The Norfolk and Western Railway was a United States Class I railroad headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, and established through over 200 mergers between 1838 and 1982.
For most of its history, its motto was "Precision Transportation," and it was known by several nicknames, such as "King Coal" and "British Railway of America." In 1986, the N&W merged with the Southern Railway to form what is now the Norfolk Southern Railway.
The N&W gained recognition for manufacturing its own steam locomotives and hopper cars at the Roanoke Shops. After 1960, it was the last major Class I railroad to operate steam locomotives, with the final Y class 2-8-8-2s retired in 1961.
In December 1959, the N&W merged with the Virginian Railway, a longstanding competitor in the Pocahontas coal region. By 1970, additional mergers with the Nickel Plate Road and Wabash created a network operating 7,595 miles of road and 14,881 miles of track, spanning from North Carolina to New York and from Virginia to Iowa.
In 1980, the N&W combined its business operations with those of the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier, to establish the Norfolk Southern Corporation as a holding company. Both the N&W and Southern Railway continued to function as separate railroads under this unified corporate structure.
In 1982, the Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway, and the holding company transferred control of the N&W to this newly renamed entity.
The Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad was created through the merger of four earlier railroads: the Philadelphia and Delaware County Rail-Road Company; the Baltimore and Port Deposit Rail Road Company; the Delaware and Maryland Rail Road Company; and the Wilmington and Susquehanna Rail Road Company. The new line formed a single road between Philadelphia and Baltimore. The Pennsylvania Railroad took control of the company in 1881 following a fight with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In 1902, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore and the Baltimore & Potomac railroads to create the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly chartered the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad on February 23, 1832, to build a line between Kensington, Pennsylvania, and the Trenton Bridge at Morrisville, Pennsylvania. On April 16, 1834, the Philadelphia & Trenton Railroad opened an eight-mile stretch between Morrisville and Bristol, using horses to pull trains. In 1836, the Camden & Amboy gained a controlling interest in the line. On June 30, 1871, the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the Philadelphia & Trenton and started operating the line on December 1, 1871. A portion of the line folded into what is today the Northeast Corridor.