Telegram-herald., 1890-03-05
An INTERESTING RELIC.
kENTuckNes LIBRARY GETS WHAT
IS LEFT or A RAILROAD.

ma Piece from ths First Railway West
Of the Anssa@nies-A Fatal Accident
Cause. the Management 70 Substitute
Horse Power for steam
State Librarian Thompson, through the
suggestion OF Col John o. Hodges, u
Lexington. and the courtesy Of Vice Pres
+ ident NJ. u Smith q the Louisville and
| Nash vile railroad, was put into possession
Of q relic for the state library. which has
a. interesting or OF history attached 20
f ID. The relic consists OF TWO large stones,
each about four feet long. eighteen inches
wide and twelve inches deep Ons stone
il followed oat on the top, the full length
Of the middle, about two and ou~-hsR
| inches wide and two inches deep. On the
edge Of this chiseled indentation is fat
strip Of bar iron about two and one half
inches wide. fastened with iron spikes
driven into drilled holes in the stone.
The other stone has the bar iron fastened
az the edge Of the outer surface. These
stones are ali that is left Of the FIST rail-
road west OF the Allegheny mountains.
and the second railroad ever built in the
United States.
} STONES FOR sTRINGERs.
The road had its beginning in Lexing-
ton. Oct. 81. 1891, when the corner
stone" was laid with appropriate public
demonstrations 1t was finished 10 this
city. a distance of twenty-eight miles.
in December, 1888, stone sills like line
of broad fat street curling in cities, TAX
ing the placeof what is now called string
ers, 10 which the rails were fastened
! The ordinary straight or slightly curving
lines Of the road were constructed with
plain fat surface stones, but for the av-
craze or heavy curves. the stones with a
chiseled gutter way in the center were
used as double precaution to keep the
fange 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 il 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 a 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 a
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
! - y,s,hliubaI IL
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 fanges 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-
CINE and several cars, one of them con-
tanning 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 uprigh,
. boiler and two upright cylinders and
: lever beams, both attached TO one axle,
with crooks at right angles. Br11en 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 his locomotive. whic had
power TO ascend an elevation eigl'v feet
TO the mile. In May, 1927, it wa opened
for public exhibition in large roo y over
Joseph Bruen's machine shop, WI re an
oval track around the room was con
structed. This was the first train in
, western America. Gen. Leslie Comb:
and DR.. w. S. Chipley rode in n : fifty
cents trip. The locomotive was after
ward exhibited in Louisville anu other
cities in the south.
The accident referred to, Gin conse-
quence of the respectability Of the suf
ferers and the novelty of the occurrence,
directed public attention so strongly e
it that the company substituted horse fol
, steam power in the transportation Of
/, passengers. This primitive mode of con
structing and conducting a railroad was
!. continued until 1912, when a change o.
4 ownership brought with it a change from
stone 20 wooden stringers and a return
to steam from horse power. An inclined
plane at Arsenal Hill. in this city, was il
I, use until 1S49, when the tunnel was com
pleted to give entrance 10 the city anC
connections with the division OF the roaI
\ to Louisville, q part of which, from th'
: center of Louisville TO tho Portland
a wharf. had long been in successful oper
ation.-Frankfort (Ky) Cor. Louisville
, Courier-JournsL
4 willing TO Barter Her Secret