44
COLUMBIA A N D MONTOUR COUNTIES
but those at Danville and Berw ick arc covered up under tons o f earth. T h e Delaw are, Lackaw anna & W estern Railroa<l Company lias placed metal signs along the line of the canal, warning the public against trespassing. M any persons object to this pro hibition, but in a w ay it is a blessing to the peo ple. It prevents adjacent landowners from shutting o ff the river from the public use and has permitted the growth of trees to continue unrestricted, thus converting many parts of the canal towpath into a veritable “ lovers' lane," embowered with foliage and affording a shady w alk fo r m iles along the beautiful Susque hanna. T h e canal could be easily converted into a level and permanent highway at but moderate expense, i f the railroad could be in duced to turn it over to the State H ighw ay Commission. R A IL R O A D S T he honor o f being the first to promote and construct a railroad in this section o f Pennsyl vania belongs to citizens o f Cataw issa, the head of the pn>ject, and fo r a time tlic only advocate of the p b n, being Christian Drobst. T he story of the building o f this road is an interesting and romantic one, and has been compiled in the follow ing accurate narrative by C harles E . Randall, editor of the Catawissa N ru 'S Item and vice president of the Columbia County H istorical Society. In the issue o f Ja n . 20, 1825, Dam>iUe IVotchmoH, appeared a letter from Chri.stian Brohst, Cataw issa, dated Ja n . 15th. A t that time w ater transportation w as considered the solution of the problem o f communication be tween the great m anufacturing centers, the State canal being partially completed. A route fo r w ater communication w as sought between the Schuylkill river and the N orth Branch of the Su ^u eh an n a. In his letter to the tPatehm on M r. Brobst, who w as one o f C ataw issa's "liv e w ires." a merchant miller, owning the upper mill at that place, the farm now owned by Harm an Breisch, and a number o f other properties in this sec tion. advocated a route between the txvo rivers by w ay of the Little Schuylkill river and C ata wissa creek. H e claimed the route w as prac tical and that he w as ac*|uaintcd with every foot of the w ay. H is plan w as to conic up the .Schuylkill river, then up the Little Schuylkill to its headw aters; cross over to the headwaters o f Cataw issa creek, “ a distance o f three mile.s. part of the w av through a small mountain” : then <lown Catawissa crcck to the North Branch
o f th e S u s (ju c b a iin a; " t h e le v e ls s h o w in g that e v e r ) ' f o o t o i th e w a te r w a y s c o u ld Ik m ade n a v ig a b le .”
"T h is could be made a part o f a route from Phiiadclphb to the lakes," he stated, “ by going down the N orth Branch and up the West Branch to Sinncnuhoning crcck, 100 m iles; up the Sinncmahoning to T o b y's (o r San d y) creek, 40 m iles; down T oby's crcck to Allegheny river, (lO m iles; up the Allegheny to French creek, 2 5 m iles; up French creek to W 'aterfurd, 28 m iles; then by canal 14 m iles across country to E rie .” T h is route, he cbim ed, would neces sitate the construction o f but thirty miles of canals. H is idea w as that the stream s could all be made navigable by a series o f dams. Nothing ever came o f this project, and it w as not until 1829 tlwt the transportation question cam e up again. T h is time it w as the railroad project. M r. Brobst had been elected to the I ^ is la t u r c from Columbia county, and kept Itammering at the State authorities for transportation ^ tw e e n the Schuylkill and (he North Branch. Fortified by the survey he had made on the w aterw ay project, he succeeded in getting the Legislature, in 1828. to pass an act authorizing the Pennsylvania Canal Com mission to “ employ a competent engineer to make surveys and examinations between a point on the Schuylkill canal near Pottsville. and a jioint on the Susquehanna river between the towns o f Cataw issa and Sunbury.” as to the feasibility o f building a railroad between those points. T h e w aterw ay levels taken by M r. Brobst were by means o f a “ Jaco b 's sta ff" and a home made w ater level, made by him self, and they were so accurate that in surveys in later years by professional engineers the levels varied only about six feet in the entire distance lietween Catawiss.a and what is now L o fty . A n engi neer named Robinson w as employed b y the canal board lo make the surveys, three terminal points on the North Branch of the Susque hanna river iKing considered— Catawissa, Danville and .Sunbury. T h e engineer cHminatcil Danville on account o f "insurm ountable natural obstacles," and a fte r a lengthy su n 'ey reporte*! to the commissioners in favo r o f a route throuph the Q uakake and C ataw issa vallews with Catawissa .as the term inal, saving that this route w as "adapted to locomotive en gines,” while the route with Sunbur‘ as a terminus w as "adapted to horse oow er only fo r the greater part of the route.” Besides, "th e Cataw issa route would <nvc three distriholive points— Pottsville. l.ittle Schu ylkill .and the I.chigh."
