As for this particular line, Peter A.B. Widener and William Elkins Lukins were responsible for the company’s development. On December 4, 1879, they acquired a controlling interest in the Union Passenger Railway Company, 12,600 shares, which were purchased by a combination of individuals, principally composed of officers and stockholders of the Continental Passenger Railway Company, at $100.00 a share -- this was the nucleus to the formation of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company in 1882.