Who founded the Penn Central Railroad?

Question

Who founded the Penn Central Railroad?

Answer 1

Nobody.  The Penn Central was formed from the New York Central (founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt) and the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Both were in bad financial trouble, and the Penn Central didn't last long.  The government eventually got a whole bundle of bankrupt northeastern roads and called it Conrail.

Answer 2

The merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads took place in February of 1968.

Answer 3

Al Gore - he also did the internet and cast the deciding vote to Tax Social Security benefits when he was the Vice Pres

Answer 4

This site perports to be the definitive history of the Penn Central Railroad. Enjoy, it's a fascinating story.

Answer 5

The Penn Central Railroad was formed out of an agreement to merge the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads - both ailing financially. They were competitors, but neither could cut it financially.

What no one else has mentioned so far, is that as of January 1, 1969, the New York, New Haven, & Hartford Railroad was ordered by the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) to become a part of the Penn Central system. The New Haven was an intergal part of the North East, and was the key to New England (serving NY, MA, CT, and RI) - the former NHRR mainline is now part of Metro North's New Haven line (and CT branches) and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

PC wasn't short of mis-management and bad finances and lasted until Conrail and Amtrak took over operations.

I suggest you look up a book called "The Wreck of the Penn Central" if the detailed story is of interest.

Answer 6

If you're really interested, a good book  to read  it "The Wreck of the Penn Central"

Contemporay American Management hubris meets government regulation....oh, by the way, the business was railroading.

Answer 7

John Penn?  

No. Wait. That was Pennsylvania.

Never mind.

I'm doin' my taxes and can't think straight..........

Answer 8

The Penn Central was founded around 1968, as a merger between two rival railroads, the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Naturally, a merger of rivals wasn't the greatest idea.

Neither railroad was in good financial shape to begin with.  Both had been hit hard by a stagnant economy, poor management, lack of maintenance, and increasing competition from other modes of transportation.  Add to this that there was a lot of duplication of services, since many of the routes ran side by side.

Neither one was doing well alone, and when they combined, it was a double disaster.  The railroad went belly-up two years later, and along with several other bankrupt railroads in the same part of the country, several years later they were taken over by the federal government, and became Conrail.