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Great Central PA RR Route of the West advertisement
Credit: Courtesy of the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia
In the 1850s the PRR called itself the Great Central Pennsylvania Railroad Route in order to convince passengers to choose the PRR for their cross-state passage rather than competing trunk lines to the north and south. The directness of its main line across Pennsylvania gave the PRR a significant advantage over its rivals, and helps explain its rapid rise to greatness.