Erie Gauge War
| Date | December 7, 1853 - February 1, 1854 |
|---|---|
| Location | Pennsylvania, United States |
| Also known as | Erie Railroad War |
The Erie Gauge War (sometimes called the Erie Railroad War) was a conflict between the citizens of Erie, Pennsylvania, and two railroad companies over the standardization of the track gauge between Erie and the New York border. It started on December 7, 1853, and ended on February 1, 1854.
In 1849, the Erie and North East Railroad started laying track east from Erie to the New York–Pennsylvania border at a gauge of 6 ft (1,829 mm). At the same time, the Franklin Canal Company was laying track west from Erie to the Ohio–Pennsylvania border and the Buffalo and State Line Railroad was laying track from Buffalo to the New York border, both were at a gauge of 4 ft 10 in (1,473 mm) (Ohio gauge). On November 23, 1852, the first train left Erie heading to Ashtabula, Ohio, and on January 19, 1852, the first train from New York state arrived in Erie. A passenger traveling from Buffalo to Cleveland would be forced to change trains at the Pennsylvania border because of the different gauges. twenty miles (32 km) down the road in Erie, the passenger would again have to change trains. The process of having to constantly change trains would result in lengthy delays, often causing passengers to miss connecting trains and be forced to stay in Erie.
The citizens of Erie enjoyed being an "enforced stopping place" as they made big profits from the transferring of freight from one train to another and from passengers having to buy food at Erie's restaurants or street vendors (leading the conflict to sometimes be referred to as the "Peanut War" as Erie's peanut sellers would be the hardest hit by the lack of passengers). The owners of the Buffalo and State Line Railroad were able to acquire two-thirds of the Erie and North East's and on November 16, 1853, made the decision to re-lay the 6 ft (1,829 mm) track between Erie and the New York border as Ohio gauge, but four months earlier, to try to prevent the change, Erie's city council had enacted ordinances barring the railroads from crossing the city's streets. On November 26, 1853, the council was reconvened when railroad ties were found being laid in the preparation for the gauge change. The council passed an ordinance to allow the mayor to call out the city's police to take down any of the railroad bridges that crossed the city's streets "in order to preserve the present railroad gauge".
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