My buddy wrote back an e-mail and stated some following info:You are correct, your great granddad would have worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad if he worked in Lawrenceville. The engine in the picture looks like a "switch engine" that would have been used to delivery cars to local industries. The "Pennsy" was the biggest and most powerful of the major eastern railroads, and was known as the "standard Railroad of the World" for the innovations and organization of the system they operated. The line through Lawrenceville was part of a line that ran all the way through Oakmont, Oil City, Franklin and up to Buffalo. Over time, the Pennsy merged with other railroads (I'll save you all the details) and most of the major routes they operated around Pittsburgh are now operated by Norfolk Southern.
Many of the original Pennsy lines became duplicate with other routes as a result of the mergers in the 60's and 70's and were abandoned or downgraded. The line thru Lawrecville to Buffalo was abandoned north of New Kensington PA in the 90's. The section from Pittsburgh thru Lawrencville to New Ken was later sold to a local shortline company known as:
The Allegheny Valley Railroad, which yes is owned by Carload Express, the company I work for!! We operate a train through Lawrenceville 5 nights per week, serving many customers in the area all the way between the strip district and New Ken, just as the engine your great granddad was standing in front of would have done. I thought you'd enjoy a couple of pics of the area and our crews at work where your great granddad would have been:
A link to a shot one of my friends took of our evening crew working down around 43rd st in Lawrenceville:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=152534&nseq=22
And attached is a shot of our afternoon train headed to exchange cars with the NS with Lawrenceville in the background.
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