The Columbus journal., 1907-11-20
FIRST l.i -..-s
TRAINS DRAWN BY Hc.s:s iE
THE YEAR 1o29.
Charter Obtained In 1e22 for Railroad
That Was Never euilt-loeomo-
tive Not . Success On ID
Trial 1eip.

In 1922 the first charter was obtain
ed for . railroad in the United States,
says Henry c. Nicholas In the Van
Norden Magazine. 1t was for . line
from Philadelphia to . point ON the
SusQuehanna river. but was never
built. On the announcement Of the
project some one asked one of the
Baltimore newspaper. What 10 .
railroad. anyhow" and the editor was
forced to reply that he did not know.
but that perhaps some other cores
pondent can tell" Seven years later.
On the little wooden track along the
Lackawaxen creek. the first loeomo.
tive had its trial. The experiment
was far from successful and for q
number Of years afterward the trains
on most Of the railroads continued
to be drawn by horses. The first loco
motives on the Baltimore & Ohio rail
road had sails attached. as did also
the cars. which were hoisted in fair
weather when the wind was blowing
in the right direction and thus aided
the locomotives in hauling the trains.
Owing to the absence Of any brakes
there was always rude jolting when
the trains either started OF stopped and
the shock was often scarcely less re-
vere than would be caused by the col
lisicn Of a modern vestibule train. The
cars were usually coupled together by
chains. leaving from two to three fee:
slack. and when the locomotive start
ed 1t took up the slack by jerks. with
sufficient force to throw the passen-
gers from their seats entirely across
the car to the opposite side.. The
shock on stopping was even more .
vert and never failed to send the pas
sengers flying from their seats. At
first the entire reliance for stopping
the train was upon the engineer. but
this vas soon found to be insuflcien
1t is stated that ON the New Castle &
Frenchtown railroad the braking Of
the train when near the station vas
done at the signal Of the engineer by
raising his safety valve.
There we're. no Whistles in those
days and signals were made by rails
ing the valve stem on the dome with
the hand and allowing the steam to
escape with . sudden loud. Kissing
noise. When this signal was made.
the slaves around the station would
rush to the train. seize hold and pun
b&ck. while the agent would stick a
piece Of wood through the wheel
spoke. A New England writer refers
to this method Of stopping . train.
which gave one. when approaching
his station. such . Jolly stirring up.
and never let up until he vas landed
wide-awake and half seasick on the
platform"
The frequent collisions and blowing
up Of engines during the early sos,
while 1t apparently did not affect the
volume of traffic. did affect to some
extent the nerves of the more timor-
Gus passengers. Some Of the southern
railroads. solicitous for the safety Of
their passengers. introduced what
they called . barrier car" between
the locomotive and the passenger
coaches of the train. This barrier III
consisted of . platform on wheels
upon which were piled six bales Of cot
ton and 1t was claimed 1t would safe
guard the passengers in two waysE
It would protect them from the blow
ing up of the locomotive and would
form q soft cushion upon which the
could land in the event
Of Z collision. There IL no record Of
this experiment worked out.