 During the 1840s and 1850s , a flurry of railroad @-@ building activity led eventually to the completion of four separate railroads converging in Erie . A break @-@ of @-@ gauge between the first two railroads — the Erie and North East Railroad and the Franklin Canal Company — ensured that the citizens of Erie profited from the delays necessary to transfer cargo between the lines . When it was proposed in 1853 to standardize the track gauge to allow through traffic , a conflict that became known as the Erie Gauge War ensued . The residents of Erie , who saw it as an affront to their desire that the city become a major lake port , dismantled railroad bridges and tore up railroad tracks in the city in an effort to prevent the impending standardization . As part of the dispute 's settlement , both railroads provided financial support for the construction of the Erie and Pittsburgh and Sunbury and Erie railroads . The Cleveland , Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad acquired the Franklin Canal Company in 1854 , and the Erie and North East was merged with the Buffalo and State Line to form the Buffalo and Erie Railroad a few years later . The Sunbury and Erie was renamed the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad in 1861 . The Pennsylvania Railroad soon acquired the Sunbury and Erie through a 999 @-@ year lease and funded completion of the line by 1864 . 
