Page:Vincent F. Seyfried - The Long Island Rail Road A Comprehensive History - Vol. 2 (1963).pdf/53

 The Flushing R. R. Goes Down Hill intervals of engines that simply broke down and died somewhere along the line, leaving the passengers to shift for themselves. One of the engineers of the road was quizzed about the frequency of these failures and he gave it as his opinion that the road's locomotives were "worn out and past all redemption." When it became apparent that the road might have to shut down altogether, President Ebbitt and his superintendent managed to secured a third-hand locomotive called the Uncle Tom in April 1866.

Even in the face of monumental handicaps, some progress was made on the road during these trying days. In May 1865 the road renewed the lease of the Fulton Market Slip for another five years, as had been done since 1855. At the same time one new boat appeared in service at the ferries, making possible half-hourly communication with New York. The fare was 4¢. The East River Ferry Co. was building a new and enlarged ferry house at the foot of East Thirty-fourth Street with two boat slips and the luxury of ladies' saloons. It also bought a Civil War suplussurplus [sic] gunboat from the government for $18,500 and had it extensively rebuilt by the firm's engineer, after which it went into service as the ferryboat Huntington.

In Flushing village the railroad lost no time in putting up a replacement depot in January and February 1865. In mid-March 1865 the whole road was shut down altogether for a week in order to overhaul the roadbed drastically and make major repairs to the trestlework. It was felt that this could best be done if all service on the road ceased, and for the first time in eleven years, no trains ran. In November 1865 a similar shutdown was imposed on all freight shipments, but by the end of the month the road appointed a freight agent and organized a separate freight agency to handle goods.

In July 1865 the road received its first favorable press notices in three or four years when it graciously donated free transportation to the returning heroes of Flushing's Civil War battalion, commanded by Colonel Roemer.

The advent of the year 1866 brought with it visible evidence of the Flushing R.R.'s struggle to improve itself. Flushing villagers hesitatingly congratulated themselves upon the greatly improved regularity of the trains. Even more incredible was the arrival in July 1866 of several new and handsome passenger