Pennsylvania Lines??

[tcf511]

My family is originally from Marion, Ohio. I have photo taken there in the early 1900s. It has a locomotive with several men posed in the photo. The engine is labelled Pennsylvania Lines. Was that some kind of predecessor to the PRR?

[dehusman]

The Pennsylvannia had numerous subsidiary roads in the early 1900's. You may hear the term "Lines West" when discussing the Pennsy, that means lines west of Pittsburgh. There had there own mechanical flavor. They had a different style of tender with extended height coal bunker sides, and in the 1900's they used class GG hoppers while the lines east used hopper bottom gondolas.

The lines used Pennsy standards and were controlled by the Pennsy, but had been incorporated as seperate railroads that the Pennsy gained control of (very common for the era). Some of the "lines":
North Central Railway
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington RR
W Jersey and Seashore RR.
Alleghany Valley RR
Western New York and Pennsylvania Rwy
Pennsylvania and North Western RR
Union Line
Anchor Line
Green Line
Midland Line
Canada Southern

Dave H.

[joseph2]

Marion, Ohio is a great train watching spot.I think one of the North-South railroads thru there used to be PRR before it was sold to the N&W.

[tcf511]

Thanks very much for the information.

[BRJN]

A few of PRR's "Lines West" from just before 1900:

Pittsburgh, Ft Wayne & Chicago RY
Grand Rapids & Indiana RY (Cincinnati - Grand Rapids MI - Mackinac MI)
Cincinnati, Richmond & Ft Wayne RR
Vandalia RR (Terre Haute IN - St Louis)
Terre Haute & Indianapolis RR
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis RR ("the Panhandle")
Eel River RR (an ex-Wabash line from Peru IN towards Detroit)

This list is obviously skewed towards northeast Indiana.

Anything with a short title like "Blue Line" is probably not a rail line - meaning it does not own track, yards, interlocking towers, &c - but a car provider. The Star Union Line made boxcars and reefers available beyond PRR's own construction capacity. Empire Line originally concentrated on petroleum products (and tank cars) until Rockefeller's Standard Oil decided to object strongly. Blue Line offered express services; the cars went on the high-priority trains and were sorted out first at a yard.

[ndbprr]

The PRR was divided into two grand divisions: Lines East and Lines West for some time early in the 1900's through about WW2. Lines West was headquartered in Ft. Wayne (I think) and had its own moptive practices like centered headlights instead of bolier top. Pennsylvania Lines was represented on tenders for awhile butI can't give you the dates. Later the PRR tried a different font and standardized on Craw Clarendon for all equipment.

[BRJN]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ndbprr

Lines West was headquartered in Ft. Wayne (I think)

I _wish_ that were true, but no. The 1900 ORER for instance states that most of the Lines West officers lived in Pittsburgh, some in Philadelphia.