Pennsylvania Railroad Car Shops

Item

Title

Pennsylvania Railroad Car Shops

Creator

Thaddeus M. Fowler
American, 1842–1922
Published by T. M. Fowler & James B. Moyer

Date

1895

Materials

Color lithograph

Measurements

13-7/8 x 22-7/8 in. (35.3 x 58.1 cm)

Description

The Pennsylvania Railroad founded Altoona specifically as a location for the repair and new construction of its locomotives and freight and passenger cars. The facilities, begun in 1850 and expanded continuously throughout the following seventy-five years, would eventually house as many as 16,000 workers in 125 buildings spread over 218 acres. By 1925, and for many years thereafter, the Altoona Works, as the entire industrial site was called, stood as the largest railroad shop complex in the world.

The portion of the works depicted here, called the Altoona shops, ran along the east side of Chestnut Avenue from about Kettle Street southward to Seventh Street. The Juniata shops, added in 1890, would lie just to the left, running north along Chestnut and then 4th Avenue, to 6th Street.

Source

Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, partial gift and purchase from John C. O’Connor and Ralph M. Yeager.

Identifier

86.685

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses are not permitted.