The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1892-12-17
SWITCHED OFF.
ElktOn Relocated on n Branch
of the p. w. & b. Railroad by
a Smart Aleck of BaIti-
more NewSpaner.


as of the p. w. & b. Railroad b.
a Smart Aleck of a BaIti-
"ili more Newspaper.
Iall
When Mr.. Isaac R. Trimble "
Engineer-in Chief of the P. W. s
80 Railroad, he INDUCED his taste for ia
al tastic railway architecture by coustru
ing locomotive house at Wilmingto
-, which clme to be- known as Trimble
a Folly. 1t was u many sided structur
on surmounted by au immense funnel SHAPE
iron roof, intended to carry off the smol
ba from the locomotives beneath it.
,lv proved a costly failure and was take
ret down.
or One day an Argus eyed reporter of
Boston paper, espied Trimble's Foil
of from car window, and being told by
he wag that the building was the Whining
1t ton gas works, proceeded to give bi
~ readers very beautiful picture of ii
duly labeled as such.
as Since that joke perpetrated upon al
N that ubiquitous and irrepressibls individ
q ual, the city reporter of the leading city
III daily, nothing pretending to equal it has
come to pass in the newspaper line along
s. the liue of the P. W. & B. Railro i'd, a,
# least, until Saturday last, when the
Baltim0reAmericdn gave this community
:, the startling piece of news, that the
Pennsy lvania Railroad was shortening
its route from New York to Washington,
and to save three and half miles of
track, it was about to lay another line
between North East and Newark, and
which cut off would be used for passenger
trains exclusively, and the old line now
passing Elkton would be devoted 20
freight uses, and the ancient county seat
OF Cecil, now one of the most important
places on the main line, would then be
shut off the route Of through travel, and
| would be practically located on a switch.
/ That this solemn determination of the
Pennsylvania Company to side track
Elkton, might be clearly understood by
the to-bs switched off Elktonians, a map
shouting the proposed change was also
published, accompanied by an editorial, |
in which the editor felictated the Penn
sylvauia Railroad on it's continuous ad-
vance toward perfection, and consoled
Elkton by the assurance, that she would
be as we'll off on switch as on the main
line, although her switching off would
be surprise to some people.
Now the fact is that, the surprise
referred to by tho editor of the american
was the only fact contained in the
articles referred 10, and no where was
this surprise more manifest, than at the
,es of the Pennsylvania Railroad
- any at 233 South Fourth street,
-om aiGh was very sSssakly
Ooh -,-a,xssa....s..,.. 49, 1917
Philad slphia and wnfsz>~-4<.-
BON sssed, when the article OF tncsa.s $50 +
,an was shown to prominent officiar
there by reporter of the WING. 1t was {
Of course source Of some amusement,
that the enterprise (?l of single handed z
reporter of the leading journa! of the
South, could antedate the plans of q
like the Pennsylvania by at
least half a century, and demonstrated
the advance in the modern science OF
ne wspaper reporting.
THE TRUTH OF IT ALL.
Some four years ago the Pennsyl-
vania's corps of engineers made the sur
yey OF an air line from Philadelphia 10 {
Baltimore, which runs about ono mile
north of Elkton, and half mile south l
of the depot at Newark. This air line, !
which is only seven miles shorter than
the present line of tracks between those .
cities, was not favorably considered then, {
nor has it been since. For several years |
past the work of strengthening the
tracks of the line between Philadelphia {
and Baltimore, has been vigorously
pushed, particularly east of the susque-
hanna river. In this line of work, pos
sibly that recently finished between
Charlestown and Principle Furnace in
this county is the most important, where
a more direct alignment of the COM
pany's tracks has been secured, mum
Der of curves avoided, and the portion OF
the old road which was abandoned,
saving some distance in the new. These
local improvements in that section OF
Cecil county have involved, with the
amounts paid for property rights, prob
ably near quarter of a million OF dol
lars.
Since the completion of the work at
Principle Furnace, that of Strengthening
the line between the Big Elk creek just
east of Elkton and Iron Hill the
sharpest grade on the road, has claimed
the company's attention. This work is
in hand, and is doubtless that which has
misled the reporter of the American.
This new line or cut Oft, is only one and
three quarter miles in length and
involves tbs abandonment of SS0o feet of
the old track, the new portion beng |
$500 feet, or only 500 feet shorter than /
the old portion. The object of the COM
pany in this work is not so much to
save distance as to get rid of four curves,
one of which is what is known by engl-
neers as a reverse curve. The new line
runs at Its most distant point about 16O0
feet south of the present line, at mile post
| No. 4S from Philadelphia, on George w.
! Wilson's land. The property rights
have all been secured by the company,
the new line running as stated Ii miles
throus the lands of Amos E. McNeal,
George W. Wilson, George Mckelvey,
James Merry and Jacob A. Howard.
The grade of Iron Hill above that of the
bridge at the Big Elk creek is 70 feet
which will not be materially reduced.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.
Next to this work, two other points
are now claiming the company's atten-
ton in this county, the running of new
line from the Big Elk bridge to point
below the block signal station at Elkton,
by which the abrupt curve just east OF
the station will be avoided. In this
contemplated work, the tracks will cross
Oh trestles above the grade of North
street, Elkton, near the southern line of
the Fair Grounds. The gates now
maintained at North, Bow and Bridge
streets will be abandoned, and the