December 31, 1935 - Monopoly Trains

The boardgame, Monopoly, was patented on December 31, 1935 and contains four railroads:

 

                      Reading Railroad

Chartered in 1833, the Reading began operations from Philadelphia to Reading and Pottsville in 1842.  The main purpose of the railroad was to carry anthracite coal from the mines in northeastern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia.

Until the decline after World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in America.  It went into bankruptcy in the 1970's, merged with Conrail in 1976 & its holding were disposed of in 2000. 

                     Pennsylvania Railroad

The "Pennsy" as it is commonly referred to, was founded in 1846, the original line connecting Harrisburgh and Pittsburgh.

It was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U. S. for the first half of the 20th century.  By 1925, it had over 10,000 miles of rail lines.

In 1968, it merged with the New York Central to form the Penn Central, which filed for bankruptcy within two years. Parts were transferred to Conrail, then to Norfolk Southern.

                               B & O Railroad

Incorporated in 1827, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was the first commercial railroad in America.

On Januray 7, 1830, the first "official" passengers rode in horse-drawn carts from Baltimore to the Carroloton Viaduct.  On May 24, 1830 the line was extended to Ellicott's Mills, MD, the oldest surviving railroad station in the country.

The B & O operated for over a century, but in 1963 it became part of the Chessie System which later became part of CSX.

                                 Short Line 

When we think of short line railroads, we typically refer to a local railroad that either serves a small number of towns and industries or hauls cars for one or more larger railroads. 

The Short Line on the Monopoly board, is a shortened name for the Shore Fast Line, a streetcar system that served Atlantic City and Ocean City, New Jersey from 1907 to 1948. 

The company that operated the streetcars of the Shore Fast Line was called the Atlantic City and Shore Railroad.