The Pennsylvania Railroad: The Long Decline, 1933–1968

by Albert J. Churella

The final volume of Albert J. Churella's landmark series, The Pennsylvania Railroad , concludes the story of the iconic transportation company, covering its long decline from the 1930s to its merger with the New York Central Railroad in 1968.

Despite some parallels with World War I, the experience of World War II had a substantially different impact on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The introduction of new technologies, personnel, and commuter routes had significant effects on this giant of American transportation. The recession of 1958 sparked a period of decline from which it and many other railroads struggled to fully recover.

The Pennsylvania The Long Decline, 1933-1968 provides an unparalleled look at the final years of this legendary company, which in its prime was the largest corporation in the world, with a budget second only to that of the US federal government.

928 pages, Hardcover

Published November 26, 2024

Reviews

[Gregory Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, first thing: Yes, it's 900 pages, but 1/3 of that is end notes, so you're really only reading about 600 pages (in itself no easy task). For the casual fan, it's probably too much. For the hardcore PRR fan, it's probably about right, but it's still not an easy read, and the subtitle is a bit misleading in that a fair amount of the content (in particular the chapter on steam locomotives) goes back to the early 1800s. There are other chapters on electric power, diesels, passenger trains, commuters, labor relations, and the hard-fought battle to secure ICC and Justice Department approval to merge with the New York Central (a ghastly mistake, as it turned out). The book's narrative essentially ends with the day of the merger, and does not say much about the subsequent 197o bankruptcy. I found the chapter (by far the longest) covering the merger process to be the most interesting (spoiler alert: Stuart Saunders agreed to some ultimately crippling conditions to secure final approval). For those interested in "how's and why's" of the eventual collapse, I recommend the still-available Wreck of the Penn Central, by Daughen and Binzen. It provides a perfect coda to Churella's excellent narrative.