Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-01-24
RAIL ROAD LIFE
IN EARLY DAYS
IN 1880 A HORSE RACED WITH A B.
& o. LOCOMOTIVE AND THE
HORSE WON.
SAIL HELPED ENGINE ALONG.
Trains Travelled Slowly in the Dark
First Headlight Was Invented
in 1910.
TRAINS RAN 80 MILES AN HOUR.

Whi2h has actually been accom-
plished by the railroads of this coun-
try may be gained from an article en-
titled primitive Railroading," pub
lished in The Van Norden Magazine
In 1922, says the writer, the first
charter was obtained for a railroad in
the United States 1t was for line
from Philadelphia to a point on the
Susquehanna river, but was never
built
Seven years later on the little
wooden track along the LackawaXen
creek the first locomotive had its
trial. The experiment was far from
successful, and for number of
years afterward the trains on most
of the railroads continued to be
drawn by horses.
Locomotive Had Sails.
The first locomotive on the Balti-
more & Ohio had sails attached! SO
did the cars. These sails were hoist
ed when the wind was in tho ripht
direction SO as to help the lncomo-
tive.
The rivalry between the railroads
using locomotives and those using
horses was very bitter. In August,
1880, an actual trial of speed was
held between horse and one of the
pioneer locomotives WhilGl did NOT
result in favor of the locomotive.
The race was on the Is. e o.. the
locomotive being one built by Peter
Cooper, who also acted as engineer.
AS there We're no brakes on the
early trains, they used to stop and to
start with jolts which threw the pas
sengers across the car. The coupling
was with chains having two or three
feet of slack which the engine in
starting took up with series of
fierce jerks. The shock on stopping
was even worse and never failed to
send the passengers flying"
No Whistles in Old Days.
There were no whistles in the old
days. Signals were given by pushing
up the valve on the dome by hand
and letting the steam escape with a
loud kissing noise.
There were SO many collisions and
explosions that some southern rail
roads introduced what they called
barrier car between the locomotive
and the passenger coaches of the
train This barrier car consisted of
a platform on wheels upon which
were piled six bales of cotton, and it
was claimed it would safeguard the
passengers in two wayS-it would
protect them from the blowing up of
the locomotive and would form a
soft cushion upon which the passen-
gers cOulu lana IN the event OIL d COL
lision
Horatio Allen states that when
the South Carolina railroad was COM
pleted, with it's 100 miles of track,
operation over such an extensive line
was then unprecedented. In making
arrangements for this unusual under
taking one of the first things that
occurred to him was that the loco
motives would have to run at night
as we'll as day, and in the absence of
a headlight he built on an open plat
form car, stationed in front of the
locomotive, a fire of pine knots, sur
rounded with sand, which furnished
the requisite illumination OF the route
traVerSed.
Travelled in the Dark.
On most of the other lines no sub
stitutes for headlights were used The
trains travelled slowly through the
dark. Night trips, however, were
avoided as much as possible. The
first headlight on locomotive was
used by the Boston & Worcester in
1910.
The original American locomotives
were nearly all wood burners, and
during a protracted period, before
the invention of spark arresters, the
flying sparks caused great amount
of damage and annoyance.
on most of the early railroads the
cars were at first entirely uncovered,
being in fact merely platform cars
with a row of seats { ng each Slde.
The passengers were entirely unpfo-
tected from the sun, rain, smoke or
cinde~s A passenger who took
trip over the Mohawk Valley ram oad
when this company had opened It's
line between Albany and Schenectady
thus describes his experiences:
"They used dry pitch pine for tuei'
and there being no smoke or spark
catcher to the chimney or smoke
stack the volume OF black smoke
strongly impregnated with sparks,
coal and cinders, came pouring back
the whole length Of the train. Each
of the passengers who had an UNI
brella raised it as a protection against
the smoke and fire.
Telegraph in 1850.
Telegraphic service available Tor
railway was not established untli
about 1850 In the absence OF the
telegraph and the lack of any estab-
lisbed system of signalling the early
railroads adopted novel methods Tor
conveying information. A descrip-
ton of the line says that the poles
were of cedar, quite like those now
in use, and had cleatS fastened on
them, forming a sort of Jacobs lad
der"
The operator WOulu go 10 tue lop
of the pole forming his station and
with his spyglass sight the next sta
ton in the direction of the approach
ing train If the train was coming
and the signal showed flag, it
meant that all was well, and the
operator would pass the signal along
70 the next station below.
If a ball was shown, and no train IN
sight. it signified an accident or de-
Law of the connecting steamboat,
These signals were methodically ex-
changed until an understanding was
had all along the road.
The facilities furnished by the rail-
roads were at first much more fully
appreciated by travellers than by the
shippers of freight. The speed of the
trains. amounting at times to as much
as twenty-five or thirty miles an
bour. was a source of undated Won
der to the passengers, who had hith-
erto travelled on the slowly moving
canal boats and stage coaches.
Freight of Little Account.
Tn the matter of freight traffic the
railroads were at first unable to COM
nete with the canals. OF prominent
Massachusetts railroad 1t is said that