New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-18

The conflict between transporterS WHO preferred
to conduct their business over the Phadepn ana h
the Pennsylvana) BY horse power and the agthor nd
ties %hG f nyement was Continuous The indie
pendent teamster took great delight in stopping hIs
S SoT ." to the great disgust Of the train de-
tained by his action. The profanities, the incon-
contrnIIsd mixed power eventually had its effect
upon the Board Of Canal Commissloners ttnese were
the Importance q the occasion net i In solemn d sSn
vention In Harrisburg on March ~ lase ana passed
sav o, April 1856 all locomotive engines drawing
freight or passenger cars should leave the Belmont
morning the last train carrying signal slgniiylng
TO the persons interested on the roaG that o
o'Cock in the morning until o'clock in the after;
noon and all engines arriving througn me gay ana ana
tween the hours Of and O'Clock in the evening
and the last leaving CARRYING sigma snowts bt
hours .or -
the road the space Of seven hours during the cay
time and eight hours during the night TO transact
their business.
BELMONT PLANE
Belmont Plane mentioned in this extract was
one OF the great inclined planes used on the early
railroads for overcoming steep grades. stationary
encines hauled the cars and locomotives too up
these inclined planes by means of long cables
and then let them run down by means OF their own
momentum. The idea OF cutting down grades 10
suit the locomotives had not dawned on men
minds then
These engineering difficulties encountered IN Penn
sylvana drove It's people to mixed system OF rail-
road and water transportation. Until ls45 Pttsburg
and Philadelphia had only that KIND OF zgzag
connection and one of the most picturesque OF the
early roads absorbed by the Pennsylvania Railroad
was the Allegheny Portage Railroad. which car
red canal-boats in specially constructed trucks over
the mountain top thus connecting the Ohio water
shed with Chesapeake Bay. While the old Portage
was In full use with It's system OF planes Its opera
ton involved the necessity Of changing power thirty
three times in thirty-six miles. To move section
| boat over the road from the basin at Johnstown
| to Holidaysburg involved calling into requlsiton
| twelve teams OF horses nine locomotives and
| twelve stationary engines. The minimum number
| OF men to handle this fftyfour. Proposals 10
| tunnel the mountain were laughed down too ri
| dculous for serious discussion Not until 1854 was
the Summit Tunnel constructed, 3sl2 feet long and
that was considered tremendous engineering feat.
PIONEER SMALL ROADS.
AS the history Of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany naturally embrace the history of those
! lines of road purchased leased by 1t. Mr.. VII
son devotes a big slice OF his history 10 these
pioneer enterprises. His description of how various
| mechanical improvements were invented TO solve
new problems they arose lie enllvening Here is
a sample;
Grasshopper Level is within four miles Of Ian
easter. and derlyed its name from the following
| circumstance The grasshoppers one season were
| so numerous as TO destroy the crops and
engines, with their trains were stalled. that TO
| make any progress II became necessary 10 have
| men precede the trains and pour sand upon the
| tracks This suggested carrying the sand In boxes
and next putting the boxes astride the locomotive
| and then adding rods. which were placed under
| control OF engineers and hremen.
! good idea OF the nature OF the roadbeds in
those days may be procured from this sentence:
| After the introduction of the shelter cab on the
| locomotive some time elapsed before our men
would avail themselves Of Its benefits, by reason OF