The Railroad That Never Was: Vanderbilt, Morgan, and the South Pennsylvania Railroad (Railroads Past and Present)

Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., tells the story of one of the most infamous railroad construction projects of the late 19th century. This 200-mile line through Pennsylvania’s most challenging mountain terrain was intended to form the heart of a new trunk line from the East Coast to Pittsburgh and the Midwest. Conceived in 1881 by William H. Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, and a group of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia industrialists, the South Pennsylvania Railroad was intended to break the Pennsylvania Railroad’s near-monopoly in the region. The line was within a year of opening when J. P. Morgan brokered a peace treaty that aborted the project and helped bolster his position in the world of finance. The railroad right of way and its tunnels sat idle for 60 years before coming to life in the late 1930s as the original section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Based on original letters, documents, diaries, and newspaper reports, The Railroad That Never Was uncovers the truth behind this mysterious railway.

Customer Reviews:

A Railroad Urban Legend

By Henry Posner III - April 3, 2011

As a Pittsburgher, the South Penn is the stuff of Urban Legends: the stillborn Vanderbilt competitor to the Pennsylvania Railroad, whose alignment was ultimately used by the Pennsylvania Turnpike. As in most Urban Legends there is a grain of truth; but this book, in a comprehensive and engaging way, deconstructs the myth.

The South Penn's story is largely about strategy, with lessons useful even in today's environment where the prospect of build-ins serves as a powerful economic weapon against alleged "monopoly" activity by railroads. There are also valuable financial lessons, such as:

1.Pay-as-you-go financing involving a group of "strategic investors" with different, and ultimately conflicting, interests (an effective strategy, at least from the promoter's perspective), and

2.Because weak companies are more likely to initiate price wars, it is to the benefit of the industry to strengthen them (advice more relevant for the post-deregulation airline... read more

Railroad That Never Was

By Jeffrey R. Hollis - February 21, 2011

Well written, well researched book in a style that is both informative and detailed yet not dry and dull as some histories can be. Highly recommend.

The Railroad that never was:

By Ohio Jim - February 6, 2012

This is a vey interesting book to read in that it not only chronicles the details of where and how the railroad was being built but also provides a wonderful history lesson on the time period and the men who were the economic giants of their day. As you read about how different individuals with differing goals came together and committed vast sums of money toward the project and how as some of them lost their interest (or had gotten what they wanted) the other members of the syndicate who really wanted the road built tried unsuccessfully to get it completed. One can draw parallels to today on things we see happening in our business and political world and realize that people have not really changed, just the mechanisms to accomplish what they want to gain.