Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad

The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) (AAR reporting mark PLE), also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Haselton, Ohio, in the west following the Monongahela River to the Golden Triangle, then the Ohio River north to Beaver, Pennsylvania. From there it follows the Beaver River to New Castle, Pennsylvania, then the Mahoning River, and finally crossing into Ohio just below Lowellsville, Pennsylvania.

From 1877 the company operated the Smithfield St. Bridge and the Jones and Laughlin Iron Works, both in Pittsburgh, PA. It purchased many smaller railroads that operated in the areas of its main train line extending the line north to Lake Erie. This provided a means of transportation from the steel centers of Pittsburgh to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway area.

The company was taken over in the 1920s by New York Central but operated as an independent subsidiary, even after New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad merged to form Penn Central.

In 1993 the company was taken over by CSX Transportation. The headquarters at the bottom of an incline in Pittsburgh has been converted into a shopping center, Station Square.

External links

• Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Historical Society
• The Family Tree of North American Railroads
• P&LE 1960 system map
• Headquarters building