The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-09-11
NINTH REUNION or GRAVITY
EMPLOYEES
Held at Nay Aug Last Saturday-A
G. snyder Relates Early Running
ENnericnCcS.

The ninth annual reunion of the
! Gravity Employees Association was
held at Nay Aug Park Saturday. Sew
eral hundred former employees of the
old Delaware 4 Hudson and Wash
ington Gravity Railways with their
wives and families spent the day in
the park and renewed old friend
ships. The day was ideal and from
early morning until the shades of
evening began to fall the men who
ran over the inclines before the
days of steam swapped stories and
spun yarns about the days when they
were the real railroad men of this
end of the state.
The election of officers was held in
the afternoon and an interesting pa
per was read by Miss Tillie Turner,
whose parents for years resided at
the head of No. IA plane. The Off
GERS chosen were as follows: A. c.
Snyder, of Dunmore, president;
County Controller Charles p. Saw
age, secretary and treasurer; Chas.
o. Ellis, Carbondale, first vice-presi-
dent, and George Washington Bona
parte Allen, of Dunmore, second
vice-president.
The committee or arrangements
for the reunion were: S. A. Diltz, P.
J. Foster, +. A. Wonnacott, of Car
bondale; William d. Bigart and w.
c. Correll. of Dunmore, together
with A. c. Snyder and c. P. Savage,
respectively president and secretary
of the association.
Much has been printed about the
coal cars and passenger cars that
ran on the gravity railroads, but
nothing has yet appeared regarding
L.. -.
which were low fiat cars for carrying
logs. A. C. Snyder, president of the
Gravity Employees Association, left
the lumber woods of New York state
in the early COS, when he was kid,
and coming to Dunmore, our neigh
boring borough obtained employ
ment with "Saxey' Secor Mr. Sc
cor, who lives near the foot of No.
6, was the contractor employed on
the Pennsylvania gravity, to load
logs upon the trucks" and bring
them into this valley. Mr.. Snyder,
describing his first day on the road,
as well as subsequent experiences as
a Gravity hand, has written the fol-
lowing:
I'VE left the head of No. plane
at o'clock in the morning and
went up the famous Moosic noun
tains. When we arrived at the head
! of No. Il, which was the last ascend
ing plane on the mountain, the old
man (Mr. Secor), said, Now, my
boy, we have fourteen miles of a ride
without the aid of wire ropes and
steam engines Away we went
around short curves, and the first
thing l knew we were in the No. IL
tunnel.
When we came out in the day
| light again my hat settled down on
, my head and l felt great relief.
That a train of cars could run
through hole like that was stun
) ner to me. On We went, passing
: scrub oaks, huckleberry bushes and
: rattlesnake dens. In about an hour
[ and a half we arrived at the foot of
) No. IL plane. There we found
about half a mile of coal cars ahead
: of us. While lying there waiting for
the coal to be hoisted up the plane,
( ! said to the old man, This is the
: way to railroad, for there is no
stopping for wood and old ties along
the road He replied, you have not
t seen it all yet l wanted to hook
) on but the old man said, Boy, you
. get out of the way or you will lose
your fingers, and then you won't be
gOOu TOT anything.
Il climbed up on the little cars.
One of the other boys hooked on and
: away we went up the hill. On ar
= irving at the top We took another
road, which was called the branch.
This line ran to the foot of No. 19
! on the light track, now known as
t Lake Ariel.
When we were about half way
, over the branch the train stopped
= along a big pile of logs and props.
[ The old man picked up a canthook,
handed it to me and said, Now, boy,
/ we don't want any wood or old ties,
| but we want those logs and props
: rolled on those trucks in short order.
! l took the canthook and looked at
ii as il l had never seen one before,
but | had used one ever since / was
big enough. My father was a lum-
! herman and l was at home with the
, canthook
when the trucks were loaded the
: chains were drawn over the top the
binders pulled down and fastened and
/ we proceeded on our trip. On ar
| riving at No. 10, we stopped for din
, ner in front of Potter's Hotel.
3 After dinner We started out for
= home. When we arrived at the head
: of 21, Mr.. Secor said, Boy, you will
, have twelve miles to sit down; watch
5 me run the trucks and learn all you
can about them. When we were
= about five miles from the head of 81
5 we came out of the woods at a little
5 town called Cummings and saw an
other railroad across the creek.
= There was a train with three loco
motives standing at the station. One
of the engines was at the wood pile
taking wood and the pile appeared
big enough to save the men the
trouble of tearing down fences or
picking up old ties. l asked Mr..
- Secor what road it was and he told
= me it was the Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western.
e Before l could ask any more
about the road with the big piles OF
uuara in ba vonAc