bridge and railroad engineering in England, the Netherlands, France and Italy. Railroad construction In 1828-1829, Pennsylvania hired Robinson to survey parts of the state's anthracite coal regions, the upper Susquehanna River canal system, and the Danville and Pottsville Railroad (D & P) connecting the upper Susquehanna and Schuylkill rivers' canal systems with the coal fields in between. Moncure Robinson remained an early advocate of railroads over canals, and came to direct construction of several of the earliest railroads in the country, including parts of the D & P railroad and inclines during the early 1830s. In 1829, Pennsylvania's "Main Line of Public Works" hired Robinson to survey part of the canal and railroad route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. His best known early work was the survey and design of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, the 36 mile combination of ten inclines and level railroad over the Allegheny Mountains, Hollidaysburg to Johnstown, which connected the state's canal on the east side with another state-subsidized canal in the Ohio River drainage on the west. The survey included the first railroad tunnel to be built in the United States, and became an engineering landmark. Modeled after early British practices, some called it one of the greatest accomplishments of the Canal Era. Robinson also surveyed lines in the Mahanoy and Shamokin coal lands, eventually acquiring a part of the lands. He was civil engineer for the Little Schuylkill Railroad, 1830-1831, and for what would become the Catawissa Railroad in the anthracite country (all later part of the Reading). All had inclines and connected to canals—still within the early British tradition of railroads being an adjunct to water/canal transport systems. While building one of the short coal railroads of the anthracite region, Robinson also served as post master of Port Clinton, Pennsylvania, where an early home of his still stands. He also promoted the use of trains to carry mail. Back in his native Virginia, Robinson built the Chesterfield Railroad, a thirteen-mile coal road with incline, the first railroad in Virginia, completed in 1831. Robinson also directed construction of other short lines around Richmond: Richmond & Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac (which his brother Conway Robinson serving as President), and Winchester & Potomac. In 1833, at age 31, Robinson became chief engineer for a grand railroad project from Richmond through Lynchburg, and later the New River Gorge, and on to the Ohio River. Although Robinson completed