 480 Archived from the original on 2021 02 05 Retrieved September 6 2019 Conway Yard on the Pennsylvania Railroad PDF MultiModalWays org Pennsylvania Railroad 1957 Archived PDF from the original on September 22 2018 Retrieved September 6 2019 Advance Planning Increases Efficiency of New Facility Railway Age East Stroudsburg PA Simmons Boardman Publishing Company 85 16 775 October 20 1928 Archived from the original on February 2 2021 Retrieved November 18 2020 via Google Books Ayers Bill November 30 2002 Crestline PRR Engine Facility History CrestlinePRR com Archived from the original on September 26 2019 Retrieved September 7 2019 Couper William ed 1912 History of the Engineering Construction and Equipment of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company s New York Terminal and Approaches New York Isaac H Blanchard Co p 76 Retrieved 2019 09 05 Grynbaum 2010 Newark Penn Station HallGC com Archived from the original on 2019 08 29 Retrieved 2019 08 29 Pittsburgh PA PGH Great American Stations The Great American Stations Archived from the original on April 17 2019 Retrieved September 8 2019 NJ Transit provides more details on heritage units Trains Magazine TrainsMag com Archived from the original on 2020 08 09 Retrieved 2020 04 10 Sources Edit Chandler Alfred D Jr 1965 The Railroads Pioneers in Modern Corporate Management Business History Review 39 1 16 40 doi 10 2307 3112463 JSTOR 3112463 S2CID 156613209 Doubleday Russell August 1902 New York to Chicago In 20 Hours A Description Of A Trip On The New Trains That Make The Fastest Long Run In The World The World s Work A History of Our Time II 2455 2462 Retrieved 2009 07 09 Dubin Arthur D 1964 Some Classic Trains Kalmbach Publishing pp 76 95 ISBN 978 0890240113 Fischer Ian S 2002 PRR Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment Volume 3 Morning Sun Books ISBN 1 58248 073 7 Grynbaum Michael M 2010 10 18 The Joys and Woes of Penn Station at 100 New York Times Archived from the original on July 18 2012 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link Harwood Herbert H Jr 1990 Royal Blue Line Sykesville MD Greenberg Publishing ISBN 0 89778 155 4 James William Winter 2010 Pennsylvania Railroad MP54 Multiple Unit Cars The Keystone Kutztown Pennsylvania Kutztown Publishing 43 4 Kratville William W 1962 Steam Steel and Limiteds A Saga of the Great Varnish Era Omaha NE Barnhart Press OCLC 1301983 Messer David W 1999 Triumph II Baltimore Barnard Roberts amp Co ISBN 0 934118 24 8 Schafer Mike Solomon Brian 1997 Pennsylvania Railroad Osceola WI MotorBooks International ISBN 978 0 7603 0379 5 OCLC 36676055 Schotter H W December 1927 The Growth and Development of The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 1846 1926 Philadelphia PA Allen Lane amp Scott Springirth Kenneth 17 May 2017 Remembering the Pennsylvania Railroad Fonthill Media GGKEY XEDWBTBGNK8 Staufer Alvin F 1993 Pennsy Power III 1847 1968 Medina OH Alvin F Staufer ISBN 978 0944513101 OCLC 31825736 Walsh Joe 1999 Pennsy Streamliners the Blue Ribbon Fleet Kalmbach Publishing Co ISBN 0 89024 293 3 Ward James A Spring 1975 Power and Accountability on the Pennsylvania Railroad 1846 1878 Business History Review 49 1 37 59 doi 10 2307 3112961 JSTOR 3112961 S2CID 155491864 Further reading EditAlexander Edwin P 1967 The Pennsylvania Railroad A Pictorial History New York Bonanza Books Cresson B F Jr September 1910 The New York tunnel extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers LXVIII Churella Albert J 2013 The Pennsylvania Railroad Volume I Building an Empire 1846 1917 Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 978 0 8122 4348 2 OCLC 759594295 Jacobs Timothy 1988 The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Bonanza Books ISBN 0 517 63351 5 Orr John W 2001 Set Up Running The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman 1904 1949 Penn State University Press ISBN 978 0 271 02056 3 Thomas III William G Barnes Brooks Miles Szuba Tom July 31 2007 The Countryside Transformed The Eastern Shore of Virginia the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Creation of the Modern Landscape Southern Spaces Archived from the original on January 10 2011 Ward James A January 1976 J Edgar Thomson And Thomas A Scott A Symbiotic Partnership Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 100 1 37 65 White John H Jr Spring 1986 America s most noteworthy railroaders Railroad History 154 9 15 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Strasburg Pennsylvania museum with many PRR artifacts PRR Chronology in depth year by year listing of events related to or impacting the Pennsylvania Railroad RR Picture Archives Photos of PRR equipment Archival collections of the Pennsylvania Railroad permanent dead link at Hagley Museum and Library Hagley Digital Archives Pennsylvania Railroad negatives 1 16 1904 Sectional view of Pennsylvania Railroad Tunnel Now Under Construction Beneath the Hudson River History of transportation in Ohio maps of railroads in Ohio including the Pennsylvania Railroad Harvard College 20th century great American business leaders Martin W Clement Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Alumni hall of fame Alexander J Cassatt Ray Hiebert papers at the University of Maryland Libraries are a collection of official press releases from the first 50 years of the Pennsylvania Railroad Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Pennsylvania Railroad amp oldid 1146050138, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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