James McCrea

Who is James McCrea?

James McCrea was the eighth president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. A civil engineer by profession, McCrea assumed office after the death of Alexander J. Cassatt.

McCrea was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and rose in the ranks of the Pennsylvania Railroad over the course of years prior to his presidency. He first worked for the Connellsville and Southern Pennsylvania Railroad in June, 1865, as a rodman and assistant engineer, and later worked for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and Allegheny Valley Railroad, until he came to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1871.

He completed the construction of Pennsylvania Station in 1910, bringing the PRR lines under the Hudson River and, for the first time, into New York City.

At the time of his death March 28, 1912, he lived in Ardmore, Pennsylvania.