| A Collection of Short Stories about Railroads |
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| Coal tower on former Michigan Central between New Buffalo and Michigan City (photo by the author) |
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We have been looking for information on where and when this wreck occured. All we knew was locomotive number was 710 and that the incident happened somewhere near Hartford. Thanks to Gerald Brittle of Richmond, Va., we find that this train wreck that occurred in Eagleville Connecticut (nr Storrs) circa 1909. This was on the New Haven Railroad. Eagleville, Connecticut is a hamlet (not even a village) that is located 4-5 miles from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and is about 25 miles due east of Hartford. It was the nearest train station to the campus and thus the principal arrival point for students travelling to school by train in the early 20th century. The old Eagleville train station still stands. The biggest thing to ever happen in Eagleville was a train wreck - in 1909 I believe. I don't believe it was a collision but rather the result of a track failure, but I may be wrong. In the old train station are pictures of the wreck. An old steam engine and rail cars are seen laying on their side from varying perspectives. I'd say the best way you could check on it would be to arm some train spotter in eastern Ct with your picture and have him go to Eagleville and see if the pictures match. I know most of these photographs of train wrecks look the same, but this one sure looks like the wreck in Eagleville. If you know any more facts, let us know. Another story on a train accident we have is the wreck of the Lake Shore Limited in 1940 |
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| Our first response (April 18, 2006) is from Ray State: "Your picture of #710 is possibly Sept 7th 1911. The problem I have is that 710 was a G-8 2-8-0 built in 1907 for the C&O and therefore only 4 years old. Although the PM had links to the C&O I cannot prove that C&O locos worked on PM this early. It was not badly damaged and survived until 1952." |
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In 1948 when there was a coal strike, Harry Truman threatened to take over
the nation's railroads. Coal-burning locomotives were restricted to 60%
of their normal mileage. Even with diesel locomotives running around the
clock, rail traffic clogged up. The takeover didn't happen. It all involved
Harry Truman and John L. Lewis.
John L. Lewis was president of the United Mine Workers Union from 1920-1960. He was a giant among American leaders in the first half of the twentieth century, regularly advising presidents and challenging America's corporate leaders. His work to organize the country's industrial workers through the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s helped raise living standards for millions of American families. Most impressive picture I have ever seen is a 1940 poster of John L. Lewis at the Carbondale (Pennsylvania) historic society. The huge picture is at the topn of a flight of stairs and IT IS AWSOME! In 1940, Lewis had considered running for President. (Picture above) Creation of the UMWA Welfare Fund, May 29, 1946. Pictured seated from left are President Harry Truman, Secretary of the Interior Julius Krug and Lewis. |
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Head End Railway Express and Railway Post Office |
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On passenger trains, railroads operated lots of equipment other than
sleepers, coaches, dining cars, etc. This equipment was generally
called
'head-end' equipment, these 'freight' cars were at one time
plentiful and highly profitable for the railroads.
In the heyday of passenger service, these industries were a big part
of the railroad's operations, and got serious attention. We have text and pictures not found elsewhere on the Web. |
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| Troy and Albany Passenger Trains in 1939 |
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RAILFAN MYSTERIES I have been confronted with several mysteries and have either solved them or am looking for solutions. Perhaps some of my readers can help. One mystery that I have solved with the help of Bob Lowe and Len Gordy is the New York City subway that terminates at 34th Street. There are basically two "D" lines in operation at this time in order to reduce the traffic across the being-repaired Manhattan Bridge. One stem comes from 205th Street in the Bronx and terminates at 34th St. and 6th Avenue. There is a shuttle down 6th Avenue to Grand Street. The other "D" train starts at 57th St. and Seventh Avenue and travels the old Brighton line out to Coney Island. The two truncated lines are like night and day. The former has old equipment that is grafiti-strewn, broken doors and unreliable. Needless to say, it traverses the Harlem-Grand Concourse line. By contrast, the southern line has the newest cars (R-68's) and enjoys a more middle-class clientel in its journey across Brooklyn. Presumably this split line will continue until the Manhattan Bridge repairs are completed (whenever that is). Once there were over 2000 coin lockers in Grand Central Terminal for checking packages. What happened to them? This question was posed by a fan who accompanies me to the city and would really like to make use of them. The ex-New Haven line from New Haven to Northampton Mass (Canal Line) is now operated by B&M (Springfield Terminal). The line is cut between Cheshire and New Haven with access only from the north. A bridge at Milldale CT is out of service and appears under repair but nothing has been happening to it for several months. South of this bridge is a B&M crane. How will Guilford get this crane out of there or do they plan to scrap in place? Incidentally, the Metro-North police force is not solving too many mysteries these days as they are concentrating most of their efforts on enforcing the no smoking ban on their trains. (Published 1988) |
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| New Haven speeds and trackage rights |
| Wreck of the Owl Train |
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Connecticut train buffs always have hopes of solving the mystery of the ill-fated Owl Train, which derailed on a midnight run to New York City more than a century ago.
James M.S. Ullman, director of the Valley Railroad in Essex is trying to lure state archaeologists to Silver Lake in Meriden. He hopes they can determine with sonar devices if remnants of the train crash can be preserved. On April 6, 1880, the nine-car Owl Train plunged into the lake. The train, which was carrying sleeping passengers, was scattered about after loosened railroad tracks "spattered right and left" according to a April 7, 1880 HARTFORD COURANT article. Ullman feels his artisans could rebuild a facsimile coach and has enlisted the support of a state Representative, Thomas S. Luby of Meriden who has pressed efforts to dredge the lake to eliminate a putrid smell. The train was running about 30 miles an hour when it began swaying. No passengers were killed. Before 1877 peat was harvested on the site. At that time an earthen dam was constructed and an ice company used the lake to supply ice to New York City restaurants. The 151-acre lake will be dredged by the state over a seven-year period and organic waste removed. |
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| Stores and Mass Transit |
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| Notre Dame & Western at the university heating plant |
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Some of these articles appeared at various times in the BRIDGE LINE BULLETIN of the
Bridge Line Historical Society. and
the CALLBOARD of the
Mohawk and Hudson
Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. Material researched in these articles was done by the author at the Yale University Library and other credible sources. |
| EMD Model 40; a rare early diesel locomotive |
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RailwayStation.com has provided a
1942 Quiz Book on Railroads and Railroading. Here's some interesting questions and answers: |
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What is "head-end" traffic? Mail, express, baggage, newspapers and milk in cans, usually transported in cars nearest the locomotive, are known to railroad men as "head-end" traffic. |
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What is the volume of United States mail handled by steam railroads? It is estimated that 6,279,288,000 pounds of mail were handled by the Post Office Department in the year ended June 30, 1941, of which it is estimated over 5,800,000,000 pounds, or more than 92 per cent, were handled by the railroads. |
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How many pieces of mail are handled by the Railway Mail Service
of the Post Office Department? The Postmaster General reported that 17,419,-706,240 pieces of mail of all classes, including redistributions, were handled by the Railway Mail Service during the year ended June 30, 1941. |
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On what basis are the railroads paid for the transportation of
United States mails? Railroads are paid on a space basis, regardless of the weight of mail carried. A railroad enters into a contract with the Post Office Department to carry a specified number of mail cars daily in specified trains over a specified route. Mail cars are owned by the railroads, but are built according to Post Office Department specifications. On many light traffic lines, where full-sized mail cars are not required, the railroads provide compartments or space in baggage, express or combination cars for the handling of mail. Railroads which were built with land-grant aid carry United States mails for 20 per cent less than standard space rates. |
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What proportion of United States postal service revenues goes to the
railroad for mail transportation? For transporting United States mails during the year ended June 30, 1941, the railroads received 14.6 per cent, or about one-seventh, of total ordinary postal revenues. Ordinary postal revenues do not include receipts from postal savings and post office money orders. The above figures include payments for carrying parcel post and second and third class mails, as well as first class letter mail on which the postage is 3 cents or more. For carrying first class mail, the railroads receive an average of about 1/5 of I cent per letter, or approximately 1/15 of the postal revenues collected by the government on this class of mail. |
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How many federal government employees are assigned to Railway Mail Service? The personnel of the Railway Mail Service on June 30, 1941, consisted of 20,584 officers and employees, of whom 19,486 were postal clerks. |
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Can letters and other first-class United States mail be posted in any
standard railway mail car? Yes, if bearing the proper postage. Each standard mail car, used for collecting and distributing mail enroute, is equipped with two mail drops, one on either side, and letters and other first-class mail deposited in these drops receive prompt attention. |
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What was the cost of sending mail across the continent before the
introduction of railway transportation? The Pony Express, inaugurated in the spring of 1860, first charged $5.00 for each letter of one-half ounce or less. The charge was later reduced to $2.50 a half ounce, and finally, in consideration of a government subsidy, the price was reduced to $1.00 a half ounce. These prices were in addition to the regular United States postage. |
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What is the extent of Railway Express Agency operations? The Railway Express Agency, which provides the American people with express service, conducts business through 23,000 offices and uses in its operations more than 201,000 miles of railway lines, 21,000 miles of steamship lines, 41,000 miles of air lines, and 14,000 miles of motor-truck lines. The Express Agency owns and operates a fleet of around 14,000 motor trucks for the pick-up, transfer and delivery of express shipments. Fifty-seven thousand persons are employed in the performance of its far-flung transportation service. More than 172,000,000 separate shipments were handled by the Express Agency in 1941. Although its principal operations are in the United States, Railway Express Agency, through its connections, provides patrons with international service. |
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What is the service of the Railway Express Agency? With its co-ordinated system of fast railway, airway, steamship and motor-truck service, the Railway Express Agency provides the American people with speedy and dependable express transportation throughout the United States and in foreign lands. The Agency handles a great diversity of traffic, in packages, boxes, crates, cases, bags, cans, cages, cartons and other containers, and in specially built or equipped cars. Its services include the transportation of wild animals for zoos and circuses; birds, dogs, cats and other family pets; race horses; fish; plants and flowers; strawberries; motion picture films; hats; gowns; precious stones; jewelry; musical instruments; furniture; clothing, shoes and an endless variety of other articles, large and small, perishable and non-perishable; fragile and unbreakable; animate and inanimate. The Agency performs complete pickup and delivery service, collecting shipments without extra charge from homes, offices, factories and other places of business and delivering them to the doors of consignees in important towns and cities in all parts of the country. In addition to its own pick-up system, the Agency has an arrangement with the Western Union Telegraph Company whereby express shipments are accepted at any Western Union office or are called for by Western Union messengers at no extra cost to the shipper. |
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Are express shipments moved in passenger trains? For more than a century, express shipments have been carried in passenger trains on the American railroads. The customary location of the express car is behind the locomotive. Railway Express Agency traffic moves in about 10,000 passenger trains daily. Many trains which handle express shipments exclusively are operated between the larger cities at passenger train speeds. |
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When were United States mails first carried by rail? The first known instance of United States mail being transported by rail occurred on the South Carolina Railroad, extending westward from Charleston, S. C. in November, 1831. On or about January 1, 1832, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad began carrying mail between Baltimore and Frederick, Md. Shortly after the opening of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad between Baltimore and Washington in 1835, a car was fitted with a compartment for carrying United States mails between the two cities. The first cars equipped especially for distributing and pouching mail in transit for dispatch to connecting routes were put in service on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad (now part of the Burlington) in July, 1862. |
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What was the origin of railway express service in America? William F. Harnden, pioneer passenger train conductor, after a few years in the service of the Boston & Worcester Railroad (now a part of the New York Central) conceived the idea of becoming a messenger for banking houses, merchants and other business interests in New York and Boston. He entered into a contract with the Boston & Providence Railroad (now the New York, New Haven & Hartford) and a steamship plying between New York and Providence, to carry on his messenger business over their lines. Starting on March 4, 1839, with a large carpet-bag, Harnden traveled regularly between New York and Boston, the world's first express messenger. His business grew rapidly; a special package car was put into service; offices were opened in New York and Boston; assistants were employed; the service was extended to Philadelphia and other cities, until Harnden & Company became an international institution. In the meantime many competitive enterprises were started. Harnden died in 1845, but the express business which he founded grew with the development of the railroads and the country. |
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There is no "brrreeeport" in Connecticut, but there are plenty of towns
that are served by freight railroads. Search them out! |
| Abandoned Railroads: West Shore, New York State and Other |
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| Hudson and Mohawk Division Towers |
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Signal Stations of the New Haven Railroad |
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Includes New Haven speed limits and trackage rights Also sections on Bridgeport and State Line interchange Click here or on picture to see full story. |
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Some "Paper Railroads" I found some information on the Owasco River Railway. It was 4 miles long and located in Auburn, NY. From a list of very short lines, I found out it once had 2 locomotives. The Owasco River Railroad was built in Auburn, NY sometime in the middle 1800's to service many mills along the Owasco River. NYC acquired control in 1929 and regular NYC equipment was assigned from that point forward. Trackage was abandoned after 1966, but the corporate shell still existed as a landowner. In consequence, there are lots of landowners who sincerely believe their land was once the line of the "Owasco River Railway". So! At one time it was a "real" railroad. In late 1978, Amtrak reopened Buffalo's Exchange Street Station after a $6 million program to restore service to Niagara Falls. The carrier operated four daily trains each way through Buffalo--the Boston/New York-Chicago Lake Shore Limited (which skips Exchange Street); the New York-Toronto Maple Leaf; and the New York-Niagara Falls Empire State Express and Niagara Rainbow. Ownership of Central Terminal remained with Penn Central (through subsidiary Owasco River Railway), which reorganized as a nonrail entity. After several false starts, Central Terminal, offered at $1.2 million, was finally sold-in July 1979 to local businessman Anthony Fedele and Galesi Realty of Paterson, N.J., for $75,000! They planned a hotel/recreational/civic complex. But the tenants had left (Conrail the month before to offices in the downtown National Gypsum building) or were departing (Amtrak on October 28 to Depew Station in Cheektowaga to the east). Fifty years, 4 months, and 5 days after it opened, the Terminal was without passenger trains. I've notice similar real estate transactions. The NYC and later PC used the Owasco River Ry, along with many other older RRs it owned, to handle all their real estate. When Penn Central conveyed much of its rail property to Conrail in 1976 there were some segments, such as the Metro-North Hudson Line from MO to CP75 above Poughkeepsie, that were not conveyed as they were subject to long term leases. Those properties were conveyed to the Owasco River Railway, Inc. Thus Owasco is the fee owner of the Hudson Line and the New York & Harlem RR is the owner of the Harlem Line. Both, of course, are leased to MTA and operated/maintained by Metro-North. While PC could have retained the fee to the Hudson Line, subject to the MTA lease, their management did not want to own any railroad property as they planned to reorganize as a non-rail entity. For one year, from 10-01-79 through 09-30-80, the line from Red Creek to Hannibal was operated by Ontario Midland. There was only one active customer, Barker Chemical, a fertilizer dealer at Hannibal. At the end of the year, the two counties involved (Cayuga and.....Oswego???) were not interested in participating in any subsidy and the line was abandoned. The Owasco River RR, a "paper" company left over from NYC/LV days, was the sales agent for such segments. Anyway, at one time, the Owasco River Railway was a real railroad in Auburn NY that was a local switching railroad serving several industries along the Owasco River. The RR was controlled by the NY Central. They had their own power early on eventually having the NYC supply its engines, most noteably the shroaded shays from New York City (also served on the Genesee Falls Railway). In diesel years it was a small GE 70 ton centercab engine and then regular NYC power. The road also provided interchange with the Lehigh Valley in Auburn. Other railroads did the same thing. The Erie had used the old Avon, Geneseo & Mt. Morris RR to handle their real estate transactions on their old line to Geneseo and Mt. Morris long after the branch was abandon. It was called the AG&M Real Estate Co. A big "paper railroad" that still exists after everything around it went away is the New York & Harlem Railroad. It was chartered 1831, built a line from New York City to Chatham, then leased to the New York Central in 1873 for 401 years. Funny thing, it still exists and owns a lot of New York City real estate including Grand Central Terminal! Find out more about this relationship.. |
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| This Union Pacific rotary snow plow has retired to the Forney Museum. I saw it when I went to Denver. |
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New York Central Snow Book There are many instances on record when the railroad has been the only means of transportation functioning during and immediately after a snowstorm. In the 1950's and 1960's, the New York Central spent as much as two-and-a-half million dollars in a bad year. The average 92 inches of snow coming in from Lake Erie was something the Central had been dealing with for a century. Jet snow blowers followed by weed burners were the primary defense. Snow fences, electric strip heaters for main line switches, and the snow-melting can were important. Switching locomotives were equipped with a Rem air-gun and a broom to reach outlying track. Central to the battle was the "Snow Book"; a loose-leaf manual updated each year. It contained the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all the key personnel in the district. It listed the available snow-fighting machines including location, purpose for which intended, if it had a two-way radio, operating check list, damage precautions and clearance requirements. Other items listed included locations of snow-problem areas, local diesel fuel oil dealers, employment agencies and approved local contractors. It also had pertinent maps. Fall was the time to prepare for snow. Drainage at switches was checked to prevent ice blockage. Foliage that might cause snow to pile up was cut back. Material was assembled and equipment inspected. Experience found that it was not desirable to have men patrol the main tracks on foot or in on-track vehicles. Instead, men were assigned to ride passenger trains and report conditions to storm control headquarters by radio. In summary, while railroads did a good job of clearing their own tracks and terminals, they still had to contribute as taxpayers so that the roads and runways of their competitors could be cleared. |
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All about the PT Cruiser, the Mini Cooper, the Chevrolet HHR and other "Back to the Future" cars! |
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If you've found this site useful, please link to us so that others can benefit and enjoy |
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See our poster and brochure about a fan trip on the New Haven RR in 1937.
It ran from NY City to Bridgeport, Danbury, Poughkeepsie, Maybrook, and
Campbell Hall to Warwick NY. The brochure contains a description of the
route including the big bridge in Pok plus a map.
The fare was $3.50 round trip.
How much would you pay to ride that trip today ? |
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