Erie Railroad
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Template:Infobox Railroad The Erie Railroad Template:Reporting mark was a railroad that operated in New York State, Pennsylvania and Ohio, connecting New York City with Lake Erie and several cities in upstate New York, including Binghamton, Buffalo and Dunkirk. The line's original New York City area terminus is in Piermont, New York on the Hudson River.
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History
The name of the railroad has changed several times. It is commonly acknowledged as the Erie Railroad, but its first official name was the New York and Erie Railroad, chartered circa 1832. Upon completion of the line to Dunkirk at significant cost, the company went through bankruptcy and the name was changed to Erie Railway in 1861. The railroad company still did not see profits and via bankruptcy was sold in 1875 to become the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway. In 1893 that railroad also went into bankruptcy reorganization, to emerge as the Erie Railroad Company.
Three well-known financiers struggled for control of the company from the 1850s to the 1860s, Daniel Drew, Jay Gould and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
In 1848 the railroad built the Starrucca Viaduct a stone railroad bridge over the Starrucca Creek in Lanesboro, Pennsylvania which has survived and is still in use today. The viaduct is 1040 feet (317 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) high and 25 feet (8 m) wide at the top. It is the oldest stone rail bridge in Pennsylvania still in use.
In 1938, the Erie Railroad was involved in the famous legal case of Erie R.R. v. Tompkins. The resulting opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court is still taught in American law schools today.
The Erie Railroad merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1960. The new company became known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.
Locomotives
Company officers
The following are the presidents of the Erie Railroad through its history:
- Eleazer Lord (1833–1835)
- James G. King (1835–1839)
- Eleazer Lord (1839–1841)
- James Bowen (1841–1842)
- William Maxwell (1842–1843)
- Horatio Allen (1843–1844)
- Eleazer Lord (1844–1845)
- James Hooper (only for two months in 1845)
- Benjamin Loder (1845–1853)
- Homer Ramsdell (1853–1857)
- Charles Moran (1857–1859)
- Samuel Marsh (1859–1861)
- Nathaniel Marsh (1861–1864)
- Samuel Marsh (four months in 1864)
- Robert H. Berdell (1864–1867)
- John S. Eldridge (1867–1868)
- Jay Gould (1868–1872)
- John A. Dix (four months in 1872)
- Peter H. Watson (1872–1874)
- Hugh J. Jewett (1874–1884)
- John King (1884–1894)
- Eben B. Thomas (1894–1901)
- Frederick D. Underwood (1901–1927)
- John J. Bernet (1927–1929)
- Charles E. Denny (1929–1939)
- Robert E. Woodruff (1941–1949)
- Paul W. Johnston (1949–1956)
- Harry W. Von Willer (1956–1960)
External links
- Western New York Railroad Archive (http://wnyrails.railfan.net/erie_home.htm)
- Erie page by the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society (http://www.erielackhs.org/Erie/ERIEHOME.html)
- Starrucca Viaduct (http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/erstaruc.Html)
References
- Hungerford, Edward. Men of Erie: A Story of Human Effort. New York: Random House, 1946.
- Stratton, Fred, Erie Railroad presidents (http://erierr.railfan.net/eriepres.html). Retrieved March 2 2005.