From: Tim Patterson
Date: 3/13/00
Time: 8:44:12 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.168.59
Find and trace the route of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1860. What was its point of origin? What was its terminus? What major towns and cities did it pass through? Based on this information, what is the most significant generalization you can make about railroads and transportation in Pennsylvania on the eve of the Civil War? Be sure to marshal evidence in support of this generalization. The Pennsylvania Rail Road has its point of origin in Pittsburgh when the Pittsburgh Fort Wayne and Chicago Rail Road splits in two. The Allegheny Rail Road and Pennsylvania Rail Road form out of that split, the Allegheny heads north east and the Pennsylvania heads south east. As the line continues, at Brintons the Pittsburgh and Connelsville Rail Road breaks off and moves south. At Blairsville Inter the Indiana Branch (of the Pennsylvania Rail Road I believe) goes north and at Johnstown the Rail Road breaks in two and they reconverge at Altoona, a famous railroad town. At Huntington the line breaks off and forms the Huntington and Broad Top Rail Road and the Pennsylvania continues on into Dauphin and Harrisburg where several different railroads come together. The Pennsylvania then continues along and mirrors the Susquehanna River and then starts a fully east bound path at Columbia. The PRR then passes through Dillerville and Lancaster and then runs into other railroads as it nears Philadelphia. Most of these railroads meet in Philadelphia and that is the end point on the Pennsylvania Rail Road. The Pennsylvania rail roads grew out of the need for industrial transportation. It would seem that major points of action were in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, all industrial cities. The railroads coming in from other states come from the west and the east, and only head south around Philadelphia which is in the southern corridor of the state. The point is that there aren’t many industrial centers in the Southern states and thus not as much need for the railroads. In the North there was a definite demand and it would seem that the demand grew out of railroad production. For example, along the major lines the stops are frequent and those towns on the major lines then had access to industrial equipment and thus could create industrial centers of their own. In places in Northern Pennsylvania where the need for railroads isn’t as great as it is in the south and mid sections of the state, those areas remain rural. The industry is never brought out there and there really isn’t a need for them. But where ever rail roads are built the areas around the rail roads develop and more railroads are created. Railroads also made the cities more accessible to people in the country to reach and thus commuter lines grew out of that. As the commuter population increased the demand for rail lines increased and more people became dependent on the railroads.