Penn Central Railroad Merger 1968 Poster

The Penn Central was created as a response to challenges railroads in the late 1960s. The northeastern quarter of the United States was the most densely populated region of the U.S.A. While railroads elsewhere in North America drew a high percentage of their revenues from the long-distance shipment of commodities such as coal, lumber, paper and iron ore, Northeastern railroads traditionally depended on a much more diversified mix of services. PRR and NYC came into the merger in the black, but Penn Central Railroads's first year of operation yielded a deficit of $2.8 million. In 1969 the deficit was nearly $83 million. The merger of The New York Central Railroad and The Pennsylvania Railroad on February 1, 1968 was supposed to Improve rail service, both freight service and passenger service. It also was to Strengthen capabilities for National Defense, and Provide more modern equipment. The American financial system was seriously shocked when after only two years of operations, Penn Central declared bankruptcy on June 21, 1970. It was the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history. Soon realizing that Penn Central’s problems were far too entangled and complicated for the railroad to stabilize itself as well as recognizing that it was threatening total shutdown, Conrail was created and began operations on April 1, 1976 taking over the remnants of the PC and several Northeastern carriers. Just four years later in 1980, the Staggers Act was created and signed into law, which allowed for enormous deregulation of the railroads. Penn Central Railroad operated the largest passenger train service of any U.S. railroad at the time of Amtrak's inception in 1971. Image Copyright © Stan Feldman 1966 - 2020