Named for a small railroad operating in Pennsylvania which was eventually controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad, The Panhandle is the nickname for The P Company’s mainline from Pittsburgh to St. Louis and Chicago, via Columbus, Ohio.
The first leg eastward from Columbus Union Depot was over the Columbus and Newark Division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This thirty-five mile long division boasted not only double-track, but long stretches of three and four-track mainlines, Pennsy position-light signals, B&O towers, and traffic of not only the B&O and PRR successor roads, but Amtrak as well.