Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 15, 2018

The Pittsburgh railway riots occurred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. It was one of many incidents of strikes, labor unrest and violence in cities across the United States, including several in Pennsylvania. Other cities dealing with railroad strikes were Philadelphia, Reading, Shamokin and Scranton. The strikes followed repeated reductions in wages and sometimes increases in workload by railroad companies, during a period of economic recession following the Panic of 1873. Between July 21 and 22 in Pittsburgh, a major center of the Pennsylvania Railroad, some 40 people (including women and children) were killed in the riots; strikers burned the Union Depot and 38 other buildings at the yards. In addition, more than 120 train engines and more than 1,200 rail cars were destroyed. Due to track damage, trains did not run for a week following the cessation of violence. Estimates of losses ranged from $2 million to $5 million, according to the railroad company and an 1878 report by a state legislative investigative committee. Pittsburgh was the site of the most violence and physical damage of any city in the country during the Great Strike.

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