In the early 20th Century, the American railroad industry was at the center of the economy with all other industries either associated with it or living in its shadow. Not only were the railroads a key player in the economy, they were a driving force behind the social and economic expansion of the country and had been since the middle of the 19th Century. Important railroads such as the Pennsylvania and the New York Central saw themselves as being giants in the industry and created monuments that said as much in the form of buildings like Grand Central terminal and Pennsylvania Station. Competition was fierce between the Central and the Pennsylvania, both attempting to gain market share of not only freight service, but passenger service including the important long-distance travel market between Chicago and Manhattan. The Central had the upper hand in this market with an in-city terminal that provided long-distance passengers to arrive directly in the heart of New York City. Manhattan bound Pennsylvania Railroad passengers arrived across the Hudson River at a terminal in Jersey City and had to cross over to Manhattan via ferry adding another step to the journey. With this in mind, the PRR secretly bought land in Manhattan and constructed the famous Pennsylvania Station that was completed in 1910. Because tracks continued on to Long Island via the PRR-owned Long Island Railroad, it was a station and not a terminal like Grand Central. Both Penn Station and Grand Central were reached by tunnels with passenger cars being pulled by electric locomotives. Here we see a variety of interior views of Penn Station in postcards from circa 1910 to the 1920s.
In this view, we see a pair of DD1 electric locomotives with a train that has just arrived. The group around the locomotives appear to be company officials.
Here we see a pair of DD1 locomotives emerging from the tunnel under the Hudson River and pulling into Penn Station.
And finally we get a look down one of the tunnels that connected Penn Station with Jersey City, New Jersey.
For more information on the famous Penn Station of New York City, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Station_%28New_York_City%29
