▚ The Standard Railroad of the World
Founded in 1846, the Pennsylvania Railroad became the largest and most powerful railroad in America — at its peak it carried more traffic and earned more revenue than any other, and called itself, with some justification, "the Standard Railroad of the World." Its keystone herald was everywhere in the industrial northeast.
▚ GG1s and the Broadway Limited
The PRR electrified its busy northeast corridor and ran the legendary GG1 electrics — 4,700-horsepower streamlined machines that served over 40 years. Its flagship Broadway Limited raced the New York Central's 20th Century Limited between New York and Chicago.
▚ The fall
Postwar decline hit the eastern giants hard. In 1968 the PRR did the unthinkable and merged with its arch-rival New York Central to form Penn Central — which collapsed into the largest bankruptcy in US history to that point, and was folded into government-created Conrail in 1976.
▚ On this layout
The Pennsylvania is represented by an E7 passenger unit in Brunswick green — a taste of the Standard Railroad of the World.