Pennsylvania Railroad, started April 13, 1846, became one of the earlier larger railroads by acquiring and absorbing smaller railroads in its path. It merged with New York Central to become Penn Central in Feb, 1968.
My Small RR Collection Current Flags: |
Last Update: 09.10.02 |
Welcome to my authentic railroad collection. On these few pages, I am presenting the memoribilia of days gone by when railroads ruled supreme. A majority of items I collect hail from fallen flags (my main focus is the northeast), but a couple of "strangers" have found their way into my assemblage (such as my 2001 Norfolk Southern map).
Above, you'll find general links to areas of my collection. Below, you'll find the logos and company descriptions of each RR represented here. Most of these descriptions come from Trains.com.
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Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad, started April 13, 1846, became one of the earlier larger railroads by acquiring and absorbing smaller railroads in its path. It merged with New York Central to become Penn Central in Feb, 1968. |
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Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Starting out as the Chicago & Rock Island in 1851, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific was a strong railroad all the way up to 1964 when Union Pacific wanted it. Ten years later, the ICC finally decided to approve it, with the condition that the Southern Pacific buy the lines unwanted by UP. By this time, though, the RI had all but vanished, and neither the UP nor the SP wanted any part of it. Declaring bankruptcy in 1975, it continued modest operations until Marth of 1980. Shortly afterwards, it was absorbed by the Saint Louis & Southwestern (the Cotton Belt), the Chicago & Northwestern, the Missouri Kansas Texas (the Katy), and a few regionals. |
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Erie & Lackawanna The Erie Lackawanna was the result of a 1960 merger between Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. Eight years later, the Norfolk & Western took on the ailing railroad, though it remained a separate entity, filing for bankruptcy June of 1972. It was absorbed into Conrail on April Fool's Day, 1976. |
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Norfolk Southern Norfolk Southern Railway was the result of a 1990 merger of the Southern Railway and the Norfolk & Western, when the former acquired the latter. At this time, the Southern Railway was renamed to Norfolk Southern. The parent company of NS, Norfolk Southern Corporation, also has both natural resource and telecommunications holdings. |
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Conrail Consolidated Rail Corporation began life on April Fool's day, 1976 as the combination of Penn Central (itself a product of a merger between New York Central and Pennsylvania RR) and numerous other smaller companies. Over 12 years later, NS and CSX Transportation bought Conrail's stock, splitting them up between them (with NS recieving a little more than half). Technically, Conrail is not a fallen flag as of yet, as the company still operates as a local railroad in the east. |
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Chicago & Northwestern The Chicago & Northwestern traces its roots back to the first railroad in Chicago, the Galena & Chicago Union back in the mid-50s. It was purchased by Union Pacific in April of 1995. CNW has a special distinction--since 1970, it was employee-owned. |
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Chesapeake & Ohio A result of a 1868 merger between Virginia Central and the Covington & Ohio, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway bought the nation's oldest railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio in 1962 before becoming a subsidiary of the Chessie System in June of 1973, and finally a part of CSX. |
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New York Central System The earliest railroad in NYC's history, the Mohawk & Hudson, was incorporated in 1826. By the mid 1800s, many RRs linked Albany with Buffalo, and they all got together to form the New York Central. In its heyday, it reached all the way westward to Chicago, and merged with rival Pennsylvania RR on February 1, 1968. The result was the Penn Central. |
timetable (10/30/55) | timetable (01/26/68) | Rules of the Operating Department
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Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Milwaukee & Waukesha Rail Road chartered in 1847, opened in 1850 as Milwaukee & Mississippi. Milwaukee & St. Paul, an 1863 reorganization of the 1858 La Crosse & Milwaukee, in 1872 acquired the St Paul & Chicago. In 1873 it built from Milwaukee to Chicago and added “Chicago” to its name to become CM&StP. Between 1905-09 it built the Pacific Extension to Seattle and Tacoma. After a 1925 bankruptcy, it emerged in 1928 as Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific. Bankrupt again in 1977, it shed the Pacific extension and other lines in 1980-83, then was courted by Chicago & North Western, Grand Trunk Western, and Soo Line, and was awarded to Soo in February 1985. Soo Line merged the Milwaukee Road on January 1, 1986. |
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New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Lake Erie & Western assembled in 1879-1880 from Fremont, Ohio, to Bloomington, Ill. New York, Chicago & St. Louis incorporated in 1881 for a Buffalo-Chicago line, a project reported as the “great double-track nickel-plated railroad,” a nickname that stuck. Nickel Plate Road system, including NYC&StL and W&LE, merged into Norfolk & Western on October 16, 1964. This N&W expansion included purchase of Pennsylvania Railroad’s Columbus-Sandusky (Ohio) line to connect existing N&W with the NKP-Wabash network. |
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Seaboard Coast Line Created July 1, 1967, by the merger of Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast Line, under discussion for nine years. About 1974 SCL began advertising itself, Louisville & Nashville, Clinchfield, Georgia Railroad, and West Point Route as "Family Lines System," but FLS was not a corporate entity. SCL and Chessie System became subsidiaries of CSX Corporation on November 1, 1980. Family Lines monicker was dropped when SCL and L&N merged on December 29, 1982, to form Seaboard System Railroad. |
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Canadian National Canadian National Railways was incorporated June 6, 1919, to operate several carriers that had come under governmental control owing to financial problems: Intercolonial (1913); National Transcontinental (1915); Canadian Northern (1918); Grand Trunk Pacific (1920); and Grand Trunk (1920). The Grand Trunk name survived on the U.S. portion of the Montreal-Portland (Maine) line until sold in 1989 to new carrier, St. Lawrence & Atlantic. Railroads absorbed after 1920 by CN include Newfoundland Railway (1949) and Northern Alberta (1981), a 1929 creation owned half by CN and Canadian Pacific until 1980, when CP sold its share to CN. |
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Illinois Central Illinois Central was chartered in 1851 to build north-south through Illinois. Renamed Illinois Central Gulf in August 1972 GM&O merger. After shedding more than two-thirds of its mileage in the 1980’s, mostly to new regionals, ICG on February 29, 1988, changed its name back to Illinois Central. Canadian National purchased IC on February 11, 1998, and merged it on July 1, 1999. |
timetable (04/29/62) | timetable (12/15/67)
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Louisville & Nashville Louisville & Nashville was chartered by the State of Kentucky in 1850 to link its namesake cities. Control acquired by Atlantic Coast Line in 1902. ACL successor Seaboard Coast Line merged with L&N on December 29, 1982, to form Seaboard System Railroad, a subsidiary of CSX Corporation. |
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Penn Central Penn Central was created February 1, 1968 by merger of Pennsylvania and New York Central. Entered bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. Because of PC’s failure and its size, the federal government created Conrail, to which PC was conveyed on April 1, 1976. |
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Norfolk & Western Norfolk & Petersburg chartered in 1850; it and two companions renamed from Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio to Norfolk & Western Railroad in 1881. Pennsylvania Railroad began purchasing interest in 1900, and by 1964 owned one-third. PRR bowed out as the Penn Central merger pre-planning precipitated N&W expansion by merger of NKP, Wabash, et al, in October 1964. N&W and Southern Railway assumed common ownership under Norfolk Southern Corp. in merger of June 1, 1982. |
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Seaboard Air Line Portsmouth & Roanoke Rail Road formed in 1832, reorganized as Seaboard & Roanoke in 1846. Several subsequent mergers, including the Raleigh & Augusta Air-Line being acquired by the Raleigh & Gaston in 1871, by 1881 created a collection known as Seaboard Air-Line System. Merger of Seaboard Air Line Railroad with paralleling Atlantic Coast Line, proposed in 1958, took place on July 1, 1967, creating Seaboard Coast Line. |
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Union Pacific Union Pacific has the right name—it's the last major U.S. rail system whose name has never changed, dating from its charter in 1862 to build the nation's first transcontinental westward from Omaha, Nebr. Construction began in 1865, and was completed on May 10, 1869. Also notable for their longevity are Union Pacific’s shield-shaped emblem (1886) and yellow color scheme on its passenger cars and locomotives (1930’s). |
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Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Aurora Branch chartered February 12, 1849; renamed Chicago, Burlington & Quincy on February 14, 1855. Control acquired by Great Northern and Northern Pacific in 1901. |
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Western Pacific Taking the same name as the original Sacramento-Oakland part of the Central Pacific, Western Pacific was incorporated in 1903 to extend the Gould empire west of Utah, and was finished in 1909. Santa Fe and Southern Pacific wanted WP in 1962, but neither got it. Union Pacific did, merging WP on December 22, 1981. |
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Great Northern Minnesota & Pacific chartered in 1857. Its successor, and others, renamed by James J. Hill to Great Northern in 1881. |
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New York, New Haven & Hartford The oldest ancestor of what became the New York, New Haven & Hartford was the Old Colony Railroad, which opened in 1845. On August 6, 1872, the New York & New Haven and the Hartford & New Haven were consolidated as NYNH&H. The last of several reorganizations occurred July 7, 1961, and the bankrupt "New Haven" was forced onto newly created Penn Central on December 31, 1968. |
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Atlantic Coast Line Oldest ancestor, Petersburg Railroad, opened in 1833; it and Richmond & Petersburg merged in March 1898 and in November 1898 took the name Atlantic Coast Line. Merger with paralleling Seaboard Air Line Railroad, proposed in 1958, took place on July 1, 1967, creating Seaboard Coast Line. |
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Missouri Pacific Chartered in 1851 as Pacific Railroad, opened in 1852, renamed Missouri Pacific in 1870. Major early components included St. Louis & Iron Mountain, chartered in 1851; International & Great Northern (1873); and Gulf Coast Lines, a 1913 merger creation. All, plus others, came under Jay Gould control in 1879. Union Pacific absorbed MP on December 22, 1982, and absorbed operations but didn't formally merge MP out of existence until 1997. |
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Delaware & Hudson Delaware & Hudson, calling itself the longest-lived transportation company in the U.S., dates to an 1823 charter of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. "The D&H" operated the first steam locomotive on rail in the U.S., the Stourbridge Lion, in 1829. Amid modern Northeastern U.S. railroad uncertainty, D&H came under Norfolk & Western's wing in 1968; returned to independence in 1972; expanded as a forced competitor to the new Conrail in 1976; was acquired by Guilford Transportation in 1984; was placed in bankruptcy by Guilford in 1988; was sold to Canadian Pacific in January 1991; became part of subsidiary St. Lawrence & Hudson in 1996; reverted back to CP in 2000; and was placed unde control of the Soo Line in 2001. D&H remains a Soo subsidiary but is operated as part of CP's overall system. |
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Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway Incorporated by James J. Hill in 1905 as Portland & Seattle. Name changed to Spokane, Portland & Seattle in 1908. SP&S was financed and owned jointly by Hill's GN and NP. |
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Northern Pacific Railway Construction began in 1870, six years after charter as the land-grant Northern Pacific. |
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Monon Railroad History coming soon. |
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Algoma Central Railway Algoma Central was chartered in 1899 to build north from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The optimistic words "& Hudson Bay" were added to the name in 1901, and removed in 1965. In 1990 the 322-mile ACR became a subsidiary of Algoma Central Corp., which has shipping, trucking, real estate, and forest interests. ACR was purchased by Wisconsin Central Ltd. on February 1, 1995, and operated as a separate subsidiary. |
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Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic was incorporated in 1883 to build from the Twin Cities east to a connection with Canadian Pacific. In 1888 MSSM&A, Minneapolis & Pacific, and two others consolidated to form the Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie. The nickname "Soo Line" comes from the pronunciation of the word Sault. On December 31, 1960, MStP&SSM merged with subsidiaries Wisconsin Central Railroad and Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic to form Soo Line Railroad. CP for decades owned 56 percent of Soo, and tried in the 1980's to sell it, but in 1990 wound up acquiring full ownership. Soo remains a CP subsidiary but is operated as part of the system. |
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Bangor & Aroostook History coming soon. |
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Long Island Rail Road Long Island Rail Road was chartered in 1834, and controlled by Pennsylvania Railroad from 1900 to 1966, when PRR sold LIRR to newly created Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority, now the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. |
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