In 1900, every streetcar, rapid transit car, and intercity rail passenger car in America was made primarily out of wood. The wheels, trucks, and couplers were metal, of course, but the frame, body, roof, floor, and other components were wood. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Pennsylvania
The main railroad exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair was “Railroads on Parade,” a rehash of similar shows at the 1927 Baltimore & Ohio Centennial pageant and the 1933-1934 Chicago Century of Progress exposition. As a side show, … Continue reading
Entire books have been written about Grif Teller‘s paintings for Pennsylvania Railroad calendars. Teller painted 27 of the calendars between 1928 and 1958, with Pennsylvania turning to other artists during the war years. Click image to download a 1.4-MB PDF … Continue reading
I don’t have Pennsylvania’s 1951 or 1952 annual reports, but for those who care, the 1953 report includes financial results for every year between 1949 and 1953. This report also includes a statistical supplement that was printed in a separate … Continue reading
Despite a railroad strike early in the year, Pennsylvania Railroad profits grew from $12.5 million in 1949 to $38.4 million in 1950. This was largely due to increased traffic in the second half of the year resulting from the Korean … Continue reading
Steelworkers went on strike in 1949, and PRR blamed this for the decline in net revenues from $34.4 million in 1948 to $12.5 million in 1949. The railroad reduced its passenger service by another 10 percent, but noted that increased … Continue reading
PRR earned a net income of $34.4 million in 1948, a substantial increase from 1947’s $7.3 million. However, the report still complains that regulation depressed earnings and prevented the railroad from doing needed maintenance. “If it had been permissible, under … Continue reading
The Pennsylvania Railroad increased its revenues in 1947 and, thanks to approved rate increases, earned a small profit of $7.3 million (compared with $49.0 million in 1945). Passenger revenues, however, dropped by $47.7 million from 1946, partly because fare increases … Continue reading
The Pennsylvania Railroad did a booming business in 1946, carrying more traffic than any previous peacetime year in its history. But it still managed to lose money, which it blamed on government regulation. Apparently, regulators ordered wage increases retroactive to … Continue reading
Before Chicago Union Station opened in 1925, there was Chicago Union Depot, which opened in 1881. The depot served joint owners Pennsylvania, Burlington, Chicago & Alton, and what is now called the Milwaukee Road but was then called the St. … Continue reading