Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/74

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES in 5pitc o f xht engineer's report tltc canal commissioners favored the Sunbury terminus, one of their number, (jcn. Daniel Montgomery', being partkuU rly active in Sunbury*s support. On February 7, 1829, a meeting was held at the home 01 Christian A . Brobst (a son of Christian Brobst), Catawissa, to "protest against the activity o f said Gen. Daniel Montgofncr>% he l>cing a canal commissioner, in furthering Sunbur)’’s claims as a terminal against the report of the engineer in favor of Catawissa.'* Mr. Brobst was cliosen presi­ dent of the meeting aud Joseph B ax ton and D r. Isaac Pickering, secretaries. A committee w as apDointcd to see that the Catawissa route got a fair show, the committee to attend the meeting of the canal commission at H arris­ burg. The committee was as follow s: Col. Joseph Paxton, William M cK elvy, Joseph Ifrobst (a son o f Christian), Dr. Harman GcarItart and Dr. Isaac I dickering. ^rhc project of the State building the rail­ road fc I through, but the Catawissians did not g ive up the idea, but turned 10 Philadelphia capitalists and business men wttli whom they had btisiness connections. T w o years later they succeeded In interesting Philadelphia capi­ tal and the Little Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad Company w as formed. In the charter granted by the Legislature on M arch 2 t, 18 3 1, Charles Sidney Coxe, George Troutman, Thom as Reeves, J r ., Rob­ ert & r p, Nathan Smith and George W. Tryon, o f Philadelphia; George D cB. Keim and M athias S. Richards, o f Reading, Berks county: William Audenreid, Kurd Patterson, o f Pottsville, Schuylkill county; Christian Brobst and Joseph Paxton, o f Catawissa, Columbia county; and Wm. M cE lw y (M eK c iv y ) and Rbenczcr Daniel, of Bloomsburg, Columbia county, wore appointed commission­ ers to open books for stock subscriptions. B y 18 35 sufficient money had been raised by stock su1>scriptions and the financial support of a Philadelphia bank (either the Bank o f North Am erica or the I^ n k of the United States) to start the work. One provision of the charter w as "that the said road shall not be more than four rods wide, and shall not pass through any buryingground, or place of public worship, or any dwclting-housc, without the consent of the owner thereof, or any outbuildings of the value of three hundred dollars, without such con­ sent.” Edward M iller was ai)poinlc his granddaughter, M iss Alvarctta Fortner, e x t e n d i down to Catawissa creek. The sur­ vey began at the west line of the Fortner prop­ erty. Chief Engineer M iller built the house known as the ''M onroe I m>u s c " at (he com er o f Sec­ ond and South streets, and the office of the company was located there. T he property is now owned by O liver Miller, o f Aristcs. 'I he work coiumuvd during 1835-30-37-38, (he right o f way being secured, the grading completed and the bndgcs erected, the line ending at what w*as later known as the Lehigh Valley switchback, below R yan’s tunnel, at the foot o f an inclined plane starting midway be­ tween l.o fty and Ryan's tunnel and ending half a mile below in the Quakake valley, where the W ilkes-Barre turnpike crosses the Little Schuylkill river. It w as the intention to con­ tinue the line through (he Quakake valley to PhiLidcIphia. The grade of the plane w as 10 feet 9 inches, to the one li und red feet. The bridges were wooden lattice-work, the timber being sawed by sawmills set up on the ground. Not a bolt or spike w as used in any of the bridges, the fram ework being put to­ gether with w c ^ e n pins. Not a rail was laid on the right o f way, how­ ever, though a quantity had been p re p a r^ and stored at the foot of the inclined plane. The stringers were sawed out o f logs to a suitable size and a strap rail o f iron nailed on the top. T he old plane, graded in 1838, is plainly tracea­ ble today from the trains passing (hat point on the Reading. A locomotive was built in England fo r the Little Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad Com­ pany, but w as never used as no track had been laid. It was stored at Philadelphia until the Catawissa, Williamsport & E ric Railroad was built, it weighed about fifteen tons and was called the "Cataw issa,” and w as about the size o f one of the little "dinkeys” used in later years by superintendents. It was never run practically, except on the C . W . & E . Railroad, where it w as used for a short time to haul the officials Over the road, having been first overtiauled hy H arry Ciayion, o f Tamaqua. master mechanic of the Little Schuylkill railroad. In 1838 the bank that had financed the road failed and the work stopped, not to be resutneil until 1853, when it was taken up by a new conioration. the Catawissa, Williamsport & E ric Railroad Company, chartered in 1850, which tcxik over the property of the Little 5 khuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad Company,