Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-06-18

Exposition grounds atNew Orleans 10 the
City Of Mexico, where It will be used for
public purposes.
Two First Railroad In America.
At the last meeting of the Engineers
club OF Philadelphia, DR.. r p. Robins read
paper on the "Flrst Permanent Tram
way IN America" summary OF which is
given by the secretary of the club as
follows:
The tramway was projected by Mr..
Thomas Leiper of Delaware county, Pa,
In 1909, for the transportation Of stone.
After experimenting in the yard of the
Old Bull's-Head tavern, Second street,
above Poplar Lane, Philadelphia, as TO
the feasibility Of such roadway, he adj
veriised in the Aurora Of September
.2s, 1909, as follows az wish
to contract for the digging part
OF railway, from my quRrries
on Crum creek to my landing on Ridley
the distance and level has been accurate
ly ascertained by Mr.. Reading Howell.
The distance is exactly three .fourths of a
mile, and an accurate statement of the
quantity of digging required may be seen
from the plot In my possession, calculated
by Mr. Howell. ! also wish to contract
for making and laying The rail part Of the
same, consisting OF wood, specimen OF
which, as furnished by Messrs. Large &
Winpenny, may bee seen by applying TO
to them at their mandatory adjoining
the Bulls Head in Second street, Ia the
Northern Liberties. The scantling for
the above will be furnished on the ground.
| wish to progress in this work immedi-
ately"
The work Of building and grading WAS
Immediately begun, the draft of the road
being made by John Thompson, and the
railroad was finished carly Ia 1910. "The
ascents were graded incline planes, aud
the superstructure was made of white
oak with cross-ties and string pieces
The cars or trucks were very similar to
those now in use, the wheels being made
of cast-iron with fapges." The road
continued in active use until 1928,
when IL was superseded by
n canal after the plan made by Mr.
Leiper, but not carried into effect
until three years after his death, when his
son, the Hon. George Gray Leiper, con-
cluded the work which had always been
nearest to his fathers heart. The site Of
the old road can still be seen, though it is
in ruins, nothing remaining excepting the
deep cuts made by the cross ties. There
has been a great deal OF discussion Of
late years with regard TO the claim Of
priority for this road, it having been
claimed by various New England writer's
that an earlier tramway had been
built in or near Boston. But
as nearly as | can arrive at any con.
clusion upon the subject, the only road
constructed before the building Of Mr.
Leipers tramway in Delaware co nty,
was that on the western slope Of Beacon
Hill, which was designed and executed
by Silas Whitney in 1907, and which was
about quarter of mile in length. ltwas
used for the transporting OF gravel from
the top Of the hill down to Carries street,
which was being filed up and graded.
There were two trains Of cars
on the railway, so arranged
that one train being loaded
with gravel would in Its descent pail up
the empty train. While the full cars were
being emptied, the unloaded cars were
being filed, and in their descent would
haul up the first train, thus doing the
work without horses. This road wac,
however, only temporary and as the
work OF grading progres sed was gradual
ly removed. 1t is, however, entitled to C
mention as the first work of the kind in
America, having been put into active
operation at least two years before Mr..
Leiper's preliminary and experimental
railway in the yard of the Bulls Head
tavern. Mr.. Leiper's road In Delaware
county was, however, the first permanent
tramway constructed in this country; the
next in point Of Gate was that laid in
Nashua, N. H., in 1925, the third was the
one laid down at Quincy granite quarries
in Massachusetts,, in ls26.27, and the
fourth, the Great Enterprise at Mauch
Chunk, Pennsylvania, nine miles in
length, TO which the former ones are mere
child's play.
DR.. Robins description contains full
quotations from various historical author
tiles, contemporaneous newspapers, etc
vote OF thanks was extended to Dir.
Robins for his entertaining contribution.
DR.. Robins stated that the original
map by John Thomson, referred to
above, Is now in the possession of the
Delaware County Institute OF Science,
having been presented to the institute by
Dr. Joshua Ash, who procured it from
the late j. Edgar Thomson,