The Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered in 1846 by the Pennsylvania legislature to build a line between
Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. It grew to become the largest of the trunk line railroads that connected the East Coast
of the United States with the interior. Its first passenger train ran in 1848 between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Through buying the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, the railroad reached Chicago in 1856.
After the American Civil War the railroad expanded to St. Louis, Mo., and Cincinnati, Ohio, in the west and to New
York City, Washington, D.C., and Norfolk, Va., in the south and east, ultimately becoming a 10,000-mile system. In
1910, with the completion of a tunnel under the Hudson River, it became the only railroad to enter New York City
from the south. It also acquired control of the Long Island Railroad Company.
Throughout most of its history the Pennsylvania was a prosperous railroad, losing money for the first time in 1946.
It suffered from the disadvantage that its route to Chicago had to cross the Appalachians, with grades of greater
than 0.5 percent. Its chief competitor, the New York Central, had a water-level route to Chicago.
In February 1968 the two railroads merged to form the Penn Central Transportation Company, which absorbed
the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company the following year. The new corporation also had a
number of subsidiaries in real estate, oil refining, and a variety Penn Central encountered serious management
and financial difficulties, however, and was forced into bankruptcy in June 1970. Its passenger services were
taken over by the federally established National Railway Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in 1971.
The Penn Central continued to lose money, and, when efforts at reorganization failed, the assets of the railroad
were acquired by Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in April 1976. Operation of the New York-Washington
route was later transferred to Amtrak. The Penn Central Corporation continued in business as a diversified
corporation not connected with the railroad industry.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company was established in 1827 by Baltimore Maryland merchants to compete
for the trade to the west with New York merchants and their newly opened Erie Canal . The B&O was the first
steam-operated railway in the United States to be chartered as a common carrier of freight and passengers.
A driving force in its early years was the Baltimore banker George Brown, who served as treasurer of the
company from 1827 until 1834. It was he who had Ross Winans build the first real railroad car.
Charles Carroll, the American Revolutionary leader and last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence
laid the first stone for the B&O line on July 4, 1828.The first 13 miles of track from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills, Md.
was opened in 1830. Peter Cooper builder of the first American made steam locomotive, the Tom Thumb, ran over
this line and demonstrated to doubters that steam traction was feasible on the steep, winding grades.
The railroad was extended to Wheeling, Va. (now in West Virginia), a distance of 379 miles in 1852. In the 1860s
and the 70s, the railroad reached Chicago, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo. In 1896 it went bankrupt. After it was
reorganized in 1899, it grew further, reaching Cleveland, Ohio, and Lake Erie in 1901.
In 1963 the B&O was acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company and in 1980 became part of the
newly formed CSX Corporation. The B&O’s long-distance passenger trains were discontinued in 1971 when the
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) took over intercity passenger service, although it continued
limited commuter service at Washington D.C. and Pittsburgh, Pa.
About one-quarter of the B&O’s freight revenues come from its traditional haulage of bituminous coal from mines
in the Allegheny Mountains. Other important freight includes motor vehicles and parts, as well as chemicals.
The New York Central Railroad founded in 1853 was one of the major American railroads that connected the East
Coast with the interior. It was a consolidation of 10 small railroads that paralleled the Erie Canal between Albany
and Buffalo. This included The Mohawk and Hudson, New York state’s first railway, which opened in 1831.
The New York Central’s moving spirit was Erastus Corning (1794-1872) four times mayor of Albany, who for 20
years had been president of the Utica and Schenectady, one of the consolidated roads. He served as president
of the New York Central until 1864.
In 1867 Cornelius Vanderbilt won control, after beating down the Central’s stock, and combined it with his New
York and Hudson railroads running from Manhattan to Albany. Vanderbilt joined it to the Lake Shore and Michigan
Southern Railway in 1873, extending his system from Buffalo to Chicago. He added the Michigan Central in 1871.
Under his son William, the Central acquired the New York, West Shore, and Buffalo Railroad on the west side of
the Hudson River in 1885. The system grew until it had 10,000 miles of track linking New York with Boston,
Montreal, Chicago, and St. Louis.
After World War II the New York Central began to decline. Between 1946 and 1958 it dropped four of its six fast
daily passenger runs between New York and Chicago. Efforts to merge with its chief competitor, the also ailing
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, culminated in 1968 with the creation of the Penn Central Transportation
Company. A merger that later included the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, in 1969. The new
colossus had 21,000 miles (33,790 km) of track. Its creators hoped to achieve a division of labor, sending freight
to New York and New England north along the New York Central’s water-level route while the Pennsylvania main
tracks served the industrial needs of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the Delaware and Schuylkill valleys.
The merger failed, however, and the new road was forced into bankruptcy in June 1970. Passenger services
were taken over by the federally established National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in 1971. The
company’s other railroad assets were merged with five other lines in Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in
April 1976, although the New York-Washington route was later transferred to Amtrak.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
The Railroads and Trains of the Ohio North Coast
The Pennsylvania Railroad
The New York Central Railroad
Lionel’s Baltimore & Ohio President Harrison #5307 4-6-2 Pacific is a scale representation of one of B&O’s
President Class P7 Steam Locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive works.
These locomotives were built in 1927 & 28 and were numbered 5300 through 5320 were named for the first
twenty Presidents of The United States.
Lionel’s Baltimore & Ohio E7 A-A’s #1425 & #1429 are scale representations of the EMD E7.
This was a 2,000-horsepower, A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-
Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois.
The cab version, or E7A, was manufactured from February, 1945 to April, 1949, 428 were produced.
K-Line’s Baltimore & Ohio F7 A-B-A’s #4503, #5497 and #4527 are scale representations of the EMD F7. The
EMD F7 was a 1,500 horsepower Diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive
Division of La Grange, Illinois between February 1949 and December 1953.
Although originally promoted as a freight-hauling unit by EMD, the F7 was also used in passenger service.
The F7 was the fourth model in GM-EMD's successful line of F-unit locomotives, and by far the highest-selling
cab unit of all time.
Atlas O’s Baltimore & Ohio RS-1 #9186 is a scale representation of an ALCO RS-1. The RS-1 is 4-axle diesel-
electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and by the American Locomotive Company
from 1953 to 1960.
This model has the distinction of having the longest production run of any diesel locomotive for the North
American market. The car body configuration of the RS-1 pioneered the road switcher type of diesel locomotive.
Most locomotives built since have followed this basic design.
The Lionel Pennsylvania Railroad M1a #6759 is a scale representation of a Pennsylvania Railroad Steam
Locomotive with the 4-8-2 "Mountain" wheel arrangement. The 4-8-2 uses four pairs of driving wheels with a
four-wheel guiding truck in front for stability at speed and a two-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox
needed for sustained power.
Although built for both passenger and freight work, they spent most of their service lives hauling heavy high-speed
freight trains. The M1a featured several improvements from the previous M1 locomotives. While they were mostly
used on freight, their dual service purpose entitled them to have smoke box mounted keystone shaped number
plates. Freight engines on the Pennsylvania Railroad had circular number plates.
K-Line’s Pennsylvania Railroad F3 A-B-A’s #9500, #9500B and #9501 are scale representations of the EMD F3.
The EMD F3 was a 1,500 horsepower Diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive
Division of La Grange, Illinois produced between July 1945 and February 1949. Although originally promoted as a
freight-hauling unit by EMD, the F3 was also used in passenger service.The F3 was the third model in EMD's
highly successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels, and it was the second most produced of the series.
The Lionel Pennsylvania Railroad GP7 #8512 is a scale representation of an EMD GP7. A four-axle diesel-electric
locomotive built between October, 1949 and May, 1954 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division.
Power was provided by a 16-cylinder 1500 horsepower engine. The GP7 was offered both with and without
control cabs. They were the first EMD road locomotives to use a hood unit design instead of a car-body design.
The GP7 proved very popular, locomotives in this series came to be nicknamed ‘Geeps’. Many GP7s can still be
found in service today.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was established in 1868 with the consolidation of two smaller lines, the
Virginia Central and the Covington and Ohio. It subsequently acquired a number of other lines; culminating in its
merger with the Pere Marquette Railroad Company in 1947.
The C&O acquired the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1963 but continued to operate it as a separate system. In
1973 the Chessie System, Inc., was established as a holding company with the C&O as a subsidiary. The railroad
operates mainly in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan.
Half of its freight revenues are drawn from coal, with motor vehicles and parts also contributing significantly. Its
passenger services were taken over by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in 1972.
In 1980 the Chessie System merged with Seaboard Coast Line Industries, Inc., operator of track extending from
Washington, D.C., to Miami, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Chicago, to form the CSX Corporation. Coal is the major
cargo hauled. CSX also owns a large line of container ships and another of barge carriers.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad
The Erie Railroad
Click on the thumbnail images to enlarge the photograph of my trains. Click on the
link below the thumbnails to see a photo of the real train it was modeled after.
The K-Line by Lionel Pennsylvania Railroad #411 A5 0-4-0 Steam Switcher is a scale representation of the two
axle and four wheel, (all of which are driven) steam switchers of the early 1900’s.
In the United States, the Pennsylvania Railroad kept producing 0-4-0s long after all other major railroads had
abandoned development of the type, building their final A5s class into the 1920s. The A5s was a monster among
0-4-0s, larger than many 0-6-0 designs, with modern features found on few others of its type. The Pennsy built it
because it had a large number of confined and tight industrial branches, more than most other railroads.
The Lionel New York Central GP7 #5628 is a scale representation of an EMD GP7. A four-axle diesel-electric
locomotive built between October, 1949 and May, 1954 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division.
Power was provided by a 16-cylinder 1500 horsepower engine. The GP7 was offered both with and without
control cabs. They were the first EMD road locomotives to use a hood unit design instead of a car-body design.
The GP7 proved very popular, locomotives in this series came to be nicknamed ‘Geeps’. Many GP7s can still be
found in service today.
The Lionel Alco PA1/ PB1 #2000 & #2000B are scale representations of the American Locomotive Companies
PA, a family of diesel locomotives built between June 1946 and December 1953. They were of a cab unit design,
and both cab-equipped lead A unit PA and cabless booster B unit PB models were built. The 2,000 horsepower
PA-1/PB-1 had distinctive styling, with a long, straight nose tipped by a headlight in a square, slotted grille, raked
windshields, and trim pieces behind the cab windows that lengthened and smoothed the lines.
The Lionel C&O 4-6-4 Streamlined Hudson # 490 is a semi-scale model of a C&O class L-1. In 1946 the
Chesapeake & Ohio took five of its Class F-19 Pacific 4-6-2 locomotives and converted them into Class L-1
Hudsons. This rework was done in its Huntington Shops and was completed in 1947. All but one of the new L-1s
were covered with a streamlined stainless steel cowl, which was painted yellow and silver. The tenders were
cased in fluted stainless steel and tapered at the top so they would blend exactly with the new Budd passenger
cars. The "yellowbellies" as C&O crews called them were numbered 490 through 494 (number 494 did not have a
cowl applied). Only 490 survives today and is on display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD.
The New York and Erie RR Company was enfranchised and incorporated in 1832, and construction was begun in
1835 near Deposit, NY. The year 1851 saw 446 mi of trunk line across New York State completed to Dunkirk,
NY., on Lake Erie at a huge cost. The railroad was extended to Jersey City, N.J., and to Buffalo, NY., but in 1861
the company failed and was reorganized as the Erie Railway Company. The company gained sound financial
footing during the Civil War before it became the subject of a tremendous financial battle. The Erie became known
as "the scarlet woman of Wall Street" Daniel Drew, Jay Gould, and James Fisk allied themselves and from 1866
to 1868 outmaneuvered—with the aid of unauthorized stock issues, political chicanery, and incessant litigation—
Cornelius Vanderbilt to keep control of the Erie Railway Company. After further financial trickery, the Erie Railway
Company went bankrupt and was reorganized (1878) as the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway
Company. By 1880 branch lines were built to Chicago. The railroad went into receivership after the Panic of 1893
and was reorganized (1895) as the Erie RR Company. Under the presidency (1901–27) of Frederick D.
Underwood, the Erie continued to suffer losses, and after a major reorganization (1941) it yielded (1942) a
dividend for the first time in 69 years. In 1960 the Erie merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western RR
to form the Erie-Lackawanna. In 1976 this organization and five other lines that had gone bankrupt were merged
to form the Conrail system, which in 1999 became part of the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads.
K-Line’s Erie Railroad F3 A-B-A’s #803A, #803B and #803D are scale representations of the EMD F3. The EMD
F3 was a 1,500 horsepower Diesel-electric locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division
of La Grange, Illinois produced between July 1945 and February 1949. Although originally promoted as a freight-
hauling unit by EMD, the F3 was also used in passenger service.The F3 was the third model in EMD's highly
successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels, and it was the second most produced of the series.
The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad the NKP, abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in
the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the Nickel Plate Road. The Nickel Plate Railroad was
constructed in 1881 along the South Shore of the Great Lakes connecting Buffalo, New York and Chicago to
compete with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. In 1964, the Nickel Plate Road and several other
mid-western carriers were merged into the larger Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W). The goal of the N&W
expansion was to form a more competitive and successful system serving 14 states and the Canadian province of
Ontario on more than 7,000 miles of railroad. The profitable N&W was itself combined with the Southern Railway,
another profitable carrier, to form Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) in 1982.
The Nickel Plate Road