Camden & Amboy

Company History: The C&A was the first railroad in New Jersey having been established in 1830. They claimed credit for inventing the inverted “T” rail which would evolve into rail we would recognize today. To start construction, 22 shiploads of iron rail were sent from England. After initially spiking the rail to buried stones, wood ties were substituted when cut stone deliveries were delayed. Of course these were much easier to handle and provided a smoother ride and the stone method was discontinued. C&A built a line from Amboy, New Jersey (just a short ferry ride from Manhattan) to Camden, New Jersey (just a quick river crossing from Philadelphia.) The company’s first steam locomotive was the John Bull, which is still in operating condition today. Shortly after going into service, a pilot truck was added (the first) to lead the engine around the C&A’s sharper curves. Between 1867 and 1872, the Camden & Amboy was merged with the largely parallel New Jersey Rail Road & Transportation Company and Delaware & Raritan Canal Company to form United New Jersey Railroad & Canal Companies. The UNJR&C was then leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad for 999 years.

Successor/Parent History: The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR) was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy," the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. for the first half of the twentieth century. Over the years, it acquired, merged with or owned part of at least 800 other rail lines and companies. At the end of 1925, it operated 10,515 miles of rail line; in the 1920s, it carried nearly three times the traffic as other railroads of comparable length, such as the Union Pacific or Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads. Its only formidable rival was the New York Central (NYC), which carried around three-quarters of PRR's ton-miles.

At one time, the PRR was the largest publicly traded corporation in the world, with a budget larger than that of the U.S. government and a workforce of about 250,000 people. The corporation still holds the record for the longest continuous dividend history: it paid out annual dividends to shareholders for more than 100 years in a row.

In 1968, PRR merged with rival NYC to form the Penn Central Transportation Company, which filed for bankruptcy within two years. The viable parts were transferred in 1976 to Conrail, which was itself broken up in 1999, with 58 percent of the system going to the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), including nearly all of the former PRR. Amtrak received the electrified segment east of Harrisburg.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.