Penn Central Bankruptcy

The collapse exposed how badly regulation and falling traffic had weakened Northeastern railroads, and it set off the reforms that shaped today's freight rail network. The merged railroad struggled with clashing cultures, incompatible computer systems and union contracts, and its default disrupted the commercial paper market. It kept running under court protection until Congress folded it and other bankrupt lines into Conrail in 1976, and rail deregulation followed in 1980. Shippers today use a leaner, privately run rail system that moves intermodal containers and trailers, but the episode remains an example of how one carrier's failure can strand freight across a region.

• Intermodal FreightFreight moved by rail and truck in one box

• Cornelius Vanderbilt1794–1877 · Steamship and railroad magnate

• First Transcontinental Railroad1869 · Rails from east and west meet at Promontory Summit
• Refrigerated Railcar1878 · Swift ships chilled beef by rail in iced cars
• Railroad Standard Time1883 · Railroads replace local times with standard zones

• Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 19761976 · Funded Conrail and began loosening rail regulation

1. Bankruptcy of Penn Central (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
2. 1970: Penn Central Bankruptcy (Goldman Sachs) goldmansachs.com