From the days of Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads were arch rivals. Here a NYC Hudson Locomotive is racing a PRR Pacific Locomotive for the daily bragging rights.
In reality, there was such a daily race. The 20th Century Limited left LaSalle Street and the Broadway Limited left Chicago Union Station at the same time each day. The two mainlines merged south of Chicago and ran parallel for 6 miles creating the most famous "drag strip" in railroad history.
Below is Howard Fogg's great painting of the daily event entitled, "The Race of the Century."
