NYSHMS:  It Happened Here –

A Tale of Two Railroads 

by Tom Arthur

The counties around Albany were home to two very early railroads, among the first dozen in America. One railroad could claim the distinction of being the first passenger railroad in the United States. Connecting Albany and Schenectady, it would survive and prosper to be merged with other railroads and eventually become the New York Central System, one of the great railroads of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

At the Intersection of N.Allen, Western & Madison in Albany

The other railroad, organized a few years later would be beset by a host of problems. It would suffer from bad timing, bad financing, questionable management and a difficult route that would cross the sometimes turbulent Catskill Creek  nearly half dozen times in its 26 mile route. It too would record a “first” – being among the first U.S. Railroads to suffer a fatal railroad disaster!

On Stone Bridge Rd Extension, E.Durham  The tractor path approximates the bed of the Railroad

The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad surprisingly owed it existence to a Canal ! The Erie Canal, completed in 1823 was a tremendous success. Not only did it open up the interior of upstate New York to commercial development but it also enabled a means of comfortable, if leisurely travel between Buffalo and Albany and all the cities in between . Packet barges were fitted out with accommodations for travelers, their main cabins converted to sleeping berths at night, somewhat like the “Pullman” railroad cars of the early twentieth century. Being towed along at a steady 4 to 6 miles an hour,  the packets could cross the state in about a week, the only major delays occurring when the packet had to wait for other barges ahead of it to go through the locks. Unfortunately, some of the biggest delays occurred for travelers beginning or coming to the end of their journey as they waited to be “locked” through a series of  locks from Schenectady to Albany, or the reverse. It occurred to Irish entrepreneur George Featherstonhaugh (pronounced Fen-shaw), that people might be eager to pay for an alternative method of transportation if they could bypass the most tedious part of their journey.

Featherstonhaugh convinced Stephen Van Rensselaer, the Patroon of Rensselaerwick, and arguably one of the wealthiest and most well connected men in upstate New York to partner with him. Though the “good Patroon” bought $100,000 worth of stock, he sold all but 24 shares of it before the railroad became operational, and as “President” he took little interest in the company, never attending board meetings, but as a figurehead, the Van Rensselaer name was priceless. Investors rapidly bought up the $300,000 of stock offered, and despite a long delay before construction actually began, within three months of the beginning of construction, the stock's value had increased 10%. The West Point Foundry of New York City built an engine, named for the popular New York governor who had promoted the Erie Canal, Dewitt Clinton. A larger engine was also purchased from England, and a local carriage-maker produced ten stage coach carriages that were mounted on railroad wheels.

The initial passenger trip was not without problems. The Dewitt Clinton's firebox, stoked with pitch pine sent forth a shower of hot embers and sparks, that rained down on passengers, as the engine huffed and puffed to gather speed. Ladies deployed their parasols, only to have them catch fire. Also, the cars, linked together by short lengths of chain first jolted ahead as the engine started, then slammed against one another as the engine braked. Passengers were thrown back and forth and into each others laps. The little train was barely out of Albany before it was halted to allow the engineer and fireman to tear down pieces of a farmer's rail fence to get lengths of wood to lash between the careening cars, and to allow passengers to disembark so they could better examine each other to put out their smoldering clothing. By the time the train reached its first station, the passengers shaken and bruised, singed and smoking, “presented a very motley appearance”, according to J.L Gillis, who witnessed the first passenger run. Along the right of way there were other scenes of chaos as farmers and townsmen and their wives and children who had driven in from the country side crowded the rails with their buggys and carriages and wagons to witness this new wonder of a railroad. What was an object of wonder and curiosity for the citizenry along the route was an object that inspired pure terror in their horses. Horses bolted; wagons were upset; and teams broke free-- heading for parts unknown. But these problems were soon solved on subsequent runs by proper screening of the engine's smokestack, changes in the engine's fuel to coal and coke, and with changes in the cars' linkages. The (horse) driving public quickly learned to give the rails a wide berth. From time to time the cranky steam engines would require that the runs be completed by teams of horses pulling the cars, but by September 1831 the directors were confident enough that a “Grand Excursion” was planned with the Governor, Lt. Governor, State Comptroller, Chancellor, former Governor, mayors of Albany and Schenectady, two high Constables of NYC and Albany and editors of three local newspapers in attendance. So popular was the event that all ten coaches were employed—the last seven being pulled by horses. By the end of September, the little engines, shuttling back and forth between the two cities would be averaging a remarkable 322 passengers per day! By the end of the first year, the receipts for passengers and baggage would total $16,313, with operating expenses totaling $7,477, a net earnings of $8,843 
( A 54% profit !)

Marker of the Week 

Rte 443 E. Berne

 

What do you do if the State has come

along and plopped down an historic

marker in your front yard and decades

later they have still never gotten around

to approving funds for its upkeep?

Well, if you have painted your barn,

(see right rear of picture), and have

some left-over barn paint....

Next week-- A Tale of Two Railroads - Part II and a Marker of the Week 

E-Mail Me: If you have comments about, this blog or any other thing having to do with NYSHM's I would be delighted to hear from you. I would be especially interested if you know of any new or interesting markers or can report on any efforts to restore old markers. My email is

tba998@gmail.com