Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Pennsylvania Railroad Grand Division. Office of General Superintendent.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Grand Division was created upon adoption of the Grand Divisional organization on March 1, 1873. Under this plan, the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company proper, consisting of a main line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and several branches, became the Pennsylvania Railroad Grand Division. The lines of the United New Jersey & Canal Company between Philadelphia and New York became the United Railroads of New Jersey Grand Division, and the lines between Sunbury and Erie, Pa., became the Philadelphia & Erie Grand Division. The Pennsylvania Railroad Grand Division was abolished on April 1, 1907, and divided into the Eastern Pennsylvania and Western Pennsylvania Grand Divisions.

The General Superintendent was the chief line officer of the Transportation (Operating) Dept. at the Grand Division level, reporting to the General Manager in Philadelphia. Grand Divisional headquarters was located in Altoona, Pa.

The first General Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Grand Division was George Clinton Gardner. He was born in Washington, D.C., in 1834, the son of Adjutant-General Charles K. Gardner. He studied surveying and engineering and at the age of 16 secured a position in the Army Engineer Corps surveying the U.S.-Mexican boundary. He later served on the team locating the U.S.-Canadian border in the Oregon Territory. He resigned this post upon completion of work in 1869 and took a position as Assistant Engineer of the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad Company, a PRR subsidiary. In 1870 he was transferred to the PRR's Motive Power Dept., and was placed in charge of reorganizing the shops of the United New Jersey Railroad & Canal Company after its lease by the PRR in 1871.

As General Superintendent, Gardner helped establish the company's school for special apprentices and the Railroad Association and Reading Rooms at Altoona. During the Strike of 1877, Gardner was on the ground during the first day of the riots at Pittsburgh, after which he was ordered by President Thomas A. Scott to return to Altoona and prevent similar outbreaks there. Gardner resigned effective April 1, 1879, because of the strain on his health. He took over the management of the Troy & Greenfield Railroad and the Hoosac Tunnel. He was subsequently engaged as an engineer and manager for a number of small and medium-sized railroads in the U.S. and Latin America. He died at his home in Richmond Hill, N.Y., in August 1904.

From the description of Letterbook, 1875-1880. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 86119231