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The Pittsburg and Wheeling Railroad was incorporated in 1849. The Little Saw Mill Run Railroad was established in 1850-1 and was designed to open up the vast coal beds on that stream. Early in 1852 the total cost of the three miles which constituted the road, including one locomotive and the necessary cars, was $41,900. In April, 1850, the Pittsburg and Erie Railroad was incorporated.

In September, 1851, the Chartiers Coal Railroad was put in operation and an excursion went from Pittsburg to McKees Rocks, where they took passage. In 1851 the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad was brought forward for consideration before a big meeting. George Darsie, Lecky Harper, Edwin M. Stanton and Harmar Denny spoke in favor of the enterprise. Resolutions were passed to the same effect.

In April, 1852, the County of Allegheny was authorized to subscribe to the stock of the Allegheny Valley Railway, formerly the Pittsburg, Kittanning and Warren Railroad. The county commissioners were petitioned by 3,988 citizens to subscribe 20,000 shares to aid this road. They finally subscribed for 10,000 shares. The following year they subscribed for 10,000 shares in the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railway upon petition of 1,064 citizens; also 3,000 shares to the Chartiers Valley Railroad, and 3,000 shares in the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad. By 1857 the debt of the county amounted to $8,000,000 of which $5,500,000 was incurred in aid to railroads.

On July 1, 1850, the ground was first broken for the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad, which had been incorporated by act of April 11, 1848. Handcars ran west from Allegheny as far as Rochester on June, 18, 1851. For this road seven first-class locomotives were contracted for -- four in Philadelphia and three in Boston. In January, 1851, the mail from Philadelphia arrived here in thirty-one hours over the Central Railroad and the Good Intent Transportation Line. In January, 1851, William O'H. Robinson sold to the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad twenty acres in Allegheny for $35,000. In February, 1851, the Central Railroad was completed to within a few miles of Pittsburg. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. were also nearing this city with its line. The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad was being pushed forward with wonderful speed. The Erie Railroad in New York was nearly finished and Pennsylvania knew by sorry experience that it would be fatal to her interests to permit that road to gain the Western trade. People here so regarded the outlook. Therefore, all railroads were assisted and pushed forward with vehement speed. Public meetings were held, petitions circulated, stock subscribed -- all done under feverish enthusiasm, to be mourned for later, whether wisely or unwisely, in sackcloth and ashes.

On March 17, 1851, the first boat left here to connect with R. G. Parks' Express Packet and Railroad Line and unite with the canal at Beaver and then communicate with the Cleveland Railroad. It was possible on this date to leave here at 9 a. m., and by 2 p. m. the next day reach Cleveland at a total cost of $3.50 (Post, 1851).

The laying of rails in Allegheny was begun May 12, 1851; by May 23d they were down as far as Manchester. Locomotives began to arrive here from Philadelphia over the Central Railroad with rails, ties, chairs, etc., for the Western road. By June 2, 1851, the rails were down nearly the whole way to Beaver, and on June 10th and 11th the grading and bridging contracts for the Ohio and Pennsylvania road were let at Wooster, Ohio. At this time the Pittsburg and Erie Railroad and the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad were pushed forward. This was a wonderful period. Railroads were building in every direction. Pittsburg had a half dozen or more such projects in active preparation. The old canal, over which the hopes and tears of Pittsburg had so often been spent, was already relegated to the background, and a new era, full of higher commercial and industrial possibilities, was dawning upon this busy city, and a realization of the wonderful improvement of modern times had fastened upon the local mind. Men were yet living here who, in the light of the marvelous advancements, could scarcely credit the evidences of their own senses. They came here with the canoe, the bateau, the ark, and here now was the locomotive that could whirl them to Philadelphia in less than twenty-four hours.

The contract required that rails from Pittsburg to New Brighton should be down by July 1, 1851; to Massillon by November 15th, and to the intersection of the Cleveland and Cincinnati Railroad by October 1st. These contracts were completed on time, and the road was formally opened with a big excursion on July 30, 1851. At this time General Robinson was president; S. W. Roberts engineer, and among the directors were Frederick Lorenz, Captain Wood and Mr. Schoenberger, of this vicinity. On October 6, 1851, a regular passenger train began to run as far as New Brighton, leaving Pittsburg at 10 a. m., and returning at 4 p. m.; fare, eighty-five cents. The Allegheny Valley Railroad, designed to connect Pittsburg with New York State, was selling shares about this date.

On November 22, 1851, the locomotive Indiana arrived at the outer depot, near Pittsburg, from Philadelphia. On December 10, 1851, the road was formally opened with an excursion of the public to Turtle Creek, and on December 11, 1851, an "express" train was scheduled to leave the Liberty Street depot every morning at 6:30, bound eastward, run twelve miles to Turtle Creek, there to connect with stages; thence to Beatty's station, twenty-eight miles away; thence by rail to Philadelphia; all for $11.

On November 24, 1851, regular "express" trains began to leave Allegheny, bound westward, for Enon Valley, forty-four miles distant; there a gap of sixteen miles was covered with stages to Salem; thence the railroad conveyed passengers directly to Cleveland.

"At the last session of the Legislature thirty one new railroad companies were chartered, and seventy-eight new supplements to other railroad companies and ninety more for incorporating plank roads were passed" (Dispatch, April, 1853).

By act of April, I854, the two railways were designed to be connected by a bridge across the Allegheny River. The contract was given to Henderson, Allston & Co., and the expense fixed at $160,000. Two years later $120,000 had been spent on the bridge and toward bringing the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railroad across the river. Opposition in Allegheny had delayed the work. It was also proposed to extend the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad across the Ohio River at the mouth of Saw Mill Run, and then continue it over the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad tracks to Pittsburg. In 1855 James S. Craft was president of the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad.

During the month of October, 1855, Pittsburg shipped to Cleveland over the railroad 4,500 tons, among which were the following items: 54,696 bars of iron and steel; 12,016 bundles of iron and steel; 15,060 kegs of nails; 19,369 packages of glass; 3,463 packages of hardware; 3,763 kegs of white lead; 17,400 packages of sundry merchandise. During the first year of the operation of this road only 6,000 tons were shipped west over it; in 1855 about 30,000 tons were thus sent (Commercial Journal, 1856).

On September 12, 1855, a big excursion went from this vicinity to West Newton by boat and then over the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad to Connellsville to celebrate the completion of the railroad to that city. The Mayor, city councils, members of the press and many private citizens participated. On January 29, 1856, the Allegheny Valley Railroad was formally opened to Kittanning with a free excursion; 450 citizens made the trip. The cost of the road from Pittsburg to Kittanning was $1,796,500 for the forty-four miles. The entrance of this railroad into the city was one of the most vexatious questions of that date. In November, 1856, a continuous line of railway was opened to Chicago; three lines were united and took the name Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railroad. So enormous was the freight business over the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1856 the company was obliged to enlarge its facilities, and accordingly bought a tract, 259x386 feet, near the old Methodist burying-ground, to be used as a temporary storage or warehouse. The Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railroad experienced the same difficulty, and likewise overcame it by increasing its facilities. The locomotive Ashland, on which were four persons, ran across the Allegheny Railroad bridge for the first time on the morning of September 21, 1857; cars and trains soon followed. The following table shows the average of the freight business of the Pennsylvania Railroad in tons (Commercial Journal, 1858.):

Tons Shipped . . . 1853 . . . 1854 . . . 1855 . . . 1856 . . . 1857.

Through, east . . . 34,302 . . . 45,118 . . . 106,406 . . . 88,707 . . . 94,906
Through, west . . . 38,837 . . . 53,826 . . . 65,564 . . . 76,456 . . . 77,167
Local, east . . . 10,152 . . . 13,321 . . . 127,614 . . . 196,230 . . . 238,127
Local, west . . . 18,797 . . . 47,966 . . . 65,302 . . . 92,599 . . . 120,220
Totals . . . 102,088 . . . 160,231 . . . 364,886 . . . 453,992 . . . 530,420

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Last modified: 15-Oct-2001

Source document: "Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania" edited by Erasmus Wilson. Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co., 1898.