Major U.S. railroad.
It was founded in 1853 to consolidate 10 railroads that paralleled the Erie Canal between Albany and Buffalo, the oldest being the Mohawk and Hudson, New York state's first railway (established 1831). Cornelius Vanderbilt won control of the New York Central in 1867 and combined it with his New York and Hudson railroads running from Manhattan to Albany. The system grew until it had 10,000 mi (16,000 km) of track linking New York with Boston, Montreal, Chicago, and St. Louis. The New York Central began to decline after World War II, and in 1968 it merged with its chief competitor, the Pennsylvania Railroad Co ., to form the Penn Central Transportation Co. The merger failed, and the railroad was forced into bankruptcy in 1970. Its passenger services were taken over by Amtrak in 1971, and its other railroad assets were transferred to Conrail in 1976.