Erie Railroad

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Erie Railroad logo
Erie Railroad Company stock from 1869

The Erie Railroad Company was one of the first railroad companies in the United States of America . The beginnings go back to the year 1832. It was built to create the shortest connection between New York and Lake Erie and thus the other great lakes . It was economically successful and was able to expand westward to Cleveland and Chicago .

The line was first built in broad gauge of 1829 mm (6 feet) and later received a third rail by 1878 in order to make it usable for the other, regular-gauge railways. By 1885, the line was converted to the standard gauge of 1435 mm.

The railway was involved in the biggest railroad speculation in 1872 by Daniel Drew , Cornelius Vanderbilt , Jim Fisk and Jay Gould .

In 1960 the company merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad . In 1976 it became part of the Conrail .

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