Pennsylvania Railroad Co.

Former U.S. railroad. It was chartered in 1846 by the Pennsylvania legislature to build a line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, and its passenger service began two years later. By purchasing the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway in 1856, the company extended its service to Chicago. After the Civil War it expanded to St. Louis, Mo., and Cincinnati, Ohio, in the west and Norfolk, Va., in the south, with 10,000 mi (16,000 km) of track at its greatest extent. It began to lose money in the mid 20th century, and in 1968 it merged with its competitor, the New York Central, to form the Penn Central Transportation Co. Penn Central declared bankruptcy in 1970; its passenger service was taken over by Amtrak in 1971 and its assets by Conrail in 1976. See also J. Edgar Thomson.

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