Pennsylvania Railroad

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. It soon became evident that a single canal would not be practical and a series of railroads, inclined planes, and canals was proposed. 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. 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. 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. To traverse the mountains, the line would climb a moderate grade for until it reached a split of two mountain ravines which were 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 Gallitzin Tunnels, from which the route descended by a more moderate grade to Johnstown. 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. 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. By 1854, the Pennsy completed its line from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, eliminating the use of the inclined planes of the Allegheny Portage Railroad. In 1857, the PRR purchased the Main Line of Public Works from the state of Pennsylvania. This purchase included of canal, the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, and the New Portage Railroad (which replaced the now abandoned Allegheny Portage Railroad). 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. 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. 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. At the end of its first year of operation, the Pennsylvania Railroad paid a dividend and continued the dividend without interruption until 1946. Expansion 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 $ in ). 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 $7,500,000 ($ in ). Empire Transportation Company The Empire Transportation Company was founded in 1865 by Joseph D. Potts and became a multi-modal 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. Penn Central merger 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. 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. • 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; 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: Airbrakes were first used on the Pennsylvania Railroad. • 1873: Pennsy reaches Washington, D.C., via the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad. • 1877: Thomas A. Watson demonstrates telephone to PRR officials at Altoona; 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. • 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. • 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 • 1906: An accident in Atlantic City kills 53 people • 1907: Washington 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 the aged 49 • 1912: Broadway Limited was inaugurated, replacing the Pennsylvania Special • 1915: The Pennsylvania electrifies its suburban Philadelphia lines to Paoli, Pennsylvania; PRR Position-Light signals first used, between Overbrook and Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. • 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 New England • 1918: Pennsy stock bottoms at $40¼ (equal to $ 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, Pennsylvania • 1925: Chicago Union Station opens • 1928–1938: The Pennsylvania electrifies its New York City to Washington, D.C., and Chicago to Philadelphia lines between Harrisburg and Paoli, several Philadelphia and New York City 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: Pennsylvania Railroad reports a net loss for the first time in its history • 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: PRR expands to New York City, and eventually changes its name to Penn Central Transportation Company (PC) ==Presidents==

J. Edgar Thomson John Edgar 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. 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. 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) The railroad's only vice-president was: • Elisha Lee ==Major routes==

Main Line The Pennsy's main line extended from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington lines and New York, 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. 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, and a newer line from Philadelphia to Jersey City, New Jersey, much closer to New York City, via Trenton, New Jersey. Track connection in Philadelphia was made via the Pennsy's Connecting Railway and the jointly owned Junction Railroad. 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 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 Company for its competing Royal Blue Line passenger trains to reach New York City. In 1885, the PRR began passenger train service from New York City via Philadelphia 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. "Low-grade" 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 & Chicago • 1874: The low-grade line of the Allegheny Valley Railroad from Driftwood to Red Bank, Pennsylvania • 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&C, and Port Perry Branch (and via the Brilliant Cutoff and the Duff/Scully Branch at later dates) • 1892: The Trenton Branch and Trenton Cut-Off Railroad from Glen Loch, Pennsylvania, east to Morrisville, Pennsylvania • 1906: Philadelphia and Thorndale Branch from Thorndale, Pennsylvania, east to Glen Loch • 1906: Atglen and Susquehanna Branch from Harrisburg via the Northern Central Railway, south to Wago Junction, then east to Parkesburg, Pennsylvania. 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, 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. • A low-grade line was planned between Radebaugh (near Greensburg) and Derry, Pennsylvania. Work was begun on this line, but it was never completed. • A low-grade route across the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, bypassing the congestion at Pittsburgh, was contemplated but never built. 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. The Western Allegheny Railroad later ran over a route similar to the envisioned new line, and was for a time owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, which, it seems, purchased it for this planned bypass. ==Infrastructure==

Track gauge The company initially adopted several track gauges to facilitate connections to other railroads. Eastern tracks were laid to , a variant on the widely used standard gauge of , while a gauge of was utilized in the west to connect to lines in Ohio, which utilized the Ohio gauge of . The railroad's importance led to many connecting roads being built to the same widths and the railroads of Ohio were generally reduced in width to allow more interoperability. The small discrepancies from standard gauge generally allowed equipment to be run on either gauge track, and the railroad would build different routes to either standard. Lines which moved primarily passengers were generally laid to standard gauge, while freight routes were laid to the wider in an effort to reduce rolling resistance. When several southern railroads regauged in 1886, they chose to reduce their gauge by respiking rails closer, bringing them to the same standard as the Pennsylvania Railroad. The company maintained the wider gauge until the 1910s, when most lines were redefined to standard gauge. Electrification electric locomotive used in the New York City terminal area and tunnels 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. 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. Other Philadelphia lines electrified were the Chestnut Hill Branch (March 30, 1918), White Marsh (1924), the main line to Wilmington, Delaware (September 30, 1928), West Chester (December 2, 1928), Trenton line (June 29, 1930), and completed on July 20, 1930, the Schuylkill Branch to Norristown, Pennsylvania, 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 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. In 1934, the Pennsylvania received a $77 million loan from the New Deal's Public Works Administration 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. 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. The railroad had electrified 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, by SEPTA, and by NJ Transit. ==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 The Pennsylvania Railroad bought its first 75 freight cars in 1849. Two years later, the Pennsy owned 439 freight cars. By 1857, it had 1,861 cars, and in 1866, 9,379 cars. Freight equipment was either acquired new from builders or built by the railroad itself. 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. 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 was 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. Locomotives Steam a #4483 on display at Hamburg, New York stopping with a passenger train at Aberdeen, Maryland in 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. 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, unlike most railroads that ordered to broad specifications and left most design choices to the builder. 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, 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. 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. 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. Electric 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 & Seashore Railroad track. From these tests the DD1 class was developed. 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. In 1924, another side-rod locomotive was designed: (the L5 class). Following these came the P5A, a slightly heavier design capable of traveling and with a tractive force of . 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. 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. 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 and a starting tractive effort of 205,000 pounds. Unreliable and expensive to maintain, they were quickly relegated to helper service. 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. 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. 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. 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. Such "red-eye" lenses were also temporarily installed at Overbrook Interlocking near Philadelphia. 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. ==Facilities==

Shops The back shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad were more ingrained in the culture of the corporation than in most other railroads, mainly due to the large output of highly distinctive locomotives produced by them over the course of decades. The earliest locomotive and car repair shops were established in the mid-1850s in West Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Altoona, and Pittsburgh. Those at Altoona, Pennsylvania (below) became the primary repair and erecting facilities for the system throughout its existence and employed up to 16,000 people. The second largest were located in Columbus, Ohio, commonly called the "20th Street Shops" and the "Panhandle Shops," employing up to 8,000 in the 1920s. The shops at Fort Wayne, Indiana were also a major repair facility, first established by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway. The yards and shops in Wilmington, Delaware were built to serve the southern section of the system, employing up to 2,500 in the 1920s. The car shop at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania was the largest in the world, measuring 2,760 by 330 feet. Additional repair facilities were located in Dennison, Ohio; Renovo, Pennsylvania; Pitcairn, Pennsylvania, and Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Altoona Works 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 and consisted of four units: the Altoona Machine Shops, Altoona Car Shops, Juniata Shops, and South Altoona Foundries. • 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. 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. By 1957, it was the world's largest automatic classification yard. • 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. Crestline is located about halfway between Pittsburgh and Chicago in Crestline, Ohio, and could hold over 1,600 cars. • 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 of tracks, capable of handling thousands of freight cars and becoming the world's largest freight rail yard by the 1940s. Major passenger stations 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. ==Heritage Units==

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. 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. ==See also==