Milford chronicle., 1960-08-19

In the meantime two other local
railroads were under construction
to connect with the Junction and
Breakwater. These were the Break
water and Frankford Railroad. ex-
tending from Georgetown to the
state line at Selbyville, and the
Worcester Railroad, from Selby-.
vile to Chincoteague Island, Vir-
ginia. The Breakwater and Frank
ford Railroad, IL miles in length,
was completed in 1874 and the
Worcester, "a miles in length, was
completed two years afterwards.
They formed a part of the juno
tion and Breakwater operating
system and along with the forty
five miles of that line made an
aggregate of 96 miles.
Business proved good and one
last branch was planned, this one
to Rehoboth The original plan
must have contemplated branch
all the way to Rehoboth Bay be-
cause the act passed by the Legls-
lature gave permission to occupy
any part of the shore along Reho-
both Bay. and build wharves and
piers into the Bay" The branch
was completed to Rehoboth in 1878,
two days before the Fourth of July
Six years later, in 1884, the line
was extended down the main
street of the town and the depot
was built. The year 1884 also saw
the construction of the boardwalk,
one quarter mile long and eight
feet wide. Passenger service was
run the year round though it might
have been better if it hadn't. A
contemporary letter tells how the
train got showed in at Lewes and
the passengers had to walk all the
way from there to Rehoboth.
With the operation of the three
small local railroads by one of
them, the Junction and Break
water, consolidation of the three
was a natural outcome. This occur
red on May 81, 1883, with the new
railroad appropriately called the
Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
The terms of the merger are con-
tanned in one of the deed books
in the Recorder of Deeds Office in
Georgetown. Each stockholder was
to be given one share of d. NJ. & v.
stock in return for one share of
Junction and Breakwater stock.
The same ratio applied to Break
water and Frankford stock. The
ratio for Worcester Railroad stock
was one shore of that railroad for
one-third share of d. M & v.
stock. This disparity in the value
between the Maryland stock on the
one hand and the Delaware stock
on the other may help explain the
delay in consolidation. The two
Delaware roads had agreed to the
terms of the consolidation back in
1878 and our Legislature that same
year had passed law making the
merger possible. However the
Maryland Legislature didn't ap
prove it until 1882. A clue to the
I-comparative worth of the railroads
is given in one of David Houston's
letters to his brother, John Hous-
ton, where he says "the j. & B..
which keeps up the other two"
/ l examined the files at the Mil
4
date to try to get some reaction to
the merger. The only mention was
a terse statement dated Friday,
June /, 1888, Yesterday was the
occasion of the annual meeting of
! the junction and Breakwater Rail-
road at Georgetown. The consoli-
| dation of the Lewes system of
at yesterdays meeting" The fol-
| lowing week another item appear
| ed, equally uninformative but a
somewhat humorous blend of news
and advertising Friday, June 8,
! 1883, The directors and Stockhold-
ers of the Worcester Railroad met
at Snow Hill last week. 1t is very
possible that all the employees of
| this branch of the road will pur-
chase their new suits of Treidlers. =
schedule advertised in the Chron-
icle shows that if you left Phila-
delphia at 800 in the morning you
could arrive in Rehoboth at 2:SO
in the afternoon or if you left
Philadelphia at 800 in the after
noon you could arrive at 7:45 p. m.
The shorter of the two times, the
afternoon, took four hours and for
ty-five minutes. In 1885 an ex-
press train was put on which cut
the time down to four hours and
ten minutes. The fare for this dis
| tance on the express cost SIS and
from Wilmington $3.50.
Trains connected with steamers
at the .Lewes Pier on Tuesdays and
Thursdays at 800 in the after
noon. Shortly before the removal
of the steamship line an additional
run was added making it three
week
1t seems the Old Dominion
Steamship Line in order to create
future users of its facilities at
tempted to aid immigration into the
state. The line sold excursion tick
cts to intending immigrants at half
the usual rates. If the immigrants
purchased and settled land on any
point along the Delaware, Mary
land and Virginia Railroad their
stock, implements and other be-
longs were transported at half the
usual rates. 1t was said that though
people may criticize the railroads
as they please, one thing is GER
tain, they have everywhere added
ten times their cost to the wealth
of the country.
The consolidation of the three
locals into the D. NJ. & V. was fol-
lowed in 1885 by the absorption of
that line by the Philadelphia, Will
mington and Baltimore, part of the
Pennsylvania system. Though un-
doubtedly advantageous in some
ways the mergers were not a bless
ing to the people of Lewes With
the installation of the three rnads