Workshop of the World

Workshop of the World. . , Biscuits to Bicycles , Philadelphia was once home to a broad spectrum of manufacturing, earning its nickname as "Workshop of the World." The area north of Vine Street had a high concentration of innovative and influential businesses, including Baldwin Locomotive Works, William Sellers and Company, Bush Hill Iron Works, and Lanston Monotype Foundry., Trains delivered raw materials to factories and brought out finished products, ranging from locomotives to hardware, to textiles, hats, bicycles, envelopes, lamps, biscuits and candy., Homegrown Might , America's industrial revolution rode on rails. As rail lines expanded, thousands of factories connected to new markets and resources., Two of the nation's most prominent and powerful railroads were based in Philadelphia , the Reading Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad., Reading Company , The Reading Company (originally the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad) began in 1833 by bringing anthracite coal from Northern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. As demand grew it quickly expanded, shipping coal from Port Richmond to regional cities and to Europe and South America. By 1871, the Reading Co. transported more coal than any other company in the world. They were the largest corporation in the world, with a budget greater than the federal government's. Their trains once passed over where you are standing today, this viaduct connected Reading Terminal (now housing the Pennsylvania Convention Center) to the tracks serving industry and regional commuters., Pennsylvania Railroad , The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) started in 1846 with a route from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, but it wasn't long before it bought other land and smaller railroads. Unlike most other railroad companies with lines focused on "Point A to Point B," the PRR introduced a new vision , an integrated rail system that served a massive section of the country. Over time, they bought up over 800 railroad companies, operated over 10,000 miles of rail lines and became the largest publicly traded corporation in the world., PRR transported passengers, raw materials and finished products until 1968, when they merged with New York Central Railroad. Its sprawling network has since been divided up among separate entities, but many lines are still in use by Amtrak, Septa and NJ Transit., [Captions:] , The wall to your right is based on George Bromley's 1895 "Atlas of Philadelphia." This is the map in its original "north up" orientation., ❶ William Sellers and Co: Engineered and built standardized machine parts that drove railroads and the industrial revolution. , ❷ Bush Hill Iron Works: constructed machinery for some of the leading rolling mills during the 19th century. , ❸ Baldwin Locomotive Works: internationally-renowned innovator and largest manufacturer of steam locomotives. , ❹ Hoopes and Townsend: specialized nut and bolt manufacturers, one of the largest factories of its kind in the world. , ❺ Lanston Monotype Foundry: inventor of the monotype caster, which revolutionized printing technology. , ❻ Knickerbocker Ice: regional supplier of ice, enabling cold food storage and brewing before mechanical refrigeration., Railroads ran through the city to factories and river ports. This photo shows construction of "the cut," the depressed channel created for the City Branch., Left: Reading Company's Port Richmond Yard, ca. 1925, Right: This drawing shows Pennsylvania Railroad's K4s "Pacific" (built by PRR's Altoona shops and Baldwin Locomotive) which was their premier passenger steam locomotive from 1914 to 1957.