Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-06-08
rms FIRST AMERICAN nAtEs
ROAD.
ThurIow weeds story OF the
First Trip from Albany
to schenectady.
New York Times.

nrst steam railroad train operated II
this country is yet unsettled, but tn
preponderance of the evidence woult
seem to show that il was the train run
over the Albany and Schenectad,
road in 1881. The charter for thil
road was granted in 1926 to the Mo
hawk and Hudson River Railroad
Company, and work upon it was be
gun in 1880. 1t was completed il
1881, ami in September of that veal
the first steam passenger train, which
is also claimed to be the first steam
passenger train ever run in this coun-
try, was sent over the rails from Alba.
ny to Schenectady and back. Among
the passengers on this memorable ex
cursion was the venerable ThuIlow
Weed, and his memory of the event
is still very vivid. In speaking Of it
to a Times reporter yesterday, Mr..
Weed said at is still a more or less
disputed point whether the Albany
and Schenectady road or a short road
near Charleston, S. c., was the first
railroad operated in this country, but
l am inclined to think that the claim
of the South Carolina road has been
pretty well disposed of, and that his
tory will decide that the Albany and
Schenectady line was the first one
completed and operated. There is no
doubtthat both roads were constructed
almost simultaneously, but / have a
very strong impression that the first
train was run over the New York
line. The road was narrow gauge, and
followed the same route as it does now
that it has been consolidated and
forms the eastern terminus of the New
York Central, but in 1881 the country
through which it passes was very
lightly settled. 1t ran through a pine
forest, and | suppose there were not
half a dozen houses between Albany
and Schenectady, a distance of six
teen miles. There was a hill at both
the Albany and Schenectady ends OF
the line, and the cars were drawn up
and let down these hills by a strong
rope, which was worked by a station
airy engine, so that the locomotive did
not enter either of the cities. The
locomotive was a queer looking ar
rangement, and would create a sensa
ton in these days. 1t was imported
from England. weighed four tons, and
was named John Bull. The cars ofthe
train we're also peculiar looking vehi-
Giles according to our modern notions
of railway coaches, but in 1881 they
we're looked upon as marvels. They
were two iu number, and consisted Of
the old stage coaches, taken from the
numbering wheels and transferred to
railroad trucks.
II remember that first excursion
very we'll, and most of those who en-
joyed ii" continued Mr.. Weed. THE
gentlemen who made the trip were
Lewis Benedict, James Alexander,
President of the Commercial bank of
Albany; Charles E. Dudley. of the
Dudley Observatory; Jacob Hayes,
High Constable of New York; Major
Meggs, Sheriff of Albany; Judge Mar
vim, of Saratoga; John j. DeGraf,
Mayor Of Schenectady; Edward Oros-
well, editor Of the Albany Argus;
John Townsend, Billy Whine, the
penny post at Albany; ex Governor
Joseph c, Yates, myself, and two or
three others whom l do not now re-
call. Our engineer was John Hamp-
son, an Englishman, who | have been
told is still living, but with the excep-
tion Of him and myself every one of
the persons who made the trip are dead.
| was thirty four years old then and all
the rest, except Croswell, who was
about my age, were from FIVE to ten
years older than l. A great crowd of
people assembled at the foot Of the
hill in Albany to see US start, and
among them was an artist by the name
Of Brown, l think. 1t took about
three quarters of an hour to get ready
for the start, and during that time
Brown mansged to secure a picture OF
the party, the portraits of which are
remarkable for their fidelity. Several
copies of this picture are in existence,
and | have one of them myself
The original is in the possession Of
the Connecticut Historical Socie
ty, at Hartford. When all wal
ready the coaches were pulled
up the hill by the stationary engine.
the locomotive was attached when The
summit had been reached, and W,
went laundering along towards Schen
ectady. We made the trip Of abouI
sixteen miles in between sixty anC
seventy minutes. aud We thought w
had done an extraordinary thing, a
indeed we had for those early days O
the century. The idea Of the modern
express train running at the rate o
fifty or sixty miles an hour would
have seemed preposterous then. w,
took dinner at Schenectady and re
turned by the road TO Albany, making
the trip in a little over an hour"
The only stockholders of the Mo
hawk and Hudson railroad whom Mr.
Weed could remember were Mr.. ID
Wolf, of this city, the father Of Cath
crime De Wolf; John Townsend, O
Albany, and Mayor John ]. De Graf
Of Schenectady. The old narrow
gauge road was torn up when the con
solidation with the New York Contra
was made, and the stationary engin
!, was dispensed with, the locomotive
running directly into Albany an,
Schenectady. The route Of the lin
was not changed, however, and travel
ers from Albany TO Schenectady owe
I the New York Central now pas
through the same country, although j
/, is much more thickly settled, that wa
: looked out upon by the passengers o
the first railroad train that ever mad
a trip in America.
|. Nervous debility, melancholy, ca
! tarrh Of the bladder, ~leucorrhea, etc
! are quickly cured by Browns Iro
Bitters.
8 q M.u.G.tl o n VIZ NJ W.fL