The Philadelphia & Erie Railroad
Warren, PA
Hurrah for the Sunbury!
Hurrah! Hurrah! the West Sunbury's done!
And coming to Warren's reduced to fun;
No leaving Columbus at break of the morn,
No taking till night to double Cape Horn,
No stopping at noon ones horses to feed,
No freezing your fingers to water your steed,
No walking up hill your numb'd limbs to stretch,
No groaning in spirit the Borough to reach.
No wading through mud and no sitting to shiver.
You get in the cars and jump out at the river,
With half of the money you once used to spend
Or the time which it took to reach the big bend.
Then throw up your caps and hurrah for Struthers,
For Worrell and Wetmore and a half dozen others,
Not forgetting in turn the redoubtable Jack
With his lusty limb'd heroes who laid down the track
Nor let your enthusiasm grow any slacker,
Till you throw in a tiger for the Governor, Packer.
Then let out your voices and hurrah with a will,
Till the jubilant echoes return from each hill,
and the welkin above in sympathy shakes
For Warren is wedded at last to the Lakes!
The above poem was printed in 1859 in the Warren Gazette (?) when the western portion of the Sunbury & Erie (as the Philadelphia & Erie was originally chartered) was completed from Erie to Warren. Thomas Struthers was a Warren resident and S & E stockholder who helped influence the railroad to pass through Warren. Governor Packer signed a bill which transferred Pennsylvania canal companies to the S & E for resale, which allowed them to finance the completion of the western portion of the road.
 |
Bridge over Allegheny River at Warren. David V. Kittner wrote to say that this bridge was built at the same location as the previous bridge (see below). Does anyone know when the old bridge was torn down and this one was built? (photo, Rick Bell) |
 |
Bridge over Allegheny River at Warren in 1948. (photo, Clifford Lawson; courtesy, Rod Fargo) |
 |
Former Railway Express Agency building in Warren. (photo, Rick Bell) |
 |
OTTS tower, Warren, PA. "The big tree that is located directly behind the tower is still there, all the others are gone. The tracks are still there. The photographer is standing on the P&E mainline looking east, the track to the left goes to United Refining Company. There is now an empty signal box sitting where the tower once stood. The coaling tower was about 1-2 miles east of this location near the present day North Penn Pipe and Supply Company on the RT6 bypass, the concrete foundations are still there along with the retaing wall and the grade that was used to get the hopper cars to the top of the tipple." (photo courtesy of Bill Nixon, description by David Kittner) |
 |
Postcard view of the PRR station in Warren. |
The following pictures of the final PRR passenger train to Warren
were contributed by Bill Cutshall. He writes...
"The Warren photos were taken on March 27, 1965 by an elderly gentleman friend named Wesley Yost (now deceased). He copied the photographs for me back in 1989 and enclosed the following captions:"
| "This photo, taken by myself, on 3/27/65, is looking east from Warren, Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger Station platform. Train #581 from New York has just whistled for the southside Main Street crossing. This is the last northbound passenger train from New York to Erie via Warren. The final southbound run of train #580, Erie to New York, will pass through Warren at 7:20 PM 3/27/65, ending train passenger service for Warren after 105 years, 3 months and 12 days of continuous passenger service." (note: photo not shown, as it is similar to the following photo) | |
 |
"Train #581 entering the Allegheny River bridge on 3/27/65." |  |
"Train #581 at Route 6 (Pennsylvania Ave. West) crossing. Right on time 8:20AM." |
 |
"Train #581 at Warren station on 3/27/65 consisting of 1 diesel "A" unit, 1 baggage car, 1 pullman sleeper, and one coach." |
 |
"Rear markers of train #581 preparing to leave Warren for Corry, Union City, and Erie." |
 |
"Warren station (now torn down) after departure of train #581 for Erie on 3/27/65. Final southbound train #580 Erie to New York will stop here this evening at 7:20PM." |
Home
Send questions, comments, criticisms, corrections, and submissions to:
Jerry Shickler
| ||||||||||||||||
(This page last updated July 23, 2008)