please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this article is incomplete . please help to improve it or discuss the issue on the talk page . september 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message allegheny corporation redirects here . for the specialty metals company see allegheny technologies . alleghany corporation type public traded as nyse y industry holding company founded 1929 founder oris and mantis van sweringen headquarters times square tower new york city website www.alleghany.com alleghany corporation is an investment holding company originally created by the railroad entrepreneurs oris and mantis van sweringen as a holding company for their railroad interests . it was incorporated in 1929 1 and reincorporated in delaware in 1984 . 2 after the company s bankruptcy in the great depression control of the company fell into the hands of robert ralph young and allan price kirby . young used the company as a vehicle for his vendetta against the j.p. morgan banking interests who had financed the van sweringens and managed to defeat them and the vanderbilt interests in a 1954 proxy fight for the new york central railroad . the failing new york central was in worse shape than young had bargained for and he committed suicide shortly after being forced to suspend the dividend in january 1958 . after young s death his role in nyc management was assumed by his prot g alfred e. perlman . although much had been accomplished to streamline nyc operations in those tough economic times mergers with other railroads were seen as the only possible road to financial stability . the most likely suitor became the nyc s former arch rival pennsylvania railroad . during the early 1960s new york central negotiated a merger with the pennsylvania railroad prr which was led by stuart t. saunders after 1963 . saunders had most recently led the norfolk and western railway through a successful expansion through acquisition and mergers including the virginian railway nickel plate road and wabash railway . there was great hope that success would result from the nyc prr combination . penn central transportation company was formed by the merger on february 1 1968 . however the underlying financial weakness of both former railroads combined with the fact that the icc forced the chronically weak new haven railroad into the system doomed the penn central and bankruptcy was declared shortly a little over 2 years later on june 21 1970 . many of the penn central railroad assets ended up in conrail formed in 1976 . the bankruptcy of the penn central railroad mostly ended alleghany s involvement in the railroad business . the company s residual railroad investments led to president and ceo john j. burns serving on the board of burlington northern santa fe corporation from 1995 to 2004 . now alleghany corporation focuses on the insurance business property casualty surety and fidelity insurance . until his death in february 2011 allan kirby s son fred m. kirby 2nd was the chairman of the board and a sometime member of the forbes 400 list of richest americans . current portfolio edit alleghany s current portfolio includes 3 transatlantic re a reinsurer acquired in 2011 4 rsui an insurer acquired in 2003 5 capitol insurance companies an insurer acquired in 2002 6 pacificcomp an insurer acquired in 2007 7 8 alleghany properties a property company references edit alleghany corp. . encyclopedia of cleveland history . cleveland ohio case western reserve university . 1997 07 10 . retrieved 2009 09 19 . articles of incorporation . new york city alleghany corporation . 1986 12 22 . retrieved 2009 09 19 . alleghany current and previous acquisitions & investments alleghany to buy transatlantic for 3.4 billion alleghany completes acquisition of r & sa s rsui capitol transamerica acquired by alleghany alleghany buying calif. workers comp specialist employers direct employers direct relaunched as pacificcomp to work with independent agents external links edit alleghany corporation official homepage retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title alleghany corporation & oldid 666419832 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangeholding companies established in 1929holding companies based in new york cityinsurance companies based in new york cityinvestment companies based in new york citypublicly traded companies based in new york cityunited states railroad holding companieshidden categories articles needing additional references from september 2009all articles needing additional referencesarticles to be expanded from september 2009 navigation menu personal tools not logged 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