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The '''Pennsylvania Railroad''', chartered in 1846, was one of the most important lines in the [[Railroad history]] of the United States. For many years was the largest corporation in the world, with a peak of 10,000 miles of tracks in heavily industrialized parts of the east, and 250,000 employees.
The '''Pennsylvania Railroad''', chartered in 1846, was one of the most important lines in the [[Railroad history]] of the United States. For many years was the largest corporation in the world, with a peak of 10,000 miles of tracks in heavily industrialized parts of the east, and 250,000 employees.
[[File:PA-RR-East.jpg|thumb|550px|eastern parts of the Pennsylvania system, 1930]]
==Innovation==
==Innovation==
The Pennsylvania was famed as the pioneer in most of the innovations which were later adopted by other roads. The Pennsylvania was one of the first to shift from wood to coal, was the first American railroad to lay steel rails and the first to lay Bessemer rails; it was the first to put the steel fire-box under the locomotive boiler; it was the first to use the air brake and the block signal system; it was the first to use the overhead crane in its rounds-houses and shops.
The Pennsylvania was famed as the pioneer in most of the innovations which were later adopted by other roads. The Pennsylvania was one of the first to shift from wood to coal, was the first American railroad to lay steel rails and the first to lay Bessemer rails; it was the first to put the steel fire-box under the locomotive boiler; it was the first to use the air brake and the block signal system; it was the first to use the overhead crane in its rounds-houses and shops.