The Death of the Pennsylvania Railroad | Success, Conservatism, and Arrogance

The Death of the Pennsylvania Railroad | Success, Conservatism, and Arrogance | History in the Dark

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Күн бұрын

The Pennsylvania Railroad was once the highlight of American railroading. Blessed with a location in the economic powerhouse of the northeastern United States, they saw immediate success and rose to become the largest railroad in the world at its peak. But during the decline in traffic following World War II, the Pennsy's corporate leaders refused to adapt to a changing landscape. This resulted in an ill-fated merger with New York Central to become Penn Central, followed by the implosion of both companies.
0:00 - Intro
1:03 - The Beginning
9:17 - Success and Electrification
13:37 - Self-Inflicted Decline
17:13 - The Merger
19:16 - The End
"The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia. It was named for the commonwealth in which it was established. At its peak in 1882, the Pennsylvania Railroad was the largest railroad (by traffic and revenue), the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world."
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#history #truestory #documentary

Пікірлер: 93

@derekthelehighvalleyfoamer4427 3 ай бұрын

Oh how the mighty have fallen. The Pennsylvania Railroad, the Standard Railroad of the World, became complacent with old-school tech, just like Baldwin.

@ItzTrains_Productions 3 ай бұрын

Finally a good PRR documentary from someone who knows what they're doing. Can't wait to see it

@arrowguy173 3 ай бұрын

*they’re, and yes this was great. This guy has done some well researched docs. Cheers -

@ItzTrains_Productions 3 ай бұрын

@@arrowguy173Oh yea mb I wrote this late and night when I was drunk so.(joke I was tired) Thanks any way tho

@Low760 3 ай бұрын

Well there's your problem does 9 hours on it fwiw.

@geebs76 3 ай бұрын

Well done video. I loved the Pennsylvania Railroad. I loved their keystone, Tuscan Red, Brunswick Green, and Belpaire fireboxes. So many great locomotives and rolling stock. I sold off my HO models a few years back and the only one I kept is an I-1. The only sleeper train I have taken was on the Pennsy. I got to blow the whistle on a GG1 and the only true dining car I ever ate in was on the PRR. The Penn Central merger and the need for the merger was truly a dark time in my life.

@kennethross786 3 ай бұрын

It wasn't just the PRR & NYC management that had a hard time getting along - when the merger was announced to the rank-and-file, employees at both railroads were stunned. They had been "trained" to dislike the other railroad for decades, so the idea of joining forces with their biggest rival was just unconscionable to them. In the grand scheme of things, it probably didn't matter anywhere near as much as the tussle in the board room, but it couldn't have helped.

@DiamondKingStudios 3 ай бұрын

Yardmasters in Selkirk, NY when a freight train arrives bound for Harrisburg: “You sure? I don’t see it in any of our maps. Do we even go there?”

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

@@DiamondKingStudios Send it on to Chicago, maybe they can figure it out.

@dknowles60 2 ай бұрын

no the Big Problem was with the PRR management

@alexhajnal107 2 ай бұрын

@@dknowles60 Which faction?

@DiamondKingStudios 2 ай бұрын

@@dknowles60 See also: Executive Jet Aviation and its relationship with the PRR

@ronalddevine9587 3 ай бұрын

I'm 76 years old and have lived in the greater New Haven area my entire life. The best thing for the New Haven Railroad was getting some GG-1s in the New Haven yards. The New Haven was electrified from New Haven to New York City.

@asteroidrules 3 ай бұрын

The Pennsy was a railroad of contrasts, much of their business management was on the conservative side, playing a long game and avoiding big gambles when it came to their routes, but almost obsessively trying things that others were unwilling or uninterested in doing when it came to locomotive engineering, hence why they were one of few American railroads to use belpaire fireboxes, duplex locomotives, a direct-drive steam turbine, the "holy terror" fleet of almost 600 I1 decapod coal haulers, as well as some of the finest streamlining to ever grace the world's rails.

@aj3751 3 ай бұрын

Love it! I always look forward to your videos! Did you know that Charles Carroll, signer of the declaration of independence, was a railway man as well? I believe he helped start the B&O

@JohnPatterson-kz8jr 3 ай бұрын

The Pennsy had some Texas connections. The Texas Eagle of the MoPac/T&P had through sleepers to New York; Philadelphia and Washington,D.C. The Railroad Museum in Frisco has a GG1 on display.😮😊

@tacticalcalebgaming7264 3 ай бұрын

I have went to Horseshoe curve. It is absolutely amazing plus I live like near Johnstown. Also great video

@ValleyThrills 3 ай бұрын

Would you eventually do documentaries for: New York Central Great Northern Northern Pacific Santa Fe Denver & Rio Grande Southern Virginia & Truckee Rio Grande Southern Colorado & Southern and my favorite (Southern Pacific)

@Low760 3 ай бұрын

He's done NYC?

@harrisonofcolorado8886 3 ай бұрын

@@Low760 he's done Alfred E Perlman who was the NYC president from the mid-50s until Penn Central, but not of the NYC itself

@southern207hobbies 3 ай бұрын

If only he would colab with hyce and do a drg&w history that would be epic!

@joelankeny6277 3 ай бұрын

This was a great upload! I’ve really enjoyed your storytelling through your videos. The PRR had some beautifully painted livery. I’m having a bicycle frame repainted soon and I’m going with either Tuscan Red or Brunswick Green with gold pinstripes and the lettering the same type as the PRR. PC Corp sort of still exists as the American Premier Underwriters company. So in essence the Pennsy still “exists”

@centeroftheearthmining4095 3 ай бұрын

I was worried that I’d get made at this one but as usual I was pleasantly surprised!!! Great video!!!!

@MrCateagle 3 ай бұрын

Their tunnels into NYC are a triumph of engineering for any time. Digging from both sides of the river and coming within a quarter-inch of each other.

@christiancurrao8616 3 ай бұрын

A very well done documentary on one of the greatest railroads in the history of the nation. I am very curious as to where you got the footage from 14:57 to 15:09; I am a tower operator for Amtrak and instantly recognized it as ZOO, one of the towers I am qualified to work. I have never been able to find footage of the model board when it looked that way. I would LOVE to see the rest of that.

@andrewbowen4544 4 ай бұрын

Darkness in your brilliant Penn Central video, you said they devirted maintenance, didnt know if was that bad, rocking wagons, rails sinking into the rail bed full of water, you was right, they may as well set it on fire. Then claim it off the insurance.

@arrowguy173 3 ай бұрын

It’s amazing to see the videos on KZfaq that PC submitted for funding.

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

@@arrowguy173 Eh?

@DiamondKingStudios 3 ай бұрын

@@arrowguy173”even the Maine potato farmers have given up on us” sort of energy I’d guess

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

@@DiamondKingStudios Have you _seen_ the paint scheme on the boxcars they used for that? It takes real talent to lose one of those, never mind all of them.

@DiamondKingStudios 3 ай бұрын

@@alexhajnal107 or perhaps such a profound lack of talent that it seems in itself to require talent

@MrCateagle 3 ай бұрын

You missed that their final management committed a major act of civic desacration by selling the air rights over thei NYC station and allowing that magnificent building to be destroyed.

@RichardinNC1 2 ай бұрын

Great video and part of the intriguing railroad history. I grew up in the PA/WV area in the 60s, My grandfather had been a brakeman for the B&O railroad so I was always intrigued by trains. I find the railroad history interesting, especially 2 or more competing in the same areas such as B&O and Pennsie, which I believe they did through Pittsburgh. I have to assume that the shared tracks (for interstate commerce) were reciprocity agreements. Or they’d have to for example run competing lines on opposite sides of the river. Not such a problem today with only a handful of companies running the whole U.S. but I’m sure it still exists for cross-country freight.

@DrRacer78 4 ай бұрын

*"I would have waited an eternity for this."*

@jasongoodman3495 Ай бұрын

"It's over Prime"😈

@trainglen22 3 ай бұрын

A great video on the Standard Railroad of the US.

@the_mississippian_railfan 3 ай бұрын

Growing up in Pittsburgh I was a HUGE Pennsy fan when I was like 8 I Grew out of it but the PRR Is just such a nostalgic thing for me I very well recall watching videos of PRR K4's and GG1's On a rainy day then going down to the old PRR Main in downtown. the P&LE and SOU Took the Pennsy's sport for me but I still got a sweet spot for it.

@glennmandigo6069 3 ай бұрын

Better do New York Central next

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

Don't forget New Haven!

@DanielChannel57 3 ай бұрын

@@alexhajnal107I think he already did a video on New Haven.

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

@@DanielChannel57 So he has. And apparently I've watched it. Methinks it's time for a rewatch!

@GWIZZ2 4 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@richardjayroe8922 3 ай бұрын

Wait if the B&O was void, then why did the sandpatch grade still exist?

@GreatNW 3 ай бұрын

You aughta do the rio grande next, they have a complex history and are technically still around as union pacific.

@jonathanng2390 3 ай бұрын

Still do not understand why they merged as they covered pretty much the same area.

@DiamondKingStudios 3 ай бұрын

So did the Seaboard Air Line and the Atlantic Coast Line down south, and a year before them also.

@asteroidrules 3 ай бұрын

They were both hemorrhaging money and hoped that they could lower costs.

@therailfanman2078 3 ай бұрын

Could you do a video on the Maine Central and Boston And Maine?

@kadenrobinson7067 3 ай бұрын

My great great grandfather used to work on the PRR as a conductor

@tristanbentz224 3 ай бұрын

Love the video but you can tell who lives near Lancaster by the way they pronounce the name

@AnimalsVehiclesAndMore 3 ай бұрын

It's very clear, in the business world, that you NEED to change with society and practices, otherwise you won't last.

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

Susquehanna can also be pronounced a bunch of other different ways, most with the "que" pronounced as 'kuh. For example suss-'kuh-HÁ-nuh, suss-'kuh-HÀ-nah, suss-'kuh-HAN-nuh, or suss-'kuh-HAN-uh. Take your pick, it's all good :^)

@tyrikuntamed4206 3 ай бұрын

I respect Alfred E Pearlman as a businessman but I still hate him for getting rid of the steam engines

@TheTransportationFanfromCA 3 ай бұрын

Can you do Santa Fe or Southern Pacific next?

@matthewpowell2429 3 ай бұрын

I wonder if the Pennsy would still be around if it wasn't for the Penn Central Disaster

@dknowles60 3 ай бұрын

no it would have not been around

@user-mr3ct1dm9p Ай бұрын

@@dknowles60Your reasoning ?????

@superjesse645 3 ай бұрын

It's almost like working for a company that never lost profit until after the big kaboom makes people get a giant ego about the shit they do... Also something something yadda yadda British Rail similarities.

@MrTragedious986 3 ай бұрын

Well at least we have the 2 K4s.

@RoyalPhxntom 3 ай бұрын

Ah yes. Pennsy. The basis of one of my old usernames. Specifically, my favorite Pennsy loco, the E6. I L O V E chonky Atlantic types, and paire it with a Bel (see what I did there, firebox), and valve gear attached to the second driver set, and you have a fast, strong little engine.

@MrCateagle 3 ай бұрын

FWIW, the PRR and the B&O were two major exhibitors at the 1893-1894 Columbian Exposition.

@harrisonofcolorado8886 3 ай бұрын

17:13 What's the music used?

@schudder1623 3 ай бұрын

17:13 this piece of music ist the official Pearlman Theme

@spirospagiatis4731 3 ай бұрын

Make a video about the Greek armored cruiser Georgios Averof.

@robbrown3519 29 күн бұрын

The board of the PRR had tunnel vision about the New York Central. When they Had so much in common with another RR. They Failed to see that they should have been talking merger with Union Pacific !

@FlapJacks7 3 ай бұрын

That looks like the Enola yard with that hill sorting cars and whatnot. Maybe, maybe not

@lucmarchand617 3 ай бұрын

He have friends work cprail montreal angus shop he said we was just mad penncentral close shop.we just disgust about wreck penncentral.very sad.😮

@Cnw8701 3 ай бұрын

PRR is overrated and gets more credit than it should. Really, it was a lot worse off prior to the Penn Central merger. I've always been more of a NYC fan, simply because of the fact that they were more progressive.

@DiamondKingStudios 3 ай бұрын

Executives: “nah we just fly who even takes our trains anyway” That one finance guy: “what if we put a bunch of funding in flying rich people around in private jets?” _Cue shenanigans_

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

@@DiamondKingStudios True story.

@DaMan-jt6dh 3 ай бұрын

Adolf Hitler was a progressive and JP Morgan (who self proclaimed himself as a god) said in his biography that he is the founding father of the progressive movement. In the case of the Pennsylvania, they weren't conservative, they were just arrogant. Making an entire movement just to create "change and Forward progress" is just a corporate ponzi scheme to make taxpayers pay for private infrastructure and pretend it's social services for the public good, and the majority of people who support it are addicted to meth and can't take care of themselves so they want everyone to drop down to their level, be in extreme poverty and pretend that the government will take care of us. All progressives are Nazis.

@DaMan-jt6dh 3 ай бұрын

My cousin who is a train engineer in Italy for the last 30 years can't even support himself, and even when I make $300 a week, I still make more money than him. The poorest 20% of Americans make more money than the average European, and this is a direct result of social programs bleeding the public sector dry, because the highest wealthiest tax payers get no bid government contracts for "social services equipment" and set whatever price they want. In the meantime only rich American tourists and the wealthy elites of those countries are the only people who can afford to ride on those high speed rail projects because it takes the average person weeks if not months just to afford a ticket to go somewhere because they are living in extreme poverty. This is all the result of neo Nazi progressive policies.

@alexhajnal107 3 ай бұрын

@@DaMan-jt6dh _"neo Nazi", "progressive"_ Those words don't mean what you think they mean.

@clevelandmaker386 3 ай бұрын

Pennsylvania became the Schwinn of railroads... Fame is your friend and enemy

@FlapJacks7 3 ай бұрын

Oh yeah!! PA PA PA! The center of the east coast. Love me some PA

@dknowles60 2 ай бұрын

the NYC was doing very good in the 1950's

@dknowles60 2 ай бұрын

the PRR was not Successful since the End of WW2, the NYC was Very Successful

@user-mr3ct1dm9p Ай бұрын

Wrong .

@ALCO-C855-fan 3 ай бұрын

TO HELL WITH PENN-CENTRAL!!! Sorry, but apart, they were great.

@dknowles60 2 ай бұрын

no the NYC did not have to settle for the PRR the Fed Gov forced the Merger. the NYC was making it all by it self

@user-mr3ct1dm9p Ай бұрын

You reason for that statement ??

@user-mr3ct1dm9p Ай бұрын

Your reason for that statement??

@dknowles60 Ай бұрын

Records form Al perman

@TrainMedia00 3 ай бұрын

Pennsylvania was a cool railroad from a very rich and fast locomotives and then now it became a big pile of shit and yes im talking about the Penn Central aka Penn Shit.