46
COLUMBIA A N D MONTOUR COUNTIES
and w as authorized to extend the road to W illiam sport. T h is company surveyed a new route from the head o f tiic old inclined plane, aUanduiiuig that route, going to Tam anend, where it connected with the Little Schuylkill N avigation & Railroad Company, which w as built irom P ort Clinton to meet them. T he contractors from Cataw issa to T am an end were A lexander Christy and a man named Malcoin, both Scotchmen. T hey tore down the old latticc-work bridges and erected trestles, except at M ainville, F ish er’s, Mine G ap and L o n g H ollow, where B u rr arch bridges were erected. T he old bed graded by the original company w as repaired and used. T he road w as completed to Rupert in 1854. Beyond Rupert to Milton, where it joined the P . & E . railroad, Thom as Emm et w as chief engineer and contractor, and he w as permitted to make out his own estimates. H e must have been an honest man, as no cliarges o f g ra ft w ere ever made against him. T he road was completed to M ilton in the fail o f 1854. T he first locomotive used on the line, the one used in track-laying and ballasting, w as the "M assachusetts.” It w as built in that State by Hinkly & D rury, and w as delivered at Columbia, Pa., from where it w as brought to Cataw issa on a canal fiat in 18 53. It w as un loaded at a point opposite the head of the “ cove" below town, run over a cribl>cd-up track to the river bank, where it w as loaded upon a ' large fiat and ferried across the river to a |>oint near the dwelling house that used to stand ju st below the Pennsylvania junction. From that point it was hauled up a tem porary track to an engine house that had been erected near the old N ick Fish er home, the end of the j a d ing then. T h e rails used were made at Dan ville, weighed 56 pounds to the yard, and were dclivcrc*! across the river and hauled over the bridge by teams, being stored at the engine house and at the paper mill crossing. T lie “ M assachusetts,” afterw ard s known as N o. 2, wcighe*! about twenty-five tons, w as a wood-bum er. and had Sam uel Carpenter as engineer and Fran k W right a s fireman, both from Columbia. Joseph Shum an, o f Beaver V alley, w as night watchman at the cnginchousc and engine wiper. In 1853 a line w as run from the old grading at the Fortner line down the river to Danville, crossing the river at Boyd’s. Colonel Paxton, one of the promoters of the company, owned the farm at the mouth o f Fishing creek (now the Boody fa rm ) and wanted the railroad to go to Danville by w ay o f his farm . H e suc ceeded in getting passed a supplement to the
act of the Legislature incorporating the Cata w issa, W illiam sport & E rie R ailroad Co., ex tending the line to W illiam sport, "Provided. T h at any road located under authority o f this section sliall not di%'ergc more than one mile distant from the mouth o f Fishing creek.” The road w as built by w ay o f Fish in g crcck and tbe town o f Rupert resulted. .Another line w as run from R u pert through M illville and M uncy to W illiam sport, but noth ing w as ever done with (his route. T he Caiaw issa-Tam anend end of the road w as completed first and mixed trains were run between P ort O inton and C ataw issa, the first one on the i6th or 17th o f Ju ly, 1854, the C . W. & E . having trackage rights over the Little Schuylkill to Port Clinton, where they con nected with the Reading main line. T he creek bridge had been completed and the Catawissa station w as located on the present site. The yard comprised the home o f Isaac S . Monroe, who sold to the company and purchased the home built by C hief Engineer M iller at (be corner o f Second and South streets. T he old M onroe homestead w as moved down opposite the station and w as fo r many years used as offices, l)cing tom down a few years ago. T he first through train from P ort O inton to Milton (w ith connections through from Phil adelphia) w as run in September or October, 1854. T h e first scheduled train started from Cataw issa to Port O inton on M onday in July. It came up from T am aqua on Sunday, the i6th or 17th, to be here ready fo r M onday’s start. There were two (rains running from opposite ends of the line. T h e engineer of the first reg ular train out o f Cataw issa was John Johnson, afterw ard s a machinist in the shops here, and the fireman w as his brothcr-in- aw, a man named Coe. T h e conductor's name w as DuBois. T h at Sunday w as a gala d ay in Cata wissa. thousands o f people coming from all o ver this section to see the train come in. W. G . Y eltcr, then sixteen years o f age, saw the train arriv e that afternoon. T h e first station agent at Cataw issa w as G eorge H ughes, father o f M rs. Sarah Vastine. T he first at Rupert w as G eorge S . Gilbert, a member of the en gineer corps. T he locomotive w as turned at this place by means o f a Y, that extended out to the river bank from the old station and back to Roberts’ run (now C om ru n ). T h e C. W . & E . w as built at a uniform grade o f 33 feet to the mile from C ataw issa to Lofty. T he m axim um cur-aturc w as 1 2 degrees, ex cept at “ N igger H ollow,” where it w as 12)4.
