[1] It owned a small fleet of boats on the Great Lakes which collected grain and produce which were then delivered to Erie, Pennsylvania.

In 1877, Potts bought an oil refinery on Long Island and began to build one in Philadelphia.

John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil visited with Thomas A. Scott, the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad to object having a competitor in the refining business, even though Scott knew that Standard Oil owned at least twice as many tank cars that the Empire Transportation Company owned.

A strike in July 1877 destroyed millions of dollars of Pennsylvania Railroad property.

Cassatt of the Pennsylvania Railroad and Standard Oil agreed to a sale price of $3,500,000 in October 1877.