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obtained over the entire Eastern seaboard south of New York City and
north of Baltimore was made nearly complete.

The "community of interest" plan held sway with the large railroads of
the country and was very effective for perhaps half a dozen years, until
the interstate commerce laws were amended in such a way as to give the
Government complete control over railroad freight and passenger rates.
In 1906 the Pennsylvania began to dispose of the bulk of its holdings
in competing properties, the most notable transactions being the sale of
its entire interest in the Chesapeake and Ohio to independent interests
and a substantial part of its Baltimore and Ohio holdings to the Union
Pacific Railroad. A few years later, when the Union Pacific was forced
by the Federal courts to dispose of its control of the Southern Pacific
Company, a trade was made between the Pennsylvania and the Union Pacific
whereby the latter took from the Pennsylvania the remainder of its
Baltimore and Ohio investment and gave in exchange a portion of its own
large holding of Southern Pacific stock.

To get a fair idea of the meaning and magnitude of the great
Pennsylvania Railroad system today one must do more than scan maps and
study statistics. One should travel by daylight over its main line from
New York to Pittsburgh. Although the route is over the same ground
which the road followed a generation or two ago, a four-track line runs
practically all the way, with long stretches of hundreds of miles of
five, six, and eight tracks. Where mountains were climbed thirty years
ago, one will now find them bored by tunnels; where sharp curves were
necessary before straight trackage only will be encountered today.
Grades have been eliminated everywhere and the whole route has been
modernized and strengthened by the laying of one hundred to one hundred
and fifty pound rails.

Undoubtedly the fortunate location of the Pennsylvania lines in the half
dozen States which represent the financial and industrial heart of the
continent has had much to do with its vast growth and the expansion of
its business; but its high reputation can be explained only by the
long record of its superior methods and management. One of the primary
objects of Pennsylvania Railroad policy has been to keep pace with the
growth of the country. Instead of following in the wake of industrial
progress and making its improvements and extensions after its
competitors had made theirs, its