About this collection

In preparation for its 1946 centennial, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company commissioned the engineering firm of Coverdale & Colpitts to prepare a comprehensive history of the company. The commission involved the creation of two products. The first was this detailed four-volume history of the PRR System as it existed in 1946 for the use of management only. The data collected was subsequently utilized to produce the second product, Centennial History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which was mass distributed. The former work was printed in a limited edition of 100 copies which were strictly controlled and issued only to certain corporate officers, making it an essential but extremely rare source for PRR history.

As its title indicates, this is not a narrative history, but rather a statistical compilation which accounts for the construction, financing and corporate succession of every segment of the PRR System to 1946. As very little mileage was added after that date, it practically covers the entire railroad. The volumes are arranged in the form of a chart of corporate succession, with the successor company followed by all of its predecessors in chronological order.

This publication is part of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company records (Accession 1807). To view a catalog record for this item, click here.

Click here for a linked index to all four volumes.