The Pennsylvania Railroad Trivia Quiz

Answer: Monopoly

The avenues and locations of the game were based on the actual locals in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Answer: A keystone

The Pennsylvania Railroad's logo featured gold colored "PRR" initials in a red colored keystone. The keystone is the state symbol of Pennsylvania.

Answer: The Main Line

The Main Line grew up in the latter 19th century when wealthy Philadelphians developed country estates in the newly accessible suburban areas west of the city. The communities that grew up along PRR's main line include Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Paoli, and Villanova.

They remain among the most affluent and fashionable neighborhoods in the greater Philadelphia area. Although these areas were included in the original Welsh Tract of the 1600s, the Welsh Tract did not take its name from the PRR.

Answer: The Federal Express

The Federal Express ran from Boston to Washington. The Jeffersonian traveled from New York to St. Louis via Washington. The Broadway Limited took passengers between Chicago and New York. The Northern Arrow ran from St. Louis to Mackinaw City, Michigan.

The Federal Express was involved in one of the most famous wrecks in Pennsy history when on January 15, 1953 a Federal Express lost its brakes and slammed into Washington's Union Station. The station's floor was unable to support the weight of the locomotive and it fell into the basement. Amazingly, no one was killed or even seriously injured. The event occurred just five days before the inauguration of newly elected President Dwight D. Eisenhower threatening to cripple travel in and out of the city.

The locomotive, an electric GG1 unit, was salvaged and placed back into service. It is currently owned by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Answer: The New York Central Railroad

From most of the time from the 1860s to the 1960s the Pennsy was the largest railroad in America and the NYC RR was the second largest. The relationship between the two was akin to later rivalries such as Coke vs. Pepsi and Ford vs. Chevy. The New York Central was nicknamed "The Water Level Route", because its tracks followed the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers and then hugged the southern shores of the Great Lakes from New York to Chicago while the Pennsylvania Railroad had to traverse the rugged Allegheny Mountains of central Pennsylvania.

Answer: Altoona

Altoona was founded by the PRR in 1849 as the principle site of its shops due to its location just east of the Allegheny Mountains, a natural locomotive switching point, and because it is roughly halfway between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Unlike most American railroads, the Pennsy built most of their own locomotives and rolling stock. The corporate headquarters were in Philadelphia.

Answer: Red

All passenger cars and most passenger locomotives were painted Tuscan Red. Trim was originally gold leaf but was later switched to Buff colored paint. Freight locomotives were painted in a color called Dark Green Locomotive Enamel (DGLE, also called Brunswick Green), a shade of green so dark that it almost looked like black. Freight cars were painted in a rusty shade of red called Freight Car Color.

Answer: Madison Square Garden

Penn Station was located on 7th & 8th Avenues between 31st and 33rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The platforms and tracks, all of which are below ground, still exist under the arena but the beautiful Beaux-Arts concourse building was razed in 1964 to make way for the characterless sports arena.

The destruction of this landmark was a major contributing factor to the growth of the modern historical building preservation movement.

Answer: The South Fork Dam

The South Fork Dam in Cambria County, Pennsylvania failed on May 31, 1889 causing the Johnstown Flood. The dam was build to facilitate canal boats on the state sponsored Main Line of Public Works. The dam was acquired with the rest of the Main Line's assets by the PRR in the 1850s.

The PRR was primarily interested in the Main Line's trackage and rights of way and had no need for a dam. It sat abandoned and unmaintained for nearly 30 years until it was purchased by a group of wealthy Pittsburgh businessmen (including Pennsy VPs Robert Pitcairn and James McCrea), who filled the reservoir and used the area as a hunting and fishing retreat.

The businessmen cut corners when they refilled the reservoir and it burst after several days of heavy rainfall. Ironically, the PRR suffered heavy damage along its main east to west line due to the flooding.

Answer: 2.5 years

The Penn Central was formed by a merger of the Pennsy and arch rival the New York Central Railroad. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad was added the following year. Penn Central declared bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. It was the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history at the time.

The Penn Central continued under bankruptcy protection until operations finally ceased in 1976 and assets were divided between the government sponsored Amtrak and Conrail lines. The Penn Central was plagued throughout its brief existence by deteriorating equipment, competition from trucks and air travel, and excessive government regulation.