List of North American railroad bankruptcies
Encyclopedia
1920s
- July 12, 1920:Grand Trunk Pacific RailwayGrand Trunk Pacific RailwayThe Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historical Canadian railway.A wholly owned subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway , the GTPR was constructed by GTR using loans provided by the Government of Canada. The company was formed in 1903 with a mandate to build west from Winnipeg, Manitoba to the...
(nationalizedNationalizationNationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
) - January 20, 1923:Grand Trunk RailwayGrand Trunk RailwayThe Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
(nationalizedNationalizationNationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
)
1930s
- December 4, 1931: Ann Arbor Railroad
- February 10, 1932: Baltimore and Virginia Steamboat Company
- March 31, 1933: Missouri Pacific RailroadMissouri Pacific RailroadThe Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
- December 1934: Alleghany Corporation
- March 26, 1935: Copper Range RailroadCopper Range RailroadThe Copper Range Railroad was a small railroad company that operated from 1899 to 1972 in the western Upper Peninsula of the state of Michigan, United States....
- October 23, 1935: New York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadNew York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadThe New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
- October 31, 1935: Connecticut CompanyConnecticut CompanyThe Connecticut Company was the primary electric street railway company in the U.S. state of Connecticut, operating both city and rural trolleys and freight service. It was controlled by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , which also controlled most steam railroads in the state...
- November 29, 1935: New York, Westchester and Boston RailwayNew York, Westchester and Boston RailwayThe New York, Westchester and Boston Railway Company , known to its riders as "the Westchester" and colloquially as the "Boston-Westchester", operated as an electric commuter railroad in the Bronx and Westchester County, New York from 1912 to 1937...
- February 2, 1936: Van Sweringen Company
- June 3, 1936: Old Colony RailroadOld Colony RailroadThe Old Colony Railroad was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod...
- May 20, 1937: New York, Ontario and Western RailwayNew York, Ontario and Western RailwayThe New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad with origins in 1868, lasting until March 29, 1957 when it was ordered liquidated by a US bankruptcy judge. The O&W holds the distinction of being the first major U.S...
- January 18, 1938: Erie RailroadErie RailroadThe Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
- August 4, 1938: Boston and Providence Railroad
- October 30, 1939: Central Railroad of New JerseyCentral Railroad of New JerseyThe Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
1960s
- July 7, 1961: New York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadNew York, New Haven and Hartford RailroadThe New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
- September 7, 1962: Boston Terminal Corporation (South StationSouth Station (Boston)South Station, New England's second-largest transportation center , located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest train station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston, a prominent train station in the northeastern...
) - March 22, 1967: Central Railroad of New JerseyCentral Railroad of New JerseyThe Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
1970s
- March 12, 1970: Boston and Maine Corporation
- June 21, 1970: Penn Central TransportationPenn Central TransportationThe Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American railroad company that operated from 1968 until 1976. It was created by the merger on February 1, 1968, of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad...
- July 24, 1970: Lehigh Valley RailroadLehigh Valley RailroadThe Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
- November 23, 1971: Reading CompanyReading CompanyThe Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...
- April 19, 1972: Lehigh and Hudson River RailwayLehigh and Hudson River RailwayThe Lehigh and Hudson River Railway was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast-southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it...
- June 26, 1972: Erie Lackawanna RailwayErie Lackawanna RailwayThe Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie–Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad...
- July 12, 1973: United New Jersey Railroad and Canal CompanyUnited New Jersey Railroad and Canal CompanyThe United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company was part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system in New Jersey, including their main line to New York City...
(Penn Central subsidiary) - July 14, 1973: Beech Creek RailroadBeech Creek RailroadBeech Creek RailroadIn 1890 the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad took out a long term lease of the Beech Creek Railroad yet the Beech Creek maintained independent operations until July 1899...
; Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis RailwayCleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis RailwayThe Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, also known as the Big Four Railroad and commonly abbreviated CCC&StL, was a railroad company in the Midwestern United States....
; Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad; Connecting RailwayConnecting RailwayThe Connecting Railway was a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, incorporated to build a connection between the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad and the PRR in the city of Philadelphia.-Connecting railway:...
; Delaware Railroad; Erie and Pittsburgh RailroadErie and Pittsburgh RailroadThe Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad was a railroad based in Erie, Pennsylvania incorporated on 1 April 1858. Operations began in March 1860. It operated jointly with Buffalo and State Line Railroad from an indeterminate date until 28 February 1870, in connection with the latter's commitment, along...
; Michigan Central RailroadMichigan Central RailroadThe Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...
; Northern Central RailwayNorthern Central RailwayThe Northern Central Railway was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1861, when the PRR acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central's stock to compete with the...
; Penndel Company; Philadelphia and Trenton RailroadPhiladelphia and Trenton RailroadThe Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad was a railroad from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Trenton, New Jersey that became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The majority of it is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.-History:...
; Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington RailroadPhiladelphia, Baltimore and Washington RailroadThe Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia in the 20th century was a key component of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. Its 131 mile main line ran from Philadelphia to Washington...
; Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago RailwayPittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago RailwayThe Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway was a major part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, extending the PRR west from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania via Fort Wayne, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois...
; Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula Railway; Union Railroad of Baltimore (Penn Central subsidiaries) - October 15, 1973: Ann Arbor Railroad