The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-10-12
THE ANCIENT B. & 0.
Early Railroading- Extract from an
Address of the Late Capt. R. A.
French.


Recent publications regarding
the wonderful upbuilding of the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad recalls
an address made bv the late Cap
tian Robert A. French, of Cumber-
land, in his time one of the most
widely known B. & o. men in the
State, at a convention in Chatanoo-
ga some fifteen years ago, the tol-
lowing quotation from which w as
printed in the Baltimore and Ohio
Y. NJ. c. A. Bulletin at the time,
and from it reproduced:
In 1927 some of the merchants
Of Baltimore held a meeting for
the purpose of planning to build
steam railroad from Baltimore to
some point on the Ohio river. On
the 4th of July, 1928, the corner
stone was laid by Charles Carroll,
of Carrollton, the last living signer
of the Declaration Of Independ
enCe. The company formed had
no experience in railroad building.
They got granite from the quar-
ries and laid it in the ground as we
| place curbstones in our cities.
There were holes made in the
stone and wooden plugs driven in
to the holes, the old slab rail was
then laid on the stone and spikes
driven into the wooded plugs in
the granite to hold the rails i'll
| place.
1.-The first cars were wooden
boxes something like our present
box cars, with a door at each end,
three windows on each side and
two seats lengthwise of the car;
these boxes were placed on wheels
with pair Of mules for motive
power. This gives a picture Of
the first train on the Baltimore &
Ohio railroad, which was the first
railroad in the United States.
They also had the bodies of the
old mail coaches put on wheels
and used these. This is where the
railroad coach takes its name from.
TN 1880 Peter Cooper built
small engine at Mt. Clare, and on
the 18th of August, 1880, he made
his first trip from Baltimore to Ell
llcott Mills, a distance Of IS miles,
in 81 minutes. In July, 1884,
Phineas Davis, of Little York,
Pennsylvania, built the coal crab
or "grasshopper' engine and plac-
ed her on the road, and she proved
a success. After this the old
stone track was thrown away and
the string track took its place.
This was done by laying yellow
pine timber lengthways on cross
ties and the old slab rail was nail
ed to the timber. From that time
up to the present see what vast
strides the railroad Improvements
have made in our country.
From the old slab rail on the
granite and on the string track to
the present roadbed with its oak
! cross ties, stone ballast and the
large steel rails, and from Pete
Cooper's engine and coal crab to
the passenger and consolidated en-
Ngines of today from the little box
! cars and stage coach bodies to the
day coaches, Pullman sleepers and
dining cars, and the chair cars Of
today. The railroads of our Coun-
try today covers it like a great
spiders web, stretching out it's
arms to all points; and then look
at the comfort that has been sup
piled for the trainmen in good
warm cabs on their engines, and
nice cabooses for all freight trains.
In the early days of railroading
the trainmen had to sit out in the
cold and SHOWS Of winter and the
rains and heat Of summer. often
would they dig hole in a coal
hopper and put in straw and corn
fodder, when they could get it, so
as to keep themselves warm. In
the early days of railroading we
had no telegraph, and the engineer
and conductor had the work them
selves over the road simply by
the time schedules, as the road
was all single track. The young
man that dug the foundation for
the corner stone in July, 1928, is