Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1890-04-11
STONES FOR sTRINGERs.

STONES FOR sTRINGERs.
The road had its beginning in Lexing-
ton, Oct. 81, 1881, when the "corner
stone" was laid with appropriate public
demonstrations. 1t was finished to this
city, distance of twenty-eight miles,
in December, 1885, stone sills like line
of broad flat street curbing in cities, TAX
ing the place of what is now called string
ers, to which the rails were fastened.
The ordinary straight or slightly curving
lines of the road were constructed with
plain fiat surface stones, but for the av-
erage or heavy curves, the stones with
chiseled gutter way in the center were
used as double precaution to keep the
flange of the wheel from jumping the
rails.
The engineers of the day claimed that
the road was the safest and most sub
stantial that could be built, but it was
found that for any length of time the
action of the machinery pressing heavily
against the edge of the stone rendered it
liable to wear and crumble, requiring
constant attention at great expense to
keep the road in good repair. Despite
all this care and cost in the construction
this road had the honor of the first rail
road accident in the United States. This
accident occurred in March, 1885, at
point about two miles the other side of
this city. From a report of Thomas
Smith, president of the Lexington and
Ohio railroad, of which the Lexington
and Frankfort was part, published in
1886 and reproduced by Col. John o.
Hodges for his March number of The
Trades journal, the following excerpt is
taken:
Notwithstanding these precautions on
the occasions alluded to, the flanges of
the wheels of the engine, while passing
with the usual speed over an embank-
ment, lost their hold upon the rails, and
before the brakes could be used the en-
gine and several cars, one of them con-
tanning Il large number of passengers,
were upset and broken. Two individu-
ais were killed and several wounded. 1t
is probably not within the scope of human
invention to devise means of travelling
entirely free from all hazard.
WHAT ONE ACCIDENT DID.
The locomotive first used upon this
railroad was built by Joseph Bruen, of
Lexington, in 1885. 1t had an upright
boiler and two upright cylinders and
lever beams, both attached to one axle,
with crooks at right angles. Bruen got
his idea from Thomas II. Barlow, who,
it was claimed, built the first locomotive
in the world at Lexington, 1S26-27.
Barlow had a car for two passengers at
tached to lis locomotive, which had
power to ascend an elevation eighty feet
to the mile. In May, 1927, it was opened
for public exhibition in a large room over
Joseph Bruen's machine shop, where an
oval track around the room was con-
structed This was the first train in
western America. Gen. Leslie Combs
and DR.. w. S. Chipley rode in it at fifty
cents trip The locomotive was after
ward exhibited in Louisville and other
cities in the south.
The accident referred to, lin conse-
quence of the respectability of the suf-
ferers and the novelty of the occurrence"
directed public attention so strongly to
it that the company substituted horse for
steam power in the transportation of
passengers. This primitive mode of con-
structing and conducting a railroad was
continued until 1912, when a change of
ownership brought with it change from
stone to wooden stringers and return
to steam from horse power, An inclined
plane at Arsenal Hill, in this city, was in
use until 1S49, when the tunnel was COM
pleted to give entrance to the city and
connections with the division of the road
to Louisville, part of which, from the
center of Louisville to the Portland
wharf, had long been in successful oper-
alton. Frankfort (Ky.) Cor. Louisville