Empire Transportation Company

Empire Transportation Company

Founded	1865
Founder	Joseph D. Potts
Defunct	1877
Fate	Sold
Parent	Pennsylvania Railroad

The Empire Transportation Company was a multimodal freight enterprise established in 1865 by Joseph D. Potts.

Overview

This firm managed a fleet of vessels on the Great Lakes, transporting grain and agricultural products to Erie, Pennsylvania. It possessed a total of 5,000 railroad cars, including 1,500 specifically designed tank cars for oil transportation, and maintained control over 520 miles of oil pipeline infrastructure. By the mid-1870s, Empire was responsible for moving approximately three million barrels of oil each year, with independent refiners supplying about two-thirds of this volume.

Operating as a subsidiary under the Pennsylvania Railroad, the company demonstrated strong profitability; in 1876, it distributed a 10% dividend amounting to $400,000 on $4 million worth of stock.

Venture

To reduce reliance on Standard Oil, Potts purchased an oil refinery located on Long Island in 1877 and initiated construction of another facility in Philadelphia. In response, John D. Rockefeller met with Pennsylvania Railroad president Thomas A. Scott to oppose Empire's entry into refining, despite Standard Oil owning twice the number of tank cars. Shortly thereafter, Standard Oil shut down its Pittsburgh refineries in March 1877, resulting in a 65% decline in oil shipments for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The widespread destruction caused by the July 1877 Great Railroad Strike of 1877 severely impacted Pennsylvania Railroad properties. By October, excluding Potts to a large extent, A.J. Cassatt and Standard Oil reached an agreement to acquire Empire Transportation for $3.5 million.

External links

• Consolidation Shipping