The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-11-17

a
blGrmont This was Henry S. Fitch,
Fries first general passenger agent,
still living at Jersey City. The account
was balanced with the conductor and
the box returned to him with $40 III the
bag again for use on the return trip.
All tickets for New York We're collect
ed on the steamboat.
FIRST TRAIN ORDER.
Conductors Ayers and Stewart were
selected to run the first and second
section of the great through excursion
train in 1851 as far as Elmira. At that
place Conductor c. w. Robinson was
to take the first section, and Conductor
y. \. Chaplin the second section, and
run them to Dunkirk. The train lay all
night at Elmira, and everything was
wide OPEN Things were whooped up
all night long, and Conductor Robinson.
carried away by the universal good
cheer, was not feeling in shape to take
charge of his train next morning. Cen
eral Superintendent Miuot put Conduc-
tor Stewart in charge of section 1 Of
the train, ana 50 he ran all the way
from Piermont to Dunkirk, and thus
became the first conductor to make the
through trip on the Erie and on the
which he is very proud i'm his old age.
This dean of the now wide fraternity
Of railroad conductors also ran the
first train that was ever run on tele-
graphic order. This was i'm the fall of
1881. Up to that time the trains on
the road were run on the time-intorval
system. The track was single, and at
convenient sdings along the line a
train going I'm one direction would wait
ten minutes for a train coming in the
opposite direction. East bound trains
had the right of way, but lost it if they
were ten minutes late in reaching IL
turnout or waiting station. ana they
must then take siding and wait for
the West-buund train to pass. Stewart
was running the west-bounl express.
His engineer vas Isaac Lewis. SuIer-
intendCnt MnOt was on the train on
this particular day. At Turner's sta
tion it was to wait for the east-bOund
express to pass. The Eric telegraph
line had then hut recently been put in
operation, and il was a mystery to the
old railroad men. superintendent Minot
was a telegraph operator. When the
Wcst-bOund cypress arrived at Tuncr's $
Minot telaGraphed to the operator at
| Goshen asking him whether the cast
| bound train had loft that station. The
answer was that the train had not ar
rived at that station yet. showing that
it was much behind its time Superin-
| tendcnt Minot then W~ota and handed
| to Conductor stewart the first one
| ever written, on order to run his train
| to Goshen regardless Of the train COM
| ing east. The conductor took the or
der and handing it to his engineer, told
him to go ahead. The engineer read
the order, and passing it back to Stew
| art exclaimed:
| DO you take me for a damn fool? I
went run by that thing'
ONE FAST RUN.
Conductor Stewart reported to the
| superintendent, who went forward and
used his authority on Engineer Lewis
| but without avail Mnot then climbed
into the cab and took charge of the
| locomotive himself. Lewis jumped of
| and got in the rear seat of the rear car
| The superintendent ran the train tC
| Goshen. The other train not having
| reached that point yet, he inquired fOl
| it at MiddletoWn. 1t was not there
| He ran to Middletown, and so on &c
Port JorTis, whore the cast-bound train
| entered the yard from the vast as the
| other went in from the east. An hour
| had been saved to the west bound cX.
| press, and the telegraphic system oi
running trains was adopted at once
on the Erie, and it soon became uni
versal.
THE running of the great excursion
train over the Erie in 1851 was bis
with results to one individuals future
At Paterson there We're two lOcOmO
| tive builders who We're intense rivals
| Rogers and SWinburn. Rogers had tn,
greater reputation, and had made man,
locomotives for the Erie, but Swinburl
| had furnished some also. Two Of tn
famous engineers of the Erie in tina
day We're Cad Lyman and Josh Mar
tin Lyman ran between Port Jervis anC
BinghamtOn, the road having beer
opened i'm that place in 1249. In October
1850, SWinburn delivered to the Erie
new locomotive, famous now as tn
, "old a." and Engineer Martin wa
anxious to have It on his run. Ii wa
given to Cad Lyman, however, al
though he was partial to the Roger
make Of engines. He used the loco
motive a few months and reported tina
| he could not make time with it. ]
was condemned and put in service on
gravel train. This was q great blow [
/ SWinburn, for he had a large orde
for locomotives from the Erie. Jos
Martin at last got permission to try tn
} condemned Il. Swinburn took it bac
to the shop, overhauled it, and foun
J nothing amiss. Martin took the loco
{ motive on his run and made his tim
= with it on the crooked Delaware dlvis
l ion easier than with any lOcOmotiV
I | he had ever run. He had run the I
I but a few weeks when the great ever
l of opening the road to Dunliirk was g
4 hand.
"After Cad Lyman abandoned tn
{ Swinburn engine he was placed /
1 charge Of a Rogers locomotive the 10
and in May. 1851, he was notified thf
Z he was to run the first section Of til
1 grand opening excursion train frol
Piermont. When the day came his fa
Il VOrito Rogers engine was attached
the train, but before they had arrive
at Suffern the locomotive was stuck
: and it was necessary to push the trai
! with the locomotive of the second SCI
= tion. The consequence was that the
arrived at Midtown, only fifty-thrC
= miles on the way, nearly an hour lat
= At Middetown Superintendent Min
+ telegraphed to the agent at Port Jerv
to have John Martin ready with h
h 'Swinburn engine on the arrival Of Il
q train at that station TO take the fir
a section on its way. John was the
d and took the train on. 1t is declared I
Il old rairoaders to this day that a ira
, has never been run over the Delawa
: division of the Erie at such spe,
a since. The distance between Port Je
Wis and NaTowsburg is thirty-fo,
- miles and the run was made in thirt
five minutes according to the testimoi
,..nnrl nE In. D.nllnL n.rlr. Z.