Scranton's growth in its fifty years of corporate existence has been linked with the development of one of the finest railroad transportation services in the country. The railroad lines that today radiate from the city in all directions have brought the markets of the world to Scranton's doors. They have spelled progress and wealth for the community. They have carried to all parts of the country the millions of tons of anthracite coal that have been mined in this valley and they have brought back merchandise and the material for the manufacture of the scores of articles that are made in Scranton. They have brought people here to make their homes in Scranton and have in many ways been a big factor in the upbuilding of the city.
Without the railroads it may be said there would be no great city here today. With no outlet for the natural resources and no inlet for the myriad of things the railroads brought here. Scranton would never have grown beyond the struggling little village it was when the iron and coal mining industries were launched. And that Scranton today has its excellent transportation system is due to the vision and the foresight and the work of the Scrantons and the other pioneers who carved the city from the forests. They saw the need of railroads if their city was to grow, and when none others would build the roads they set to work and laid their tracks over the mountains and rivers until they reached the great markets.
Today five steam roads, two inter-urban electric railroads and a street railway system that covers the two valleys serve Scranton. The city is extremely fortunate in having low freight rates for its outgoing and incoming commodities. The railroads, willing to serve, have laid switches and sidings to mines, mills and factories wherever needed. They have put into effect frequent passenger service that by fast trains bring New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Buffalo, Chicago and the other great cities of the country to within easy reach of Scranton. They have given employment to thousands of men and have poured millions of dollars into the city to help in its growth.
The five steam roads that enter Scranton are: the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, that on its main line connects Scranton with New York on the east and south and with Buffalo and other New York state cities on the west, with connections for all western cities; the Delaware and Hudson that runs from Wilkes-Barre to Rouses Point, New York, and opens the New England and eastern Canada trade to this city; the Central Railroad of New Jersey that extends from Scranton to New York and Philadelphia, opening the lower end of this state to Scranton trade; the Ontario and Western that runs north from Scranton to the main line of the road at Cadosia, NY, and opens the trade markets east and west; the Erie that runs from this city to the main line at Lackawaxen, where it connects for New York and for western points. Some of these roads have branch connecting lines, as for instance the Lackawanna that has a branch to Bloomsburg and the Delaware and Hudson with a Honesdale branch and several Canadian extensions.
The Laurel Line, or the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley railroad, that operates a third rail electric system, connects Scranton and Wilkes-Barre with fast and frequent freight and passenger service and has a branch to Dunmore. The Scranton and Binghamton railway, an electric line, now runs as far as Montrose, and soon will have its tracks completed to Binghamton. The Scranton Railway company has trolley lines to all sections of Scranton and suburban lines that reach Forest City on the north and Pittston on the south.
The first railroad in Scranton was the Lackawanna and around its building and its early history much of the romance of the young city is woven. The Scrantons, with Col George W Scranton as the chief figure, built this road, and the building was by the firm of Scrantons and Platt, with Colonel Scranton in charge of the financing and also in direct charge of the work of crossing the mountains with steel highway. From a small road that ran from Scranton to Great Bend this system has grown to be one of the wealthiest and most important in the United States.
The Lackawanna railroad had its beginning in a charter issued April 7, 1832, for the Leggett's Gap railroad. That charter is the first record of any railroad plan that would take in Scranton. It provided for a railroad, built on the basis of a canal, and extending from Cobb's Gap (near Nay Aug Falls), to the New York state line in Susquehanna county and tapping the Lackawanna coal regions. The road could be used by any person providing his own power. The plan was found to be impracticable, but the charter was kept alive and after a number of years was amended so as to make provision for a coal, freight and passenger road. In 1850 the charter was purchased by the firm of Scrantons and Platt, owners of the iron mills here, who at that time were also entering the coal industry and who wanted an outlet for their coal and steel.
Colonel Scranton had for years been planning a railroad.In 1845 he had [taken?] the matter up with James Archbald, Delaware and Hudson engineer, of Carbondale, and they had planned a railroad from this city to Honesdale, via Carbondale, and making a connection with the canal at Honesdale. In 1849 he was working on the Leggett's Gap road project. The iron mills were on a firm basis then and capitalists refused to buy the railroad stock unless it carried an interest in the blast furnaces. Before the stock could be sold that demand had to be granted.
The building of the road brought hundreds of laborers here and many of them settled in Scranton. It is told in the old records that Jay Gould, later a millionaire railroad magnate, was a section boss on the line north of this city.
The act of 1851 changed the name of the Leggett's Gap railroad to the Lackawanna and Western railroad. As the building progressed, a locomotive was purchased from the Cayuga and Susquehanna railroad. It was named the "Pioneer," and was brought on an ark to Pittston, and thence over the Pennsylvania Coal company's gravity road to the ore mine railroad on the East mountain.
But the "Pioneer" was not the first locomotive to run on the road. Mr Dotterer had purchased the "Spitfire" for the company and there was a keen rivalry to see which engine should first haul a train. The "Spitfire," which was brought from the Reading company, was the first to get in action and when it reached the old blast blast furnaces it was a nine days wonder. It was the first engine seen here and was put in service on the construction work.
The railroad was completed to Great Bend on October 11, 1851, and the first trip over the line was made by the locomotive "Wyoming" that hauled two passenger cars. The public opening of the road was on October 15, 1851, and sixty-five men and women, mostly stockholders and officials and their friends, were taken from Great Bend to Scranton. The run of forty-eight miles was made in two and three quarter hours and Scranton had its own railroad. The following day the first coal train was sent out from this city bound for Ithaca, NY, via the Erie at Great Bend. On October 20, passenger trains started on regular schedule with R H Olmstead, an official in the iron company's store as temporary conductor.
The first passenger engine, the "Wyoming" was a wood burner and it had six foot driving wheels. Its trains were a passenger coach and baggage coach. During the first year 10,000 passengers were carried. During the year ending October 1, 1916, the Lackawanna carried close to 30,000,000 passengers on its own lines.
At the organization of the company on January 20, 1850, the following officers had been elected: President John J Phelps of New York; treasurer, Seldon T Scranton, and secretary, Charles F Mattes.
With the road to the north almost completed there began an agitation by men outside of Scranton for a railroad and canal from Pittston to tidewater whose lines would not come within five miles of this city. The Scrantons and the other pioneers saw in that project a menace to the growth of their city and they got busy on new plans. In April, 1849, a charter had been granted for the Delaware and Cobb's Gap railroad that was to extend from Cobb's Gap (near Nay Aug Falls) to Delaware Water Gap, and that was privileged to connect with the Leggett's Gap road in this city. Its capital was to be $900,000. The Scrantons took hold of this charter and subscription books were opened at Stroudsburg on December 26, 1850. The stock was to be taken up at once and the following officers elected: treasurer, John I Blair, and secretary, Charles F Mattes. On April 3, 1851, the survey work was started by E McNeil, and the work on the road was started at once. The project, which was to cross the Poconos, the lowest route being 2,200 feet above sea level had been declared impossible, but the men back of the project refused to be daunted.
On May 10, 1855, the Nay Aug tunnel was completed and on May 15, 1856, the first passenger train was run to Delaware station where it made connections by stage to Belvidere and from that town to New York via the Central Railroad of New Jersey. On May 27, 1856, the road was completed to New Hampton, NJ, where it made a direct connection for New York via the Jersey Central. Scranton then had direct communication by rail wiht New York and on the west with Buffalo and the lakes. It also had coal burning locomotives, the wood burners being partly replaced by May, 1854.
In 1853 John Brisbin succeeded David Dotterer as superintendent of the road, and Watts Cook of Paterson, NJ, became the master mechanic. The first accident on the road cost Mr Cook his right arm. He attempted to board the locomotive "Wyoming" when it was in motion. Mr Brisbin later became president of the company.
The first passenger station in Scranton was on Lackawanna avenue, facing Wyoming avenue, and the first freight station was was on Lackawanna facing Washington. They were opened in 1851 and in 1854 were moved to Lackawanna avenue between Mifflin and Franklin avenues, where they stood for many years. In 1864 the stations were rebuilt under Superintendent Cook, and were occupied until 1907 when the Lackawanna's new passenger station on upper Lackawanna avenue was completed.
The Bloomsburg division of the Lackawanna was incorporated on April 5, 1852, as the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroad, with a capital of $900,000. It was to run from Scranton to Danville and in 1853 an act was passed authorizing it to increase its capital $300,00 and to run to Sunbury, there connecting wiht the Pennsylvania lines. The road was opened in 18?? and was later extended to Northumberland. On June 16, 1873, it was consolidated and merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western.
Extensions to the main line on both ends were made as the road grew and with the aid of James Archbald, then of Carbondale, a directly owned connection was had with New York. In the sixties the Lackawanna acquired the Morris and Essex railroad that ran from Phillipsburg to Hoboken and that crossed the Lackawanna road at Washington, NJ. That direct route opened up the coal trade to the eastern seaboard and the Lackawanna was soon in the first rank of the roads of the country. On the north connections were made to Binghamton and old lines were purchased and new lines built until Buffalo and other cities were tapped by the coal carrying road.
Today the Lackawanna is one of the country's greatest railroads. Its stock is quoted at higher prices than any other line. It has been steadily improviong its equipment and roadbed and within a few years has completed cut-offs to the north and south of the city that rank with the greatest engineering feats in the history of railroading.
On the Nicholson cut-off the highest and longest concrete bridge in the world has been built. The railroad has also been a big factor in Scranton's industrial life and in its greeat shops here more than 3,500 men are employed. In the clerical departments of the road more than 750 are employed and there are hundreds of men in the transportation service that make Scranton their home.
The present management came in the late nineties and W H Truesdale has since been president of the company. Under his administration millions have been spent in improvements. Before the Truesdale management came, W F Hallstead was te general manager of the road, having risen in its service from a job as water boy on the construction work. E M Rine, the general superintendent, has his offices in this city and the headquarters of most of the railroad's departments are in Scranton.
The Delaware and Hudson railroad was built before the Lackawanna but it did not enter this city until long after the Lackawanna was completed. The D & H is the second oldest road in the country and it was built to provide an outlet for the coal of the valley. William and Maurice Wurts of Philadelphia, two pioneers who founded the coal industry in the anthracite valleys, were the originators of the Delaware and Hudson, and to build the road they overcame obstacles that seemed insurmountable. The Wurts brothers came from Philadelphia in 1812 looking for coal lands. They tried to buy properties in Scranton, but were unable to get lands where coal was known to exist. They went further north and at Carbondale and Archbald bought several thousand acres of coal lands at from fifty cents to $3 an acre. They started mining but had no way to get the coal to market. They tried to make a roadway by improving the navigation of the Lackawaxen but their rafts were sunk. In 1823 they had a charter for that purpose and in 1824 they conceived the project of a canal between the Delaware and Hudson rivers that would give them an entrance to New York if they could reach the Delaware. To get the canal from Carbondale they planned to cross the Moosic mountains by planes or a gravity railroad system. An engineer had estimated that it would cost $1,300,000 to build the canal.
A company was formed with a capital of $1,500,000 and the stockl was quickly sold. The name of the company was The President, Managers and Company of the Delaware and Hudson company, and that name continued until 1900 when it was changed by an act of the Pennsylvania legislature to the Delaware and Hudson company.
The work of building the canal was started in 1826 and was completed in 1828. It was first constructed for boats of thirty tons, and later enlarged to accomodate fifty ton boats and finally made big enough for 130 ton boats. The canal ran from Honesdale to Rondout, NY, and the coal was taken from the Carbondale mines on the gravity railroad, the first in existence in the United States. The railroad and canal had been completed by 1829 and the first shipment over the whole route was made in that year. Previous to the finishing of the railroad the coal had been hauled by teams from Carbondale to Honesdale.
William Ross Moffet was the chief engineer in the early part of the work and in 18-- James Archbald entered the service of the company and remained in charge of the railroad and mines until18__.
The first locomotive in the United States was run over the Delaware and Hudson tracks in Honesdale in 1828. It was the "Stourbridge Lion" and had been built in England. The trial trip was over a high wooden viaduct at the head of the canal and Major Horatio Allen was the engineer. Hundreds of persons saw the trial trip and none believed the bridge would stand the strain. Major Allen, in a letter telling of the ride, says he too was doubtful and he feared the bridge would give way. He tells that he decided to take the chance and turning on full steam, headed across the trestle. The locomotive was abandoned soon after ecause of fear of its breaking through the trestle. A house was built over it, but the iron and stell rusted and the parts were scattered.
The gravity road fropm Carbondale to HOnesdale was thirty-two miles long and the canal route to New York was 111 miles long.