The Washington herald., 1912-08-18
Evolution of Railroad Reads Like CHAPTER of Fiction

line originally extended from Baltimore
along the valley OF the Patapsco. tc
Ellicott Mills. a distance OF fifteen miles
Wooden rails were used. capped with
iron. The line was gradually heightened
Joining the Potomac at the Point OF
Rocks. then continued along the valley
Of the Potomac, finally crossing the Ale
ghany Mountains.
In December. 1s52, the road was finished
as far West as Wheeling. w. Va. Al
Rosebys Rock q gold spike was driven
into a crosstie to commemorate the COM
pletion Of the first trunk line in the
world. There was harbored vague dreams
Of using steam. but relays of horses re-
time. From this fact the junction Of the
main line and the Washington branch
derived its name.
: The first locomotive built in the United
States and the first one used In trans
portation Of passengers In America was
the Tom Thumb" It was constructed
for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad by
Peter Cooper In 1929 In Baltimore. Md.
The boiler. which stood upright. was not
modern range used In almost every home
to-day. The tubes used in this boiler
were gun garrels.
Building Tom Thumb.
The successful operation Of the TON
Thumb" engine was. properly speaking.
the beginning OF the commercial course
Of the railroad in the Western Hemi-
sphere Through the united efforts of
State subscriptions and subsidies grant
ed by Congress, railroads were steadily
extended into the Northern, Southern.
and Western States. In the winter Of
1880 Congress appropriated public
lands to the use OF the Mobile ond Ohio
railroad. which line was designed to
connect Mobile with the mouth of the
Ohio River. This was soon followed by
a grant Of land TO the State of Illinois.
which, in turn conveyed 1t to the Illi-
nois Central Railroad Company. Such
liberality seemed to stimulate extraor-
dinary enterprise. and the length and
of lines continued to increase.
The discovery OF gold In California
brought forth the project Of building a
railroad to the Pacific Coast In 1886
Mr.. Asa Whitney and others advocated
It before public meetings and State Iegis-
latures; but It did not take tangible form
until the introduction of a bill by Sem
ator Benton OF Missouri, in lsi9. Four
years later. in March, 1853 an act was
passed providing for surveys by a corps
Of engineers. On account OF dissensions
between the Northern and Southern
States. nothing more was done by Con-
gress until lss2-'64. when bills were
passed providing generously for the pro-
posed road. and a period Of activity fol-
lowed
Road Across Continent.
The railroad was built from the Cali
fornia end eastward. by the Central Pa
cifc Railroad Company, and from the
Missouri River westward to the common
meeting point at ogden by the Union
Pacific Company.
Work was commenced in 1853 The pre-
surveys for a road covering
such a vast extent of country. it took the
greater part OF four working seasons for
heir completion. and cost sl.0o0.0oo. In
two years the first forty miles was fin-
shed.
The railroad crosses nine separate
mountain ranges. the gradient in some
places being 115 feet to the mile. An
elevation OF S,2i2 feet above sea level
Is reached in the Black Hills. On May
l2 1859. the railroad communication from
the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean was
opened. Jesse l. Williams one of the
directors OF the Union Pa
cinc Railroad Company. in a report to
the Secretary OF the Interior. dated No
vember II. 1868. gave the approximate
cost of the road in cash at $3S, ,s2i, ,s2i,
IN average of about SIS. 900 a mile. tn.
cost of the Central Pacific Railroad was
reported in 1874. at fl3s. .746. 81. an average
ot sl14.35S n mile. The Northern Pacific
Railroad was chartered by Congress in
s6i to construct a road from Lake Su-
oerior to Puget Sound, 1,so0 miles. The
OF this road was begun in
$50. but was arrested in 1873 by lack
II funds.
Innumerable railroads have sprung
nto existence during the last thirty
i've years but the richer companies