Historic Pelham

Presenting the rich history of Pelham, NY in Westchester County: current historical research, descriptions of how to research Pelham history online and genealogy discussions of Pelham families.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Three More Pelham Train Wrecks


Pelham has been the scene of many train wrecks in the last 170 years since the first railroad tracks were laid through the town.  The most infamous such wreck, of course, was the Pelhamville Train Wreck on December 27, 1885.  (I have written extensively about that train wreck.  See the following article with links to additional articles about the incident, a full bibliography, and images of the aftermath:  Fri., Dec. 30, 2016:  Pelham Recalled the Pelhamville Train Wreck of 1885 Upon Death of Riley Ellsworth Phillips in 1927.)  There have been a host of other train wrecks as well, many of which I have written about before as well.  See, e.g.:

Bell, Blake A., Train Wrecks Near Depot Square in Pelham Manor, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 44, Nov. 5, 2004, p. 13, col. 1.

Wed., Sep. 21, 2016:  Truck Smashed by Express Train Landed on Pelham Station Platform in 1925.  

Fri., Feb. 26, 2016:  108 Years Ago Today: Freight Train Wreck on the Branch Line Between Pelham Manor and Bartow Station.

Fri., Apr. 25, 2014:  Freight Train Wreck at Pelham Manor Station in 1896.



Detail from Front Cover of the January 16, 1886 Issue of
Scientific American that Featured a Cover Story About the
Pelhamville Train Wreck Entitled "A Remarkable Railroad
Accident." NOTE: Click on Images to Enlarge.

Today's Historic Pelham article details three additional Pelham train wrecks.  The first was a major freight train wreck on the Branch Line near Pelham Manor Depot on June 25, 1899.  The second was a derailment of cars on a New Haven Main Line passenger train on March 10, 1905.  The third was a freight train wreck on the Branch Line near Pelham Manor Depot four days later on March 14, 1905.

June 25, 1899 Freight Train Wreck

At about 1:00 p.m. on June 25, 1899, a westbound freight train with sixty cars carrying merchandise, beef, and vehicles was traveling about thirty-five miles an hour between the Pelham Manor and Bartow stations on the Branch Line when a drawbar (a heavy bar helping to connect the railroad cars) either broke or was removed by a vagabond seen climbing aboard the train earlier.  As the front half of the train slowed near the base of a steep grade, the runaway rear half of the train smashed into it.  About twenty cars derailed and scattered their contents along the tracks.  

The conductor was about to leave the caboose when the wreck occurred.  He was thrown about, knocked down, and "severely bruised."  The brakeman, William Cooney, was badly hurt.  He was in one of the cars that derailed.  He was caught in the wreckage.  His leg was crushed and he was cut badly about the face.

After the accident, the vagabond was seen crawling from the wreck unhurt, though his coat and hat were missing.  Although a wrecking train was dispatched to the site immediately, it was several hours before the tracks could be cleared and traffic along the Branch Line could be resumed.

March 10, 1905 Passenger Train Derailment

At 7:35 a.m. on March 10, 1905, a passenger train traveling through Pelham reached an area where the Main New Haven Line rails had spread.  As the wheels of the train passed over the defective section of the track, five cars were derailed.  

No one was hurt in the accident but, according to a brief newspaper account "six women on the train fainted."  Luckily, someone had the presence of mind to get down the tracks and flag down the express train that was bearing down on the scene from behind and flagged it to a stop in time to prevent a major collision with the derailed cars.

June 14, 1905 Freight Train Pile Up

On the afternoon of March 14, 1905, a westbound freight train passing the Pelham Manor Depot snapped an axle.  Four cars of the train derailed and piled up along the tracks in a terrible wreck.  

Though there is no record of injuries, a brief reference to the accident indicates that the Branch Line tracks were blocked for two hours as a result of the wreck.

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"FREIGHT STREWN ALONG TRACKS.
-----
SMASH ON THE NEW-YORK, NEW-HAVEN AND HARTFORD ROAD NEAR BARTOW CAUSES MUCH DAMAGE.

A westbound freight train, consisting of sixty cars of merchandise, beef and vehicles, was badly wrecked about 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon on the Harlem River branch of the New-York, New-Haven and Hartford Railroad.

The accident was caused by the pulling out of a drawbar while the train was descending a steep grade between Bartow and Pelham Manor at a speed of about thirty-five miles an hour.  Before the locomotive and forward section could get out of the way the rear section could get out of the way the rear section overtook it and struck it with a crash, throwing about twenty cars off the rails and scattering their contents along the track.  Conductor Llewellyn was about to leave the caboose when the crash came, and was knocked down and severely bruised.  William Cooney, a brakeman, was standing on one of the cars that left the track.  He was caught in the wreckage and had his leg crushed, in addition to being cut about the face.

Just before the accident one of the brakemen saw a tramp board the train and take refuge in an empty box car near the place where the train was broken in two.  After the wreck he was seen crawling out from under the car hatless and coatless, but unhurt.  The accident blocked all trains and delayed traffic on the road about six hours."

Source:  FREIGHT STREWN ALONG TRACKS -- SMASH ON THE NEW-YORK, NEW-HAVEN AND HARTFORD ROAD NEAR BARTOW CAUSES MUCH DAMAGE, New-York Tribune, Jun. 26, 1899, Vol. LIX, No. 19,216, p. 1, col. 5.  

"A Wreck on the Branch Line.
-----

Pelham Manor, June 26. -- The west-bound freight train on the Harlem River branch of the New Haven road at one o'clock Sunday noon, was badly wrecked at Pelham Manor.

The accident was caused by the pulling out of a drawbar.  Several of the freight cars left the track and some of them were badly wreck.   

A brakeman by the name of Cooney, had his leg crushed, and was otherwise badly bruised.

The grade between Bartow and Pelham Manor is very steep, and when the drawbar pulled out, the forward cars, with the engine, moved away from the rear section, and [as] the engine slowed up, the broken section crashed into the cars ahead of it and a general smashup took place.

The wrecking train was soon on the scene, and after a few hours delay the tracks were cleared for traffic."

Source:  A Wreck on the Branch Line, Mount Vernon Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jun. 26, 1899, Vol. XXIX, No. 2,222, p. 1, col. 4.  

"FREIGHT STREWN ALONG TRACKS.
-----
Smash on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Road Near Bartow Causes Much Damage.

A west bound freight train, consisting of sixty cars of merchandise, beef and vehicles, was badly wrecked about one o'clock Sunday afternoon on the Harlem River branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.  

The accident was caused by a broken flange while descending the grade between Bartow and Pelham Manor at a speed of about thirty-five miles an hour, throwing fifteen cars off the rails and scattering their contents along the track.  Conductor Llewellyn was about to leave the caboose when the crash came, and was knocked down and severely bruised.  William Cooney, a brakeman, was standing on one of the cars that left the track.  He was caught in the wreckage and had his leg crushed in addition to being cut about the face.  

Just before the accident one of the brakemen saw a tramp board the train and take refuge in an empty box car near the place where the train was broken in two.  After the wreck he was seen crawling out from under the car hatless and coatless, but unhurt.  The accident blocked all trains and delayed traffic on the road about six hours.  The cars are still piled along the track, some of them standing on an end, and others with the wheels in the air.  The trucks of some of the cars are thirty feet away from the body."

Source:  FREIGHT STREWN ALONG TRACKS, The New Rochelle Press, Jul. 1, 1899, p. 1, col. 2.  

"NEW HAVEN TRAIN DERAILED.

Mount Vernon, N. Y., March 10. -- The 7:35 a.m. westbound local was derailed at Pelham, on the New Haven Railroad by the spreading of the rails.  Five loaded cars were thrown from the track.  Six women on the train fainted but none was injured.  The express train was flagged in time to prevent a collision with the derailed cars."

Source:  NEW HAVEN TRAIN DERAILED, The Daily Saratogian, Mar. 10, 1905, p. 2, col. 3.

"WRECK ON CONSOLIDATED.
-----
Four Cars of Westbound Freight Piled Up.

New York, March 14. -- Four cars of a westbound freight train on the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad, were wrecked by the breaking of an axle at the Pelham Manor Station this afternoon.  The suburban branch was blocked for two hours."

Source:  WRECK ON CONSOLIDATED -- Four Cars of Westbound Freight Piled Up, The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, Mar. 15, 1905, p. 1, col. 3.  

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Thursday, April 27, 2017

1884 Gun Battle With Burglars Ransacking the Pelham Manor Depot


At 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 9, 1884, a massive snowstorm was bearing down on the New York region.  The storm eventually dumped up to three feet of snow on Pelham and the surrounding region.  The night was not fit for men but, apparently, it was fit for beasts.  

With the storm raging, a pair of burglars had been working the New Rochelle and Pelham Manor region.  At about 2:30 a.m. the pair forced their way though a small window into the ticket office of the Pelham Manor Depot.  

The burglars, described only as a "tall man" and a "short man," did not realize that the local "Vigilance Committee" known as the "Pelham Manor Protective Club" was on the case.  There previously had been so many burglaries, safe-crackings, and break-ins at the Pelham Manor Depot that the Executive Committee of the Pelham Manor Protective Club had authorized installation of an electric burglar alarm with a "wire" running from the Depot to the nearby home of the Station Manager, Joseph English.

At 2:30 a.m., a "gong" in the home of Station Manager Joseph English rang, alerting him that the station had been entered.  Though the storm raged outside, English ran to two nearby homes for help, including the home of Thomas D. De Witt, a member of the Executive Committee of the Pelham Manor Protective Club.  De Witt grabbed his loaded five-shot revolver and he, English, and another unidentified Pelhamite ran to the Depot, ready for a gunfight, if necessary, and to arrest the burglars.

I have written before about the burglary that night.  For examples, see:

Mon., Jan. 28, 2008:  1884 Burglary and Gunfight at the Pelham Manor Depot.

Mon., Sep. 15, 2014:  1884 Gunfight in Pelham Manor Pits Local Residents Against Pelham Manor Depot Burglars



Detail from 1881 Map Showing Pelham Manor Depot and Surrounding
Area Not Long Before the January, 1884 Burglary.  Source:  "Town of
W., Atlas of Westchester County, New York from Actual Surveys and Official
Records by G. W. Bromley & Co., Civil Engineers, pp. 56-57 (Washington, D.C.,
G. W. Bromley & Co., 1881).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

When De Witt arrived at the Pelham Manor Depot, he saw two burglars:  one tall, one short.  Disappointingly, the burglars saw him and ran from the Depot across vacant lots.  As they ran into the stormy darkness, De Witt shouted for them to stop, then leveled his revolver and began firing in their direction.  As he emptied his five-shot revolver, the burglars returned fire, all to no effect.

The three Pelham Manor men searched the Depot and discovered that only a "few cents" was missing from the ticket office.  Though the thieves had escaped, they left behind a hat, a key, and a blanket.  It turned out that the blanket had been stolen earlier that night from Mrs. Condon of New Rochelle.  The blanket was returned to Mrs. Condon.

The burglars, it turned out, were busy that night.  They had tried to burglarize Jacob Holweg's store in New Rochelle by cutting a panel out of a shutter and breaking a pane of glass.  They failed, however, to gain entry to the Holweg store.  They then broke into the Wars & Sheffield store in New Rochelle where they stole "some jewelry."  Finally, they burglarized Trinity Episcopal Church where they stole all the carpets, some valuable vases, "and other articles."

With the gunfight, burglars, thieves, and vagabonds, it seems, were beginning to learn that the Vigilance Committee known as the Pelham Manor Protective Club was making it much harder to prey on Pelhamites and the little Pelham Manor Depot. . . .

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Below is the text of the report of the Pelham Manor Protective Club on the January 9, 1884 burglary as well as a number of news stories about the burglary.  Each is followed by a citation to its source and, where available, a link to its source.

"A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Pelham Manor Protective Club was held at the residence of Mr. W. E. Barnett, on February 2nd 1884.

Present Mess. Reynolds, Black, Barnett, De Witt and Johnson.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

On motion the letter of Dr. Buck was referred to the committee on pamphlet of instructions.

D. M. Johnson reported that he had audited the accounts of the late Treasurer, Mr. De Witt, and found them to be correct.  Balance transferred to the new Treasurer, $151.62, uncollected dues $7.00.

Mr. De Witt reported that the Depot at Pelham Manor was broken into at about 2.30 A.M. January 9th, that he and others were aroused, went to the Station and endeavored to arrest the burglars, but they were well armed and escaped by jumping through a window, after exchanging several shots with Mr. De Witt.  One of them was a tall man and the other a short man.  They left behind, a Hat, a Key and a Blanket.  The blanket was returned to Mrs. Condon of New Rochelle, from whom it was stolen that same night.  No clue could be found by which the burglars could be traced or identified.

On motion the Town election matters were referred to Messrs. Reynolds and Black as a committee -- Adjourned -- 

D. M. Johnson
Clerk"

Source:  RECORDS -- PELHAM MANOR PROTECTIVE CLUB [1881-1892], pp. 68-69 (original leather-bound journal in the collections of the Westchester County Historical Society).  

"SOME VERY PERSISTENT THIEVES.

Burglars forced an entrance into the railroad station at Pelham Manor, on the New-York and New-Haven Railroad, at an early hour yesterday morning.  R. C. De Witt, the agent, was warned of it by a burglar alarm, and he got up, taking his revolver with him.  He found two men in the ticket office, but at his approach they made off.  He fired several shots at them and they returned the fire.  They escaped, but they had succeeded in securing only a small amount of money.  At a later hour an effort was made by the thieves to get into Jacob Holweg's store, at New-Rochelle, by cutting a panel out of a shutter and breaking a pane of glass.  They were not able to make their way into the store however and they went to Trinity Episcopal Church, in the same place where they stole all the carpets, some vases, and other articles."

Source:  SOME VERY PERSISTENT THIEVES, N.Y. Times, Jan. 10, 1884, p. 3, col. 3 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

"Burglars at Work.

NEW ROCHELLE, Jan. 9.  --  Burglars attempted to rob the railroad depot at Pelham Manor yesterday morning but were driven off by Mr. Dewitt.  An hour after an unsuccessful attempt was made on the residence of Mr. Holloways here and then the robbers went to the Episcopal church, which they entered, stripping the edifice of all carpets which they carried off together with some vases of value."

Source:  Burglars at Work, Democrat and Chronicle [Rochester, NY], Jan. 10, 1884, Vol. 52, No. 10, p. 1, col. 5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"WESTCHESTER COUNTY. . . .

PELHAM MANOR.  --  About one a.m. yesterday Mr. R. C. DeWitt, of Pelham Manor, was aroused by the ringing of his burglar alarm, which indicated that the depot of the New-York, New-Haven and Hartford Railroad Company on the Harlem River Branch had been entered by burglars.  Mr. De Witt went to the station, armed with his revolver.  Then he discovered that a couple of burglars had forced their way though a small window into the ticket office.  He fired at them five times, and the robbers in return fired shot for shot, without effect.  They made their escape from the building, followed by Mr. De Witt and some of his neighbors; but owing to the storm and darkness of the night all trace of them was soon lost.  They obtained only a small amount of money."

Source:  WESTCHESTER COUNTY. . . . PELHAM MANOR, New-York Tribune, Jan. 10, 1884, p. 8 col. 4.

"ELECTRIC SPARKS. . . .

NEW ROCHELLE, Jan. 9.  --  Burglars attempted to rob the depot at Pelham Manor yesterday morning, but were driven off by Mr. Dewitt.  An hour after an unsuccessful attempt was made on the residence of Mr. Holloway here, and then the robbers went to the Episcopal church, which they entered, stripping the edifice of all the carpets, which they carried off, together with some vases of value."

Source:  ELECTRIC SPARKS. . . NEW ROCHELLE, The Buffalo Daily Courier [Buffalo, NY], Jan. 10, 1884, Vol. XLIX, No. 10, p. 1, col. 8.  

"PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND. . . .

On Tuesday night last, the station at Pelham Manor was broken into by thieves, entrance being gained by breaking out a window on the side facing the railroad track.  The depot is supplied with a burglar alarm, the wire of which runs to the residence of the station agent, Mr. Joseph English.  When he was aroused by the ringing, he notified Mr. Thomas D. DeWitt and another gentleman, and the three went to the depot.  On their approach, the burglars, of whom there were two, ran out and across the lots.  Mr. Dewitt called to them to stop, and fired several shots from a revolver, but the burglars returned the fire with compound interest, and made good their escape.  They only succeeded in getting a few cents from the depot.  On the same night, Hollweg's store, at New Rochelle. was broken open but nothing was stolen, and the night before, Ware & Sheffield's store and the Presbyterian Church were robbed."

Source:  PELHAM AND CITY ISLAND, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jan. 11, 1884, Vol. XV, No. 747, p. 3, cols. 3-4.  

"WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

NEW-ROCHELLE.  --  The Episcopal Church was entered yesterday morning by burglars and stripped of all the carpet.  Some vases of value were also taken.

PELHAM MANOR.  --  About one a.m. yesterday Mr. R. C. DeWitt, of Pelham Manor, was aroused by the ringing of his burglar alarm, which indicated that the depot of the New-York New-Haven and Hartford Railroad Company on the Harlem River Branch had been entered by burglars.  Mr. De Witt went to the station, armed with his revolver.  Then he discovered that a couple of burglars had forced their way through a small window into the ticket office.  He fired at them five times, and the robbers in returned fired shot for shot, without effect.  They made their escape from the building, followed by Mr. De Witt and some of his neighbors; but owing to the storm and darkness of the night all trace of them was soon lost.  They obtained only a small amount of money."

Source:  WESTCHESTER COUNTY, New-York Tribune, Jan. 10, 1884, Vol. XLIII, No. 13,570, p. 8, col. 4.  

"SERIES OF BURGLARIES. -- R. C. DeWitt, the station agent at the Pelham Manor station, on the Harlem River branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, was awakened from his sleep at about 1:30 o'clock Wednesday morning, by hearing his burglar alarm go off.  He ascertained at once that some one had entered the ticket office of the station.  Seizing his revolver, he went there and found two men in the ticket office.  When they saw him they ran.  He fired several shots after them, and with some neighbors, gave chase.  They returned shot for shot, and, aided by the darkness, succeeded in getting away.  About an hour later, burglars, probably the same fellows, tried to force an entrance into Jacob Holway's store, at New Rochelle, by cutting out a panel in a shutter and breaking a pane of glass, but had to desist.  They then broke into Wars & Sheffield's store, and stole some jewelry.  They next attacked Trinity Episcopal Church, stripped it of its carpets, and also carried away two valuable vases.  The people of New Rochelle are very much alarmed at these repeated burglaries."

Source:  SERIES OF BURGLARIES, The Yonkers Statesman [Yonkers, NY], Jan. 10, 1884, Vol. I, No. 50, p. 1, col. 4.

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Monday, March 13, 2017

Another Account of The Great Blizzard of 1888 that Raged in Pelham 129 Years Ago Yesterday and Today


As Pelham awaits Stella, the Nor'easter threatening to overrun the region tonight and tomorrow, it seems appropriate to remember that one hundred twenty nine years ago yesterday and today, Pelham was overrun by "The Great White Hurricane," also known as the "Blizzard of 1888."  As one Pelham resident wrote more than fifty years later, it "became one of the times from which things were dated.'  The blizzard's fury reached its height on March 12, 1888.

One of the most colorful stories about Pelham residents during The Blizzard of 1888 is one that could have ended in tragedy but, happily, did not.  Like thousands of other working men and women who awoke to nearly 10 inches of snow early in the morning on Monday, March 12, two Pelham residents failed to grasp the magnitude of the massive storm and tried to reach the City for work early that day.  

The two residents, Henry W. Taft and Alfred L. Hammett, clambered aboard the tiny little Harlem River Branch Line train that left Pelham Manor Depot at 7:37 a.m. Monday morning.  Little did they know the life-threatening risk they were taking. 

The tiny little train on which they traveled was so small it was called “the little peanut train”.  It consisted of a steam locomotive, a fire tender and two passenger cars.  At that early date there reportedly was no steam heating system for the passenger cars, so “the cars were heated by a stove at the end of each car.” 

After leaving Pelham Manor, the little train passed Bartow Station and Baychester Station (and its bridge) and made it to Westchester Station.  Just past Westchester Station, however, the tracks passed through a “cut” that had filled with drifting snow.  The train plowed into the deep snow drift until it began "to labor" and after a few "convulsive" thrusts, stopped dead in its tracks, unable to proceed.  Shovels were quickly deployed to attempt to remove snow from the front of the train, but the effort was futile.  The train was hopelessly stuck just as the storm entered its most furious phase, stranding the crew and the few passengers on board like those of so many other trains in the region. 

The furious winds blew tiny particles of through every crack around every window where the snow melted inside and dampened everything.  Soon the passengers and crew had depleted all available fuel for the little stoves that heated the cars.  Next they began to break up and burn the seats of the cars for additional warmth. 

The poor engineer of the train began to suffer "an agony of rheumatic pain" as the terrible hours slowly passed.  According to one account, his groans of pain began to mingle with the whistling of the wind.  As the day wore on and it became devastatingly clear that the storm was not subsiding and no help was coming, the passengers and crew were faced with a terrible conundrum.  Should the exit the train and head into the storm on foot to find shelter, or should they remain on board the little peanut train?  Either choice risked freezing to death.

Late in the day on Monday, March 12, it became apparent that they were on their own.   Messrs. Taft and Hammett of Pelham Manor decided to take matters into their own hands, concluding that “their only escape lay in an attempt to get back on foot through the drifts.”  They decided to exit the train and attempt to make their way in the blinding snow and high snow drifts back to Pelham Manor.  



Only Known Image of The Little Peanut Train on the Branch
Line Stuck in the Snow Near Westchester Station.  Photograph
Taken Several Days After the March 12-13, 1888 Blizzard.
Photo Courtesy of The Office of The Historian of The Town of
Pelham.  Note:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

At about 4:00 in the afternoon, Taft and Hammett pried open the door of the train car and climbed into the snow.  The pair began trying to follow the train tracks hidden beneath snow and drifts that stood face-high in some places.  They had to push through banks of snow and, occasionally, could not make out where the train tracks were, so they found the barb wire fences that stood along the tracks and used the wire to guide themselves along.  

After hours of effort, the pair reached the railroad bridge over Eastchester Bay at the mouth of the Hutchinson River.  There the railroad tracks rested on short pilings across the waters of the Bay.  Completely exposed to the elements, the howling wind and piercing pellets of ice and snow had the "impact of shot from a gun."  The high winds risked blowing the pair into the water below to certain death.  All the men could do was to hold onto the planking and the railroad cross-ties and crawl across the trestle, holding on for dear life.  During any lull in the wind, the men would spring to their feet and try to sprint along the cross-ties to "make the best use of that always short interval."

After exhausting efforts, the pair made it across Eastchester Bay and bulled their way along the tracks through the snow to Bartow Station.  Night had fallen and an ink-black darkness descended.  

At Bartow residents helped the men warm up and offered a horse to help.  Recognizing that a horse would be useless in the high snow banks and drifts, Taft and Hammett declined.  The two men were anxious to return to their families to allay worries and to help them pass through the remainder of the storm safely.  The two never even removed their outer garments at Bartow.  They simply warmed themselves, then plunged back outside along the railroad tracks to return to Pelham Manor.  

According to one account, as the men made their way between Bartow Station and Pelham Manor:

"The snow was deep all along and the drifts frequent and formidable.  The darkness was so nearly utter and total that these would not be discovered until all of a sudden a white wall, apparently sheer and insurmountable, would rise within a few inches of their faces.  How best to flank or surmount them was then the question.  Sometimes there was resort to the fence, and a hand over hand progress was made through them despite the wounding of the iron barbs.  Again those constantly recurring barriers were overcome by lying down and rolling over them!"

Late that evening, Taft and Hammett noticed a light in the distance.  That guiding light came from within the Pelham Manor Station along the railroad tracks near their homes.  They quickened their pace and stumbled to the station, onto the station platform, and toward their homes near the station.  Taft left Hammett in front of Hammett's home and, luckily, did not depart immediately.  Hammett stumbled and fell in the snow in front of his home and did not get up.  Taft helped him up and into the home before continuing to his house.  Hammett insisted for years thereafter that had Taft not helped him at that moment, he would have frozen to death in front of his own home after nearly completing his ordeal.

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I have written about The Great White Hurricane of 1888 and its effects on Pelham.  See:

Tues., Apr. 22, 2014:  Another Story of the "Great White Hurricane" that Struck Pelham and Surrounding Regions in 1888.

Thu., Mar. 13, 2014:  The Great Blizzard of 1888 in Pelham: 126 Years Ago Yesterday and Today.

Tue., Feb. 14, 2006:  An Account of the Blizzard of 1888 by Pelham Manor Resident Henry W. Taft

Thu., February 20, 2014:  Pelham Manor in 1883 and in its Early Years - Recollections of An Early Pelham Manor Resident.

Bell, Blake A., The Blizzard of 1888: Pelham in the Midst Of the "Great White Hurricane," The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 34, Aug. 27, 2004, p. 9, col. 1.

Below is yet another account of the travails of Messrs. Taft and Hammett as they fled the little peanut train for their homes at the height of the Blizzard of 1888.  The account is reprinted from The New York Evangelist.  This strongly suggests that the account was written by John Henry Dey, a Pelham Manor resident and close friend of Messrs. Taft and Hammett, who served as Associate Editor of The New York Evangelist at the time.  The text appears immediately below, followed by a citation and link to its source.

"A TALE OF THE BLIZZARD.
-----
A Graphic Account of the New York Snow Storm.

The following is taken from the New York Evangelist concerning the snow storm.  In speaking of being caught out the writer says:  

The writer only escaped a similar or worse experience by missing a train on the branch road extending from New Rochelle to the Harlem river, and which was quite out of time on that furious morning.  Three of his neighbors were at the station, however, and as in the case of the early bird, caught the passing worm.  And this was a subject of much felicitati on, as we are assured, for the next fifteen minutes or so.  But just on the hither, side of the Westchester station, their train and themselves encountered 'the unkindest cut of all.'  They left that station on time and cheerful, but ere they were fairly under way the locomotive began to labor, and presently after a convulsive effort or two, there was no more progress.  Shovels were used for a little, thereby enacting Mrs. Partington's broom against the tide; but even the track made in coming, was quickly obliterated, and the snow banked behind as well as before the train.  There were only a few passengers, but several of these spent two nights just there.  And miserable nights just there.  And miserable nights they were -- as miserable nights they were -- as miserable as deficient warmth and covering and food and a temperature without close to zero, could make them.  The fine snow particles sifted in at every window, so that at last there was not a dry seat in the single car to which they were confined in order to economize the fuel.  The engineer of the train was of the number, and poor fellow, he was in an agony of rheumatic pain all those terrible hours.  His groans mingled constantly the last night with the whistling of the wind.

Several soon became impatient to learn how their wives and little ones were faring in the waxing storm.  With such preparation as they could make, which was but little, they crowed open the door of their car, and sallied forth a little after four o'clock, resolved to make the four or five miles they had traversed so speedily and gaily in the morning, and over the same route, as on the whole, the best and safest.  It was a struggle from the start.  A hat blew off, and was secured with difficulty.  Their course was nearly in the teeth of the storm, and they could only average about a mile an hour.  They were not very long in coming to a stage of their journey entirely exposed to the force of the wind, and it seemed to come down upon them at times with a full fifty-mile an hour sweep and momentum.  We refer to the salt meadows section between Timberson's and Bay Chester stations, the level reach of which extends well toward Mount Vernon on the west, and on the east to the Sound, which it finds between the uplands of Westchester on the south and Fort Schuyler on the north.  This great level area is, at intervals of perhaps two or three years, and under pressure of a long prevalent and powerful wind in the right quarter, quite overflowed from the piled-up waters of the Sound, and turbulent as an arm of the sea.  The railroad track hence rests upon short piles, and one needs to walk with some circumspection upon it at any time.  On this terrible day the wind and snow played upon this bare scaffolding with something of the impact of shot from a gun, and there was nothing for it but for our two friends to seize the planking or crossties [sic] and cling for dear life until the lull came, and then to spring to their feet and make the best use of that always short interval.  Had it not been that nature herself seemed to require a moment to recover her spent breath, their case would have been hopeless.

Arrived at Bartow a short halt was made, and there were offers of a horse or any other assistance of avail.  But the only progress possible was by foot and so the last half of the journey was begun, with a little rest, but without removing outer garments.  Fairly on the rails again, or rather over them, this was found to be the most 'laborious and dangerous' part of the adventure.  The stations here are far apart and the grade steadily rises, so that the charged wind -- as sometimes the engineers on this best stretch of the road -- rejoiced to run a race.  Toiling on for an hour, the situation grew forlorn and desperate.  The cold increased, also the wind and snow, and it became very dark.  There was not a star or friendly light to guide, and but for the wire fencing on either hand, and the driving snow which impinged constantly on the ice-laded [sic] face and ear, when progress was being made in the right direction, our friends would inevitably have lost their way.  

The snow was deep all along and the drifts frequent and formidable.  The darkness was so nearly utter and total that these would not be discovered until all of a sudden a white wall, apparently sheer and insurmountable, would rise within a few inches of their faces.  How best to flank or surmount them was then the question.  Sometimes there was resort to the fence, and a hand over hand progress was made through them despite the wounding of the iron barbs.  Again those constantly recurring barriers were overcome by lying down and rolling over them!  A blessed suggestion from the contrasted sunny days of youth coming to the rescue!  Finally, after long hours of this work, and when strength and resolution were sorely tried, if not quite spent, the welcome, thrice welcome light of the Pelham Manor station was discerned at only a little distance off!  

That such a genuine Dakotan adventure as we have here sketched could have occurred on the afternoon and evening of Monday week and within the bounds for the most part of one of our projected city parks, who would have believed possible."

Source:  A TALE OF THE BLIZZARD -- A Graphic Account of the New York Snow Storm, Randolph Register [Randolph, NY], Mar. 29, 1888, Vol. XXIII, No. 45, p. 8, cols. 1-2.  

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Monday, January 09, 2017

More on the 1873 Construction and Opening of the New Haven Branch Line Through Pelham


The origins of the Village of Pelham Manor can be traced back to March 2, 1866, when a newspaper notice announced an intent to incorporate the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad.  The railroad was intended to run parallel (and close) to Long Island Sound to open up to development a vast section including the Pelham shoreline from Pelham Bridge to New Rochelle.

The Civil War had just ended and the nation was in the midst of a railroad investment bubble with investors pouring money into ill-conceived and vaporous businesses purporting to offer plans for laying a further web of railroad lines throughout the nation.  The backers of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad venture, however, were different.  They were wealthy men of means with the funds necessary to complete such a venture.  Indeed, one of the principal backers of the proposal was wealthy New York businessman and financier LeGrand Lockwood.

The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company immediately took notice.  The proposed railroad venture would compete directly with its New Haven Main Line.  More ominously for the New York, New Haven & Hartford, the proposed railroad would offer a second means of getting into and out of Manhattan, breaking the virtual monopoly of the New York, New Haven & Hartford.  The New Haven began watching developments involving the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad, while scheming and plotting about how to meet this potentially devastating competitive threat.  

The State Legislature granted a charter for the new railroad with the proviso that the new line be constructed within five years of the charter grant.  Work to assemble land on which a terminus with wharfage could be built along the Harlem river began immediately.  Within a short time, newspapers began running advertisements by landowners offering lots along the projected line of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad.  Everyone understood that the coming of the new railroad would open a vast region along Long Island Sound, including an area encompassed by today's Village of Pelham Manor, to suburban development.  Construction of the planned railroad did not proceed smoothly, however.  

Shortly before the infamous Black Friday gold panic on September 24, 1869, the financier behind the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad, LeGrand Lockwood, found himself in a terrible squeeze.  According to one account:

"Lockwood was a director of the New York Central Railroad and treasurer of the New York Stock Exchange.  In the summer of 1869, Jay Gould, attempting to create a railroad empire with a connection from New York City to the Pacific coast, negotiated with Lockwood, the treasurer and, according to author Kenneth D. Ackerman, the 'dominant figure' of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway.  'After hours of haggling over a dinner of oysters, wine and steak at Delmonico's late one August night,' Ackerman wrote, Gould came to an agreement with Lockwood that Gould's railroad would build a line into New York City for the narrow-gage cars used by Lockwood's company in return for westward connections. Lockwood agreed to the deal despite opposition from Vanderbilt, who was simultaneously trying to gain control of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern by electing proxies to the board of directors.  Learning of the deal, Vanderbilt launched a raid on Lakeshore's stock, which sank the price from $120 a share to $95 and put Lockwood in danger of personal bankruptcy.  Lockwood began making plans to scuttle the deal with Fiske.  He managed to sell his shares in Lakeshore to Vanderbilt for the bargain price of $10 million, turning over control of the company to him."

Source:  "LeGrand Lockwood" in Wikipedia -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited Dec. 31, 2016).  

As Black Friday ripened into a financial panic that caused financial devastation throughout the nation, LeGrand Lockwood watched his personal fortune slip away.  The directors of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company watched Lockwood's fortune slip away as well and seized the moment, acquiring rights to the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad from LeGrand Lockwood & Co.  An annual report issued by the directors of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company later said:

"Owing to the pecuniary embarrassments of that company growing out of the financial troubles of the fall of 1869, an opportunity was furnished your Company to take the control and management of this road, then in process of construction.  A considerable population, situated between New Rochelle and the Harlem River were without railroad facilities, and your Directors, after careful reflection, became fully convinced that unless these facilities were furnished by this Company, by means of the charter of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad, of which it had become possessed, that a railroad hostile to your interests would have been constructed by other parties, and would have been extended through to New Haven, thus forming a parallel and competing line for all the business between New York and New Haven."  [See below for citation and link to source.]

The New Haven stepped into the picture and took on the task of completing the construction of what came to be known as the Branch Line and the New Haven Branch Line.  Construction, however, proceeded very slowly, requiring extension of the original railroad charter that required completion of the railroad by 1871.

By the spring and summer of 1873, however, construction of the line was proceeding furiously.  

On July 17, 1873, the first passenger trip ever to pass over any portion of the then unfinished Harlem River and Portchester Railroad line took place.  Passengers were carried over a portion of the line to convey them to an auction of the old "Given Homestead" near Pelham Bridge.  See SALE OF THE "GIVEN HOMESTEAD," The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 18, 1873, p. 2, col. 4.  A brief newspaper article published July 25, 1873 described the first passenger trip on the Branch Line to bring prospective purchasers of lots near Pelham Bridge:

"THE SALE AT PELHAM BRIDGE.

The first passenger train which has ever passed over any part of the Harlem and Portchester Railroad, conveyed last week a large number of gentlemen who were anxious to purchase lots near Pelham Bridge.  The plot to be sold comprises 175 acres, and a portion of it borders on the southwest side of Pelham Bay, between the railroad bridge and the iron bridge.  One hundred and sixty one lots were sold at very high prices; those in good locations ranging from $350 to $250 a city lot, and the lowest on high ground selling for $110; while swamp lots sold at from $200 to $55 a city lot.  The details we gave last week."

Source:  THE SALE AT PELHAM BRIDGE, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 25, 1873, p. 1, col. 3.  

On November 26, 1873, the New Haven Branch Line opened to full passenger and freight service.  At about the same time, the Pelham Manor & Huguenot Heights Association began developing the area that would become Pelham Manor, thus allowing today's Village of Pelham Manor to trace its origins to the decision by LeGrand Lockwood in 1866, to charter the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad.



Detail from 1881 Map Showing the Path of the Branch Line
Through the Town of Pelham. Source: Bromley, G.W., "Town
Official Records by G.W. Bromley & Co." in Atlas of Westchester
County, New York, pp. 56-57 (Philadelphia, PA: G. W.
Bromley & Co., 1881). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.



Stock Certificate Issued to John Jacob Astor IV by The
Harlem River and Portchester Railroad Company in 1893.
NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.


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Below is the text of a series of articles that deal with the development of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"MOTT HAVEN.

HARLEM RIVER AND PORTCHESTER RAILROAD.

-- As the genial spring season advances increased activity is noticeable in the prosecution of that much needed enterprise, the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad, whose terminus at this place cannot fail to prove an important feature in its future growth and prosperity.  According to the original charter, granted in 1866, the road was to have been completed within five years from the passage of the act.  Since the failure of Mr. Legrand Lockwood, however, the work of construction has been progressing slowly.  The greatest portion of the strip of land, four rods wide, acquired for the road has been donated to the company by the adjoining property owners.  The road bed has been partially graded, some of the earth and rock cuttings having been done, and in some places culverts have been constructed under the embankments, and a few of the bridge abutments have also been built.  The proposed line of the road follows the shore of the East River, through a section of country which has for many years been enjoyed by wealthy families who are not obliged to visit the city daily to attend to business affairs; but could remain among the picturesque groves and inlets along the coast of the most beautiful of our American waters -- Long Island Sound fishing, shooting, yachting, &c.  The company have purchased for their terminus at the Harlem River a large tract of land, and have constructed along the river side a wharf some 900 feet in length, from which a line of ferry boats of great speed will convey such passengers as may prefer that route to the lower part of the city.  Freight will also be conveyed from the same wharf to any portion of New York, Brooklyn or Jersey City.  Branch tracks are to be laid to connect with the Harlem Railroad, whereby passengers can be conveyed to the Forty-second street depot without change of cars."

Source:  MOTT HAVEN -- HARLEM RIVER AND PORTCHESTER RAILROADThe Statesman [Yonkers, NY], Apr. 27, 1871, Vol. XVI, No. 793, p. 1, col. 2.  

"The New York, Westchester & Boston Railroad.

The President and Directors of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Company have awarded a contract to responsible parties for the construction of their road between the Harlem River and Portchester within a period of eighteen months.  The company have also purchased a plot of ground comprising 100 city lots having a front on Harlem River, for the southern terminus and depot of the road.  Nearly one-half of the right of way between the Harlem River and Portchester has already been secured.  The line will run on the east side of the village of Morrisania, and cross the Bronx River near Bucking's factory in the village of West Farms, thence northeasterly through the village of East Chester, Prospect Hill, New Rochelle, Chatsworth, Mamaroneck, and Rye to Portchester, where it will connect with the New York, Ridgefield and Danbury Railroad, again connecting at the last named place with the New York and Eastern Railroad to New Haven.  The Company contemplate the early construction of a branch of their road in the town of Morrisania, with its southern terminus at Port Morris.  Another branch from a point in the town of East Chester to Throgg's Neck, there to connect by ferry with the Flushing and Whitestone Railroad on Long Island.  A third branch will be constructed from a point near St. Paul's Episcopal church, East Chester, along the course of Hutchinson Creek, to a point near the village of White Plains, thence westerly to the Sawmill River near Hall's Corners, where it will connect with the New York, Boston & Montreal Railroad and its branches."

Source:  The New York, Westchester & Boston Railroad, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Mar. 22, 1873, p. 1, col. 2.  

"Superintendent Reed, of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, has had prepared plans for six new stations, to be located between New Rochelle and Harlem river, on the line of the Portchester and Harlem branch [sic].  They will be similar to those erected at Stratford and at other points on the line of the New York division.  Work on them will be commenced immediately.  The places at which they are to be located are at New Rochelle, some distance west of the village also one on the north side and one on the south side of Pelham Bay, one at Westchester, one at West Farms, one at Hunter's Point."

Source:  [Untitled], The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Jul. 25, 1873, p. 1, col. 2.  

"THE HARLEM RIVER AND PORTCHESTER RAILROAD.

This road being nearly completed, the Company advertise that they will put one million first mortgage bonds on the market on the first of October, which will pay seven per cent. interest, payable half yearly on the 1st of April and October.  The bonds have thirty years to run.  They will be in sums of $1,000 and $5,000, and will be coupon or registered bonds, at the option of the purchaser.  The payment of the principal and interest on these bonds will be guaranteed by the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company and such guarantee will be endorsed on each bond.  All proposals should state the denomination wanted and whether coupon or registered.  The coupon bonds will all be of $1,000 each.  The registered bonds of $1,000 and $5,000 each.  The latter will be transferable at any time on the books of the Company by the owner or his duly authorized attorney.

Five hundred tons of steel rails have just been received from Europe for the completion of the road.  Three construction trains and a large force of laborers are now employed on the work.  Both tracks, it is expected, will be laid and in running order by the 1st of October, by which time the alterations and improvement to the draw-bridge at Pelham Bay will also be completed.  It was at first contemplated to commence operations with a single track, and open the road by September 1st, but the recent determination to complete both tracks before opening the road will delay that event about one month.  A contract has been made by which the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company is to lease the road, and operate it in connection with its own lines.  This will enable the latter company to increase its freighting and other facilities, and will give it two entrances into the City of New York.  Loaded freight-cars can be transferred from it to other lines terminating at Jersey City, Hoboken or Long Island, thereby avoiding delay, expense and breakage of bulk.

The Company are improving their waterside property, near Harlem bridge, with all possible expedition, building an engine house, laying switches and side tracks, and making every preparation for an extensive traffic.  They are running an embankment into deep water for wharfage purposes, large quantities of dirt and garbage of every description being used for this purpose.  Outside the wharf there will be floatage at low water for the largest European steamers, and the company obviously expect an enormous business by the opening of Hell Gate."

Source:  THE HARLEM RIVER AND PORTCHESTER RAILROAD, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 22, 1873, p. 1, col. 4.  

"HARLEM RIVER AND PORTCHESTER RAILROAD.

This new railroad will afford the facilities of rapid communication with a section of Westchester County, hitherto comparatively inaccessible.  As it is approaching completion and a formal opening, the following information may prove of interest to those residing on the line, and having accession to any of the villages and hamlets through which it passes.

The lower terminus of the road is on the Westchester County side of the Harlem River, a short distance south of the Harlem Bridge, and opposite the Second avenue of New York, where the company has secured a valuable tract of land, having a frontage of more than a thousand feet along the river.

On the margin of the river a substantial dock nine hundred feet long has been constructed, and upon it a passenger and freight depot three hundred feet long and thirty feet wide, has been erected, and is now nearly finished.  It has spacious rooms provided with all the modern accommodations and conveniences for ladies and gentlemen.  Passengers will be able to leave the trains, pass through the depot to the steamers in the river, and vice versa, without exposure.  A commodious engine house and car-shed for the protection of locomotives and cars have been erected on the premises.  The grounds, which are quite extensive, will shortly be covered with tracks arranged for the inward and outward bound passenger and freight trains.  It is intended to transfer the freight cars from the road to barges or steamers, and thence to other railroads without breaking bulk, thereby saving time and expense.

A short time ago the construction of the road was placed under the supervision of Mr. H. G. Scofield as Chief Engineer, assisted by Mr. William O. Seymour, by whom the work has been vigorously pushed almost to completion.  The whole length of the new railroad from Harlem River to its junction with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad at New Rochelle, is 12 1-4 miles; while the distance between the Harlem River and New Rochelle by the present route, via Williams Bridge and Mount Vernon is 12 3-4 miles.

Both tracks of the new road are laid the entire length; and the only impediment to the immediate opening of the line is at the bridge across Pelham Bay.  The centre pier will be completed on or before the close of the present week, when the draw will be replaced in position; and it is authoritatively stated that the road will certainly be opened for public travel by the 15th of next month, after an elapse of four years after the franchise and property came into the possession of the present company shortly after the failure of Le Grand, Lockwood and Co., by the events of the memorable Black Friday in 1869.

The road has been built in the most thorough and substantial manner, double track steel rails with broked [sic] stone ballast, at a cost of upwards of $2000,000 [sic].

It is probable that commuters on the New Haven Railroad will have an opportunity of using either route to and from the city, at a very slight advance on the present rates.  Local fares on the new road, will be about three cents per mile.

Negotiations are now in progress with one of the steamboat lines, for the transportation of passengers and freight between the depot at North New York, north side of the Harlem River, and the lower part of the city.

The first station above the Harlem River dock, will be between 135th and 136th streets, and known as Port Morris station, a distance of one and one fifth of a mile.

The second station will be at the intersection of the railroad with Hunts Point road, one mile and two thirds above Port Morris station, and will be known as Hunt's Point station.

The third station est of the Harlem River, will be at the Town of Westchester, opposite the village of West Farms, one mile and a quarter above Hunt's Point, and will be known as West Farms station.

The fourth station will be in the village of Westchester, one mile and one third east of the West Farms depot, and will be known as the Westchester station.  

The fifth station will be in the town of Westchester, two miles east of the village of that name, and will be known as the Baychester station.  

The sixth station will be in the town of Pelham, opposite City Island road, one mile east of Baychester, and will be known as Barton [sic] station.

The seventh station east of Harlem River, will also be in the town of Pelham, one mile and a half above Barton [sic], and two miles below New Rochelle; and will be known as Pelham Manor station.

The new railroad will be operated by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, under a lease from the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad Company.  It will be designated as the Harlem River Branch of the New Haven Railroad."

Source:  HARLEM RIVER AND PORTCHESTER RAILROAD, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Oct. 31, 1873, p. 1, col. 3.

"REPORT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NEW YORK NEW HAVEN & HARTFORD RAILROAD COMPANY.

The following report will be submitted at the annual meeting to be held in the city of New Haven, on Wednesday, January 14th, 1874.

The directors of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company respectfully submit the following report of the business and condition of the company for the fiscal year terminating September 30th, 1873. . . . 

[Portions of Report Omitted from this Transcription]

During the year 1869 the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad Company entered upon the construction of a parallel and competing line of railroad, with the intention of opening up a new route between New York City and New Haven.  They had become possessed of all the necessary legislative authority required in the State of New York and would, beyond doubt, have soon been able to obtain like authority within the State of Connecticut.  This enterprise was then in the hands of prominent and wealthy parties.  Owing to the pecuniary embarrassments of that company growing out of the financial troubles of the fall of 1869, an opportunity was furnished your Company to take the control and management of this road, then in process of construction.  A considerable population, situated between New Rochelle and the Harlem River were without railroad facilities, and your Directors, after careful reflection, became fully convinced that unless these facilities were furnished by this Company, by means of the charter of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad, of which it had become possessed, that a railroad hostile to your interests would have been constructed by other parties, and would have been extended through to New Haven, thus forming a parallel and competing line for all the business between New York and New Haven.  The ease with which the bonds of purely speculative railroads were then negotiated, and the facility with which towns and cities, through the flattering exhibits and zealous efforts of contractors and speculators could be persuaded to lend their financial aid to almost any new railroad scheme, satisfied your Directors that it was their duty, in the interests of the stockholders of your Company, to proceed with the construction of that part of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad between Harlem River and New Rochelle, which is the only section of country, through which the contemplated opposition road was to pass, that was not already supplied with the very best of railroad facilities.  For these reasons arrangements were made with the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad Company, by which this Company should advance the necessary means to construct a first-class double-track road, with steel rails, from the Harlem River to New Rochelle, and there to connect with the tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company.  This road is now completed, and trains commenced running over it on the 26th day of November last.

This Company has taken a perpetual lease of the road, at a rent which is to be equal to 7 per cent. interest upon its cost.  The cost of the road, with the real estate and extensive wharves and water-rights on the Harlem and East Rivers, up to the 30th of September last, was about $2,000,000.

It will require an additional outlay for barges, steam-tugs, &c., to make the new road available as a route for freight between New York City and stations on the main line.  Your Directors have no reason to expect that this new road will earn more than enough to pay its running expenses for some time to come, and that it will be several years before it can earn sufficient beyond its operating expenses to meet the interest upon its cost.  It will be seen therefore, that the road was not constructed with the idea that it would prove, for the present, a source of profit to the old line, but for the purpose of preventing the construction of an opposition line, which, though reasonably certain to become bankrupt, would still have resulted in depriving the old line of all profits upon its business for many years to come.

The new road, however, will enable the Company to increase its freighting business between New York and stations on the main line, which could not well be done with only the former entrance into New York.  

We have now the shortest and best practical railroad route between New Haven and New York city, with two lines of entrance into the latter city.

But, notwithstanding this, certain adventurers and speculators are at this time organizing another corporation for the purpose of constructing an additional road between New York City and New Haven, within an average distance of one-half of a mile of the present road.  As the execution of this scheme must depend upon the negotiation of bonds to an amount sufficient to cover the cost of the road, and as such a road, if constructed, could by no possibility earn sufficient to cover the cost of the road, and as such a road, if constructed, could by no possibility earn sufficient to pay its operating expenses, it is hardly reasonable to suppose that persons either in this country or in Europe who have money to invest, will, after the lessons taught by the recent financial troubles, risk their capital in an enterprise of this kind, which excels in absurdity any railroad scheme whose worthless bonds have ever been foisted upon a credulous public.

The money used for the construction of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad has been advanced by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company.  It is the purpose of your Directors to reimburse the treasury for these advances by the avails of $2,000,000 of the first mortgage bonds of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad Company, guaranteed principal and interest by this Company.  These bonds are dated October 1st, 1873, bear 7 per cent. interest, are payable 30 years from date, and issued as coupon or registered bonds, at the option of the purchaser.

Your Directors with confidence recommend them to stockholders of this Company and others seeking investments, as one of the very best securities in the country. . . . [remainder of report omitted from this transcription]."

Source:  REPORT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NEW YORK NEW HAVEN & HARTFORD RAILROAD COMPANY, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Dec. 26, 1873, p. 2, cols. 2-4.  

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I have written before about the furious efforts to construct the New Haven Branch Line in the early 1870s.  For a few examples, see:

Wed., Aug. 03, 2005:  Early Reports Relating to Construction of the Branch Line (Part I)

Thu., Aug. 04, 2005:  Early Reports Relating to Construction of the Branch Line (Part II)

Wed., May 09, 2007:  1870 Meeting of Residents of Pelham and Surrounding Areas To Encourage Construction of the Branch Line.

Tue., Sep. 04, 2007:  Construction of the New Haven Branch Line in 1873.

Wed., Sep. 05, 2007:  More About the Opening of the Harlem and Portchester Railroad Line Through Pelham in 1873

Fri., Feb. 20, 2009:  Train Schedule for the New Haven Branch Line Through Pelham Manor in April 1886.

Wed., Aug. 06, 2014:  Important Report of the Opening of the Branch Line Through the Manor of Pelham in November 1873.

Mon., Aug. 15, 2016:  More on the Construction and Opening of the Harlem River and Portchester Railroad Through Pelham in 1873.

Thu., Jan. 05, 2017:  Achieving the Impossible in 1873: Lifting the 160-Ton Draw of the Branch Line Bridge Across Eastchester Bay.

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