Chickamauga and Durham Railroad

Chartered in 1889 as the Chattanooga and Gulf Railroad, the Chickamauga and Durham Railroad (name adopted in 1891) was a long railroad between Chickamauga and Durham, Georgia, USA. The line was completed in 1892 but went bankrupt by 1894. It was reorganized in 1897 as the Chattanooga and Durham Railroad.


Harry W. Fraser

Harry W. Fraser (7 June 1884 – 13 May 1950) was an American labor leader who was president of the Order of Railway Conductors (ORC) from 1941 to 1950.
Early years.
Harry W. Fraser was born on 7 June 1884 at Topeka, Kansas.
In 1900 he began work as a railway clerk, and later he became a brakeman and a conductor.
In 1929 he was appointed secretary to the president of the Order of Railway Conductors, a railway labor union.
He moved on to become chief clerk, deputy president, vice president and finally president of the union.
Union leader.
Harry W. Fraser was president of the Order of Railway Conductors of America from 1941 to 1950.
During World War II ORC membership increased from 33,000 in 1939 to 37,800 by 1945.
Fraser encouraged the Order of Sleeping Car Conductors (OSCC) to join the Order of Railway Conductors during the war.
The OSCC amalgamated (merged) with the ORC in 1942.
During World War II Fraser was a representative of labor interests on the government's Management-Labor Policy Committee.
He served on this committee from 1943 to 1945.
He was a member of the national council of Boy Scouts in 1943.
Fraser was twice president of the Railway Labor Executives' Association.
Harry W. Fraser suffered a series of heart attacks at the union convention in Chicago.
He died at the Illinois Central Hospital on 13 May 1950, aged 65.
Roy O. Hughes of Milwaukee was elected his successor.
References.
Citations
Sources


Atlantic, Waycross and Northern Railroad

The Atlantic, Waycross and Northern Railroad was formed on March 6, 1911, as a successor to the St. Mary's and Kingsland Railroad. Its charter was to build a line connecting St. Mary's to Fort Valley, Georgia. On the reorganization, stockholders approved a measure to issue $4.8 million in bonds and $1.5 million in new stock to equip the new line, pending approval by the Georgia railroad commission. The railroad was permitted to issue stocks and bonds valuing $6.2 million on June 9, 1911.
It owned of standard gauge track and leased another mile of track between St. Mary's and Kingsland, Georgia, USA. The AW&N served all wharves of the port of St. Mary's and interchanged with Seaboard Air Line Railway in Kingsland. In 1919 the Georgia House of Representatives directed the state railroad commission to investigate the purchase of the AW&N and other lines as a means to extend the Western and Atlantic Railroad to the Atlantic coast. The railroad had planned several extensions, none of which were completed, and the railroad was reorganized into the St. Mary's Railroad in 1924.


Samuel Honeyman Kneass

Samuel Honeyman Kneass (1806–1858) was an American civil engineer and architect.
Kneass was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 1806. He was the elder son of William Kneass (1781-1840), who would go on to become the second Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, and the older brother of engineer Strickland Kneass (1821-1884).
At age 15, Samuel joined the Philadelphia architectural firm of William Strickland, with which he helped build the headquarters building of the Second Bank of the United States, survey the route of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and build the Susquehanna division of the Pennsylvania state canal.
In 1837 and 1838, Kneass was the lead engineer during the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad's construction of the Newkirk Viaduct, the Schuylkill River bridge that completed the first rail link between the cities. His service is noted on the 1839 Newkirk Viaduct Monument in Philadelphia.
On March 14, 1837, Kneass married Anna Lombaert (1814-1869) in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Anna was a daughter of Charles Lombaert, who was one of the PW&B's three superintendents.
From 1849 to 1853, Kneass was the Chief Surveyor and Regulator for Philadelphia. His 1853 report to the city was "the first attempt to systematize the disparate sewers and sewerage systems in place in various municipalities around the time of Philadelphia's consolidation." He was succeeded in the job by his younger brother, Strickland, who served as Chief Engineer & Surveyor from the city's consolidation in 1855 until his retirement in 1872.
Kneass died in Philadelphia on February 15, 1858, and was buried in that city's Woodlands Cemetery.


Arthur K. Atkinson

Arthur K. Atkinson (1892–1964) was an executive of the Wabash Railroad. After working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, he joined the Wabash in 1922 and was promoted to vice president in 1929. In 1947 he became Chief Financial Officer, and president in 1947. He was elected to be Chairman of the board in 1959, and he retired from the company in 1960.
In 1949, Atkinson served as a director for the Chicago Railroad Fair.
Legacy.
Railroad car ferry number 6 owned by Ann Arbor Railroad was named "Arthur K. Atkinson" in his honor on March 14, 1959, when it returned to the Great Lakes after a rebuild.


SCL Industries


Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail

The Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail is a , gravel mixed-use rail trail in central New Hampshire that is currently under construction, under control of the Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail (FCLSRT). It roughly follows the course of the Concord and Claremont Railroad line, starting in Concord and passing through the towns of Hopkinton, Warner, Sutton, and Bradford, and ending in Newbury at Lake Sunapee. The trail is being designed for use by walkers, cyclists, equestrians, and cross-country skiers.
History.
The Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail sits on the former Claremont Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The line was originally part of the Concord and Claremont Railroad that connected Concord and Claremont, which was opened on September 21, 1848.
The Boston & Maine Railroad took over the line in 1887 and referred to it as their "Claremont Branch". The line was eventually sold to Samuel Pinsly in 1954 who set up the Claremont & Concord Railway, operating a brief passenger service (ending in 1955) and regular freight as far as Contoocook and West Henniker.
Passenger rail on the line had a surprising rebirth for eight weeks in the summer of 1961. Between July 22 and September 17, the tracks between Bradford and Sunapee were used by F. Nelson Blount and his Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Railroad, a tourist excursion railroad. The operation utilized a former Canadian National Railway 4-6-4T steam locomotive, #47, and several former Boston & Maine wooden coaches. The steam operation came to an early end on August 25 when the locomotive was removed from service on account of missing maintenance paperwork, which had been disposed of by the Canadian National when they retired #47 in 1958. A diesel replacement was used for an additional seven days, but was not popular. This was the last regularly-scheduled passenger service on the Claremont Branch.
After World War II, with the decline of rail transportation and increased popularity of the automobile, freight use of the line diminished. Claremont and Concord Freight service last ran as far as Contoocook in 1961, Bradford in 1964, and Newport in 1977. Some concrete signal bases, rail rests and mile markers can still be seen.
The Friends of the Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail formed in early 2018 and began negotiating easement rights on properties where the original right-of-way ran. Work is ongoing with various sections being completed.
Features.
The Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail travels along a flat and scenic landscape through wetlands, ponds, woods, farmlands, and for several miles travels along the Contoocook River.
Improvements to completed trail sections include bench seating, informational kiosks, bicycle repair stations, historic mile-marker repairs, railroad bridge re-decking and vehicular gates.


Edgewater Branch

The Edgewater Branch was a branch of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W) that ran about through eastern Bergen County, New Jersey in the United States. Starting from a rail junction at the Little Ferry Yard (in Ridgefield), it went east through the Edgewater Tunnel to Undercliff (as Edgewater was once known) to the Hudson Waterfront.
History.
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway handled passenger and freight traffic from the coal mining region in the Lackawanna Valley in and around Scranton, Pennsylvania through northern New Jersey. While it had a line running along the foot of the western slope of Hudson Palisades that terminated in Jersey City north of Marion Junction it owned no right of way through Bergen Hill. The railroad paid substantial fees to both the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) (for passenger trains) and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western (DL&W) (for freight service) to use their lines to terminals on the North River.
The Hudson River Railroad and Terminal Company was incorporated as a New York Susquehanna and Western Railway subsidiary in 1892. The NYSW developed a terminal on what had once been a coal yard for oceangoing ships along the Hudson River shore. At the time the Erie Railroad held a controlling interest in the line. In 1907, Erie Terminals Railroad took control of the Edgewater and Fort Lee Railroad which ran to the Hudson County line and connected with the New Jersey Shore Line Railroad, eventually becoming part of a Belt Line along the shore.
Extensive railyards and car float operations supported the development of industries which dominated the shoreline for much of the 20th century. Among them were Alcoa Aluminum, Ford Motor Company, Lever Brothers, Valvoline Oil Company, and Archer-Daniels-Midland. Eventually the factories closed as industry globalized, facilities became obsolete, and shipping in the port shifted to trucking and containerization. The closure of Ford’s Edgewater Assembly Plant in 1955 saw the loss of one of the line's biggest clients.
Edgewater Tunnel.
The Edgewater Tunnel is a former railroad tunnel through Bergen Hill, the Hudson Palisades. Originally opened in 1894, it was built to gain access to the Hudson River waterfront. About underground and about long, its western cut and portal is located in the Fairview Cemetery in Fairview and the eastern portal is located in Edgewater. The right-of-way was removed from service in about 1992 and the track was removed shortly thereafter.
A pipeline now runs through the tunnel between Hess facilities in Bogota and Edgewater. A power cable, part of the Hudson Project, runs from a Bergen Generating Station substation through the tunnel and under the Hudson to Midtown Manhattan was completed in 2013.
Status.
The branch line remains in partial use between Undercliff Junction in Ridgefield and the bridge at US Route 1/9 in Fairview east of Route 1/9, but trackage through the cut and tunnel was removed in October 1992. The right-of-way itself has not been abandoned.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, planners and government officials realized that alternative transportation systems needed to be put in place to relieve increasing congestion along the Hudson Waterfront It was decided that the most efficient and cost-effective system to meet the growing demands of the area would be a light rail system. When a new transportation network was proposed, it was suggested that the tunnel be used for what became the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, but that idea was ultimately rejected in favor of the Weehawken Tunnel. The Hudson Waterfront/River Road corridor has seen extensive residential and commercial development and subsequent congestion since that time, and further studies of a more comprehensive transportation strategy have been conducted.


Baltimore and Delaware Bay Railroad

The Baltimore and Delaware Bay Railroad, originally part of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's route from New York City to Baltimore, Maryland via central Delaware, was later part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system.
History.
Chapter 148 of the 1856 Session Laws of Maryland, passed March 8, 1856, chartered the Kent County Rail Road Company, charged with building a railroad from the Chesapeake Bay or connecting Chester River in Kent County east to a point on the north side of the Sassafras River in Cecil County or on the Queen Anne and Kent Railroad, as well as branches to any point in Kent County.
Construction began in March 1868, but a shortage of funds brought work to a halt in September 1868. Work began again in April 1869, with the intention of building from the Delaware Railroad and the Queen Anne and Kent Railroad at Massey to Rock Hall (where a ferry would connect with Baltimore), with a branch to Chestertown. The line was opened from Massey to Kennedyville in April 1870. The rest of the line from Kennedyville to Chestertown on the Chester River opened on February 20, 1872. A branch from just north of Chestertown west to Parsons (on the projected line to Rock Hall), via Vickers, opened on August 1, 1872. However, this created a nonsensical dogleg, and was abandoned and partly removed when the direct line from Parsons to Worton was completed in October 1873.
The Smyrna and Delaware Bay Railroad was chartered July 14, 1865. With the backing of Jay Gould, who gained control of the Kent County Railroad in June 1873, it began construction in April 1873 and opened in September 1873, from Woodland Beach, Delaware, on the Delaware Bay, west to the state line, where an extension of the Kent County Railroad was built to connect (using the clause in the charter allowing for branches). The objective of this line was to form a connecting line (with car ferries at both ends) between the Vineland Railway at Bayside and Baltimore. Gould now changed the proposed terminus from Rock Hall to Tolchester Beach and began dredging work there. Most of the line to Tolchester Beach was graded, but the Panic of 1873 led to the collapse of the project.
On February 15, 1877 the Kent County was sold at foreclosure and bought by the New Jersey Southern Railroad (later part of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ)), which merged the two companies as the Baltimore and Delaware Bay Railroad on May 12, 1883. The remainder of the Parsons-Chestertown line was now removed, and used to extend the main line from Parsons to Nicholson (Earl Nicholson Road). However, only the line from Clayton to Chestertown was regularly operated, the Nicholson Branch and the line to Woodland Beach being operated only seasonally. By 1888, the first mile of track west of Woodland Beach had been abandoned.
In May 1889 the CNJ stopped operating the line, although it was still heavily under CNJ influence. The line was upgraded, and new carfloats and floatbridges were built at Bayside and Woodland Beach during the summer. Car float service was opened on August 17, 1889, largely handling peach traffic. However, the Woodland Beach float bridge was destroyed by a hurricane on September 8–10 and was never rebuilt. The line east of Smyrna, Delaware was closed in 1895, as was the line from Worton to Nicholson. The Pennsylvania Railroad bought the whole line on June 25, 1902, assigned it to its Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, and promptly abandoned it east of Massey on July 1. On October 2, all the property was transferred to the Delaware Railroad, another PRR subsidiary. However, the Baltimore and Delaware Bay was not dissolved until December 8, 1920.


Hurricane Gulch Bridge

The Hurricane Gulch Bridge is a long steel arch railroad bridge that crosses Hurricane Gulch, Alaska. It is located at milepost 284.2, counting from Seward. At 296 ft above the Hurricane creek, it is both the longest and tallest bridge on the entire Alaska Railroad. Many of Alaska Railroad's passenger routes pass over this bridge, including the Denali Star, the Aurora Winter and the flag-stop Hurricane Turn, in addition to freight routes.
A road bridge by the same name also exists.
Construction.
Construction of this bridge by the American Bridge Company began in early 1921. The first steel was erected in June, and the first passenger train operated on August 15 of the same year. It was the most difficult and expensive bridge project on the railroad, and cost $1.2 million. To build it, the company strung an aerial tram across the gulch, and construction proceeded from both sides simultaneously. For eight years, this was the tallest bridge in the US.


Abo Canyon

Abo Canyon (elevation 5771 ft.), also known as Abo Pass, is a mountain pass at the southern end of the Manzano Mountains of central New Mexico.
History.
From pre-Columbian times, the pass provided the most direct trading route through the mountains between the plains Indians of the Estancia Valley to the east and the pueblo cultures of the middle valley of the Rio Grande to the west. The route these traders took led past Abo Pueblo, dating from the 14th century, strategically located near a cluster of springs on the eastern slope of the pass. The old footpath is now the Abo Pass Trail Scenic Byway (see External Links below).
The Spanish arrived in the 16th century, and used the pass as a route between the Rio Grande valley and the three “salt missions” they constructed northeast of the pass, now ruins preserved as part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.
Railroad.
In the early 20th century, the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad wished to find an alternative route to its existing mainline over Raton and Glorieta Passes, to avoid the gradients of up to 3.5% on these passes. The company surveyed a route through the Abo Canyon, which could be achieved with a gradient of no more than 1.25%. Known as the Belen Cutoff, the route was completed in 1908, connecting to the AT&SF system at Belen, New Mexico and at Amarillo, Texas. The Cutoff rapidly took on the bulk of the AT&SF's transcontinental freight traffic (Most of the Santa Fe's through passenger service remained on the old Raton Pass route, due to its connections in Colorado, as well as tourist traffic serving the railroad's namesake city). Passenger service through Abo Canyon ceased in 1971 with the cancellation of the San Francisco Chief, when Amtrak took over all of the Santa Fe's passenger operations.
Now part of the BNSF system and known as the Clovis subdivision of the Southern Transcon, the rail corridor is one of the most heavily trafficked routes in the western US. An average of almost 90 trains daily passed through Abo Canyon in 2006, each typically 6000 to 8000 feet in length.
The four-mile route through the canyon remained a single-track bottleneck until March 2011, when a second track was completed at a cost of $85 million.
Highway.
The Atlantic and Pacific Highway was established through the pass in 1921, and was designated as U.S. Route 60 in 1931. New Mexico State Road 47 joins the highway from Belen on the west side of the pass.
Abo Pass Trail.
On July 31, 1998, the Abo Pass Trail was made a New Mexico Scenic and Historic Byway. It is a 31 miles scenic drive through the Salt Missions area along New Mexico State Road 47 and U.S. Route 60.
References.
Benner, John “Abo Arroyo", CTC Board Railroads Illustrated, July 1996.


Asa Whitney

Asa Whitney (1797–1872) was a highly successful dry-goods merchant and transcontinental railroad promoter.
He was one of the first backers of an American transcontinental railway. A trip to China in 1842–44 impressed upon Whitney the need for a transcontinental railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
When Whitney returned to the United States in 1844, he realized the benefits from such an undertaking, and spent a great deal of money trying to get the Congress to take up the project. In 1849, he published A Project for a Railroad to the Pacific. For years he continued to write revised memorials and take expeditions through what was then known as Indian Territory to support his cause.
Later Whitney's dream was realized through the efforts of Theodore Judah. In the end, Whitney lived to see his dream realized in 1869 with the opening of the Union Pacific.
Early life.
Asa Whitney was born on March 14, 1797 in North Groton, Connecticut. His parents were Sarah Mitchell and Shubael Whitney. He is distantly related to Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin. They were fifth cousins. For five generations, the Whitney family had been farmers. However, from a young age, Asa Whitney showed no interest in agriculture and wanted to be a merchant.
Career.
He went to New York in his late teens to chase his dream of being a merchant. He began as a clerk, working for a huge importer of French goods. He was promoted, and, by 1832, he was a successful dry-goods merchant.
Marriage.
While he was abroad in France in 1832, he married a French girl, Herminie Antoinette Pillet. However, just a mere year after they met, she died on March 31, 1833. She was buried in New Rochelle, very close to where Asa had planned to start a family with her. He mourned for a short time, and even kept a lock of her hair after she had died. However, he did not mourn for long. He married again to Sarah Jay Munro. She died on November 12, 1840. This may have been a miscarriage or an unsuccessful childbirth. She was buried next to Asa’s first wife. In 1852, Whitney married Mrs. Catherine (Moore) Campbell of Wilmington, N.C. She outlived her husband by six years and is buried beside him in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
Trip to China.
After his wife died, his property in New York faced foreclosure and was put up for auction. Whitney was only given $10,000 for his property. He sold the rest of his land and drew his interests toward China. On June 18, 1842, he set sail to China on his ship, the Oscar. The Oscar was loaded down with a lot of goods which resulted in the ship moving very slowly. The voyage to China usually took around 100 days, and newer ships could make the trip in as short as 79 days. However, Whitney’s trip took 153 days, a record slowness for the year. Whitney became very angry during this trip and he was apt to having rages and temper tantrums. He arrived in China during the Opium Wars, which was a dispute between the British and the Chinese. After the dispute died down, many other nations began to trade with China, and Whitney became one of a few Americans who helped with the exportation of teas, spices, and other goods. His profits began piling up. By the time he left China, he had enough money to retire. His time in China lasted a year and four months, and he headed back home on April 2, 1844. His trip back was also very long and tedious.
Attempts at a Transcontinental Railroad.
On the way back from China, Asa Whitney began devising a plan that would make the trip to China much easier. He wanted to build a railroad across the United States. People on the East coast could take the train to the West coast, and then take a ship from there to China. It would greatly shorten the long trip. When he arrived back in the United States, he was full of inspiration and drive and he got straight to work. He bought property in upstate New York and began working on a memorial to Congress about his plan for a railroad. His plan was mainly focused on trade with China, and connecting the two countries for increased culture, immigration, and commerce. He believed that the railroad would open trade to all of Asia, and unite the continents. He spent a great amount of time and money to try to promote his plan, and he explored a lot of the routes that he considered. He wrote A Project for a Railroad to the Pacific, a memorial to the United States Congress, in 1849. His plan was detailed and impressive, but he was denied. He continued trying to create the railroad, taking surveys and examining potential routes. He wanted to create a route that went way up north to the Puget Sound. However, no matter how hard he tried, his plan was never accepted, and he stopped campaigning in 1851.
Death.
Asa Whitney lived long enough to see his dream become a reality; he was alive when the first transcontinental railroad was completed. He died in 1872, three years after the golden spike was laid, of typhoid fever.
Legacy.
Although Whitney’s plan fell through, word began spreading of the idea of a transcontinental railroad. His plan inspired many young, ambitious engineers, one of which being Theodore Judah, a man who helped make the dream of a transcontinental railroad into a reality.


John W. Sprague

John Wilson Sprague (April 4, 1817 – December 27, 1893) was an American soldier and railroad executive. He served as a general in the Union Army in the Western Theater of operations during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Decatur during the Atlanta Campaign. After the war, he was a railroad executive and later co-founded the city of Tacoma, Washington, serving as its first mayor.
Early life and career.
John W. Sprague was born in White Creek, New York, on April 4, 1817, the son of Otis and Polly (Peck) Sprague. He was educated in the district school of his neighborhood and at the age of thirteen entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York. He left school before graduation to engage in the grocery business, and in 1845 removed to Milan, Ohio, where he continued the business of a merchant in the shipping and commission sales businesses. He afterward settled in Sandusky and was for one term (1851–52) the treasurer of Erie County, Ohio.
He was married to Lucy Wright, daughter of a judge of Huron County, Ohio. However, she died in Troy, New York, in May 1844, not long after giving birth to a daughter. He was remarried to Julia Frances Choate of Milan; the couple had five children of their own.
In the late 1850s he organized and equipped a line of sailboats and steamers for traffic on Lake Erie and was engaged in that business when war erupted.
Civil War service.
With the outbreak of the Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln's call for 100,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion, Sprague raised a company of infantry and was sent to Camp Dennison near Cincinnati. Upon being mustered into Federal service, he became the captain of Company E of the 7th Ohio Infantry. While returning home on furlough in August 1861, he and a small party of fellow Buckeyes were captured in West Virginia and held as prisoners of war. Sprague was exchanged in January 1862 and returned to his regiment.
Later that month, Sprague was appointed as the colonel of the newly designated 63rd Ohio Infantry, The regiment was organized on January 23 by consolidating partially filled battalions from the 22nd Ohio Infantry and the 63rd Ohio regiments. After brief training and drilling, Sprague and his men took the field, traveled via train to the South, and joined Major General John Pope in Missouri. Sprague led the regiment at the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and then was in charge of the Ohio Brigade during the Battle of Iuka in 1862.
For the next several months, Sprague took part in the army's general operations in northern Alabama and Mississippi, extending sometimes into Tennessee. He participated in the Vicksburg Campaign in early and mid-1863. In the fall of 1863, as part of the forces under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, he moved with his regiment eastward toward Chattanooga, Tennessee. his regiment was part of the force under command of General Grenville M. Dodge that was detached to secure the railroad to Decatur, Alabama.
During the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, Sprague was in command of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Division of the Sixteenth Army Corps. During the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, at a subsidiary action near Decatur, Georgia, he masterfully conducted a delaying action under heavy enemy fire and received praise from his superiors. With only a small command, he defeated an overwhelming Confederate force and saved the entire ordnance and supply trains of the XV, XVI, XVII, and XX corps.
Sprague was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on July 30, 1864. He moved with Sherman on the March to the Sea and then northward during the Carolinas Campaign. He commanded the brigade on its march from Raleigh, North Carolina, through Richmond to Washington, D.C., and participated in the Grand Review of the Armies in May. On April 3, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Sprague for appointment to the grade of brevet major general, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on April 26, 1866.
From April 1865 until September 1866, Sprague was the assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for the district of Arkansas, serving under Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard. He was in charge of operations in Missouri, Kansas, and subsequently the Indian Territory. In September 1865, he declined a lieutenant-colonelcy in the Regular Army and mustered out of the service. He was succeeded by Edward O. C. Ord.
Postbellum career.
He was appointed as the manager of the Winona & St. Paul Railway in Minnesota. In 1870 he became the general manager of the Western Division of the Northern Pacific Railway and co-established the city of Tacoma, Washington, on Puget Sound. He was instrumental in selecting the route for the railroad's Pacific Division, from what later became Kalama, Washington, to Tacoma. In 1883 he had the honor of driving the golden spike on the completion of his division. However, he suffered from poor health and was forced to resign a few months later.
He was active in building up the new city of Tacoma and was president of the board of trade and of various banks and corporations. He served as the town's first mayor, became prominent in its financial circles, and was president of the National Bank, Tacoma Chamber of Commerce, and the Tacoma Steam Navigation Company. His second wife Julia died in 1886. He later married Abigail Choate.
The town of Sprague, Washington, founded in 1880, was named for General Sprague. Lincoln County, Washington, was originally named for Sprague, until opposition from political enemy (and former Union colonel) Joseph H. Houghton, a Washington Territory legislator.
After suffering for several years from heart disease and chronic cystitis, Sprague died at his home in Tacoma on December 27, 1893, and was buried in the city's cemetery. In 1894 the United States Congress awarded the Medal of Honor to General John W. Sprague for distinguished gallantry during the Battle of Decatur. However, Sprague never saw his medal, having died several weeks before it arrived.
The John W. Sprague Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was named in his honor.
Medal of Honor citation.
SPRAGUE, JOHN W.
Rank and Organization: Colonel, 63d Ohio Infantry. Place and Date: At Decatur, Ga., 22 July 1862. Entered Service At: Sandusky, Ohio Born: 4 April 1817, White Creek, N.Y. Date of Issue: 18 January 1894.
Citation:
With a small command defeated an overwhelming force of the enemy and saved the trains of the corps.


Trinity Railway Express

The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) is a commuter rail line in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It was established by an interlocal agreement between Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and Trinity Metro. Each transit authority owns a 50% stake in the joint rail project and contractor Herzog Transit Services operates the line. The TRE began operating in December 1996.
As of the fourth quarter of 2014, the TRE has an average weekday ridership of 8,200 passengers per day and is the fifteenth most-ridden commuter rail system in the United States. In 2014, the TRE carried 2,293,500 passengers.
Before 2006, the TRE was typically shown as a green line on DART maps and therefore was sometimes referred to as the "Green Line," but this was not an official designation. In 2006, DART chose green as the color for its new light rail route, the . Since 2006, the TRE has been shown as a dark blue line on DART maps.
History.
Named after the Trinity River, which flows between Fort Worth and Dallas, the TRE was launched on December 30, 1996, shortly after the inaugural service of Dallas' DART Light Rail system, operating from Union station to the South Irving. It runs along a former Rock Island line that the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth purchased in 1983 for $34 million.
Service initially operated only in weekday rush hours, but midday and evening service was added in December 1997, and Saturday service was added in December 1998.
On September 18, 2000, the line was extended to Richland Hills and, for the first time, there was rail service available between downtown Dallas and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. On November 13, 2000, West Irving station also opened. On December 3, 2001, the TRE was extended to its current terminus at the T&P Station in downtown Fort Worth.
Route.
The eastern terminus of the TRE line is Dallas Union Station on the west side of downtown Dallas. The line runs northwest, past the American Airlines Center and Southwestern Medical Center, through Irving, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Hurst, and Richland Hills before ending with two stops in downtown Fort Worth (Fort Worth Central Station at 9th and Jones Streets and T&P Station on Throckmorton Street). There are a total of ten regular station stops, including a stop at Victory station (which until the opening of DART's Green line in September 2009, was used only for special events). Not all trains are through trains – a number of trains either terminate or originate at the CentrePort/DFW Airport station.
Fleet.
Diesel locomotives.
TRE has a fleet of 9 locomotives.
There are seven EMD F59PH IV locomotives that were acquired from GO Transit.  The original numbers for these were #525, #527–528 and #565–568.
These were overhauled in late 2010 by the Norfolk Southern Railway and RELCO Locomotive to meet EPA standards and renumbered 120–126.
There are two EMD F59PHI locomotives that were purchased from EMD. The numbers for these are #569 and #570.
Former fleet.
Until 2011, the TRE fleet included diesel multiple units, in the form of 13 Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) built in the 1950s for Canadian Pacific (9), Canadian National (3) and Boston & Maine (1). They were purchased used from Via Rail Canada in 1993. All were remanufactured by GEC-Alsthom in Montreal. They entered service in March and April 1997after trains leased from Amtrak and the Connecticut Department of Transportation temporarily provided initial TRE service when the RDCs were not ready in time for the inauguration of TRE service in December 1996and thereafter provided all service for the line's first two to three years. They remained in service for about 14 years, the last cars being taken off of TRE service in March 2011. In 2010–2011, 11 of the 13 cars were leased to Denton County Transportation Authority for operation on the A-train. They were returned in 2012 and placed in storage at the TRE shops in Irving, Texas. In spring 2017, 12 RDCs were sold via auction to AllEarth Rail, a Vermont-based private company that intends to use them to operate commuter rail service connecting the Vermont cities of Montpelier and Burlington. AllEarth subsequently resold two of the TRE cars to TriMet, of Portland, Oregon, before they had left Texas, and those two Dallas RDCs (Nos. 2007 and 2011) were moved in August 2017 from Texas to Oregon, where TriMet planned to use them on its WES Commuter Rail service. The other 10 RDCs were moved to Vermont the same month.
Train consist.
"Information from the Trinity Railway Express Train Facts page"
Each train includes at least one locomotive unit and one bi-level cab car. Typically, one or two additional coach cars are included between the locomotive and cab car. Each cab car (and thus each train) has a restroom and passengers may move between cars during the trip. The trip from Union Station to T&P Station takes just over an hour, with scheduled trip times ranging from one hour, three minutes to one hour, eleven minutes. Track improvements are currently underway which should offer an improvement in travel times by double-tracking certain stations and sections of the route. Currently, portions of the route are single-track, requiring eastbound and westbound trains to meet only at certain points and requiring some eastbound trains to hold for 5–7 minutes to wait for a westbound train to get to the passing area.


Whitney Section House

The Whitney Section House, also known as Whitney Station, is a historic railroad-related building in Wasilla, Alaska. It is a single-story wood frame structure, which was built in 1917 by the Alaska Railroad. It originally stood at mile 119.1, about north of Anchorage Station, and was one of a series built by the railroad and located at roughly ten-mile intervals. The area where it stood was taken by the federal government for Elmendorf Air Force Base, and was rescued from demolition by the local chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society. It now stands on the grounds of the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry in Wasilla, and has seen a variety of uses.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.


Osgood Bradley Car Company

The Osgood Bradley Car Company manufactured railway passenger cars and streetcars in Worcester, Massachusetts.
History.
The company was founded in 1822 to manufacture stagecoaches and sleighs. The company's first railway passenger cars were built for the Boston and Worcester Railroad in 1835. During the American Civil War, the company produced gun carriages for the Union Army. Osgood Bradley was purchased by the Pullman Company in 1930.
American Flyer cars.
The Worcester factory is popularly remembered as the manufacturer of the American Flyer streamlined passenger car during the 1930s. Walter Dorwin Teague designed a rounded aircraft-style body for railway cars manufactured of Cor-Ten steel. These cars weighed 15 tons less than conventional heavyweight steel cars. It was hoped these attractive lightweight cars might encourage public use of rail transportation while offering improved economy to the railway companies. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad purchased the first of these cars in 1934. Other purchasers included Boston and Maine Railroad, Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, Kansas City Southern Railway, Seaboard Air Line Railroad, Saint Louis Southwestern Railroad, and Lehigh Valley Railroad. A. C. Gilbert Company, with New Haven trains running past their factory, decided to produce models of this car for their American Flyer toy train sets. Thousands of these toys were produced from 1946 to 1958; and railfans used the name "American Flyer" to describe the streamlined cars made by Osgood Bradley.


Central Washington Railroad

The Central Washington Railroad (reporting mark CWRR) is a common freight carrier that operates in the Yakima, Washington area. The shortline railroad operates on two routes in the Yakima River valley and is owned by the Temple family, which also owns the Columbia Basin Railroad.
Route.
The CWRR's northern route connects the communities of Fruitvale, Yakima, Union Gap and Moxee City.
The CWRR's southern route connects the communities of Granger, Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser.


Samuel Sloan (railroad executive)

Samuel Sloan (December 25, 1817 – September 22, 1907) was an American politician, businessman and executive. He is most known for his tenure as the president of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) for 32 years.
Early life.
Samuel Sloan was born in Lisburn, County Down, Ireland to William and Elizabeth Sloan and moved to New York when he was one year old. He attended the Columbia College Preparatory school until he was 14, at the time of his father's death. After withdrawing, he became employed at an importing house in New York, eventually becoming the head of the firm.
On April 8, 1844, Sloan married Margaret Elmendorf in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and moved to Brooklyn, New York. They had eleven children.
Career.
Sloan was elected as a Supervisor in Kings County (Brooklyn) in 1852, and was president of the Long Island College Hospital. He became a director of the Hudson River Railroad in 1855, left the importing business in 1857 and was elected to the New York State Senate, where he served for two years.
He became a director of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in 1864, and became its president in 1867. Prior to accepting the DL&W Presidency, Sloan had declined an offer to become President of the New York and Harlem Railroad. He extended the DL&W rail lines, and the company achieved great success, in part due to the traffic generated for transport of anthracite coal mined in the railway's expanded territory. Passenger traffic also increased, particularly between New York City and the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, a popular resort area.
Sloan resigned from the DL&W presidency in 1899, but continued as Chairman of the Board. He served on the boards of banks, utilities and other companies.
Death.
Samuel Sloan died in Garrison, New York, in 1907 at the age of 89, having been the president of seventeen corporations during his lifetime.
Legacy.
Samuel Sloan is the eponym of the city of Sloan, Iowa and the village of Sloan, New York.
Statue.
A statue memorializing Sloan was placed in Hoboken, New Jersey, originally facing the ferries in 1899. Some people criticized the statue's orientation, and the Mayor of Hoboken remarked that Sloan was "turning his back on the great city of Hoboken." On August 3, 1908, during the reconstruction of Hoboken Terminal, the statue was set facing both the town and the railroad and ferry stations.
The inscription reads:SAM SLOAN
1817–1907
FOR THIRTY-TWO YEARS PRESIDENT
OF THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANA &
WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY
1867–1899
PRESENTED BY JOHN HENRY STARIN


Bridgeport Subdivision

The Bridgeport Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The line runs from Grafton west to Clarksburg along a former Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road line. At its east end, the Bridgeport Subdivision becomes the Mountain Subdivision; its west end is at the Short Line Subdivision.
History.
The Bridgeport Subdivision opened in 1857 as part of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad and was immediately leased by the B&O. It changed hands to CSX through mergers.


Brilliner

Brilliner was a tram designed by the J. G. Brill Company. The tram (or trolley) was designed by a competitor to the successful PCC cars, but the design ended up being a failure for the company, with only several trams built. The tram utilized a clean, streamlined design, similar to a PCC car. It also used a boxy floor plan and a riveted steel body design. Due to the boxy floor plan, Brilliner cars could not clear the tight spaces required by the Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC), the company's main customer. The Brilliner ended up being the company's last trolley design before merging with American Car and Foundry (ACF).
10 cars were built for Red Arrow Lines (these were the only double ended variants as every other car was single ended), 24 trams were sold to Atlantic City, 3 cars were sold to the PTC, and one of each was sold to Cincinnati and Baltimore.


Pioneer III

The Pioneer III railcar was a short/medium-distance coach designed and built by the Budd Company in 1956 with an emphasis on weight savings. A single prototype was built, but declines in rail passenger traffic resulted in a lack of orders so Budd re-designed the concept as an electric multiple unit (m.u.). Six of the EMU coach design were purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad with the intention of using them as a high-speed self-contained coach that could be used for long-distance commuter or short-distance intercity travel in the Northeast U.S. The 6 production Pioneer III units were the first all-stainless-steel-bodied EMU railcar built in North America and, at , the lightest.
Lightweight coach.
The Pioneer III lightweight coach (Budd serial number 3880) was completed in 1956 and was seen by the Budd Company as a milestone product that could revolutionize the passenger railcar market. With this assessment in mind, the Pioneer III name was chosen in reference to the Budd Pioneer stainless steel aircraft and the Pioneer Zephyr lightweight trainset. The coach was designed for medium- or short-distance inter-city passenger travel with extreme emphasis placed on saving weight. This was accomplished through the use of electric train heat and air conditioning in place of steam and mechanical systems, high-speed inboard bearing trucks that used air suspension instead of heavier springs, an airline-style bathroom instead of the fully equipped "lounge" style and a thin corrugated stainless steel carbody. The result was a car that weighed only , nearly half the amount of the then state-of-the-art "lightweight" stainless steel cars being manufactured by Budd. With a capacity of 88 passengers in a 2+2 seating configuration, the Pioneer III coach achieved a weight-to-passenger ratio, a number not seen since the days when passenger cars had been made out of wood. Unfortunately, these remarkable statistics were accomplished at the expense of comfort, as passengers were provided with significantly reduced legroom compared to other coaches in the same class and a bouncier ride.
The Pioneer III coach concept toured numerous North American railroads as a demonstrator unit, but due to the general decline in rail passenger traffic there was little interest in new rolling stock, especially one that represented a new and untested model.
Electric Multiple Unit.
Finding no takers for the Pioneer III coach, Budd re-worked the design into an Electric Multiple Unit for commuter operations by fitting a propulsion system and a vestibule type operating cab at each end. The Pennsylvania Railroad's increasingly antiquated fleet of MP54 suburban MU's prompted the railroad to order 6 Pioneer III MU's from Budd in 1958. Measuring roughly 85 feet in length and 10 feet in width, the Pioneer III coach resembled the stainless steel coaches used by the Pennsylvania Railroad for its premier New York City-Washington, D.C. and New York City-Chicago services. Seating on the Pioneer III was in two rows of 25 in a 3+2 configuration. Like all m.u. coaches, the Pioneer III was capable of running as a single-car train or with up to six cars total, depending on the number of passengers it was to carry. The Pioneer III car had an advertised speed of 100 m.p.h., but in actual operations ran at speeds of around 80–85 m.p.h. Its knuckle-shaped (tightlock) couplers, identical to those found on the PRR long-distance trains, allowed the Pioneer III coaches to be transported to shop facilities in Paoli or Wilmington for maintenance. The original numbers were 150-155 with the even-numbered cars having fabricated truck frames and disc brakes, while the odd-numbered cars had cast steel truck frames and tread brakes.
The cars used the revolutionary, and aptly named, Budd Pioneer III truck, which was a lightweight, inboard bearing railroad bogie designed for high-speed operation. This truck would see continued use by Budd on its subsequent Silverliner order, as well as MUs ordered by the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North, PATCO rapid transit cars and the Amtrak Amfleet cars, where they would operate up to speeds of . The Pioneer III cars used a slightly different right-angle gearbox (adapted from the very successful Budd-built PTC M-3 transit cars) set the traction motors at a right angle to the axle instead of the more common lateral placement. The need for a larger traction motor resulted in the change to the more traditional layout in the Silverliner II design.
Power was collected from a diamond-shaped pantograph, and the control system consisted of a step-down transformer connected to an AC/DC rectifier powered by mercury arc ignitron tubes. The DC output was then fed into a camshaft motor controller which provided for smooth acceleration. No dynamic braking system was fitted. In 1961 the mercury arc tubes were replaced by silicon diode rectifiers.
The thin stainless steel carbody and other elements of the Pioneer III design combined with the lightness of the traction components resulted in the Pioneer III MU cars being the lightest all-metal electric multiple unit railroad passenger cars produced in North America. Unfortunately there were reliability and performance issues with the small traction motors and low capacity main transformer.
Service history.
Although the Pioneer III design was advanced for its time, operating headaches and a ready stream of available GG1 locomotive-hauled coaches spelled a premature end to the Pioneer III coaches in long-distance passenger service. In 1963, as part of an effort to improve commuter rail service in the Philadelphia area, the PRR contracted with the Budd Company to build a more advanced version of the Pioneer III design. Using the Pioneer III as a model, the new "Silverliner", as the stainless steel MU coaches were called, differed greatly from the Pioneers. They all had fabricated trucks with air springs and disc brakes, more powerful traction motors, two rows of ceiling lights, improved air-conditioning, the use of an automatic MU coupler that automatically made electrical connections in addition to the usual AAR "knuckle" design and a sleeker T-shaped (Faiveley) pantograph in place of the diamond-shaped pantograph. 38 Silverliner cars (201–219, 251–269) were built for the PRR, with 17 nearly identical cars (9001–9017) for the Reading Company tacked onto the same order.
After taking delivery of the 38 Silverliner cars, the PRR took the Pioneer III cars off intercity operations and used them exclusively on Philadelphia-area commuter service. In 1967, when SEPTA and the PRR took delivery of a second "Silverliner" MU car order from the St. Louis Car Company, the first (1963) "Silverliner" delivery became the "Silverliner II" cars and the 1967 order, the "Silverliner III." Although still officially called the Pioneer III, these cars were retroactively given the "Silverliner I" designation. As part of the Penn Central merger, the cars were also renumbered, out of sequence, to 294–299. By that time, the three disc-braked cars, together with all of the PRR Silverliner IIs, had been retrofitted with tread brakes, with which the Silverliner IIIs came equipped.
During the 1974–75 delivery of the "Silverliner IV" cars from General Electric numbered PC 270–303, the Pioneers were renumbered 244–248 (the 249 had been wrecked and retired by that time) to form a solid block of MU's containing both the new cars and existing Silverliner II and III cars. After purchasing a number of push-pull trainsets and AEM7s in 1987, SEPTA found itself possessing a sufficient number of Silverliner II, III and IV MU cars to retire the Pioneer III/Silverliner I cars. Retirement finally came with the spring timetable change on April 1, 1990, due to a requirement by Amtrak that all locomotives and self-propelled railcars operating on the Northeast Corridor be equipped with a new type of train control, a result of a 1987 train collision. Until 2000, the cars were kept in storage near Wayne Junction. Although there were plans to convert the cars into locomotive-hauled coaches, SEPTA finally decided to dispose of the fleet due to the expense it would have taken to deal with PCBs in the transformers and the lack of ADA compliance. Of the 5 remaining Pioneer III/Silverliner I cars, three of the cars were sent to the AAR/FRA test site in Pueblo, Colorado, for use in crash tests, while the remaining two cars were donated to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. The cars sent to the test site and the museum
have since been scrapped.
Gas turbine demonstrator.
In 1966 the Budd Company in cooperation with Garrett AiResearch used the surplus Pioneer III demonstration coach as the basis for the first gas turbine-powered railcar in North America. The coach, re-christened GT-1, was to be supplied to the Long Island Rail Road for testing on its non-electrified branch lines as a way to provide high speed MU operation without the need to extend the electrification. The single entry vestibule was converted into a vestibule cab, with a second, doorless cab being constructed on the "blind" end of the coach. The GT-1 used a mechanical drive, with the output shaft of the gas turbine being connected to the driving wheels via a mechanical gearbox. The GT-1 was tested on the LIRR from September, 1966 to May, 1967.
In 1969 the GT-1 was rebuilt using funds from the Urban Mass Transit Administration into a hybrid turbo-electric railcar, replacing the mechanical drive with an electrical generator providing power to 4, 150 hp traction motors. Re-classified again as GT-2, the coach was intended to test gas turbine railcar operation into the confines of New York Pennsylvania Station and therefore was also given the capability to draw power from the 700 VDC third rail. The GT-2 was also notable for being one of the first rail vehicles to be equipped with DC chopper propulsion control. The Pioneer III coach in the GT-2 configuration was tested from November, 1969 to December, 1970.


Reas Pass

Reas Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass on the Continental Divide in Fremont County, Idaho, about southwest of West Yellowstone, Montana. The pass lies essentially on the Idaho-Montana border, but modern maps show that the summit lies entirely in Idaho, because the Divide and the state line do not quite coincide here. The pass is also somewhat unusual in that, despite being the lowest crossing of the Divide in the vicinity, it has evidently never been traversed by a highway of any significance. Starting in 1909, it was used by a branch line of the Union Pacific Railroad running between Ashton, Idaho and West Yellowstone; however, the line eventually became unprofitable and was closed in 1979.


Farmville and Powhatan Railroad

In 1886, Randolph Harrison, of the Virginia department of Agriculture, cited Cumberland Mining Company, stating that businessmen would soon open a hotel at Lithia Springs, Farmville, VA for people seeking the healing waters. The Brighthope railway would be extended to bring them there. But instead, the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad Company built the narrow gauge rails through Cumberland County and the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad Company bought the Brighthope Railway, so the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad made the connection. In 1890, Beach Station was built with a railroad depot, some railroad shanties, a general store and an owner's house, the George Perdue House as a stop on the line.
History.
The Farmville and Powhatan Railroad, a narrow gauge railroad was formed On March 10, 1884, in five years beginning building tracks from Farmville to Cumberland and Powhatan. The Farmville and Powhatan bought the Brighthope Railway in which was in foreclosure on July 23, 1889. On March 3, 1890, the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad was connected to the Brighthope Railway three miles west of Winterpock, taking the eastward part, all but seven miles, of the Brighthope Railway to Bermuda Hundred. After this line was built from Farmville to the Petersburg Area, the Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System, which took days to make the same journey, would no longer be used.
Trains mostly hauled coal, lumber and then grain and tobacco and other farm products as well as a little furniture. There was one passenger only train and one train with passengers and cargo which each ran Weekdays and Saturday.
 The trains had five first class passenger cars. The trains carried U.S. Postal mail on two mail, freight and express mail cars. The company had 7 engines and 210 cars in 1890, but only five engines in 1896. The railroad company employed 169 people including over 50 trackmen, who maintained the tracks; 18 who worked at the station as well as carpenters, machinists and other laborers.
In 1891 the train did not always stop but a railroad car, although not a Railway post office, on the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad, dropped off and picked up mail using the Mail on-the-fly technique at Moseley and Skinquater. This was a hook and pouch system that let the train drop off and pick up mail without slowing down.
Postal Telegraph Company operated the telegraph over the rails and charged customers for telegraphs.
Stations.
The Farmville and Powhatan was a ninety three mile line after the merger. The rails had one bridge over the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and the Swift Creek Rail Bridge.
Passenger travel.
An uncomfortable ride.
A passenger from Powhatan Courthouse complained of the discontinuation of the early train of the F & P, that connected in Moseley with the Southern Railway, on the old Richmond and Danville Railroad rails. This forced him to take an uncomfortable ride on the F & P to Chester which took longer each morning. The railroad replied that they needed to have trains that were full the entire route, starting no earlier than 5:50 in Farmville for people who had to walk a few miles to reach the train station. His train that had connected to the Southern had started at 4:50 A.M. in Farmville so had very few passengers in the beginning of the run.
Stop anywhere.
Train operators running the passenger train would "Stop Anywhere" to pick up passengers. Red Lane Tavern was a common stop for the passenger train that was not listed on the schedule.
Fowlkes v. the Southern Railroad Co..
Mrs. Eva C. Fowlkes, on March 9, 1899, purchased a ticket on the Southern Railway from Richmond to Mosley Junction to connect to Skinquarter by way of the Farmville and Powhatan. The railroad ticket master had misinformed her and there was no connection that day. She did not see the small new Farmville and Powhatan ticket office in Mosley Junction and hired wagon to take her to her parents house in Skinquarter, Virginia. As she was pregnant, she had a miscarriage after the wagon ride which resulted in a lawsuit, Folkes v. the Southern Railway Co. in which the railroad was liable for only $150, the court ruled that the railroad attendant could not predict the events that would happen after the misinformation was given.
Modern pathway.
Following the path of the old railroad today travels down Virginia State Route 10 from Bermuda Hundred on the north side of the Appomattox River and then east on Carver Heights Drive, Chester, through a landfill and housing complex, next to Bright Hope Road then along Beach Road to Winterpock, then one spur lead down where South on Coalboro Rd is today. The main line led from Winterpock to Skinquarter up Local route 603 or Beaver Bridge Rd. Past Skinquarter it continued on 603 to 605 and up 605 which becomes Mosley Rd where it crossed the Southern Railway. It continued on 605 to 622 and up 622 to Flat Rock. From Flat Rock it followed near State Rt 60 to Powhatan where it then took Route 13 or Old Buckingham Road all the way to Cumberland, Virginia. From Cumberland it followed what is now Virginia State Route 45 to Farmville. Most of the stops are still towns today, even if only a sign and a few stores.


East Camden and Highland Railroad

The East Camden and Highland Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in East Camden, Arkansas.
EACH operates a 47.6 mile (76.6 km) line in Arkansas from East Camden to Eagle Mills (where it interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad). EACH traffic generally consists of lumber, paper products and scrap paper, synthetic bulk rubber, and chemicals.
EACH also provides switching services at locations in four states:
EACH was incorporated in 1971.


Theodore N. Ely

Theodore N. Ely (July 23, 1846 – October 29, 1916) was an executive in charge of steam locomotive power development and purchases on the Pennsylvania Railroad, one of the largest railroad systems and business concerns in the United States.
Upon his retirement in 1911 after forty-three years with the Pennsylvania, the trade periodical "Railway Age Gazette" recounted Ely's career, his accomplishments and accolades.
Perhaps his most recognizable innovation, per "Railway Age Gazette", was the relocation of the steam locomotive boiler and fire box. Prior to the 1881-3 design of the Pennsylvania's Class K 4-4-0 American Standard steam locomotives (later reclassified to the Pennsylvania's Class D6 4-4-0 American Standards), most fire boxes were located between the frames of locomotives, restricting their width, and thus, the power of the locomotive. Ely's design moved the fire box and boiler assembly above the drive wheels, creating a design which was more powerful, as well as easier to stoke. The area available to burn coal, and thus power the locomotive, was increased from eighteen to nearly thirty-five square feet. The change, considered radical at the time, created a design which observers believed would run roughly and prove top-heavy and unstable. "Railway Age Gazette" noted in 1911:
"It was Mr. Ely that took the first step alone, against the protests of many by whom he was surrounded, that has led to the development of the large locomotives of today. While builders and engineers considered that the end had come, that the locomotive had reached the limit of its power because of the restrictions current construction put upon the size of the firebox, Mr. Ely lifted his whole boiler into the air, set his foundation ring on top of the frames, widened his firebox and gave the machine a new lease of life. Many and dire were the predictions made as to the instability of the new design, but we all know the result. It did not upset, but ran with unexampled smoothness and with construction revolutionized the whole country followed in his wake. This is but a single example of his work."
The design proved so revolutionary that "Ely's No. 10," one of the class K American Standards, was issued as a U.S. postage stamp in 1977. The U.S. Postal Service wrote of Ely's design: "It was among the fastest express locomotives in the United States during the 1880s. No. 10 was a prototype and considered a remarkably advanced design at the time of its introduction."
In his retirement tribute, the "Gazette" included an anecdote from an unnamed co-worker off the Pennsylvania:
"As one of his associates expressed it, 'He was the balance wheel of the mechanical organization of the road,' and if these same associates are to be believed it is to his influence that the wonderful teamwork of the various departments is largely due."
By 1911 Ely was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the Franklin Institute, the American Philosophical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, other technical and scientific associations, vice-president of the American Academy in Rome and an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, president of the Eastern Railroad Association, a member of the executive committee of the American Railway Association and of the permanent commission of the International Railway Congress.
Ely was also a director of the Pennsylvania Steel Company and the Cambria Steel Company and of the boards of trustees of the Drexel Institute of Art Science and Industry and of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum.
Before his retirement, Ely was awarded an honorary Masters of Arts by Yale University in 1897. In 1904 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science by Hamilton College. He died October 28, 1916, at his home Wyndham, at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
For his contributions to early American railroading Ely is listed by the Smithsonian Institutions' John H. White, Jr., as one of America's most noteworthy railroaders.
His daughter Gertrude Sumner Ely was twice awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery in World War I; another daughter, Katrina Brandes Ely, married Charles L. Tiffany II in 1901, and was president of the New York Collegiate Equal Franchise League.
Further reading.
His 1896 biographical entry reads thus:
"Chief of Motive Power, Pennsylvania Railroad."

Office: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Born: June 23, 1846, at Watertown, New York.

Education: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, 1896.

Entered railway service: 1868, since which he has been consecutively 1868 to 1869, civil engineer, Philadelphia and Erie Division, Pennsylvania Railroad; 1869 to 1870, superintendent, Middle Division, same road; 1870 to 1873, assistant superintendent, Philadelphia and Erie Division, same road; 1873 to 1874, superintendent, Motive Power, same division; 1874 to 1882, superintendent, Motive Power; 1882 to March, 1893, general superintendent, Motive Power; March, 1893, through 1896, chief, Motive Power, Lines East and West of Pittsburgh and Erie; entire service with Pennsylvania Railroad.


Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located at 507 Mulberry Street in North Judson, Indiana. At one time, a significant portion of the working population in North Judson was employed by one of the railroad companies in town. The town once hosted four major rail lines including the Chesapeake & Ohio, Erie, New York Central and Pennsylvania. North Judson had as many as 125 trains each day.
The first railroad in town was the Chicago and Cincinnati Railroad Company constructed from Logansport to Valparaiso, Indiana, from 1858 through 1861. In 1865 it merged with the Chicago & Great Eastern Railway Company. Later, the line was purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The town had been called Brantwood, then changed to North Judson. The second railroad in town was the Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Railroad, the 3I route. It ran from Streator, Illinois, to North Judson. Begun in 1881 it reached South Bend, Indiana, in 1894. Later it was known as the New York Central Railroad. The third line through town was the Chicago and Atlantic Railroad, built in 1881 through 1883. It was absorbed by the Erie Railroad. In 1902 the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was built. It later merged with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad.
The non-profit museum is located at a former Erie Railroad facility. The museum is open Saturdays all year with train rides also available from May to October. The collection has a variety of historic freight rolling stock, including Chesapeake and Ohio Railway #2789, a 2-8-4 steam locomotive.


John H. Christie

John H. Christie (1878–1960) was an American architect who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was the railroad's Chief Architect from 1924 to 1947.
Christie was born Johann Heinrich Christiansen in 1878, emigrated from Germany, and was naturalized as an American citizen in 1899. He studied architecture in Pennsylvania and Europe, then returned to Oakland, California. He was hired by Southern Pacific as a junior draftsman in 1904 working for civil engineer John D. Isaacs, and was certified to practice architecture in California in 1913. Christie succeeded Daniel J. Patterson as Chief Architect in 1924, and became a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1926. He retired from Southern Pacific in 1947 but continued to work in private practice. At least four stations Christie designed have been listed in the National Register of Historic Places.


Cable Building (New York City)

The Cable Building is located at 611 Broadway at the northwest corner with Houston Street in NoHo and Greenwich Village, in Manhattan, New York City. Since it spans a block, the Cable Building also has addresses of 2-18 West Houston Street and 178-188 Mercer Street.
Construction and design.
The Cable Building was built in 1892-1894. It is a steel and iron frame structure with brick, stone, and terra-cotta facing. It has a limestone base with a two-story arcade featuring show windows graced by iron spandrels and elegant keystones. It also has a prominent copper cornice with lions' faces, egg-and-dart moldings, and surmounting acanthus. It is believed to be the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White's first use of a complete steel frame in a commercial building.
In an article published on May 7, 1892 under the heading of "The Beginning of the Transformation of Broadway", the publication of record for New York real estate, the "Real Estate Record and Builders Guide", reported, "At the northwest corner of Houston Street the Broadway Cable Railroad Company (Broadway & Seventh Avenue Railroad Company) is constructing its big power station and business building from the plans of McKim, Mead & White. The contracts for this work above the foundations are still to be set."
When it was completed, the "Real Estate Record and Builders Guide" enthused that the new Cable Building is "conspicuous among the modern buildings that are fast imparting a new and grander appearance to Broadway...its architecture expresses distinctly the highest achievement of the art in this country at this time...The exterior of this magnificent structure is a product of American genius adapted to the needs of American commercial interests and is influenced by the Italian Renaissance in its style and proportions." The publication further remarked that, with this example, "no excuse remains for building cheaply or meanly on any New York City property." The article noted that the Metropolitan Traction Company occupied the top two floors of the building and had the other six 20,000 square foot floors for lease, which it thought would be especially appealing to those businesses who had their natural centre in the wholesale dry goods district.
The "Real Estate Record and Builders Guide" gave special notice to the western entrance, saying: "Surmounting the charming and inviting entranceway is a round ornamental opening, making the centre to a group of two strongly modeled figures, which from their appearance and position are strongly suggestive in many ways of the Great Seal of the Empire State. These figures are 11 feet in height and are worthy of especial notice." Above this entrance are two flanking draped female figures, which were created by the distinguished Scottish-American sculptor J. Massey Rhind the oval window had a large clock in it as shown in photos from ca 1920. Like the architect Stanford White, Rhind was a leader in the "American Renaissance" movement. The figure on the right holds a sword her in hand, the handle of which was broken off ca 1920s, it remained missing for decades until it was replaced incorrectly with a flame torch to match the figure on the left.
Architects.
The Cable Building was designed by Stanford White, a partner in McKim, Mead & White, the preeminent American architectural firm at the turn of the twentieth century. It is a nine-story Beaux-Arts structure, which impressively captures White's design principles of the "American Renaissance". This is the only McKim, Mead & White building in the NoHo Historic District. The building's detailing is similar to two of the firm's earlier designs: the 1887 building at 900 Broadway, which Christopher Gray, writing in the New York Times called a "sleek, sophisticated amalgam of industrial-style brickwork"; and the long-gone 1890 Hotel Imperial, also built for the Goelet family, at Broadway and 32nd Street. Stanford White was the partner in charge for both of these projects for the family and was a close friend.
The Cable Building's dual use as both a major powerhouse and an approximately 140,000 square-foot modern office building appears unique in the McKim, Mead & White portfolio. The firm, however, designed two other significant power house structures, both in New York State: the Adams Power Plant Transformer House, part of the historic Edward Dean Adams Power Plant, the first large-scale, alternating current electric generating plant in the world, built in 1895 to tap the power of Niagara Falls; and the IRT Powerhouse, the power station of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, located further uptown in Hell's Kitchen. However, both of these structures were single use, and most of McKim, Mead & White's prolific output was for public buildings or grand houses. Besides the Goelet Building among its few other office buildings is the Gorham Building, an Italian Renaissance Revival "palazzo"-style building at 390 Fifth Avenue at 36th Street in Murray Hill, for which Stanford White as also the partner-in-charge; and the New York Life Building in Kansas City, Missouri, which was fully replicated in Omaha, Nebraska as the Omaha National Bank Building. The latter two buildings are believed to be the only example in the McKim, Mead & White portfolio where one set of plans spawned two identical buildings.
Of the twenty-nine American cities that built cable traction systems between 1870 and 1900 along with their accompanying cable powerhouses, this is the only powerhouse that was built by an architect of such stature, creating a building of enduring artistic refinement. A cable car powerhouse is usually a very utilitarian building, constructed for one clear purpose, as can be seen clearly in the LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse in Chicago, or the Baltimore City Passenger Railway Power House and Car Barn. It was simply the mechanical back office of the cable railroad. In this instance, being situated on such a prominent street, Broadway, probably propelled the investors, with deep ties to New York business and real estate, to make a grand statement.
Tenant.
The Cable Building was originally the headquarters and power station for the Metropolitan Traction Company, one of the city's cable car companies. MTC had been assembled in 1892 as a holding company for street railways, including the Broadway & Seventh Avenue Railroad. It was composed of a very powerful quartet, including the patriarch of the Whitney family, William Collins Whitney; an extremely wealthy financier, Thomas Fortune Ryan; Philadelphia industrialist Peter Arrell Brown Widener; and a major New York builder, John D. Crimmins. Their original investment in the building was $750,000. In all MTC spent $12 million on a cable car railway system to move cars on Broadway from Bowling Green to 36th Street. It was the most expensive system on a per-mile basis of any in the nation. When it became operational in the summer of 1893, its fleet comprised 125 cable cars and served 100,000 daily passengers. This was the central power station; other stations were at 51st Street and Front Street.
The building's basement, which had been excavated 46' under the street surface, housed four 32-foot winding wheels that carried the cables that pulled the cable streetcars. They were powered by four Corliss steam engines 38" x 60", 1200 HP each, developed by the Dickson Manufacturing Company of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The upper seven floors contained offices arranged around a large internal court with two rectangular light wells.
Less than ten years after it was finished and occupied, cable traction became obsolete in 1901 and the company switched to electricity, but the building retained its original name. The last Broadway cable car left the Battery Station at 8:27 PM on May 21, 1901. Its final journey marked the end of cable street transportation in New York City. Subsequently, the Metropolitan Traction Company went into receivership, and was reorganized the following year as the New York Railways Company.
Recent history.
The New York Railways Company sold the building in 1925, and it was soon occupied by small businesses and manufacturers. From the 1940s to 1970s, the Cable Building housed mainly garment makers, which was the prevailing use in that area at the time. It was converted back to offices in 1983, with new ground-floor storefronts. M. D. Carlisle Real Estate has owned The Cable Building since 1985.
The basement space that originally contained the cable powerhouse became the Angelika Film Center. They operate a multi-screen theater, which specializes in art house films. It was designed by architect Igor Josza and built by contractor Don Schimenti in 1989. Part of the ground floor and all of the second floor has been occupied since 2002 by a 40,217 square-foot Crate & Barrel store. Offices tenant the other seven floors.
Historic preservation.
The building was designated as part of the NoHo Historic District in 1999 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The report stated:
However, the Cable Building is not currently listed in its own right on the National Register of Historic Places.


Joseph Horace Shull

Joseph Horace Shull (August 17, 1848August 9, 1944) was an American lawyer, physician and politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 26th congressional district from 1903 to 1905. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 22nd district from 1886 to 1891.
Early life and education.
Shull was born at Martins Creek, Pennsylvania to Elias and Margaret Eakin Shull. He attended the public schools and Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey. He took a special course at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of New York and in 1873 from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, both in New York City. He taught in the public schools of Pennsylvania for four years. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1879 and commenced practice in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
Career.
He was the first president of the Monroe County bar association and worked as editor of the "Monroe Democrat" from 1881 to 1886. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 22nd district from 1886 to 1891.
Shull was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-eighth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1904. He resumed the practice of law and medicine, and worked as president of the Delaware Valley railroad company. He served as a contract surgeon during the First World War. He died in Stroudsburg in 1944 and was interred at Stroudsburg Cemetery.
References.
 Retrieved on 2008-02-10


Rochester Railway Company

The Rochester Railway Company operated a streetcar transit system throughout the city of Rochester from 1890 until its acquisition by Rochester Transit Corp. in 1938. Formed by a group of Pittsburgh investors, the Rochester Railway Company purchased the Rochester City & Brighton Railroad in 1890, followed by a lease of the Rochester Electric Railway in 1894. The Rochester and Suburban Railway was leased in 1905, extending the system's reach to Irondequoit and Sea Breeze. Rochester Railways was acquired by the Mohawk Valley Company, a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad set up to take control of electric railways in its territory. In 1909 the holdings of the Mohawk Valley Company were consolidated as the New York State Railways.
Early history (1862-1890).
The Rochester City and Brighton Rail Road was incorporated as a horse railway transit line on May 31, 1862. The first line constructed ran from the railroad's headquarters on State Street to Mount Hope and opened in July 1863. A second line from State Street up Lake Avenue opened the same year. By October 1863 routes had been established between Buffalo Street and West Avenue, Alexander Street and Monroe Avenue, and along Main Street. By the end of the year, 6.6 miles of track had been constructed, and the company operated 18 cars with a stable of 48 horses. Horse-drawn enclosed sleighs were substituted for the cars during the winter months, a move that proved unpopular with the public. Due to pressure from the investors, the company was reorganized a year later. By 1866 the fledgling system expanded to 9.5 miles of track served by 100 cars. Harsh weather continued to plague the company, forcing the suspension of service during the winters of 1865 and 1866 and leading to reduced revenues as a result. Rising costs contributed to the company's financial problems.
The property was purchased at foreclosure in 1868 by local businessman Chauncey B. Woodworth and was reorganized as the Rochester City and Brighton Railroad. At its peak in 1889, the railroad operated 183 cars over 40 miles of track, and stabled more than 800 horses at five barns around the city. That same year a ten-week strike by workers crippled the system, and when strike-breakers were brought in from New York to resume service, a riot broke out in the city. Service was again suspended during the winter of 1868. The railway resumed on March 25, 1869, with a concession granted allowing the railway to eliminate the conductor and operate lighter cars that only required one person to operate. Permission was granted in 1872 for the construction of a new line north along St. Paul Street, opening for service in 1873. The North Avenue line opened in 1878, running from Bay Street and connecting to the West Avenue line.
Expansion continued in 1880 with the opening of the Allen and Jay Street line. A new line was also built along Park Avenue from Alexander Street to Vick Park, as well as an extension along Monroe Avenue to Field Street in 1881. The railway's first foray into bus transportation was made in 1882 with horse-drawn omnibus that ran from Four Corners to the city limits on East Avenue. Additional lines were constructed along Lyell Avenue in 1883. Ridership on the Park Avenue line encouraged another extension from Vick Park east to Brighton (portions of which have since been annexed by the city of Rochester). One of the last lines constructed was built along Hudson Avenue between Central and Clifford avenues in 1885. A line was proposed for Plymouth Avenue, but strong opposition from the residents ended the project. Winter weather and labor unrest continued to restrict operations, however. Workers went on strike April 1, 1889. Replacement workers were brought in to maintain service, but riots broke out between the two factions on April 15. Police were brought in to put down the riots, but service did not resume until June 2.
Formation of Rochester Railway Company.
On January 21, 1890, the Rochester City and Brighton Railroad petitioned the city's common council to convert its form of motive power from horses to electricity. That February, the railroad was sold to the new Rochester Railway Company. Meanwhile, the Rochester Electric Railway Company was formed in 1887 to construct a line from the company's power plant in Charlotte to Ridge Road. The first cars were tested on July 3, 1889, ushering in the era of electric trolleys in Rochester. Electrification of the former Rochester City and Brighton lines was completed in the spring of 1893. In 1894, the Rochester Electric Railway was leased to Rochester Railway Company. The properties and franchises of the Crosstown Railroad and the South Park Railroad Company (both incorporated in 1889) were also absorbed into Rochester Railway Company.
Growth continued as the new company was authorized by the city to double-track any existing single-track lines in 1890. A new line was also constructed along Pinnacle Avenue (today known as South Clinton Avenue) in 1892. During this time, the railway experimented with color coding their various routes and painting the trolleys to match. Unfortunately, it was impossible to keep trolleys in captive service to their assigned route, and the color system was soon abandoned. With all lines electrified by 1894, the last horse car operated in Rochester in 1895. Streetcar mail collection service (railway mail service) was inaugurated on October 5, 1896, using a fleet of two special all-white trolley cars. These cars picked up mail, and also cancelled and sorted letters en route.
The Rochester and Lake Ontario Railway (R&LO) was chartered in 1879 to construct a steam-powered railroad connecting the lakeside community of Sea Breeze with the Rochester Railway at Portland Avenue. In 1893 the RL&O was leased to the Rochester and Irondequoit Railroad, which constructed an electric railway along St. Paul Boulevard north of Ridge Road to the lake at Summerville. In 1900 the Rochester and Suburban Railway purchased the Rochester and Irondequoit Railroad from the receivers and acquired the R&LO and electrified it. In 1905 the Rochester and Suburban Railway was leased to Rochester Railway Company. In 1902, Rochester Railway acquired control of the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway.
The Rochester Railway and Light Co. was incorporated on May 26, 1904, to consolidate the Rochester Gas and Electric Company (not to be confused with present-day Rochester Gas and Electric Corp.) and the Rochester Light and Power Company with a controlling interest in the Rochester Railway Company. The merger was intended to combine all of the electric utility and streetcar properties in the city of Rochester.
Control by New York State Railways.
Through its Mohawk Valley Company subsidiary, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) purchased control of the Rochester Railway Company in 1905, and its parent company, the Rochester Railway and Light Co., along with the Rochester and Eastern Rapid Railway and the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway lines. Together with the former Canandaigua Street Railroad operation, these four lines became the Rochester Lines of the New York State Railways in 1909. Control of the Rochester Railway Company was passed to New York State Railways, while ownership of the electric utility remained with the Mohawk Valley Company.
Collection of mail by trolley was discontinued on February 28, 1909, by order of the local postmaster general.
Rochester Railway Co. continued to extend its lines through the early 20th century to serve a growing city. The Main Street East line was extended to Blossom Road in 1906. The following year the Park Avenue line was extended along East Avenue to Winton Road. An extension of the Clinton South line was made in 1911. At the request of the city, an extension was built from the Sea Breeze line the new Durand Eastman Park between 1911 and 1912. Up until 1912, most lines originated and terminated in the downtown business district along Main Street, which resulted in congestion and delays. A system of through routing was initiated, creating continuous trolley routes from east side to west side lines. Operational headquarters was moved to Lake Avenue Station near Kodak Park in 1914. One of the last extensions constructed was an extension of the Clinton North line from Norton Street to Ridge Road in 1922. The final extension of service was constructed by the city of Rochester in the abandoned bed of the Erie Canal, and New York State Railways was selected to operate the Rochester Subway starting in 1927.
The Rochester Railways Coordinated Bus Lines was formed in the 1920s to operate bus transit lines separate from the railway. A brief experiment with trackless trolleys was made starting in 1923 on the Driving Park line. A total of 12 trackless trolleys were based out of the St. Paul Shops, but was never expanded. The last trackless trolley operated in Rochester on March 3, 1932. Bus operation was introduced in Rochester in the 1920s with the formation of the Rochester Railways Coordinated Bus Lines. New York State Railways also controlled the Darling Bus Line, the East Avenue Bus Co., and the Rochester Interubran Bus Co. (purchased in 1925).
Decline and cutbacks.
In June 1928, the New York Central sold its holdings in the Mohawk Valley Company and the New York State Railways to E.L. Phillips, president of Empire Power Corp. and the Long Island Lighting Company. The utility company holdings were sold again in 1929, and New York State Railways entered receivership upon default of its bonds. The Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway interurban line to Sodus was closed in June 1929, and local streetcar service to Glen Haven ended in 1933. The Rochester and Eastern Rapid Railway line to Geneva ran its last car on July 31, 1930, the same day Canandaigua local service ended (which had been provided by a bus since sometime in the 1920s).
The first streetcar line cutbacks came with the closure of the Exchange, Plymouth, Emerson, and Driving Park lines on August 18, 1929. Declining ridership followed as a result of the Great Depression and the increased use of private automobiles and the construction of better roads. Eleven more lines were shut down on August 30, 1936, including Durand-Eastman Park, Allen, Jefferson, South Clinton, Webster, Clifford, Central Park, Goodman North, Sea Breeze, Hudson, and Joseph. The Park Avenue, West Avenue, and University Avenue lines would follow in 1937.
Succession by Rochester Transit Corp. (1938-1968).
With the parent company in receivership, a committee of bondholders and local supporters called for public control of the Rochester Lines. A reorganization plan was submitted to the courts in 1937, and in 1938 the new Rochester Transit Corporation (RTC) took over the operation of all former Rochester Railway Company bus and rail transit franchises. A year later, the Genesee, Lyell, South, St. Paul, Seneca Park, and Summerville lines were closed on May 23, 1939. Rochester Transit Corp. submitted a plan to the Public Service Commission in July 1940 to replace the remaining streetcar lines with buses. The proposal was approved and RTC began its plans for conversion. The Parsells and Thurston lines were closed on Christmas Eve in 1940, with the Monroe and North Clinton lines following on February 18, 1941. The Portland and Dewey lines closed on March 11, leaving only the Main East and Lake route as the last surface streetcar line in Rochester.
The last day for Main East and Lake service was March 31, 1941, with Car 1208 having the honors as the last car returning to the East Main carbarn in the early morning hours of April 1. In a show of ceremony to the assembled crowds, the general manager cut the overhead wires down as the last cars rolled down Main Street, with buses following closely behind.
The city of Rochester contracted with RTC for the continued operation of the Rochester Subway after 1941. In 1954 the city council voted to use a portion of the Subway route for construction of a new expressway, and that service would continue until December 31, 1955. However, delays in the design and engineering of the new expressway resulted in the city granting RTC a month-to-month contract for operation of the Subway. At the end of 1955, the city council voted to end service on June 30, 1956. When the last Subway car returned to the carbarn near the General Motors plant after midnight on July 1, the rail transit era in Rochester drew to a close.
In 1943, the board of directors gained enough support to buy out the remainder of Associated Gas and Electric Company's shares, returning full control of the company to Rochester interests. A series of strikes and labor unrest led the city of Rochester to take over and reorganize the system as Rochester Transit Service in 1968. The old Rochester Railway transit franchises operated by RTC were transferred to the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority in 1969.


New York and Atlantic Railway

The New York and Atlantic Railway (NY&A) is a short line railroad formed in 1997 to provide freight service over the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road, a public commuter rail agency which had decided to privatize its freight operations. An affiliate of the Anacostia and Pacific Company, NY&A operates exclusively on Long Island, New York and is connected to the mainland via CSX's line over the Hell Gate Bridge. It also interchanges with New York New Jersey Rail's car float at the 65th Street Yard and US Rail of New York in Yaphank, New York. Its primary freight yard is Fresh Pond Junction in Queens. The NY&A officially took over Long Island Rail Road's freight operations on May 11, 1997. The initial franchise was for 20 years.
Operations.
NYA serves about 80 customers. Lumber, building products, scrap metal, construction & demolition debris, bio-diesel fuel, food, beer, gravel, propane, chemicals, structural steel, plastics and recyclable cardboard/paper are NYA's main traffic. Occasionally, NYA transports utility poles and electrical transformers to the LIPA facility in Hicksville, which has its own spurs. NYA also moves municipal solid waste in sealed containers on COFC trains. NYA serves Belmont Park, delivering boxcars, usually BNSF's, full of feed for the race track's horses. For occasions such as the Super Bowl or St. Patrick's Day, the NYA transports 30 rail cars of beer per week, with each car holding 3,500 cases.
Some NYA customers are located off-line, and make use of NYA's team tracks to receive or ship products. Team tracks are located in Bay Ridge, Hicksville, Huntington, Greenlawn, St. James, Islip, Richmond Hill, Maspeth, Speonk, Medford, Southold, and elsewhere on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) lines that NYA serves. Most of NYA's customers have their own spurs, making the use of team tracks unnecessary. A new 28 acre, privately funded transload facility in Yaphank, Brookhaven Rail Terminal, opened in 2011.
In 2014, work was underway to build a transload facility for vegetable oil, food products and construction material at NYA's Wheel Spur Yard along Newtown Creek near Long Island City. NYA expects the facility to support construction of the replacement Kosciuszko Bridge. The yard reopened in 2015.
Other products shipped to Long Island via the NYA include bentonite and rock salt. NYA carries nearly 1 million tons of gravel a year from Connecticut quarries. The LIRR and the New York City Transit Authority occasionally receive new rail cars, and ship out old, retired equipment for scrapping by way of the Bay Ridge Branch.
Traffic.
NYA moved 30,000 carloads in 2018, up from approximately 9,200 when it began operating in May 1997. The majority of its deliveries take place during the night, when fewer commuter trains are running.
About 15 percent of freight cars transported by the NYA are floated across New York Harbor from Jersey City to NYA's railyard in Sunset Park on the Brooklyn waterfront. The barge operation is managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, but the number of cars transferred to NYA by that method has been restricted by the use of only one aging barge that has a 14-car capacity. The Port Authority is adding two new barges, each with a capacity of 18 cars, and by 2023 the proposed cross-harbor tunnel is expected to transport 25,000 cars annually, up from 5,000 per year circa 2018.
Crewing.
NYA has about 60 employees, including eight train crews. The railroad has substantially different crewing agreements than the Long Island Rail Road, allowing it more flexibility to match the needs of freight customers. NYA has two crewbases, one in Glendale, Queens and another near the former LIRR station Pine Aire on the main line, between Deer Park and Brentwood. On a typical weekday, NYA operates six crews.
Equipment.
The NY&A operates fourteen locomotives.The roster, as of October 2017, includes the following:
Incidents.
March 15, 2015 - 1 car of a NYAR train derails while entering a siding in Wyandanch, New York
July 8, 2015 - A NYAR freight train smashes into a tractor trailer after the crossing gates were slowly going down in Maspeth, Queens, truck driver escaped with minor injuries
September 15, 2015 - 2 cars of a 16 car NYAR freight train derail, causing delays on the LIRR in Hicksville, New York


Arkansas and Memphis Railway Bridge and Terminal Company


New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge

The 69th Street Transfer Bridge, part of the West Side Line of the New York Central Railroad, was a dock for car floats which allowed the transfer of railroad cars from the rail line to car floats which crossed the Hudson River to the Weehawken Yards in New Jersey. Its innovative linkspan design kept the boxcars from falling into the river while being loaded.
After it fell into disuse, it was in danger of being torn down and removed, but around the year 2000, during renovations of Riverside Park, following the example of Gantry Plaza State Park, it became a prominent feature of the park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Similar facilities are in use between 65th Street Yard in Brooklyn and Greenville Yard in Jersey City by the New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, which still operates car floats across Upper New York Bay.
, the New York City Department of Parks is in the design phase of a project to reconstruct, restore and adaptively reuse the 69th Street Transfer Bridge.