Penn Central Company definition of Penn Central Company in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Penn Central Company, former U.S. transportation company, formed in 1968 by the merger of the New York Central RR New York Central RR, U.S. transportation compay formed in 1853 by the consolidation of many small New York state railroads. In 1867, Cornelius Vanderbilt became president of the railroad and, through a series of mergers, formed the New York Central and Hudson River
..... Click the link for more information. and the Pennsylvania RR Pennsylvania Railroad, former U.S. transportation company; inc. 1846 by the Pennsylvania legislature. It opened in 1854 as a single-track line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
..... Click the link for more information. . By the early 1970s the railroad was bankrupt; in 1976 the U.S. government created Conrail from the Penn Central and five other failed eastern railroads. In 1994 the company became an insurance firm, American Premier Underwriters. Conrail itself was taken over in 1999 by the CSX and Norfolk Southern railroads.

Bibliography

See J. R. Daughen and P. Binzen, The Wreck of the Penn Central (1971, repr. 1999).