The Pennsylvania Railroad: An Illustrated Timeline

Kennesaw, Georgia

Click here to order the accompanying printed booklet or PowerPoint presentation

Published by Robert C. Jones

Robert C. Jones

P.O. Box 1775

Kennesaw, GA 30156

robertcjones@mindspring.com

Table of Contents. 2

Introduction. 3

In the Beginning…... 4

“State Works”. 5

The Pennsylvania Railroad is born. 6

New Jersey and Washington Routes. 8

Late 19th-Century. 14

Fin de siècle. 15

Alexander Cassatt (President, 1899-1906) 16

Early 1900s. 17

World War I through the 1920s. 19

1930s. 21

World War II (1941-1945) 24

Post-War – 1950s. 25

1960s to the end…... 26

Why the PRR succeeded. 30

Why the PRR failed. 30

Sources. 31

Notes. 32

Introduction

It is no exaggeration to say that, in its heyday, the Pennsylvania Railroad was the greatest railroad in the world. It was certainly the largest (track-wise), hauled the most freight and passengers, had the most employees, and the largest earnings.

At its peak, the PRR had 23,000+ miles of track (a figure since eclipsed by modern Class I railroads). In 1929, the PRR owned 7,000 locomotives and 282,000 cars – many built at their railroad shops in Altoona. The PRR boasted the largest railroad shops in the world (the aforementioned Altoona), and the largest railroad yard in the world (Enola).

The Pennsy also recorded many “firsts” in the railroad business, including:

· Steel rails

· Air brakes

· Block-signal systems

· Steel passenger cars

· Standardized locomotives

· T-shaped rails, and the first railroad charter in America (via the Camden and Amboy, later absorbed by the Pennsy).

This illustrated timeline will attempt to provide a brief history of this great railroad, and also speculate on 1) why the PRR was so successful and 2) why the PRR died in such an ignominious way in the late-1960s/early-1970s.

Throughout this booklet, I use the terms “Pennsylvania Railroad, “PRR”, and “Pennsy” interchangeably.

In the Beginning…


The John Bull - PRR Corporate Boardroom	The Rocket, an early design upon which the John Bull was based

There are two possible starting points for a history of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The New Jersey story actually started first, although the lines in question didn’t become part of the PRR until decades later. Since the PRR was always headquarted in Philadelphia (and since the railroad name and state name are the same), we’ll start on the Pennsylvania side.

The construction of the Erie Canal in New York spurred a spate of railroad and canal project proposals in Pennsylvania, as Pennsylvania commercial advocates were concerned that Philadelphia would lose out its status as America’s premier city (which happened anyway, despite the best efforts of the PRR).

1823 – John Stevens is granted a charter by the Pennsylvania legislature to build a railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia (south of Harrisburg). Because of the lack of financing, Stevens was not able to build the line.

1825 – The Erie Canal opens across New York State, alarming the powers that be in Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania legislature.

Erie Canal[1]

1826 – An east/west canal (starting in Harrisburg) approved by PA legislature

March 24, 1828 – The Pennsylvania legislature approves building of a railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia (between Harrisburg and Lancaster).

1834 The Philadelphia & Columbia RR opens. As was a common practice at the time, when the builders ran into a hilly area, they used inclined planes, rather than blasting tunnels, or using switchbacks.

“State Works”

After the opening of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, Pennsylvania combined that line with two canals and the Allegheny Portage Railroad to provide Philadelphia to Pittsburg service. Here is the Philadelphia to Pittsburg route, known by various names including the “State Works”:

· Philadelphia and Columbia RR

· Middle Division Canal to Hollidaysburg

· Hollidaysburg to Johnstown via Allegheny Portage RR (which made use of 10 inclined planes)

· Johnstown to Pittsburg via Western Division Canal or stage

In time, this route became impractical, because the canals often froze in the winter, making passage impossible. Another solution was sought…

The Pennsylvania Railroad is born

Although the state-run railroad could actually transport a passenger from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, it was fraught with inefficiencies. Private railroads started eyeing the southern Pennsylvania route – first, the Baltimore & Ohio, and then a new upstart called the Pennsylvania Railroad.

1845 – B&O petitions to run a line into Pittsburg

April 13, 1846 – Incorporation of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In order to keep out competition by the older (and out-of-state) B&O, the Pennsy was born. The PRR was required to meet certain benchmarks in order to stave off the competitive threat posed by the B&O. All benchmarks were met.

April 9, 1847 – John Thomson appointed chief engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Thompson would later serve as president of the PRR.

December 10, 1852 – First through train from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. This was a significant moment because prior to this event, the route still involved the use of the state-run canals. The railroads involved in this event were the PRR, the Philadelphia & Columbia RR and the Allegheny Portage.

April 1851 Schedule [2]

June 27, 1857 – PRR purchases the State Works. The State of Pennsylvania had been trying to sell the State Works for several years, with no takers. The PRR bought it at a bargain-basement price, and also received an exemption from certain freight tonnage taxes levied on other railroads of the time.

June 18, 1858 – First Philadelphia to Pittsburg train on PRR-owned tracks. Much of this new route involved newly built track, bridges and tunnels, avoiding the old routes that used inclined planes.

Early PRR locomotives were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (Pictured: Matthias Baldwin, 1795 – 1866)

New Jersey and Washington Routes

By the 1850s, the PRR was the undisputed king of railroads in Pennsylvania. But what about a Philadelphia to New York route? Or a Philadelphia to Washington route? These parts of the future Pennsy empire would fall into PRR hands in the 1860s and early 1870s.

Feb. 6, 1815 – John Stevens is granted the first railroad charter in the United States (New Brunswick to Trenton). Stevens was never able to build this railroad, as financing was lacking. However, his son Robert Stevens would later be the President of the Camden and Amboy Railroad.

1830 – Robert Stevens journeys to England in search of locomotive designs for the new Camden & Amboy RR. He places an order for the John Bull at the Stephenson Works. The John Bull is an improvement on earlier Planet and Rocket designs.

February 15, 1831 – Camden and Amboy RR and Delaware and Raritan Canal Co. form a single company, envisioning a railroad and canal system similar to what was being planned by the State Works in neighboring Pennsylvania.

1851 Camden & Amboy RR Schedule [3]

1833 – John Bull becomes first steam locomotive to operate on the Camden & Amboy RR

Replica of the John Bull, at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum

1834 – Amboy to Camden route finished

1838 - Delaware and Raritan Canal opens

1839 – Route from New Brunswick to Bordentown completed by the Philadelphia & Trenton RR and the New Jersey Railroad

1861 – PRR acquires majority of stock in Northern Central Railway, giving the Pennsy a foothold in B&O country

1867 – New Jersey RR and Camden and Amboy RR merge to form United New Jersey Railways and Canal Co.

1871 – United Railroads leased for 999 years by PRR. Some PRR fans would later say that the PRR, not the B&O was the first railroad in America (tracing back through the Camden and Amboy to John Stevens’ 1815 charter).

July 1873 – PRR establishes route to Washington, D.C., via Northern Central Railway and its subsidiaries.

J. Edgar Thomson

1852 - John Thomson becomes President of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Thomson, beginning with his earlier role as chief engineer of the PRR, was the person most responsible for the establishment of the Philadelphia to Pittsburg line. Among his accomplishments:

§ Double-tracking of Philadelphia – Pittsburg mainline

§ Bridging of the Susquehanna River

§ Horseshoe Curve

Thompson died in 1874 of a heart attack.

30^th Street Station

Altoona

1849/1854 – The railroad shops at Altoona open, which in time would become the greatest railroad shops in the world. The four shops in Altoona include Altoona Machine Shops, Altoona Car Shops, the Juniata Shops, South Altoona Foundries.

1868 – First locomotive built at Altoona. In time, the PRR would build many of their locomotives “in house” (although Baldwin would remain an important supplier until the end of the steam era.)

1905 – Locomotive test plant opens

Altoona Shops [4]

Horseshoe Curve

February 15, 1854 – PRR opens the Horseshoe Curve, which is perhaps the most famous part of the Pennsylvania railroad. The curve rises 122 feet between the ends of the “U” (a 1.8% grade). The Curve is still in use in 2008.

Horseshoe Curve [5]

1860s

During the Civil War (1861-1865), two PRR executives played important roles in the Union. PRR Vice-President Thomas Scott served as Assistant Secretary of War, and PRR engineer Herman Haupt was made supervisor of railroad construction for the North.

1864 – PRR locomotives now 100% coal burning, replacing the old wood burners

1865 – PRR revenues now 19.5 million

1867 – Alexander Cassatt becomes Master of Machinery. Cassatt would eventually become President of the PRR.

1868 – 1872 – First group of standardized locomotives put into service. This was an early program of Alexander Cassatt, and was a significant part of the PRR’s later supremacy as a railroad and corporate giant.

Pittsburg Riots

Within a twelve year period between 1877 and 1889, the Pennsy would experience two disasters that would have brought most companies to its knees. The first one involved labor problems, the second one was a natural disaster.

1873 – A rate war between eastern railroads ends up with PRR employees taking a 10% salary cut

June 1, 1877 – PRR employees asked to take a second 10% salary cut

July 19, 1877 – PRR begins using “double-header” trains, instead of trains in two sections. As a result, PRR workers in Pittsburg refuse to man the double-headers. The job action mushrooms, and strikers seize the PRR yards in Pittsburg, shutting down all freight movement. (Curiously, passenger service was not interrupted).

July 21, 1877 – National Guard troops from Philadelphia arrive (local militia troops had sided with the strikers), and quickly confront the strikers. It a pitched street battle, 16+ strikers are killed as mobs storm the National Guard troops. The National Guard troops retreat to the safety of the PRR round house.

July 22, 1877 – The roundhouse is burned to the ground by the mobs; the National Guard troops retreat across the Allegheny River

As a result of the strike:

· 19 strikers were killed and 3-4 Guardsmen

· 39 buildings destroyed

· 104 locomotives, 66 passenger cars and 1307 freight cars (and their contents) destroyed

· Damage came to over $5,000,000 (1877 dollars)


Wreckage from the Riots [6]	Strikers face the National Guard [7]

Wreckage from the Pittsburg Riots [8])

Johnstown Flood

The next great disaster to face the PRR happened 12 years after the Pittsburg riots, and concerned a disastrous flood in Johnstown, west of Harrisburg.

1853 – A reservoir (later known as Lake Conemaugh) to supply water to the Western Division Canal is completed. After the canals were abandoned, the reservoir passed into private hands.

May 31, 1889 – Significant rainfall leads to a breach in the reservoir dam. The result is disaster!

· 3,000 dead

· 10 miles of PRR track destroyed

· 34 locomotives, 24 passenger cars, 561 freight cars lost or damaged. Some locomotives were carried a mile downstream.

· 1600 houses destroyed


Wreckage from the Johnstown Flood [9]

Late 19th-Century

In the latter part of the 19^th-century, the PRR would become the largest industrial employer in the U.S., it would build the first of its great train stations, and it would establish some of its famous “named” passenger trains.

1874 – Thomas A. Scott becomes president of the PRR

1880s – PRR becomes the largest industrial employer in the U.S. (95,000)

1881 – Steam heating for passenger cars introduced

1881 – Broad Street Station in Philadelphia opens

Broad Street Station [10]

1881 – “Pennsylvania Limited” service between Jersey City and Chicago begins, eventually making the trip in 24 hours

1885 – “Congressional Limited” service between New York and Washington begins

Fin de siècle

At the end of the 19^th century, into the early part of the 20^th century, Alexander Cassatt would lead the PRR into what many people consider to be its golden era.

1899 – Alexander Cassatt becomes president of PRR

1900 – PRR acquires Long Island Railroad

1903 – Elkins Act passed, giving ICC more rate-monitoring power. Thus government began its regulatory function which would eventually destroy the great eastern railroads.

1905 – First all steel passenger cars

Alexander Cassatt (President, 1899-1906)

Many people consider Alexander Cassatt to be the greatest president of the PRR. As an engineer for the PRR many years before, he started the locomotive standardization program. During the Pittsburg Riots, he freely walked around the streets of Pittsburg during the height of the strife, representing PRR management. As President, he was responsible for:

· Four-tracking the entire line from Philadelphia to Pittsburg

· Opening of the Enola Yard (1905) near Harrisburg, which eventually became the world’s largest freight yard. It is still in use in 2008, although on a much smaller scale.

· 1070 miles of track added

· Planning of Union Depot in Washington, D.C. and the Pennsylvania Railroad station in Manhattan.

Cassatt died in 1906. Many people believed that he worked himself to death.


Alexander Cassatt [11]	Four track mainline [12]

Early 1900s

Baldwin 2-8-0, 1906

1905/06 – Parts of Long Island and West Jersey & Seashore RR electrified. In time, much of the New York-Washington and Philadelphia-Harrisburg routes would be electrified.

1899/1907 - PRR assets rise from 276 million to 594 million. By 1907, the PRR is handling 20% of the nation’s freight.

November 17, 1907 – Union Station opens in Washington, D.C. This grand station was shared by the B&O and the PRR (hence, “Union” Station.) The station measured 632 feet (two football fields!) by 210 feet.