 However, in 1852 the Pennsylvania Railroad was completed, which bypassed Ligonier and passed through the towns of Bolivar and Latrobe instead.Traffic shifted from horse-drawn vehicles to the railroad, causing the community's population to drop to 350 according to the 1860 census.Ligonier enjoyed a new impetus when the Ligonier Valley Railroad was completed in 1877, linking the community to Latrobe where connections to the Pennsylvania Railroad were possible.