Pennsylvania pioneered in early rail development.

1846 The Pennsylvania Railroad chartered.

1852 reached Pittsburgh. Alexander Cassatt, Thomas Scott, and John A. Roebling, who was the surveyor of the Pennsylvania’s route, were leaders in its development.

1860 railroad mileage had increased to 2,598 and the Reading, Lehigh and Pennsylvania systems were developing.

1865 Pennsylvania extended its lines to New York, Washington, Buffalo, Chicago, and St. Louis, becoming one of the great trunk-line railroads of the nation, and developed a network of subsidiary lines within the state. The Reading and Lehigh Valley systems also expanded to become great carriers of freight and important links in the industrial economy of the Middle Atlantic region. Numerous smaller lines were built to serve districts or special purposes. For example, the Bessemer and Lake Erie carried Lake Superior ore to the steal mills of Pittsburgh. All the important trunk lines of the eastern United States passed though Pennsylvania and had subsidiary feeders within the state. At its peak, the Commonwealth had more the 10,000 miles of railroad track.

1915 the state’s railroads had ceased to expand. And after World War I both passenger and freight service were reduced. Then because of its extensive service during World War II.

1946 the railroad industry was financially more sound than it had been since 1920.

1950s it was losing ground rapidly to the enlarging trucking industry. Diesel engines and a few electrified systems replaced the coal-burning locomotives which had been the railroad’s pulling units for a century.

1962 the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central merged as the Penn Central Railroad, but it did not receive federal ICC approval until 1968, after having made extensive reductions in services and divestiture of assets.

1970 The new giant was bankrupt in the same year the federal government created Amtrak, a service system subsidizing passenger service on the major rail lines of the northeastern states.

1974 The federal government took control of the major freight lines by the formation of the Conrail, which subsidized 80 percent of the freight lines in Pennsylvania. Rail mileage was reduced by eliminating obsolete and unnecessary lines, typically those to now non-productive coal mines. The work force was reduced by a quarter and commuter service trains which were at first the responsibility of Conrail were gradually eliminated.

1981 Conrail finally began to operate profitably.

1987 the federal government sold it to private stockholders. Although passenger service to smaller municipalities has been eliminated, faster travel is possible in the remaining routes. Seamless rails, cement ties, and the elimination of grade crossings have made this possible.