The Pennsylvania Railroad Company. For railfans, the name alone is enough to create a spark of excitement. And it’s not hard to understand why. The history of the Pennsylvania Railroad is a complex, valiant, and demoralizing story of American Industrialism, an example of how a corporation can expand to unprecedented heights—and falter under systematic managerial, regulatory, and financial hurdles.
Its 120-year lifespan meant the “Pennsy” was created before the US Civil War and continued into the years following WWII. In that timeframe, the company acquired, merged, or owned at least a portion of 800 other rail lines and companies.
It’s a fantastic story. And we’re sharing the entire history of the Pennsylvania Railroad company right here.
Table of Contents
The 1800s: The Rise of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
The Early 1900s: Continued Growth And Innovation
The Mid-1900s: The End of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Where to See The Pennsylvania Railroad Today
The 1800s: The Rise of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company was chartered in 1846 for a relatively straightforward task: Construct a rail line from Harrisburg (in central Pennsylvania) to Pittsburgh (in the state’s southeast region). This was to replace a network of state-built rail lines, canals, and inclined planes that was technologically obsolete before construction was even completed!
While this project proved to become an engineering marvel, thanks to construction of the famous Horseshoe Curve, it was only the beginning of a storied history.
The “PRR” was completed in 1848, and it allowed travelers to hop on a train in Philadelphia and travel all the way across the state to Pittsburgh. They could even catch a glimpse of The Station Inn while they were at it, thanks to our proximity to the rail lines!
But that same momentum continued west. Eventually, the company purchased the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railway, which allowed it to expand all the way to Chicago. And then it also reached major cities like St. Louis, Cincinnati, New York City, Buffalo, Norfolk, and Washington, DC.
At its peak, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company spanned more than 11,000 miles and even boasted a tunnel under New York’s famous Hudson River.
By 1882, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company reached unprecedented heights. It wasn’t only the largest railroad in the world (both in terms of traffic and revenue), it was also the largest corporation in the world.
Its success earned it the nickname of the Standard Railroad of the World—a nod to its technological innovations, extensive network, and financial dominance.
The Early 1900s: Continued Growth And Innovation
The first half of the 20th century was a joyous time for the Pennsylvania Railroad company. The first decade saw significant infrastructure improvements, especially in Pennsylvania, resulting in faster, straighter routes with fewer road crossings. By the 1920s, the company carried three times as much cargo as other major railroads, like the Union Pacific.
Around this time, the Pennsylvania Railroad transformed into something more familiar to today. Between 1928 and 1938, the company worked to electrify its lines between New York, DC, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg, bringing electricity all over the region.
As the world continued to evolve, so did its reliance on railroads, and the Pennsylvania Railroad wasn’t totally immune to change. In 1946, the company reported its first net loss. While one bad year isn’t always enough to kill a major company, it was a turning point for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Unfortunately, its journey was nearly at an end.
The Mid-1900s: The End of the Pennsylvania Railroad
The rise of the Interstate highway system and strangling price regulations led to high costs and low profits across the rail industry in the eastern US. In 1968, the company merged with a major competitor—New York Central—to form the Penn Central Transportation company. As a larger entity, it was forced by the government to absorb the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company in the following year.
Although the company looked like an unstoppable force in the newspapers, its employees and bank accounts were struggling. Duplicate rail routes and problems integrating different computer systems put the new company on a weak footing. Amid rampant management and financial issues (including missing out on a $200 million operating loan), the company declared bankruptcy in 1970—at the time, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history!
Its failure was such a big deal, the federal government established the National Railway Passenger Corporation—better known as Amtrak—to take over the company’s passenger services in 1971.
The freight side of the Pennsy attempted to march on, but it didn’t last long. Hurricane Agnes destroyed a number of rail routes in the northeast in 1972, driving a number of additional railroads into bankruptcy. The federal government again intervened, creating Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in 1976 as the combination of a number of prominent-but-bankrupt northeastern rail companies (quite a few of our rooms are named after these fallen flags!)
Significant deregulation in 1981 allowed Conrail to become a publicly-held company, streamlining and optimizing its rail network. The profitable and successful Conrail became the target of a bidding war, ultimately being purchased by and divided into Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation in 1999, giving both southeastern companies direct rail routes into the industrial and populous northeast.
Most of the former Conrail routes in Pennsylvania were absorbed into Norfolk Southern, including the former PRR main line that passes by The Station Inn.
Despite all of the setbacks, the Penn Central Corporation still exists today—just not in a way you might recognize. Back in 1994, the remaining non-rail assets of the company restructured and reorganized, and it became American Premier Underwriters.
The following year, American Premier Underwriters merged with American Financial Corporation to form American Financial Group, Inc., a major holding company today.
Where to See The Pennsylvania Railroad Today
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company transformed countless times, but you can still witness its incredible history up close and personal by visiting us in Cresson, PA.
Our expansive front porch sits less than 150 feet away from Norfolk Southern’s main line, where nearly 50 trains pass every single day.
There, you can rub elbows with fellow train lovers and swap stories while tracking dozens of trains roar by.
And while you’re here, don’t forget to explore the region; this is rail country, after all! You’ll find plenty of unforgettable railroad destinations, like the Allegheny Portage Railroad Museum, Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum, and the Cassandra Railfan Overlook.
