The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-23
AN0LDTIME RAILR0ADER
p HoGG WHO HELPED BUILD
THE FIRST ROAD.

uis "reminiscences About the Early
r7evs of the Iron Horse--Men He has
travelled With.
From the Ne,v York World.
FrKroN. MD, Feb 17-This town con
..;ns in the person Of Mr.. John X, Hogg
nan who has been engaged in railroad
u,,rk longer than any person in the United
Stor4s Mr.. Hogg, who is now in his
oyhty-third year, is on the payroll OF the
pbfadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore
railroad Company as pensioner.
The veteran railroader did his first work
IN connection with railroading in August,
1879. when he was "A years of age. This
was not only his first work
in connection with railroading, but
tho first step taken towards
,bo construction of the first railroad in this
country upon which steam power was u use.
for propelling cars. In that year MI
aor5 was employed to assist John
ps1iau the celebrated engineer whom
t.forbn introduced in his peculiarly
interesting novel of Eastern Shore
lie .sThe Entailed Hat" in surveying the
line of the New Castle and FrenchtOwn rail-
road. The mode of travel between Phlla-
dolphia and Baltimore, ard therefore be-
ty-lan the Northern and Southern States,
was by steamer from Philadelphia to New
Castle Del, and from there by stage to
F1ancbtown. on the Elk river, about three
niles from Elkton \ steamer was taken at
Frenchtown for Baltimore. Increase of
travel between the two cities led to the or
gsnization of the Frenchtown and New Cas-
fle Railroad Company, which was chartered
bv the legislature of Maryland at the SEES
sion of lS37-S, with capital stock OF $780,
900.
The surveying party of which Mr. Hogg
was a member began the work in August,
1922. near the steamboat wharf at New
Castle, by driving the first leveing peg.
John Randel, Mr.. HOgg says, after placing
the stake ia the earth, directed each MEM
Der of the corps to strike it with the ak
that he carried, saying that IS the first peg
for railroad in the State of Delaware or
any other Staten Mr.. Hogg worked under
Thaddeus Griswell, Randers first assistant,
who was graduate Of West Point, carry
ing his leveling instrument. He worked
here for eighteen months when Griswel
went to Hoboken, n. j., to locate a railroad
from Paterson and Mr.. Hogg accompanied
him.
Hoboken then contained only half dozen
houses and was so rocky that the project of
running railroad to that place had to be
abandoned Mr.. Hogg returned to Cecil
county in 1881 and was employed to super
intend work on the New Castle and French
town railroad, which was about to begin
operations. 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 constructed. The
iron rails, spikes, etc, 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 heles made in them
in which a wooden plug was inserted. Upon
these were placed wooden rails about 6
inches square and about ~ feet in length,
which were fastened to the stone by means
of a spike driven into the wooden plug
through hole in one end of the iron and
another spike driven into a wooden rail
through another hole at the other end. The
stones were placed about feet apart The
structure was completed by the spiking of
bars of fat 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 afterward partially reconstructed by
the placing of wooden ties from one rail to
the other.
The Neg Castle and Frenchtown railroad
was the first on which u locomotive steam
engine was used. The first engine was made
in England and brought to this country i'll
parts in 1888. 1t was first called the Della
ware and afterwards the Phoenix. 1t took
the man employed TO put the engine together
six weeks TO perform the work, which was
done by him alone in building constructed
for 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 had to be pro-
cured from the springs along the route. Mr..
Hogg said that largo crowds of farmers had
assembled to see the iron monster at French
town, and were greatly disappointed when
it did not reach its destination at the time
expected When it did arrive there were
but few present.
tAs the engine was about to make the first
return trip, Mr.. Hogg asked the engineer
whether he could stop the thing at any
place he wanted to, and being assured that
this could be done, had the pleasure of rid
ing part of the distance on the first locomO-
tive engine used in the United States on its
first trip.
The veteran railroader showed the writer
an advertisement poster published by
Young, printer, Philadelphia" which an
nounced:
New Castle and FrenchtoWn railroad Passen-
ger cars propelled by locomotive engine leave
the depot at New Castle for Frenchtown every
morning upon the arrival of the steamboat from
Philadelphia at about $3.50 O'Clock; returning
leave frenchtown at about 1890 O'Clock. An
other train Of passenger cars departs from New
castle for FrencbtOwn every evening except
sunday on arrival Of afternoon boat from Phil
adephia at about o'clock, apd on return leaves
about clock. Fare, one ride, Soc; fare for
excursion over road and back. 50c.
X. II. BARR, Agent.
NEW CASTLE, June /, 1896.
Mr. Hogg explained that the reason the
1are for an excursion or round trip was the
same a. that for single trip was TO en-
courage people to come to New Castle from
Philadelphia by steamer and enjoy'the great
novelty Of riding behind the only locomo-
i've IN the country, and large numbers
aValled themselves Of the opportunity.
A cause of great annoyance on the road
was the ugly fashion the iron bars used as
[alls had Of curling up at the ends, caused
Dy the spikes becoming loose. These curl
ing ends OF iron were nicknamed snakes
heads by railroad men, The mode of tele-
graphing, or signaling, was very crude,
Out owing 10 the road being short it acted
very well. The signaling was done by flags
1,tylng from tall poles along the route
"nlte tiags meant that the train was NOV
i,i.ig' and red that it had stopped. At New
castle, instead Of from pole, the signaling
was done from the courthouse steeple.
W ben the construction of the Wilmington