For a number of years the Baltimore and Ohio Railway—the heir and assign of Braddock’s Road and the famed Cumberland Road—was the great avenue of western movement and progress. But brain and muscle, even genius, cannot make two miles one mile. The shortest route across the continent was, inevitably, to become the important highway. It must be remembered that in the early days Philadelphia was the metropolis of America, and Baltimore its chief rival. As long as these cities held the balance of power and trade, a southerly route to Pittsburg, such as that of Braddock’s Road, then the Cumberland Road and, finally, the Baltimore and Ohio Railway would be successful. But with the vast strides made by New York, the center of power stole northward until no route to the Ohio could compete with the most direct westward line from New York and Philadelphia.
The question then became the same old-time problem which Forbes met and decided. The straightest possible line of communication between Philadelphia and Pittsburg was equally necessary in 1860 and in 1760. The only difference was that made necessary by the doing away with the heavy grades of pioneer roads and following the water courses.
The result was the Pennsylvania Railroad—and its motto is full of significance, “Look at the Map.” There is to be found the secret of its splendid success. The distance from Philadelphia to Pittsburg on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway (Connellsville route) is four hundred and thirty-eight miles. The distance between Philadelphia and Pittsburg on the Pennsylvania Railroad is three hundred and fifty-four miles—a saving of eighty-four miles. These railways do not follow the old highway routes closely but they mark their general alignment and are frequently close beside them.
“Look at the map” was practically Forbes’s challenge to those who disputed his judgment a century and a half ago when he determined to build a straight road from the heart of the colonies to the strategic key of the Ohio Valley. His wisdom has been triumphantly confirmed in the present generation.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Affirmation of Shawanese to the Indian trader, John Walker; see Sir John St. Clair’s letter, p. 86 ff.
[2] Historic Highways of America, vol. vi, ch. I.
[3] Darlington’s Christopher Gist’s Journals, p. 32.
[4] Id., pp. 32, 33.