The Globe-republican., 1890-10-29
EARLY RAILROADS.
Inc First Passenger Trains Run In England
and the United States.

The First Passenger Trains Run In England
and the United States.
Sixty-ive years ago the first steam
railway in the world for the carriage o
passengers was formally opened in En-
gland. There are many men still living
who remember that day. The road wa:
called the Stockton & Darlington rail
road The speed was not a thing tt
brag about A stand ng reward of e55t
was offered for an engine that would
travel ten miles an hour drawing three
times its own weight The first road
for carrying freight in the United State:
was opened at Quincy. Mass. in the fol
lowing year, but it was not until two
years after that (1S2S) that the Balti
more & Ohio ran the first passenger
train in the United States and Peter
Cooper designed the locomotive. The
first steam railway in New York State
began running from Albany to Shenect-
ady in 1880.
The Rensselaer, & Saratoga railroad
was originally incorporated April IA,
1882 The construction of the road was
commenced the nextyear. The purpose
OF constructing this road was to proven;
the diversion of the trade OF North
ern New York to Albany via
the roads from Saratoga to
Schenectady and from the latter place
to Albany. The Troy terminus of the
Rensselaer, & Saratoga was on First
street. the depot occupying a part of
the present site of the Young Mems As
ISOLATION building The road was opened
from Troy to Ballston October 6. 1883
The Schenectady & Saratoga Railroad
Company, which was controlled by AL
bany people, refused to carry the Rens-
seiaer & Saratoga railroads freight from
Ballston to Saratoga A number of
Troy capitalists then purchased the
majority of the stock of the Schenectady
& Saratoga Railroad Company and for a
time Albany's freight was under an en-
barge on the railroad.
The utilization of the railroad idea
may be traced much further back than
September %, 1925 when the Stockton
& Darlington railroad was opened for
passenger traffic. In the coal districts
of the north of England. early in the
last century, rails Of wood were laid for
the purpose Of reducing the friction
caused by pulling coal carts from the
work ngs to pit mouths About 1867
cast-iron rails were introduced. Be-
tween 1854 and 1920 Murdoch, Treye-
thick and Gray, all Englishmen made
experiments with steam engines. The
success of the modern railway. by gen.
eral consent is due to George Stephen
son, who constructed the first lccomo-
tive for the Stockton & Darlington rail-
way and who was it's engineer for sew
eral months
Stephenson's engines were adopted
by other railways, but they were not in
troduced without opposition. The staoe-
coach owners and the canal projectors
were opposed to railway competition.
were frightened at the
prospect of going iron monsters, belch-
ing forth fire and smoke, flying over
their property. The English spirit of
too, was aroused, and it
was voiced by the British Quarterly Re-
view in these words:
W. should as Don expect the pc: pie of
WO 'lwich to snffer themselves to be fired off
lpon one of Congreve's rock't, as to trust
gong at such rate.
The machines that excited such fear
we're very insignificant in comparison
with the smallest locomotive now in
(N. " Press.