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a locomotive on display at the 1939 New York World's Fair ]] locomotive also displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair ]]
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Railroad , founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "'''Pennsy'''," the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the US throughout its 20th-century existence and was at one time the largest publicly traded corporation in the world. At its peak, it controlled about 10,000 miles of rail line. During its history, the PRR merged with or had an interest in at least 800 other rail lines and companies. 1 The PRR corporation still holds the record for the longest continuous dividend history: it paid out annual dividends to shareholders for more than 100 years in a row. 2 For many years the President of the PRR was considered more powerful than the President of the United States. The budget for the PRR was larger than that of the U.S. government and they employed approximately 250,000 workers. 3 In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with their rival the New York Central railroad to form Penn Central Transportation . The ICC required that the ailing New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad be added in 1969. A series of events including inflation, poor management, abnormally harsh weather conditions and the withdrawal of a government-guaranteed 200-million-dollar operating loan forced the Penn Central to file for bankruptcy protection on June 21, 1970. 4 The Penn Central raillines were then divided between Conrail and Amtrak . The Pennsylvania Railroad's corporate symbol was the Keystone , which is Pennsylvania 's state symbol, with the letters PRR intertwined inside. When colored, it was bright red with silver-grey molding and lettering. HISTORY Main line See Also: Main Line (Pennsylvania Railroad) The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as part of the Main Line Of Public Works , chartered the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1846 to build a rail line that would connect Harrisburg to Pittsburgh . This western line from Harrisburg would complete the main line, which was to be a railroad and canal corridor across the state. Work on the western part of the main line was completed in 1854 and rail service from Philadelphia across the state to Pittsburgh was available. In 1857 the PRR purchased the main line from the State of Pennsylvania. This line is still an important cross-state corridor, composed of Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line and the Norfolk Southern Railway's Pittsburgh Subdivision. Access to New York, Baltimore and Washington See Also: Northeast corridor map showing the main lines]] map]] map of "Lines East" territory]] map of "Lines East" territory]] In the early 1860s, the PRR gained control of the Northern Central Railway, giving it access to Baltimore, Maryland along the Susquehanna River via connections at Columbia, Pennsylvania or Harrisburg. On December 1, 1871, the PRR leased the United New Jersey Railroad And Canal Companies , 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 United Companies' Connecting Railway and the jointly owned Junction Railroad (Philadelphia) . 5 The PRR's Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road opened on July 2, 1872, between Baltimore, Maryland 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 PRR initiated the misleadingly named Pennsylvania Air Line service via the Northern Central Railway and Columbia, Pennsylvania. This service was 54.5 miles (87.5 km) longer than the old route but avoided the transfer in Baltimore. The Union Railroad (Baltimore) line opened on July 24, 1873. This route eliminated the transfer in Baltimore. PRR officials contracted with both the Union Railroad and the PW&B (Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore) Railroad for access to this line. The PRR's New York–Washington trains began using the route the next day, ending Pennsylvania Air Line service. Early in 1880, the PRR acquired a majority of PW&B Railroad's stock. This action forced the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to build the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad to keep its Philadelphia access. In 1885, the PRR began passenger train service from New York City to Washington, D.C. with limited stops along the route. This service became known as the "Congressional Limited Express." The service expanded, and by the 1950s, there were multiple trains running morning and afternoon "Limited" service. A similar "Senator Limited Express" service from Boston to Washington, D.C. also was run by the PRR. 6 In 1912, the " Broadway Limited " was started. This line ran from either New York City or Washington D.C. to Chicago. "Low-grade" lines Around 1900, the PRR built several Low-grade lines for freight to bypass areas of steep grade (slope). These included the following:
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, 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. Electrification of rail lines See Also: Railway electrification system Early in the 20th century, the PRR began construction to electrify some of their rail lines. The initial construction was in the New York terminal area, including some of the tunnels. This was a Direct Current (DC) low-voltage system that supplied power through a third rail. The system was put into service in 1910. 7 The next area to be electrified was the Philadelphia terminal area. After researching and experimenting with different power systems, PRR officials decided to use overhead trolley wires to supply power to the trains. Unlike the New York terminal system, the overhead wires would carry high-voltage Alternating Current (AC) power. This became the type of system used for all future installations. In 1915, electrification of the line from Philadelphia's Broad Street Station to Paoli, Pennsylvania was completed. Other Philadelphia lines electrified were the Chestnut Hill Branch (1918), White Marsh (1924), West Chester (1928), and in 1930 the Norristown branch along with the main line to Trenton, New Jersey. PRR's president William Atterbury announced in 1928 plans to electrify the lines between New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Harrisburg. In January 1933, through main-line service between the principal cities 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. All regular passenger trains between these cities were electrified by March 15, and shortly thereafter through trains to the west were electrically operated from New York City to Paoli, Pennsylvania . To complete the electrification project initiated in 1928, work was started January 27, 1937 on the main line from Paoli, Pennsylvania to Harrisburg; the low-grade freight line from Morrisville through Columbia to Enola, Pennsylvania Yard; the freight line from Perryville to Columbia; and the freight line from Monmouth Junction to South Amboy. In less than a year—on the following January 15—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 with a total of 2,677 miles of track electrified—41 percent of the total electrically operated standard railroad trackage of the United States. 8 - Railroad shops |
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