Changing the Gauge

Elmira Telegram, March 17, 1907

Railroad Gauges

         ____

The Story of the Changes is Told

        ____

From Broad to Standard

        ____

Why the Six-Foot Gauge Had to Give

Way to the Standard Gauge of George

Stephenson, of the Present Time - An

Interesting Narrative Which Railroad

Men Will Appreciate Very Much.

   The very sight of the words six-foot gauge road at the head of an article in the Telegram recently, takes me back to my youthful days when I was engaged in the construction of the Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley railroad, and the double tracking  of a portion of the Erie railroad.

   It is interesting to recall that the original D., L. & W. road from Jersey City to Binghamton was a six-foot gauge. Also that the Erie road, which was open from the Hudson river to  Elmira in about 1849, and  few years later, to Dunkirk, with all of its branches and connections to Chicago and elsewhere, was of six-foot gauge, and was operated as such for about thirty years.

   The Albany & Susquehanna railroad (now Delaware & Hudson,) from  Albany to Binghamton, was also built with a six-foot: gauge, and operated upon that gauge for many years. It is also quite interesting to recall that the Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley railroad, (now D., L. & W.) was a six-foot gauge, as was also a road between Syracuse and Binghamton.

   It is quite noticeable that these roads connecting with the Now. York Central at Albany, Utica and Syracuse, all adopted the gauge of tho Erie road with which they connected at their southern or western ends instead of the four-foot eight and one-half-inch standard railroad gauge of the New York Central. Perhaps the principal reason for this was that these several roads from Albany, Utica and Syracuse were built quite largely to reach the coal fields over the Erie and Lackawanna systems for the purpose of obtaining cheaper fuel.

   The six-foot gauge trains from Norwich and the south via Waterville, for many years ran into the New York Central station at Utica, under an agreement with the Central, which permitted them to come in on the six-foot gauge, and the track over which they came into the Central station at Utica had three rails, making two gauges,

one for the Central cars, and the other for the broad gauge cars.

  Along about the year 1875 - I do not recall the exact year or years - the D.L, & W. and the Erie put in third rails on their entire systems, unless possibly on some small branches, and ran cars of both gauges, that is both four foot, eight and one-half inch and six foot in the same trains, all the cars running on the same rail on one side and the narrow gauge and the wide gauge wheels running on separate rails on the opposite side. Following this no more six-foot gauge rolling stock was constructed, and as soon as a greater part of the rolling stock became of the narrower gauge, the third rail was taken up, and thereafter only standard gauge rolling stock used.

   Following the change in gauge of the Erie and the D., L. & W., the roads from Albany, Utica and Syracuse to Binghamton quickly followed suit, abandoning their six-foot gauge and changing their road to the standard four-foot, eight and one-half inch gauge.

   A peculiar incident occurred in this connection at Utica, which ended the regular practice of the D., L. & W. passenger trains running into the Central station. The contract with the Central was to allow the southern road to come in on a six-foot gauge, and as soon as it was changed to the standard gauge it is said the-Central refused to allow them to enter their station longer, on the ground that they were not under contract to allow them to enter upon a standard gauge.

  The passenger cars on the six-foot gauge roads were about eighteen inches wider than the cars of today, and consequently the seats were much more roomy and commodious, and the aisles wider than those of the cars of the present time.

   To enable four-foot eight and one-half-inch gauge cars to run over five-foot tracks, the wheels were made-with broad treads, and in this way the matter. was gotten along with, as to freight cars, to some extent, but of course five-foot gauge cars could not run on their own trucks on four-foot eight and one-half inch tracks. 

   The change from all other gauges to the standard gauge of four-foot eight and one-half inches has gone on rapidly for the last few years, and if the time has not now arrived, it soon will, when the standard  four-foot eight and one-half inch gauge will be the only railroad gauge in use on steam and electric roads in the United

States, Canada and Mexico.

   It is natural to ask upon what theory or for what reason cars were ever built of a gauge with the old measure of four-foot eight and one-half inches. When George Stevenson patented the first locomotive to haul “wagons” on rails, he made his locomotives and cars of the same gauge as that of tho ordinary road wagon, the place of which they were destined so rapidly to acquire: so the dimension of the gauge which is in use by nearly all of the railroads today, came by chance, by reason of the gauge which custom had established for the ordinary road wagon, and over half a century of time in the railroad practice and experiments of the world have not improved upon George Stevenson's chance gauge.

   It may surprise many of your readers, but it is nevertheless  fact, that the gauge of the ordinary lumber wagon as in daily use throughout New York state, is the same as that of all the rolling stock in the great railroads of the world. 

   In the days of both six-foot and four-foot eight and one-half inch gauges, they were. distinguished as broad gauge and narrow gauge. After the six-foot gauge was a thing of the past, four-foot eight and one-half inches was called broad and a three-foot gauge narrow. The three-foot gauge was short-lived.   R.W. S.

 

Elmira Car Works - Later Pullman

  Pullman shop crew picture in Elmira Star Gazette,  March 12, 1952. Photo submitted by DeWitt Collson,  720 German St., Elmira.

American Railway Times, 1853

Elmira Republican

Friday, October 31, 1851

   Preservation Plate. - We learn from the Tribune of last evening, that Hall, Tompkins & Black, the makers of the Collins gold service, have just completed a silver set of five or six pieces, grape pattern and elaborate workmanship, to be presented by the citizens of Elmira to William E. Rutter, Esq., as a testimonial of esteem and regard.

   The New York Express says: - “A splendid Tea Service, consisting of a later waiter, tea pot, sugar bowl, creamer, and slop bowl, is now exhibiting in the show room of Ball, Black & Co’s. extensive establishment in Broadway. It is intended for presentation to William E. Rutter Esq., by the inhabitants of Elmira, as a testimonial of the esteem and regard in which that gentleman is held.

  “It was originally intended to present only a silver pitcher, an a subscription having been started for that purpose, a much larger amount was collected that would be necessary for the purchase of such an article. Mr. Rutter has been for the last two years agent of the Susquehanna Division of the New York & Erie Railroad. The Tea Service cost $500.”

Daily Republican, Elmira, N.Y.

Friday, January 14, 1853

   Rutter’s Car Manufactory. - But a few days since the Car Manufactory of William E. Rutter, Esq., was a heap of smoldering ruins. Yesterday we passed with Mr. R. through his works. We were surprised to observe the shop erected with more than its older glory, the machinery all in motion, and the scores of hands vigorously employed.

   If Mr. Rutter had not possessed business talent, enterprise and tact, far above mediocrity, such results would not have been so speedily attained. We saw some cars lettered for the Buffalo and New York City, and also for the Canandaigua Railroads, which, as to substantially of workmanship and elegance of finish are unsurpassed by those of any other establishment of the kind in the country.

   His contracts for cars already amount to One hundred thousand dollars. His lucidity and coolness of judgment, his executive talent and ready skill, afford a sure omen and pledge of his successful fulfillment of his contracts, and of his future rapid prosperity his favorite department of  mechanic genius and toil.

 Erie Under Gold and Fisk. A comparison of the past and present management, respectfully dedicated to the stockholders and bondholders generally. By George Crouch, New York, 1870.

   At Elmira the Erie Company has some extensive works, principal among which are the car shops, which are superior in some particulars to the kindred establishments located at Jersey City, Port Jervis, and Buffalo. The magnificent drawing-room coaches and luxurious sleeping cars of the Erie line, which so far surpass those of any other road in the country, are mostly built at the Elmira shops, as also the superb first-class carriages now in use. The machinery of the Erie car shops is marvelously complete - performing almost everything but the joining and upholstery work. The greater portion of the elaborate carvings and costly ornamental wood-work which decorates the palatial drawing-room coaches is, of course, the result of artistic handiwork.

   Fresco artists of rare ability are employed to gild and fret the roofs with rich designs, and landscapists of considerable genius enrich the panels and fixtures with charming little bits of picturesque scenery. Occasionally fruit, flower, and every figure pieces enliven the interiors, and transform the drawing-room coaches into ambulatory art galleries.

   Of the men employed in the Elmira shops, 150 are skilled artisans of the first-class. Mr. Rutter, the superintendent of the works, is engage upon some very new cars of his own design, which promise to be marvels of railway architecture, and will inevitably attract much additional traffic to the road.           

     

(Elmira Telegram, Sunday, December 8, 1907)

   Several days ago the Pullman shops at Buffalo were damaged by fire to the extent of a half million dollars loss. Fifteen hundred workmen are out of employment at least temporarily as a consequence. It is rather a discouraging position in which to be placed when most fathers, sons and brothers are working with more than ordinary energy that they may earn sufficient money to make glad the heart of Christmas morn of those whom they love. More disappointing yet is the humor that the big plant will not be erected in Buffalo but that the work will be transferred to Pullman, Ill.

    In that event it is likely that the major portion of the Buffalo workmen of the company will be given places at Pullman. It is even suggested that the company will continue a shop in the east but will look for location where taxes and cost of living are less than the Buffalo standard. If that be true perhaps Elmira has a chance to bid for the enterprise.

    Elmira was the home of the Pullman shops a generation ago. There are men living here today who worked for the Pullman company here and others are employed for the Erie in the shops at Susquehanna and Hornell. Still others are at Wilmington, Del., where many went when the Pullman shops were closed in this city.

   Few who live here are now aware that it was an Elmira man who invented the sleeping car - Eli Wheeler, by name. Next Thursday will be the anniversary of his death on William street. He was a man of refined taste in literature and art. It is an undeniable fact that Captain Wheeler invented, patented and put into use the first practicable sleeping car that was ever run on the railroads of this country. 

     The principle that he applied is the same one used to this day on all magnificent bed room coaches that are such comforts to travelers. The Pullman palace coach and the Wagner sleeping car are heard of all over the world but the name of the late Captain Eli Wheeler, of Elmira, the man who invented or discovered the idea around which they are built and made them possible is never heard. It is only another instance for the inventor making nothing while some one else reaps the benefits.

     There might have been some compensation to Captain Wheeler if he had made money in the enterprise even if his name were not mentioned. Webster Wagner got control of the Wheeler cars on the New York Central road, became a millionaire out of their construction; was sent to the senate of this state, and became a power in financial and political matters. George M. Pullman, who began his life in connection with the cars as a conductor on one of Eli Wheeler's coaches on the Central road also made millions out of the manufacture of sleeping cars, while Captain Wheeler, in all, made out of his invention only $10,000, a paltry pittance in comparison with the rest. The patent granted to Captain Wheeler was dated August 3, 1858.

   As early as 1856 the New York Central was experimenting on contrivances to provide for better comforts of passengers during the night time. It is said that about 1856 a man named Woodruff got up a "sleeper" for the Central. It was an awkward affair. Captain Wheeler happened to be in Buffalo and saw the Woodruff got up a "sleeper" for the Central. It was an awkward affair. Captain Wheeler happened to be in Buffalo and saw the Woodruff car which the Central refused to accept, it is said. Wheeler remarked that he had evolved an idea of what a sleeping car should be.

     He showed a model of his ideal sleeping car to George Gates, who had been sheriff of Erie county. Gates took the model to Eaton, Gilbert & Co., famous car builders of Troy. Mr. Eaton was highly pleased. Two cars were built and placed in service on the New York Central They were under the control of Webster Wagner who subsequently undertook the job of turning out more of them for the Central, the new invention having met with public approval and patronage.

     In 1859, Vice President Headley, of the Erie, took the cars that had been running between Elmira and Canandaigua, the Erie then having that territory, and had Captain Wheeler direct their rebuilding as sleepers. The work was done at the shops at Piermont. The cars were successfully run over the road under the management of Geoge Goff, who had conducted an eating house at Dunkirk. In 1860, Goff sold out his rights as manager to Richard Baker, of Elmira, and Charles Widrig, of Horsesheads.  Business increased and they ordered the building of two more cars in the Elmira shops. W.E. Rutter, of this city, was the builder. That was the origin of the Pullman shops of Elmira.

     It is related that in 1861, the Erie finding that Baker and Widrig were quite prosperous decided to monopolize the business and refused to permit the Elmirans to continue the running of sleepers over the road. Persons in the Erie formed a sleeping car company of which Erie Superintendent Charles Minot was the head. After making  a large profit Minot and his associates sold out to George M. Pullman.

      Baker and Widrig sued the Erie for peremptorily ordering them from the road and got small damages. Captain Wheeler went to the companies using his model of cars but he could get little satisfaction. He didn't care much about lawsuits and as he had realized $10,000 from his invention, and had no heirs he remained contented with his books and his works of art at his pleasant home on William street.

    Many cars were made in the Elmira Pullman shops and the loss of the closing of the works here about twenty years ago was severely felt. It is probably the company would have gained had it remained in Elmira. The Queen city of the southern tier would have gained too. Perhaps there will be no chance of securing the Pullman shops here again but it is worth trying. If Buffalo is to be deprived of the works because of last Monday's fire I am sure the good people up that way, and of whom there are many former Elmirans, would be pleased to see this city reap the benefit. 

     It would indeed be repaying the debt of gratitude at least the late George Pullman owes to the late Captain Eli Wheeler, of Elmira, because had not Captain Wheeler at the opportune time invented his sleeping car and had not George M. Pullman secured employment on the car there might now be any Pullman millions. Captain Wheeler, by the way, was not a practical railroader. He and the late Captain Henry C. Spaulding, father-in-law of the Hon. John B. Stanchfield, secured their titles as captains of canal boats.

    Captain Spaulding subsequently became a lumber dealer and amassed a fortune. After leaving the canal, Captain Wheeler conducted a foundry on Lake street. His death on December 12, 1882, was due to a stroke of apoplexy. It would be interesting to know what became of his letters of patent on the sleeping car.

(Note: These shops, on Fifth Street, were closed in 1886 and the operation was moved to Wilmington, Delaware).

Elmira Star Gazette, March 30, 1908

With Pad and Pencil (Excerpt) 

   The Pullman car shops were quite a big thing in Elmira thirty years ago. Some of the finest of the Pullman cars were made in Elmira shops, abutting on East Fifth street, and about all of the eastern repair work was done here.

   Hundreds of men were employed. So, too, the Erie car shops, opposite the depot, employed hundreds of men and were busy all the live long day and oftentimes at night. Behold now how great a change. The rolling mills have been idle since Henry W. Rathbone closed them down years ago; the busy Pullman shop building was silent many years, but is now occupied in other lines; the Erie shops are nothing compared to what they once were; the only reminder of their glorious past being the 6 o’clock morning whistle which sounds exactly as is it did forty years ago.

   Though the rolling mils and blast furnace have gone, though the shoe business has seen its best days, though the Pullman shops are no more, and the Erie shops are deplete, yet Elmira is over twice as large as it was forty yeas ago. The industries have taken the places of those that dropped by the wayside, and Elmira, like the soul of old John Brown, goes marching on.

Elmira Star Gazette, Monday, July 25, 1910

   With Pad and Pencil

   Speaking of railroads suggests Joseph P. McCann, who with Mrs. McCann left town last evening for their home in New York after a visit of a few days with Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Walker at Happy Thought College.

   Mr. McCann has all his life been in the railroad business one way or another. He was born in New York , but came to Elmira when a little chap and yet regards the Queen City as his real home. People who live in New York are merely staying there for convenience. His early manhood - as a youth - was spent in the Erie Railroad shops in Elmira, when many a man  well known here had his start in life.  He learned the steamfitter’s trade with E. H. Cook and helped on the work of the Stancliff residence on Lake street, long unoccupied except by a caretaker. When Mr. McCann went to work for the Erie, William E. Rutter was the superintendent of the Susquehanna Division - in fact, he was the first superintendent, and as such had charge of the Elmira car shops.

   In those days the Erie built its own passenger cars, many of them in Elmira. Cars were not numbered, but were named after well known places or persons. Mr. Rutter was a peculiar man, and would discharge an employee on the least provocation, but usually took him back with a raise in pay and no loss of time.

   Some fine work was turned out of the Elmira shops, said Mr. McCann while in a reminiscent mood, notably the directors’ car, known as No. 200. Mr. Rutter built that car several times before he was satisfied with it. Jay Gould had his private car, and so did Jim Fisk, built in Elmira. Those were good old days, indeed.

                                   ____

   Mr. McCann knew all the old-time conductors. The general public also knew by name and sight all the conductors. At that time passengers could pay their fare on the train, and at the end of a run a conductor would often have all his pockets full of money.

   Once in awhile - but not often - a conductor would forget to empty his pockets thoroughly, and then there was a vacancy. The temptation was great, and men are but human. Nearly all of those conductors were the employ by the company for years, and died in the harness. Henry Ayers, who invented the bell rope signal; George Congdon, who built the malt house on the site of the Hotel Langwell; Jesse Owen, who was unhurt at the Clark’s Rock disaster, although he went down in the Delaware River with the train; Solomon Bowles, “Rye” Stuart, Charley Green, Tommy Dodd, Cahrles E. Gillett, J. B. Judd, G. M. Writer, Ira Post, “Hi” Hurry, George Backer, Morgan Wood, Harvey Lamb, Charley Grover, Billy Peters, Dana Krum, George Wright - all these names familiar to Mr. McCann - and only one or two of the men are alive today.

                                     ___

   “One day,” said Mr. McCann, “there came down from Addison to assume the position of station agent at Elmira, George S. Shepard, about 1875 or along in there. He brought with him two young men, brothers, Charles and Lester Hibbard.  These were given jobs at the Elmira station.

   "The former was depot policeman for a time, and Lester did varying things, but always getting something better. When Mr. Shepard was transferred to Boston as New England agent, he took young Hibbard with him. Some time afterwards Lester Hibbard went to Albuquerque, N.M., as clerk for the  superintendent of a Santa Fe division. He became superintendent himself before a great while, and is now the general superintendent of the Pacific Divsion of the Santa Fe system, embracing all lines of that system in Arizona and New Mexico.”

   Mr. McCann says that Superintendent Hibbard is regards as one of the ablest railroad men in the western slope. He lives in Los Angeles. “I did not know Mr. Hibbard was an authority when I went to Los Angeles a few year ago with a company of Shriners I was personally looking after,” said Mr. McCann,”and I wanted my Pullman cars packed in a certain place. I went into the superintendent’s office, took off my hat and made my request. What was my surprise when I was greeted with - “certainly, Joe, you can have anything you want on this road - you’re from Elmira.’” “And there I was,” continued Mr. McCann, “with my hat in hand in front of a man I had many a time rubbed elbows with in the old town, and we had a good visit.”

                                     ____

   Mr. McCann alluded to James H. Rutter, one of three sons of W. E. Rutter. One son dropped dead one night while running to a fire in the village with the “Young America” Company, and another was killed in the war - he was in the famous 107th. “Jimmy” Rutter was a thorough railroad man. His father gave him a job in the freight department, and he became so proficient that he attracted the attention of Jay Gould, who took him to New York and made him master of transportation.

   During  the famous fight in the Legislature between the Erie and the New York Central over the great “classification bill” - a scheme to regulate rates - there was an investigation by the Legislature, and young Rutter, who was a witness, showed so much knowledge about the freight question and was so  ready with his answers and figures that he was noticed bye William H. Vanderbilt, who offered him a large salary to go over to the Centra; Jay Gould saw the raise,” but the upshot was that Vanderbilt finally got him, made him general manager of all the freight business of the New York Central, and finally made him president. He died while holding that high office, while yet a young man - worked himself to death, said Mr. McCann. He was a warm friend of General Charles J. Langdon of Elmira.

                                       ___

   Mr. McCann himself is no small speck in the transportation problem, as “McCann’s Tours” are known far and wide, and he is fortune in securing many large contracts. Recently he had entire charge of the itinerary of the Hotel Men’s Association outing, which was participated in by Attorney Alexander C. Eustace of Elmira as the guest of Mr. Tierney of the Hotel Marlborough.

   The bonifaces *were so pleased with their trip that as a souvenir Mr. McCann wears a beautiful diamond horseshoe scarf pin as a memento of what he styles a pilgrimage the like of which never expects to see again.

   Incidentally, Mr. McCann has cross the North American continent from New York to San Francisco, 37 times.

*Slang term for hotel managers.

Elmira Star-Gazette

Tuesday, February 5, 1918

   Erie Car Repair Shops Are To Be Used Again

                           ____

Elmira Storage and Supply Company, Ordered to Vacate

   Building, Hastens to Get Goods Out Before Time Set

—Government Is Back of Move to Have All 

     Possible Buildings Used for Car Repairing.

                       _____

   As the result of orders from the government authorities at Washington, the Erie railroad officials are contemplating opening of the old Pullman car shops, on Fifth street, and turning them into car repair shops. The government has issued a call for the railroad to get hold of all available buildings for car repair work, and do so at once.

   The buildings at present are occupied by the Empire Storage and Supply Company, which recently moved all its goods up there. It has received orders to remove its goods within 90 days, but, with the interest of the government at heart, it has stated its intentions of moving its effects sooner. It has rented the old rolling mill on Washington avenue from N. D. Doxey and will make that the storage home for the present.

   The Pullman car shops were abandoned in the ’80’s and most of the men who left this city went to Wilmington, Delaware., to the Pullman shops there. Later the shops were used as Erie repair shops, but for many years have not been utilized by railroad property.

Elmira Star-Gazette

Friday, May 3, 1918

   Erie Car Shops Are Being

   Cleared Out For Future Use

                    ____

Woodworking Machinery To

Be Installed and Building Long 

Used for Storage Only Will House

For of Several Score Men

Repairing Car.

                    ____

   The large shop building on East Fifth street and Railroad avenue, formerly used about 30 years ago, as the Pullman car shops and for several years past as a storage building, has been entirely cleared out and carpenters are repairing the window. The U. S. Railroad Administration recently ordered the building cleared and to be again used as a car repair shop.

   New woodworking machine is to be placed in the northern part of the large shop and the south half of the building will be devoted to the use of the car repair men. Only freight and coal cars will bed repaired in the shop and the force of men at first include the 30 men, who are engaged in repair work on the “cripple” tracks near the the Erie roundhouse. The force will be increased as the work is extended.

   In the days of the Pullman Car Company’s occupancy of the shops, a force of about 200 mechanics was employed in rebuilding and redecorating the Pullman coaches, which in those days included much rich wood, carving, inlaid woodwork and expert decorations. The Pullman shop was moved from Elmira to Wilmington, Delaware.

Elmira Star-Gazette

Wednesday, May 19, 1926

  

   Erie Dismantles Car Shops

     And is Shipping Equipment

       To Other Terminal Points

               ____

Materials and Equipment Are Being Sent to Hornell,

Port Jervis and Cleveland - Men Are Offered Jobs 

in the Other Shops.

               ___

   Dismantling of the Erie Railroad shops here is reported in progress, and material is being shipped to the terminal points, Port Jervis, Hornell and Cleveland. Discontinuance of the shops marks the passing of an old institution, one of which had an important part in Elmira’s early progress. 

   Approximately 200 families are concerned. The railroad has offered work to practically all who care to go to shops at the terminal points. Road employees who are engaged on the Tioga Division also likely will be affected.

   The locomotive shops today were practically deserted.Two or three employees  work working for a time in the blacksmith shop and none of the machine equipment had been moved from this shop. Workmen were busy in the car shops removing materials for shipment to other points.

   Erie officials have repeatedly denied reports of a discontinuance of the shops see, but the force has been depleted to a mere, but the force has been depleted to a mere handful of workers. Now the equipment in the car shops is being taken away. This was interpreted by local foremen as merely a transfer of materials, but the workmen believe it means removal of the shops.

   “The Erie has built its last car here,” one of the workmen remarked today. Several were busy loading car shop materials to freight cars for shipment. Gradually the change of the Erie mechanical departments has been to other points. Years ago the Erie had important Pullman shops here which furnished work to a large force and which employed a high type of skilled workers. The Pullman work has been changed elsewhere.

   The Erie is proceeding along a line which is declared to mean economy and better organization. Centralization of work is said to be one of its aims, as the repair and rebuilding of cars can be accomplished more advantageously at the terminals.

   The locomotive shops here have done much of the repair work on engines used on the Tioga Division. Engines of small and obsolete type were necessarily used on this division because of light bridges along the line which would not stand the travel of the new heavy type locomotive. 

   Instead of using these, the Erie within recent weeks has been dispatching its freight shipments over the New York Central and disposing of the traffic in this manner which otherwise would go over the Tioga Division. Occasionally, a freight train has been operated over the Tioga Division and all passenger service has been continued. This could not be otherwise except through order from the Public Service Commission.

   In the matter affecting the Tioga Division the Erie was pressed on two sides. It could not use the light engines for freight service because they are obsolete and cannot be kept in good repair. Neither can they carry the heavy freight trains over steep grades which are located along the Tioga Division. 

   When the small engines were used, the freight trains were split up at the beginning of the grades, and one-half of the loads sidetracked while the other half went over the step places. The engined must then return for the remainder of the load. This practice went on for years and was most unsatisfactory, uneconomical and without method. Instead of using locomotives on the passenger trains over the Tioga Division the Erie now operates a new type gasoline car.

   Superintendent English of the Erie at Hornell today said that the shops were being closed for the present. He stated there is no demand for large numbers of cars at the present time and that it is consistent with the Erie policy to close when there is no work to be done. The attitude of the Erie officials to date has been that the shops are not to be permanently discontinued.

Elmira Star-Gazette

Saturday, December 29, 1928

             The Pullman Shops

   The Elmira Car and Machine Shops followed the coming of the Erie Railroad. This industry later developed into the Pullman Company in Elmira. Passenger railway cars were built for many years in Elmira at the local Erie Shops. The factory was located on Fifth Street. It was originally directed in 1858, but was destroyed by fire in 1862. It was rebuilt a year later. The building of passenger cars was later discontinued here, but the repair work was continued until about two years ago.

Elmira Star Gazette

Sunday, September 29, 1968

          BURNED into PAST

                     ___

Warehouses Once Rail Hub

           By Tom Byrne

   A little more of old Elmira went down in flames last Sunday night. Thousands, attracted by the great red glow, watched the last rights for two old railroad buildings.

   The first one destroyed, on E. Fifth St. across from LeValley McLeod Co., was the Erie freight house, lately a store house for Bond Paper Co. The other, longer building, close to the railroad, was partially saved.

   The other, longer building, close to the railroad, was partially saved. The red brick front part is still there. But the back part burned fiercely, spectacularly, as flames raced through a patina that as gathered for a hundred years.

  To today’s crowd, it was Flickinger’s that burned. To the mid-generation, it was the old Erie car shops. To real oldtimers, it was the Pullman shops. 

   An elderly gentleman - you could set him a block away with that railroad cap - was looking at the ruins Friday. Clarence O’Brien of Johnson street, retired in 1957 from the Pennsy. He worked for two other roads in his time. “It was the Pullman shops when I as a kid. The built beautiful Po,,and thee. Later the Erie had a repair shop there.”

   Gazing around the E. Fifth St. area,   he added: “It was noting to see 80 or 90 cars spotted around the freight house. Where the PRR freight house is was ‘Elmira Yard,” and the other yard is still ‘Southport Yard.’”

   Joe Cleary, so well remembered by Elmira’s who traveled the Erie when passenger service was really something, recalls the Pullman shop legend. “It was before my time, but we always heard about the Pullman shops. They just picked up one day and left town.” Joe, who lived on West Fifth St., retired in 1959 after many years as a ticket agent. The Erie shops closed May 19, 1926.

   Elmira was inauthentic railroad town a half century ago. There were 10 tracks side by side in the Erie yards. The Erie had a roundhouse where the Telephone Company garage is on second street. 

   Where the Pennsy Southport yard is now, the Northern Central Railway had its shops, round house and a 25-track yard.  the DL&W yards, south of Eldridge Park, had 17 tracks; the Lehigh Valley yards had four tracks. East Fifth street was a busy place, with H. C. Spaulding Co. turning out “sash, doors and moulding.” Where Hilliard Corp. is today was a coal yard 50 years ago.

   An 1870 account, “Erie Under Gould and Fisk,” said the following about the Pullman shops: “The work performed at Elmira is mainly of the better class. The magnificent drawing-room coaches and luxurious sleeping cars of the line, which so far surpass those of any other road in the country, are mostly built at the Elmira shops. The greater proportion of the elaborate carvings and costly ornamental work is the result of artistic handiwork. Fresco artists of rare ability are employed to gild and fret the roofs. Of the men employed in the Elmira shops, about 150 are skilled artisans of the first class.”

   That was the Erie of yesteryear. Last Sunday night the station platform was jammed with people again. But they were fire-watchers, not passengers.

   

 

Pittsburgh, Binghamton and Eastern Railroad

  The Pittsburgh, Binghamton and Eastern Railroad

   [Note and additions by Richard Palmer]

  Having been given some sold snapshots of construction scenes, I decided to research the Pittsburgh, Binghamton and Eastern Railroad. This was a scheme to build a railroad from Pittsburgh to Binghamton. It purchased property, got easements aggressively started the work, particularly between Troy and Monroeton, Pennsylvania, in the early 1900s.lay. At 120 miles,  it was one of the largest “paper railroad” projects ever conceived in New York and Pennsylvania.

   Basically, the  P. B. & E. was a line that was proposed to run between Williamsport, Pa. and Binghamton, N.Y. to tap the coal veins in the Loyalsock Valley that ran through Sullivan and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania. Originally incorporated as the "Binghamton and Southern" on Feb. 21, 1903, the line was to run 20 miles south from Binghamton to the Pennsylvania/New York border and then extend another 100 miles (approximately) to Williamsport, PA, passing through Susquehanna, Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania.

   The the backers hit a legal snag only a week later when they learned that a rival group had proposed a similar line, also using the same "Binghamton and Southern " name.

The group who incorporated on the February 21, 1903 thought that they could simply change the name of the railroad that would run in New York State by changing the name on the charter and filing the necessary paperwork in Albany (New York state capital). This led to rounds of hearings, postponements and legal wrangling in early 1904, with rumors circulating that the original franchise would be purchased by either the Delaware and Hudson or the Wabash Railroad.

   In early March 1904 the charter was granted in New York State to construct a line from Binghamton to Ansonia (in Tioga County, Pa.) by way of Towanda and Canton. There were also coal mines in Ansonia. Eventually the two lines were consolidated in the spring of 1904. Some construction work was done between Canton and Powell, Pa. The Williamsport Gazette & Bulletin of September 15, 1906 noted 1,000 men were cutting, grading and building two bridges over Schrader and Towanda creeks. 

   At the end of February 1907, an article from the Sullivan Review states that two locomotives lettered "Pittsburg, Binghamton and Eastern" that had been sitting in Towanda were shipped off to the state of Maine when the railroad promoters could no longer pay the rent on them. However, at the same time, ties and rails were being unloaded near Canton and the railroad received its first piece of passenger rolling stock. Later in 1907, the PB&E received six new locomotives, all from Rhode Island (Alco) Locomotive Works, three 4-6-0s (numbered 20-22) and three 2-8-0s (numbered 50-52). Seven miles of track had been laid near Canton and more near Powell.

   In 1907, the United States entered a business depression and in September 1908 the PB&E was declared bankrupt. The locomotives were sold to the Bangor & Aroostook, 20-22 were renumbered 140-142 and 50-52 were renumbered 170-172. The text also states that the line had by then 30 flat cars, two cabooses, 6 box cars, two coaches and one combine. The newer engines were sold to the Bangor & Aroostock.

Some dreams never die and even after the loss of the locomotives and rolling stock, the directors of the road were still insisting that it would be built. What remained of the road was sold in Towanda in December of 1910.  A seven mile portion was sold to the Beech Creek Extension Railroad . This would be an extension of a railroad to the Clearfield coal region where it was to connect with the Buffalo & Susquehanna. Later, portions around Canton and Powell were used for highways, saving the Pennsylvania Department of Highways considerable money by utilizing the already existing cuts and fills. As late as August of 1912, one of the characters involved in the P. B. & E. organized a railroad named the "Pennsylvania and Southern" to run from Towanda to the Oregon Hill, northwest of the Williamsport coal fields. It was never built.]

The Ill-Starred P. B. & E. - A Railroad That Never Operated

By Eleanor Parsons Keagle

(This was published in the Elmira Telegram,  August 8, 1955)

   To many people the building of the Pittsburg, Binghamton and Eastern Railroad is a tale of a multi-million stock selling gamble with the smallest amount possible spent on the railroad. To others, it is the old story of a small enterprise being smothered by larger railroads to eliminate competition.

   The purpose of the road was excellent – to tap the vast coalfields in Lycoming, Tioga, Indiana and Clearfield Counties and to establish an east-west trunk line between Pittsburgh and Binghamton and the New England states. Lack of construction planning and properly coordinated effort were important factors in its failure.

  Prior to January 1906, rumors of the projected P. B. and E. Railroad spread throughout  Bradford County. A coalition with several small lines was anticipated, which would complete links in the system. F. A. Sawyer of New York City and Binghamton was president and Ben Kuykendall of Towanda was secretary of the company. I. N. Beardslee, a lumberman of East Canton, was purchasing agent, and in February 1906, he advertised for 100,000 oak and chestnut ties and was active in securing rights of way. Work was scheduled to start at Powell, Pa. on March 1.

   The survey from Powell to Canton presumably was completed, but engineering crews continued to map alternate routes even after construction was started. Survey of the stretch from Canton to Galeton was planned next. The Powell-Towanda link was to be carried over the Susquehanna and New York tracks, and construction continued from Towanda to Binghamton via Nichols and Owego. A New York State charter was granted in March, though the Erie Railroad fought this through the New York Court of Appeals. Offices were rented in the Lewis Bldg., Canton, and work was expected to start early in April.

H. C. Ferris, former division superintendent of the Union Pacific, was made general superintendent of the P. B. & E.

Engines were reported ordered and bridges to be manufactured by the Owego Bridge Co.Work actually began on bridge abutments at Powell on April 23, 1906, under contractor Thomas C. Whalen, with 52 men and eight teams hired. Early in May 6, poles were started at pick and shovel grading there, making 100 men and 12 teams on contractor Whalen’s payroll. Later that month a rumor the P. B. & E. had sold out to the Delaware and Hudson was flatly denied.

   So that he might personally supervise the work, President Sawyer purchased a 50 horsepower, 7-passenger car late in June, intending to commute from Binghamton each day. As this was not practical, he and his family located in Canton shortly thereafter, spending the summer at Mourland Park.

   July marked the awarding of construction contracts to Holbrook, Cabot and Rollins of Boston. Several steam shovels, donkey engines and 18 carloads of supplies were received; the latter included a car of 22 horses. One hundred more men were employed and a section of grading was being pushed through LeRoy Township. Abutments for the two Powell bridges were nearly finished and a grading crew started work near East Canton.

   Ten steam drills powered by a 50 horsepower boiler worked at Rock Cut between Powell and Franklindale, and great quantities of dynamite were used for this most costly piece of work. Forty large, four cylinder engines had been ordered from the American Locomotive Works in Schenectady to be delivered in the spring of 1907. Surveying of many alternate routes continued and even those selling rights of way through property were never sure these would be used.

   Late in the month a large camp of Italian laborers was established on D. T. Lindley’s farm east of Canton. President Sawyer declared traffic would be moving through Canton on the new railroad by November or December.

Great activity was evidenced during August. A 60-ton steam shovel was taken through Canton streets on railroad rails, laid in short sections. Six more locomotives were ordered. Several carloads of rails and small construction engines arrived at the Northern Central railroad station here.

In September, 15 railroad dump cars were hauled by Hugh Crawford’s traction engine through Canton streets on rails, to be followed later by a second lot. A merger with several small roads was ratified to complete the link to Pittsburg. By the middle of the month, 700 men were on the contractor’s payroll. On September 20 the route through Canton was in doubt, though many surveys had been made, but on October 2, it was announced the one chosen was that skirting Towanda Creek. Junction with the Northern Central would be made at Cedar Ledge, 1½ miles south of town. Grading completed at East Canton was then abandoned, as the rails would also follow the creek at that point.

   Day and night crews were working between Powell and Van Fleet Hill about 5 miles east of Canton. One thousand men were busy and work was progressing rapidly. One gang of Italians struck when ordered to move from West LeRoy to Cedar Ledge and were discharged.

Early in November, President Sawyer issued a statement assuring completion of the railroad from Binghamton to Clearfield, saying ample capital had been secured. On the 16th, a tragedy struck when Luther Ogden, a Canton youth, was killed while unloading rails.

  About this time the P. B. & E. closed a contract for rights of way through Canton Borough. Hugh Crawford granted passage over his properties, mill lands and lots in the eastern part of town. No money consideration was involved, only reciprocity of action in regard to mutual enterprises between Mr. Crawford and the railroad company. On November 23, Paymaster Fuller disbursed $31,700 in semi-monthly wages to P.B. & E. laborers. The trip along the right of way was made by horse and wagon, Mr. Fuller being accompanied by Detective C. A. Innes of Canton and an armed guard. Fifteen hundred men working between Cedar Ledge and Powell were paid that day.

President Sawyer’s latest bulletin promised trains would soon be running between Canton and Towanda in January, and the work was to be pushed day and night. Gaps on the several sections built would be closed and ready for traffic in January. Regulation-sized rails now were being laid.

   An announcement was made on December 14 that work had been temporarily suspended came as something of a shock. All work ceased except near Powell where operations on Rock Cut continued. All foreign laborers and mechanics were laid off. Rumors were rife but none could be substantiated. A statement issued December 21 assured the public work had not entirely ceased but would not be pushed until more favorable weather. Gen. Supt. Ferris said 10 flat cars had been shipped from Atlanta, Ga., and more were slated for shipment on January 15. Engineers were then surveying a right of way from Towanda to Binghamton, via Owego.

   On January 1, 1907, it was announced that two more months were needed to complete all work from Canton to Powell. Later in the month, Thomas Watkins, millionaire coal operator of Scranton, representing interests who acquired a large portion of F. A. Sawyer’s holdings, was elected president of the P. B. & E. L. T. McFadden and Daniel Innes of Canton were chosen directors. Ferris was made executive officer in charge of construction and purchasing, under Holbrook, Cabot and Rollins, and the Canton-Powell section was to be finished by April 1. An engine house, 250 feet long with a double track, was built at Cedar Ledge. 

   No track was ever laid. Bankruptcy came in September, 1908 and foreclosures in 1910. Most of the railroad was repurposed for highways.  There were long portions of railbed including bridge abutments, that still remain on place.  Much of Route 414 in this region was built on the old roadbed. 

                                               Locomotive Roster

20-22  4-6-0 Rhode Island Locomotive Works #41519-21  1906  Sold to Bangor & Aroostock R.R. 140-142

50-52  2-8-0 Rhode Island Locomotive Works #41522-24  1907  Sold to Bangor & Aroostock R.R. 170-172

   The company also purchased two very old 4-4-0s from the D.L.& W. in 1908 that were sold to the Gulf, Texas & Western Railroad in March, 1909.

 These are snapshots taken during construction days.

Hayts Corners, Ovid and Willard Railroad

   The Hayts Corners, Ovid and Willard Railroad

       Old Lehigh Valley depot at Willard.

    By Peter Allen

   The Hayts Corners, Ovid & Willard Railroad was a five-mile long branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad built to serve the Willard Insane Asylum.  The site of the asylum was originally used by New York State as the site of an Agricultural College which opened in 1860.  The college closed in 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War leaving New York State holding a $40,000 mortgage. 

   The site was, in 1869, used by the State as a Asylum for the Insane; a more humane alternative to the county poor houses.  The first building used was the Agricultural building known as Branch located at the top of the hill east of Seneca Lake.  The Asylum grew in size with more buildings constructed covering the 475 acre site.  There was a farm that supplied most of the needs of the asylum.  By 1877 the Willard Asylum was the largest in the country with over 1500 patients.  In 1890 a nursing school was established and the Asylum was upgraded to that of a State Hospital for which Willard was known from this date on.

  Moving coal and supplies to the various building necessitated the construction, in 1877, of a 2.5 mile narrow gauge railroad known as the Asylum Railroad. New York State gave $10,000 for the construction but no funds were allocated for an engine or rolling stock.  The next year the State furnished $53,000 for an engine, one passenger car, six coal cars, two swill cars and one lumber car, ballast, switches and a turntable.  A 0-6-0T No. 1 named "Willard" was delivered from Baldwin.  A brick engine house, ash pit, coal bin and water tap were built down by the lake.      Coal was received at a dock at Willard Landing by lake barges.  In the morning a train would pick up coal at the lake making the rounds of the various buildings delivering coal, picking up requisitions for supplies  and removing garbage and dirty laundry.  The garbage would be dropped off at the Asylum pig farm.  In the afternoon the train would drop off the supplies requisitioned and clean laundry.  The supply of coal by lake barges was problematic.  Coal was transported by the Chemung canal between Elmira and Watkins Glen on Seneca Lake and then to Willard by lake barge.  The canal was built on the cheap and was unprofitable.  The Trustees of the Asylum looked to the Geneva, Ithaca & Sayre RR at Hayts Corners.  This line connected with and was under the control of the Lehigh Valley RR.  

  On Sept. 15, 1882 the Hayts Corners, Ovid & Willard RR was incorporated to run between Hayts Corners and the boundary of the asylum.  G. W. Jones of Ovid was named President.  Construction actually started in August before incorporation using volunteer inmates .  The line was leased, on Dec. 29, 1882, to the G. I. & S. for 999 years.  Rent was one dollar plus operating and maintenance expenses.  The track and structures were owned by the G., I. & S. while the grading and culverts were owned by the H.C., O. & W.  The line was extended to the Asylum boundary.  A new narrow gauge 0-6-0T No. 14, built by Baldwin and a standard gauge combination car were purchased for the H. C., O. & W.  A dispute over the rate to charge passengers delayed the opening of the line until May 14, 1883.  Between three and five trains were run each day to connect with the trains on the G., I. & S. and L. V. at Hayts Corners.  

  A coal trestle and lumber yard were built in Ovid.  In 1884 a coal trestle was built by Branch, the original Agricultural College building.  The same year the iron rail in the Asylum was replaced with 40 lb steel rail.  For the first few years the line did a brisk freight business along with the passenger traffic between the Asylum and Hayts Corners.  The HC., O. & W. RR was duel gauge at least until 1885 while the Asylum RR continued to be duel gauge until 1895.  At that time the third rail was taken up and engines No. 1 and 14 were sold off, replaced by a standard gauge Baldwin 0-4-0T No. 2.   At the same time heavier rail were purchased and the track layout at Willard was altered.   Soon a new engine house, coal bin and water crane was built SSW of the Laundry.  Through a series of corporate machinations the G., I. & S. and the HC., O. & W. became part of the Lehigh Valley system in the early 1890s and were known as the Ithaca Branch and Willard Branch respectively.  

The grade on the G., I. & S. in and out of Ithaca was a serious hindrance to freight operations to the Lehigh Valley.  Starting in 1892 the Lehigh Valley railroad constructed the Seneca Lake bypass, a 2 track freight main line between Van Etten on the G., I. & S. and Geneva where it rejoined the G., I. & S.  This new line passed just east of the Willard Hospital through a deep cut known as the Gilbert cut.  The H.C., O. & W. passed over this line on a bridge. 

 Two spurs were laid from this new freight line to join the Willard Branch, one to the east and one to the west.  Most of the freight traffic to the Hospital used this new connection.   A large combination station was constructed on the Seneca Lake bypass about 1 mile south of the Willard Hospital and known as "Willard".  In 1898 a new station was built at the north end of the Hospital named "Asylum" based on the design of the Hemlock Lake Depot.  Passengers from outside the Hospital could enter the station through a one way revolving gate.

 Two years later the station was renamed "Willard" and the station on the Freight Main renamed "Gilbert", after the long time steward of the Asylum, in order to avoid confusion to visitors from outside the area. A spur was laid to the new station and the combination car was kept at the station.  

In the morning the engine would back into the station and couple the combination car.  The train would proceed to Ovid and Hayts Corners. 

 After returning the train would perform operations in on the Hospital.  The Lehigh Valley ran 3 local trains each day on the Ithaca Branch.  For a few years the Black Diamond Express stopped at Hayts Corners.  The Willard Branch trains made connections with as many of these trains as possible.  A 'bus met the trains at the Ovid Depot to transport passengers up to the village.  

  Engine No. 2 proved to be unsatisfactory and was replaced by a new Baldwin built 0-6-0 No. 3 in 1903.  This engine was also called Willard.  It lasted till 1926 when it was replaced by engine No.4 a 0-6-0 built by Baldwin.  When the engines had mechanical problems the Willard branch was often left without service as the Lehigh Valley had only two engines that could handle the tight curves within the hospital grounds. There were numerous minor derailments due to the deteriorating condition of the roadbed.  A number of employees were injured. 

 There was one fatality.  On November 19, 1900 James Martin, an employee of the hospital was working in the power plant when a flat car got away from the train crew at the farm.  The car picked up speed as it rolled down grade toward the lake and crashed into the plant doors and then out through the opposite side of the building.  A well known accident occurred  in 1912.  According to Dr. Doran a car loaded with ash broke away from the train well above the power plant.  There were 8 patients and an attendant on the car.  Six patients jumped, the other two were pushed off.  The car gained speed rapidly; at least 9 turnouts were set the right way and the car flew to the end of the line, the coal trestle at "Edgemere".  The car shot off the trestle few 60 feet and embedded itself in an 8 bed dormitory which was fortunately empty.  For some reason no record of this incident has been found in the local papers.  

  Perhaps the most unusual incident occurred at 2:00 A. M. on Thursday December 13, 1934.  The Willard engine had made it last trip between Willard and Hayts Corners and had been put to bed. The fire men and engineer were rudely awaken, at 2 a.m. to find the doors of the engine house open and the engine missing.   Somehow it had built up 90 pounds of pressure in order to climb the hill past Grand View.  At Hayts Corners the engine ran through the derailers and onto the Ithaca Branch.  The engine was found 2 miles north of MacDougal and taken to Geneva where the train crew picked it up and returned to Willard.  

   Ovid continued to received freight at the Ovid Station.  Ford cars and Fordson tractors for N R Boyce were shipped to Ovid by rail.  Farm supplies and live stock were shipped in and out of Ovid.  Standard Oil had tanks at the station .  An evaporator was located SW of the station offering seasonal work.  There was a grain elevator that still stands.  The station saw the arrival and departure of seasonal tours such as the Redpath Co.'s  Chautauqua and numerous excursions, both local to Geneva or Ithaca and to New York, Philadelphia and Niagara Falls. During this period the rise of the automobile spelled the end of local passenger service.  In the early 1930s New York State decided to convert the Hospital to centralized steam heat.  Trucks would be able to handle moving supplies around the grounds more efficiently.  Formal application to the Public Service Commission for the abandonment of the line followed in 1936.  Passenger  revenue for 1935 amounted to $77.37 and $9.93 for the first six months of 1936.  Freight service would be handled the Gilbert station which had been closed for two years and Ovid freight at Hayts Corners.  The Asylum RR was abandoned on June 30, 1936 and most of the rail was removed. 

  The Lehigh Valley RR laid a new spur to the power plant with heavier rail and gentler curves.  At the same time the Willard Branch was abandoned between the Hospital boundary and Ovid.  Passenger service between Hayts Corners and Ovid ended the following year. Ovid continued to see occasional freight service until 1959 when the rest of the Willard Branch was abandoned.   A small part of the west connector remained in place long after the Freight bypass was abandoned by Conrail in 1976. It was finally bulldozed in the late 1990s.

                      Charlie Beach, conductor, Hayts Corners, Ovid and Willard Railroad.

                       Early freight train on the line.

                       Topographic map showing location of the railroad in 1903.

   

This combine coach appears to have originated on the Geneva, Ithaca & Sayre Railroad (later Lehigh Valley. The coach was standard gauge and could bed coupled on to any train. The original standard gauge trucks may have been replaced with narrow gauge trucks, judging from the awkward appearance of the car.

Another view of the Hayts Corners, Ovid & Willard Railroad train on the Willard Asylum grounds. 

Sketch of Hayts Corners, Ovid & Willard Railroad at Willard Psychiatric Center. Each building had a name: A-Edgemere; B-Pines; C-Main Building, or “Chapin House”; D - Engine House; E-Laundry; F-Willard Station; G - Maples; H - Power House; I - “Sunnycroft”; J - Hermitage;  K-“Grandview”; L- Farm buildings.