However, the decline of railway service in Cambridge Springs began in 1912, with a series of accidents on the Northwestern Pennsylvania, which caused a big-money lawsuit.

[6] On a second voyage to Europe in July 1858, executives were able to convince James McHenry to pay for the railroad, on the condition one of his engineers surveyed the new route.

At the same time, José de Salamanca, a nobleman and banker from Spain agreed as well, donating $1 million (1858 USD) in bonds to the effort.

In May 1859, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of New York was founded and agrees with sharing bonds between it and the Pennsylvania and Ohio equivalents.

[9] By the next year, a mail train from Cleveland to Salamanca and vice versa was stopping at Cambridge, one at 10:52 am westbound and 1:52 pm eastbound.

[12] In 1873, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, now under the ownership of Jay Gould and other investors,[2] bought two franchises for new railways that would fork off the main line in Cambridge.

[19] In 1891, the Erie Transit Company was chartered by the state of Pennsylvania as a brand new trolley line from Cambridge to the borough of Edinboro, connecting several local communities through the area.

This chess conference, called a "congress", had sponsorship from several people, including the Erie Railroad, along with the owner of the hotel, William D. Rider.

[25] The tournament in itself was a major success, bringing many people from the United States and Europe, eventually won by Frank Marshall (1877–1944) in an upset over David Janowski.

There was intent to hold another chess conference in 1905 in Cambridge Springs, however, the death of William Rider on September 13, 1905, who had a major piece in creating the original, killed off any hopes for a second tournament.

Alliance College opened in 1912, with almost 9,000 students and a dedication ceremony involving President of the United States William Howard Taft.

The college would rebuild on the site off Beach Avenue, as well as be signed at the Erie Railroad depot, but only remain open until 1987, when it closed.

[4] The decline of service in Cambridge Springs, however, began in the late 1910s, when the Northwestern Pennsylvania Railway had accrued a significant debt since 1912, totaling $493,937.50 (1919 USD).

On the day of the sale, Felix Curtz of the Erie Trust Company bought the trolley line for a total of $115,000 (1919 USD).

[13] The station re-opened as a museum in June 2017 run by the Northwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Partnership, who purchased the building in 2014.

[27] In October 1924, the Erie Railroad documented the location of the Cambridge Springs depot as the halfway point of the line between New York and Chicago.

Located historically at 501.2 miles (806.6 km) from New York, a monument was made to recognize the spot, with a celebration in October.

Over 175 railroad station agents and their spouses attended the ceremony which unveiled a marble monument stating the halfway point.

[40] In 1941, an agreement was made in federal courts to reorganize the Erie, which also took control of the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railway, a rail line it had been leasing since the 1880s.

[41] By September 1939, the Erie Railroad through Cambridge Springs had become stable once again, with numerous trains in each direction stopping at Cambridge Springs, including the Erie Limited, Atlantic Express and sister Pacific Express, the brand-new Midlander and the Lake Cities, all of which served as through trains between New York and Cleveland or Chicago.

[44] In September 1947, another change was made as the Midlander ceased to exist, just returning as the Lake Cities, but retaining the route of the merged trains.

[45] In June 1948, the eastbound Lake Cities reduced Cambridge Springs to only discharge customers from Youngstown and west except on Mondays, where it would receive passengers.

[47] On October 2, 1957, the Erie president Harry Von Willer announced that the railroad would donate the land of the depot, which would be used for a new fire station for the Cambridge Springs Volunteer Department and Relief Association.

A rare agreement between the railroad and community, the site coming at free of charge was one of the first times ever that such a transaction occurred.

The new fire station would have a modern waiting room for passengers of the remaining trains going through Cambridge Springs as well as an office for the agent.

New parking areas and driveways would be constructed and the Erie promised to pay for painting its section of the building as well as bringing in the furniture.

[54] On September 29, 1963, the Erie-Lackawanna Limited was discontinued in favor of an extended version of the famous Phoebe Snow, which went to Chicago instead.