The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1888-02-25
AN OLD RAILROAD MAN
]. R. HGGG, WHO HELPED BUILD TIE
FIRST ROAD IN THIS COUNTRY.
Eighty Three Years Old and n Pensioner of
tile Philadelphia, Wilmington and BaitI-
more Railroad Company-His Reminis-
cences About the Early Days of the Iron
Horse-Men lie Has Travelled With.

ths fnliaueiphiS, " iimihStoh anu baltt-
more Railroad Company-His Reminis-
cences About the Early Days of the Iron
Horse-Men lie Has Travelled With.
Charles F. Hinchl,Be in n. Y. Sunday World.
ELKToN, Nd, Feb, I7.-This town
contains in the person OF Mr.. John r.
Hogg a man who has been engaged in
railroad work longer than any person
IL the United States. Mr.. Hogg, who
is now In his eighty-third year, is on
the payroll of the Philadelphia, Will
mington and Baltimore Railroad Com
pany as pensioner.
This veteran railroader did his first
work IN connection with railroading in
August, 1870, when he was twenty four
years OF age. This was not only his
first work in connection with railroad
ing, but the first step taken towards the
construction of the first railroad IN this
country upon which steam power was
used for propelling cars, In that year
Mr.. Hogg was employed to assist John
Randel, the celebrated engineer whom
Cath introduced in his peculiarly in
teresting novel of Eastern Shore life,
The Entailed Hat" in surveying the
line of the New Castle and Frenchtown
Railroad. The mode of travel between
Philadelphia and Baltimore, and there
fore between the Northern and South
ern States, was by steamer from Philadel-
phia to New Castle, Del, and from
there by stage to Frenchtown on the
Elk River, about three miles from Elk
ton. A steamer was taken at French
town for Baltimore. Increase of travel
between the two cities led to the organ
ization of the Frenchtown and New
Castle Railroad Company, which was
chartered by the Legislature of Mary
land at the session of 1927 s, with a
capital stock of 100000.
The surveying party of which Mr.,
Hogg was a member began the work
in August, 1899, near the steamboat
wharf at New Castle, by driving the first
dwelling peg. John Randel, Mr.. Hogg
says, after placing the stake in the earth,
directed each member of the corps -
strike it with the axe that he carried,
saying THAT IS the first peg for rail-
road in the State of Delaware or any
other State" Mr.. Hogg worked under
Thaddeus Griswell, Randel's first assist
ant, who was graduate of West Point,
carrying his levelling instrument. He
worked here tor eighteen months when
Griswell went to Hoboken, n. J., to
locate railroad from Paterson and Mr..
Hogg accompanied him.
Hoboken then contained only half
dozen houses and was SO rocky that the
project of running a railroad to that
place had to be abandoned. MIR. Hogg
returned to Cecil county in 1881 and
was employed to superintend work on
the New Castle and Frenchtown Rail
road, which was about to begin opera
tons. 1t was not until about two years
later, in 1888, that steam power was
used.
The road was about seventeen miles
long and was very peculiarly con
structed. The iron rails, spikes, &c,
were brought from England. Mr.. Hogg
now has some parts of the old road in
his possession. AT first the rails were
laid on blocks placed on stones Instead
of upon wooden sleepers, as is now the
| case. The stones had holes made in
them in which a wooden plug was in
serted. Upon these were placed wooden
rails about 6 inches square and about
| II feet in length, which we're fastened
to the stone by means of spike driven
into the wooden plug through a hole IN
one end OF the iron and another spike
driven inlo a wooden rail through
another hole at the other end. The
stones were placed about three feet
apart. The structure was completed
by the spIking of bars of fiat iron like
tires on top of the wooden rails 1t
was found that the rails spread when
held in this way, and the road was
afterwards partially reconstructed by the
placing of wooden ties from one rail to
the other.
The New Castle and Frenchtown
Railroad was the first on which loco
m )tive steam engine was used. The
first engine was made in England and
brought to this country in parts i'll 1885
1t was first called the Delaware and
Afterwards the Phoenix. 1t took the
man employed to put the engine to,
gether six weeks to perform the work,
which was done by him alone in a
building constructed tor the purpose
The managers Of the road discovered
that the cause of the delay was that the
machinist was making model of each
part. 1t took the engine several days
to reach Frenchtown from New Castle
This was owing to accidents and to the
fact that no provision had been made
to supply the engine with water, which