Pennsylvania Railroading and Railfanning In "The Keystone State"

Pennsylvania railroading is tops in the east and in terms of diversity and density, few other places can match it around the country save for perhaps California. The Keystone State offers everything from numerous main lines that see dozens of hotshot trains daily to no less than fifty shortlines. And, on top of that, Pennsylvania is also home to several museums and tourist railroads, as well as General Electric's Erie facility that still builds new diesel locomotives. In all, the state is nearly unmatched in what is available to see and experience. So, if you are after everything Pennsylvania railroading has to offer believe me when I say it will certainly take more than one visit to the Keystone State!

Pennsylvania railroading has its beginnings dating back to 1827 when the Mauch Chunk Switchback Gravity Railroad began operations to serve a local mine by moving coal on a downhill inclined plane, roughly 14-miles away to the Lehigh Canal in Mauch Chunk (today, known as Jim Thorpe). Other railroads quickly followed this small railroad and by 1840 the Keystone State ranked first in rail mileage at over 700, and by 1880 was home to over 6,000 miles!

When one thinks of Northeast railroading, most of the railroads that defined it were situated in, or operated through Pennsylvania. These include the Reading, Central Railroad of New Jersey; Lehigh Valley; New York Central; Nickel Plate; Erie; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Delaware & Hudson; Baltimore & Ohio; and of course, Pennsylvania’s own, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), Standard Railroad of the World as it so boldly claimed.

Naturally, of course, the PRR was the railroad that defined the Keystone State, even using the keystone symbol as its logo. The Pennsylvania Railroad had its beginnings in 1846, chartered by the State of Pennsylvania to connect Philadelphia with Pittsburgh. Completed eight years later and opened in 1854 the direct main line followed the Juanita and Susquehanna Rivers through southern Pennsylvania to reach Pittsburgh via Harrisburg and Altoona (Altoona would later be the railroad’s most famous shop complex complete with everything from car shops and machine shops to foundries).

By the late 19th century the Pennsy was rapidly expanding, reaching Chicago by 1869 via the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago and by 1873 had entered New York City. By the first part of the 20th century the Pennsylvania Railroad had reached cities such as St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Columbus. By mid-century the Pennsy was a true behemoth, almost literally serving every town, large and small, north and just slightly south of the Mason-Dixon Line, a staggering 10,000-mile system (an enormous railroad for the eastern U.S. where markets and cities are much closer in proximity than in the west).

It then comes as no surprise that a system that reached such large cities and markets, with a fast and swift main line across southern Pennsylvania, would allow the PRR to grow to become the largest and most dominate railroad in the east. Throughout the first half of the 20th century both it and the NYC commanded an astounding amount of the freight and passenger traffic moving from the Northeast to Midwest and were literally the only true competitors in their respective markets. Third in this trunk line race was the venerable B&O (a road that the Pennsy held a controlling interest in for a brief time in the early 20th century) but with only a minor presence in the Philadelphia, New York, and Boston markets and a main line that was forced over the rugged Alleghenies between Harpers Ferry and Parkersburg, West Virginia the B&O was no match for the Pennsylvania Railroad and NYC in terms of speed and freight/passenger traffic (although, interestingly, the B&O outlived its competitors by 20 years!).

The Pennsylvania Railroad is remembered for many things with two of the railroad’s most lasting achievements its grand monument to New York City, Pennsylvania Station and its legendary passenger train, the Broadway Limited.

The PRR also had the most extensive electric operations of any private carrier in the country, most of which is still operated today by Amtrak and regional commuter systems. Beginning in 1915 the Pennsylvania Railroad began to electrify portions of its eastern main lines where commuter and passenger operations were the heaviest and by the late 1930s electrification had reached south to Washington, D.C., west to Harrisburg, and north to New York City. In all, most of the PRR’s system east of Harrisburg was electrified by the late 1930s.

Despite the PRR’s enormous success, following World War II and the traffic downturn of the 1950s, the future was uncertain for the carrier. Mounting losses and old-fashioned management practices were bringing down the iconic Pennsylvania Railroad (so legendary was the PRR that even as things continued to worsen, no one felt anything terrible would befall the railroad) and by the 1950s she was getting desperate. It was during this time that the Pennsylvania Railroad began exploring the idea of merger with bitter and longtime rival, New York Central.

In the end and despite a long search for another partner by the New York Central (a carrier that was now much stronger financially due to the excellent oversight of president Alfred Pearlman), it was eventually decided that a merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad was the only option for the NYC. Surprisingly the ICC approved the merger that virtually allowed for a monopoly in the Northeast and the ill-fated Penn Central Corporation was born on February 1, 1968.

After only two years since its creation, the destitute Penn Central officially declared bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. The result of this was a ripple effect throughout the entire Northeast, as other railroads, which depended on the PC to ferry traffic, no longer had a means to move their freight. It became so bad that the Penn Central was facing total shutdown if financial assistance, any means of help at all, were not located.

While smaller railroads like the Reading, Lehigh Valley and Jersey Central probably would not have survived anyway due to the fact that they were predominately built to move anthracite coal from eastern PA mines whose demand was mostly lost following World War II, Conrail did a great job of putting together a profitable rail system following the fallout of the Northeast and began moving countless numbers of stack trains to and from Chicago on former PRR and NYC main lines.

Today, Pennsylvania railroading, after the splitting of Conrail in 1999, is mostly operated by CSX in Norfolk Southern. However, there are several Regionals and shortlines that also operate in the Keystone, far too many to mention here (over 50). Some include the New York, Susquehanna & Western, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Morristown & Erie, Middletown & Hummelstown, New Hope & Ivyland, Knox & Kane, and the Delaware-Lackawanna.

In total, these railroads operate over 5,000 route miles although at its peak Pennsylvania railroading featured over 11,500 route miles! For a more in-depth look at Pennsylvania’s rail mileage over the years please have a look at the chart below.

Pennsylvania railroading also features a blanket of transit, commuter and passenger rail services from Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (which operates through the southeastern corner of the state) to SEPTA and the Harrisburg electrification extension. While Pittsburgh and western PA sees far less commuter and passenger trains Amtrak does operate its Capitol Limited, Lake Shore Limited and Pennsylvanian through Pittsburgh on their way to the Midwest (Chicago). However, east of Harrisburg is where the real action occurs. With the help of Pennsylvania, the Harrisburg main line was upgraded to operate at 110 mph and has trimmed travel time between Philly and Harrisburg to 90 minutes (which used to take two hours). SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) is king in and around Philly and typically moves over 5 million commuters annually with Amtrak seeing over 100 trains a day operating in or through Philadelphia.

Of course, if it’s historical railroad landmarks you are interested in few states top what can be found in the Keystone State. There are far too many to name here but first and foremost is the PRR’s legendary Horseshoe Curve located near Altoona which still sees 50 to 60 trains a day and includes a triple-track main line. The spot is also home to the Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark, where you can climb to track level and watch the railroad action live.

Altoona is also home to the PRR’s famous Juniata Shops and today the railroad's former master mechanics building (and adjoining parcel of land) is home to the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum. Other famous museums include the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, located in the former Lackawanna shops. The museum (home to several pieces of historic railroad equipment) is a federally funded and operated site with interactive exhibits to learn about the history of the steam locomotive and railroad (there are also restorations efforts ongoing to completely restore one of the Pennsylvania’s vaunted Class K-4 Pacifics to operation).

Other famous locations include Erie where GE still builds new diesels; Rockville Bridge at Harrisburg, a colossal stone-arch bridge of the PRR that crosses the Susquehanna and is wide enough to include four tracks (although only three remain in place today); Philadelphia, which was once home to the famous steam builder, Baldwin Locomotive Works and the Pennsylvania Railroad herself; the Kinzua Viaduct of the former Erie Railroad that stood 301 feet high until 2003 when an F1 tornado demolished the structure; PRR’s massive 30th Street Station that is still used by Amtrak; FreightCar America that builds new rail cars at Johnstown; ACF Industries which does likewise at Milton; knuckle-coupler producer McConway & Torley at Pittsburgh; Erie Starrucca Viaduct used by NS and the colossal, and most famous of all, Tunkhannock Viaduct used by Canadian Pacific; and the B&O’s Sand Patch tunnels at Gallitzin (part of the railroad’s main line to Chicago), now operated by CSX.

Lastly, Pennsylvania railroading includes a plethora of tourist railroads and excursion trains. First and foremost is the renowned Strasburg Railroad, which has continuously operated steam locomotives since 1832. Located in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country (a.k.a, Amish Country) not only does the railroad operate through beautiful rolling hills and valleys but also is the busiest tourist railroad in the lower 48 with some 400,000 visitors annually. The Strasburg is also well known for its shop complex, which is regularly called on to service steam locomotives such as Union Pacific’s 4-8-4 #844 and 4-6-6-4 #3985.

Strasburg is not the only steam tourist railroad in Pennsylvania, however. There is also the East Broad Top. Located in Rockhill Furnace, the railroad operates several Baldwin built steam locomotives.

In all, Pennsylvania railroading is a unique experience all in its own. Whether you are interested in main line railroading, commuter operations, live steam locomotives or even a stay at a bed & breakfast located right along a busy main line railroad, the Keystone State offers it all and much, much more! Heck, to be completely satisfied in seeing everything Pennsylvania has to offer it will quite likely take more than one visit so you may want to plan accordingly for your first trip!