By Richard Palmer
At one time Lehigh Valley Railroad's Black Diamond Express operated over what was known as the Seneca Lake bypass, between Van Etten and Geneva junctions and not through Ithaca. Although this was only 6.2 miles longer than the mainline, it took an additional 30 minutes. Pressure from Cornell University resulted in the final decision reroute the train through Ithaca.
Dogs inevitably seem to find their way into railroad stories. One concerns a Scotch collie who enjoyed watching the Black Diamond pass by at a crossing two miles east of Burdett. After it passed, the dog returned home. One afternoon the Pullman conductor said, "I'll try an experiment tomorrow, and we'll slow down a little at the crossing and see what happens."
The next day the conductor made up a bundle of New York and Philadelphia newspapers. When the train approached the crossing where the dog was in waiting the conductor went out on the platform of the observation car and thew the bundle off. The dog barked, wagged his tail furiously. He picked the bundle up in his mouth and trotted away over the hills. Every night thereafter the dog was there to meet the train. All of those aboard the train wondered what the dog did with the newspapers and who his master was. Eventually it was discovered that "Rover," belonged to nearby farmer George M. Canfield. "Rover's" main duty was herding sheep.
Mr. Canfield said he was pleased by the fact that he was able to sit at his dinner table and read the New York Times the same day it was published. Somehow "Rover" had gotten the notion that "all things come to him who waits."
This story appeared in the Ithaca Daily News on September 15, 1905:
CANINE MESSENGER
Handsome Collie Gets Bundle of Papers From the Black Diamond
Daily Near Watkins Glen
Rural free mail delivery in Schuyler county has a strong competitor. Handsome collie dog awaits the arrival of the Black Diamond Express from New York to Philadelphia, at a point on the Lehigh Valley Railroad near Watkins Glen, on Seneca Lake, and carries home to his master on a farm nearby, a bundle of newspapers, obligingly thrown from the train by the Pullman conductor, who makes up the package of newspapers that have been abandoned by the passengers on his car.
Thus the farmers near that point in central New York state get their afternoon New York and Philadelphia papers about 12 hours ahead of the government deliver, and free in the bargain.
The good fortune of the farmers has resulted from what might be called "canine curiosity." Several months ago the Pullman conductor noticed a collie waiting at the tracks every time the Black Diamond passed. One day he threw off a bundle of newspapers, which the dog eagerly took in his mouth and galloped away with.
As this seemed to be what the dog was waiting for, the conductor and others on the run of the Black Diamond have continued the practice, and it is now a daily occurrence, although the speed at this particular point is above 60 miles an hour, and the papers have to be made up in strong packages to prevent being scattered when the bundle reaches the ground.
The interest of the trainmen in the matter has spread to the passengers, who eagerly look out for the canine rural delivery messenger when passing that point.
A peculiar proof of canine intelligence lies in the fact that the dog arrives at the point where he meets the train, a half-hour before train time each day, starting from home, so the farmers say, without being coached to do so. "
Passenger train shown making a stop at Burdett.
The Seneca Lake bypass allowed passenger trains to run more than 70 miles per hour. Here it thunders by Odessa at track speed.
