The Allegheny Portage Railroad (Ep4)

EPISODE 4:  THE ALLEGHENY PORTAGE RAILROAD.  The successful opening of the Erie Canal in New York State in 1825 gives the rest of the country a case of “canal fever,” and nowhere more so than in Pennsylvania.  Desperate to catch up with the surging economy of New York City, economic elites from Philadelphia and elsewhere in the Commonwealth hatch a plan to link Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh to Erie.  What eventually developed – the Main Line of Public Works – is a system of canals and railroads that link across the state, but at enormous cost to the Commonwealth.  The 36-mile Allegheny Portage Railroad, constructed between 1831 and 1834, was the key section that would transport goods and people over the crest of the Allegheny Mountains.  While it was a technological marvel, it was inefficient. The entire system never took in enough tolls to reimburse the huge investment of funds by the state government, and the Commonwealth defaulted on its debt payments in 1842.  Out of this disaster would arise a later successful effort to create a statewide rail system owned and operated by a private company, which would be known as the Pennsylvania Railroad, and which would become in a few decades both the largest railroad and the largest company in the world. It is also during this time that anthracite found in the Coal Regions of the state becomes vital to manufacturing, and the Philadelphia economy becomes the leading manufacturing center in the country.

Timestamps for major events/discussions:

[03:18] – Water was the highway of the 1700s and early 1800s

[06:06] – New York State develops the Erie Canal

[10:18] – Philadelphia’s and Pennsylvania’s economic linkages

[16:14] – The Main Line of Public Works

[23:17] – The Allegheny Portage Railroad

[31:56] – Flaws of The Main Line of Public Works

[38:42] – Coal becomes important in manufacturing

[45:18] – The origin story of the Pennsylvania Railroad

[56:48] – Places to visit

Books to read:  

While a lot of reading went into this episode, one notable source was an inspiration:  the magisterial and intensely researched multi-volume history of the Pennsylvania Railroad by Albert Churella.

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