New York City to Chicago, via Philadelphia, with an additional section between Harrisburg and Washington (later operated as a separate Washington–Chicago train, the Liberty Limited). New York-St. Louis In 1890, the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (PCC&StL), itself the merged product of numerous smaller lines in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Commonly called the Panhandle Route, this line ran west from Pittsburgh to Bradford, Ohio, where it split, with one line to Chicago and the other to East St. Louis, Illinois, via Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1905, the acquisition of the Vandalia Railroad gave the Pennsy access across the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. Double-tracked for much of its length, the line served the coal region of southern Illinois and as a passenger route for the Pennsylvania Railroad's Blue Ribbon named trains The St. Louisan, The Jeffersonian, and the Spirit of St. Louis. "Low-grade" lines By 1906, the Pennsylvania built several low-grade lines for freight to bypass areas of steep grade (slope) and avoid congestion. These included: 1871: The Western Pennsylvania Railroad completed its line from Blairsville to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and a connection with the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago 1874: The low-grade line of the Allegheny Valley Railroad from Driftwood to Red Bank, Pennsylvania 1877: The Port Perry Branch connecting the main line to Pennsylvania Railroad's Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railway near Pittsburgh 1890: The Ohio Connecting Railway is built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, providing a low-grade bypass around Pittsburgh via the Panhandle Route, PV&C, and Port Perry Branch (and via the Brilliant Cutoff and the Duff/Scully Branch at later dates) 1892: The Trenton Branch and Trenton Cut-Off Railroad from Glen Loch, Pennsylvania, east to Morrisville, Pennsylvania (not only a low-grade line but a long-distance shortcut and bypass of Philadelphia) 1904: Reopening of the New Portage Railroad from the Gallitzin Tunnel, east to New Portage Junction, then continuing north over the Hollidaysburg Branch to Altoona, or bypassing Altoona and continuing on the Petersburg Branch to Petersburg 1904: The Brilliant Cutoff between the main line and the Allegheny Valley Railway and Conemaugh Line 1905: The Scully Branch providing via a low-grade bypass on the Panhandle Route along Chartiers Creek 1906: Philadelphia and Thorndale Branch from Thorndale, Pennsylvania, east to Glen Loch 1906: Atglen and Susquehanna Branch from Harrisburg via the Northern Central Railway, south to Wago Junction, then east to Parkesburg, Pennsylvania.