THE RAILROADS
BY ALBERT DIETHRICH

The transportation facilities of a community are very large factors in its growth, prosperity, and culture: and lack of such facilities results in a corresponding lack of progress. There are large sections of the United States, today, which are in a very backward state of development, largely on account of their inadequate means of communication with the rest of the world.

The history of Braddock shows the value to a community, of a situation in which ample transportation facilities are available.

One of the events in which this city took a very conspicuous part, the Whiskey Insurrection, was brought about by the lack of facilities for carrying the products of this region, of which Pittsburgh is the center, to market. The principal product was grain, and there was no means of transporting such a bulky commodity east in paying quantities, on account of the mountains, and the western route, down the river, was practically closed because a large part of the course of the Mississippi River was in control of France, not very friendly to the United States at that time. Consequently, the farmers of this section found that the easiest way to obtain the value of their corn end 'other grain was to convert it into whiskey, in which state a man could carry in a small container what represented a much greater bulk of grain, and receive for it a larger sum than for the corresponding amount of grain. Hence, when the Government put a tax on this whiskey, which took away the profit, the people of Western Pennsylvania arose in revolt, and Braddock's Field was the scene of the mobilization of the insurrectionary forces.

In its later history, however, Braddock has been very highly favored in its transportation facilities, and owes most of its prosperity and importance to that fact. Even if the railroads had not been developed as they were, the city was situated in a favor able location for traffic on the rivers, and canals, which in the event of the non-developn1ent of railroads, would naturally have become the chief routes of travel.

The means of transportation were very limited in the early times, and impprovements did not begin till about 1805. The river was the line of communication westward, and eastward tile only methods in use were by pack-horse, or by carrying on foot, which required nine or ten days for the tripp from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.

At first there were two routes to the east, the old Braddock Trail to Cumberland and Baltimore, and the route through Bedford, Chambersburg, and Harrisburg, to Philadelphia. On these roads the freight was first carried by pack-horses, but this was soon superseded by four or six horse wagons, of the type later known as "Prairie schooners", which carried a trough for feeding the horses, and in which the drivers lived while on the road. This wagon traffic lasted until 1829, when the Pennsylvania Canal was opened.

In 1805, a stage line was started, between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the trip requiring three days.But freighting by wagon soon proved inadequate for the growing needs of the country, and attention was turned to canals.

About 1829 the Pennsylvania Canal, connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, was constructed by the state. The canal boats were built in sections, and carried over the mountains on inclined railways, which were later used, temporarily, to connect the eastern and western sections of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

But the canal was badly managed, and had not proved a successful venture financially, having failed to pay even the interest on its debt.Just about this time, between 1813 and 1829, steam as a motive power was being developed in England, and in 1830 Stevenson succeeded in attaining a speed of thirty miles an hour with his engine. The first railroad in this country was built in 1826, but for some reason, development was not very rapid.

The Baltimore and Ohio, the first steam road in America, was also the first to attempt to enter the Monongahela and Ohio Valleys. It came as far as Cumberland in 1842, and tried to reach the Ohio through Western Pennsylvania. But the people of Philadelphia, thinking that the trade of this section, if carried on a road having its terminus in Baltimore, would be diverted to that city, placed obstacles in the way of the granting of the right of way to the Baltimore and Ohio, and thus, through sectional jealousy and lack of foresight, the road was driven to adopt the route through West Virginia, to Wheeling.

Finally. the object was accomplished by strategy.

A bill for the incorporation of the Pittsburgh and Connellsville Railroad was tacked on to an omnibus bill, and passed by the Legislature while the Philadelphians were off their guard, and as this road was really a part of the Baltimore & Ohio system, its incorporation gave the latter road the opening it desired into the Pittsburgh district.

Progress on the construction of this road was so slow, however, that many of the stockholders grew impatient at the delay and invested in the Pennsylvania and Ohio, which later became the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad.

At this time the Philadelphia people determined to organize a road of their own, and the Pennsylvania Railroad was chartered in 1846, with a capital of $10,000,000.00, and construction was begun in 1848.

In 1852, the road was opened, though at first the inclines of the canal were used in crossing the mountains, and it was not till 1854 that the road was completed so that trains could run through on its own tracks.

The Pittsburgh end was constructed as far as Brinton, where it was delayed for some time at the point where the plank road between Braddock and Turtle Creek had to be crossed, as the crossing of a previous right of way was a more difficult matter at that time than now. This connection was made in 1852.

In 1857 the Pennsylvania Railroad bought the main line of the Pennsylvania canal, paying $7,500,000.00 for it, thus obtaining a monopoly for the railroads, of the traffic east and west.

The canals had been badly managed, and graft and engineering difficulties made them unprofitable, as over $30,000,000.00 had been expended on them and they had failed to pay the interest on their debts. Also, at this time, popular opinion was so strongly in favor of the railroads, that the value of the "Miserable ditches" was not appreciated, and the canal was sold. It has since been realized that, if the main canal between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had been maintained and brought to a point of high efficiency, it would have tended to regulate freight charges, and prevent discrimination.

The Pittsburgh and Connellsville, or Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was built from Connellsville as far as Post Perry, now Bessemer, in 1856, and connected by a short junction line with the Pennsylvania at Brinton, and from there Baltimore and Ohio trains ran to Pittsburgh on the tracks of the Pennsylvania. In 1860 the contract was awarded for the completion of the load to Pittsburgh, and this section was finished, so that trains could run through to Pittsburgh in 1861.

The first freight locomotive on the Baltimore & Ohio at this point was of what was known as the "Camel back" type, and is said to have been very noisy while in operation. Other engines in use in the early times were designated by names, as the "Harmer Denny", and the "George Washington". Another, the Number 5, was continually getting off the track.

Some of our most famous men of affairs received their early training on these primitive railroads. J. Edgar Thomson, after whom the Edgar Thomson Steel works are named, was the first Chief Engineer, and later President, of the Pennsylvania; and Andrew Carnegie was once Superintendent of the same road.

Things were done in a much more simple manner in those days than at present. An incident which happened on one occasion shows the absence of red tape in the management at that time. While Andrew Carnegie was Superintendent, Mr. J. B. Corey, a coal operator, who still lives in Braddock, went to Mr. Carnegie and asked for some coal cars. Carnegie said "All right, they will be out there before you will". Mr. Corey said that would be impossible, as he intended going out on the next trip of the one passenger train which ran between Pittsburgh and Braddock at that time, and which was lying in the station ready to start. Then Mr. Carnegie ordered that the coal train be coupled on ahead of the passenger train, which was done, much to the displeasure of the conductor, John Routh, a famous character in the early days of railroading on the Pennsylvania, and the coal cars really reached Braddock before Mr. Corey did.

As another instance of the lax methods of the early days may be cited the means of acquiring the right of way. When the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad wanted to go through Braddock, they just laid their tracks down on Halket Avenue, one of the main streets, running the entire length of the town, without asking permission of any one, and no one seemed to object. At that time there was a good wagon road along the right bank of the Monongahela, clear to McKeesport. This road looked good to the Baltimore & Ohio, and they appropriated it also. At first only one track was laid. Later it was double-tracked, and finally the four tracks occupied all the space between the foot-hills and the river. The township then went into court and got an order compelling the railroad to build a wagon road along the hill side. In compliance with this order the railroad scratched the hill side a little, but six months after the wagon road was completed a goat couldn't walk over it without danger of falling off. After years of litigation the matter was finally adjusted, only recently, by the railroad's paying into the township treasury a definite sum.

In 1883, the Pittsburgh, McKeesport and Youghiogheny Railroad, a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Lines, was constructed through Braddock, during the excavation for which a number of Indian skeletons and implements were dug up. This railroad, as originally planned, was to have run along the south shore of the Monongahela River, but, in order to obtain some of the business of the Edgar Thomson Steel works, the plan was changed, and the road crossed the river and ran along the r ight bank of the r iver. Besides this, the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad, of the Pennsylvania System, runs on the opposite side of the river, and connects with the main line of the Pennsylvania through the tunnel at Port Perry; and the Bessemer and Lake Erie, and Union lines also touch this district at the same point. The Western Maryland also has connections here, using the tracks of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Lines. Braddock thus has a direct outlet over five of the greatest railroads of the country; the Pennsylvania system the Baltimore & Ohio, the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, (a part of the New York Central), the Bessemer & Lake Erie, and the Western Maryland.

The Bessemer and Lake Erie was built in 1898, by the Carnegie Steel interests, because of discrimination in freight rates against this district by the old systems.

These roads have made many improvements since the original tracks were laid. Both the Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads have developed from single track to four track roads. About 1880 the Pennsylvania widened its line to four tracks, and the present Braddock depot was built in 1884, to replace the old one which had been in use since about 1865. Later, improvements were made on the line through Braddock which are probably as extensive as any to be found in the same length of track at any point on the road. The grade crossing at Fourth Street was eliminated, the present Copeland station and underground passageway, or tunnel, was constructed; bridges were built at Thirteenth Street and Second Street; a roadway under the tracks was constructed at Sixth Street, and the bridge and passageway at Library Street were entirely made new. Since the completion of these improvements, in 1913, there have been almost no accidents on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Braddock.

In 1907, the Baltimore and Ohio began operations on the widening of their right of way through the Borough of Braddock, and bought all the property between Wood Way and its own tracks between Seventh and Eleventh Streets; increased the number of its tracks from two to four; replaced the Passenger Station at Ninth Street by the present one at Eighth Street; built the new Freight Station at Eighth Street, and paid a sum of money into the Borough treasury.

All these roads handle an enormous traffic, both in passengers and freight, to and from Braddock, and are factors of immeasurable strength in the manufacturing and commercial importance of the community, and the favorable situation of the city in this respect is a guarantee of the continuance of its importance and prosperity.