Early Railroading In N. C.
There'* quite si bit of contrast in railroail-
inj* today and uliat if was almost a century
ago. People in fliose days weren't exactly
friendly to trains and t»n£ines.
IF you want to dig up some fasci¬
nating Arabian-Nights tales of
by-gone days in North Carolina,
1 know of no better way than to
dig deep into the history of rail¬
road construction in the state.
Recently. 1 came across a history
of the development of some of the
predecessors of our present rail¬
ways. I glanced over it hurriedly,
expecting to find it dull reading,
but to my surprise. I found that
it contained some very interesting
and entertaining facts about con¬
ditions in the early days of North
Carolina’s history.
Today, it is a proven fact, so
experiments show, that cows will
give more milk when "milked to
music" — soft, alluring music. But
it is hard to conceive of a time
when trains were such a rarity in
the state that they so frightened
the cows and chickens that the
cows refused to give milk and the
chicken refused to lay.
Quite a Bit of Opposition
That is just what happened
when construction was first started
on the first railroad to be chartered
in North Carolina the Raleigh and
Gaston. And did the farmers set
up a howl! Not only did the roar
of the trains throw the cows and
chickens into a panic but the sparks
set fire to their hay stacks.
The railroad was to operate be¬
tween Raleigh and Gaston, now
Thelma, and was to go by War-
renton. When the engineers got
to the vicinity of Warrenton, they
found the plantation owners greet¬
ing them with turkey rifles. "No
railroads are coming through here
to frighten our pickaninnies half
to death." they indignantly pro¬
tested. And with pickaninnies
selling for $450 apiece, you could
hardly blame them. The engi¬
neers were forced to give in and
to change the course of the road.
It took five years to complete the
85-mile stretch as these were only
a few of the problems that con¬
fronted early railroad develop¬
ment in the state.
Recently, there was found at the
Seaboard station at Thelma a
ledger sheet of the old hotel at
By MAJEL IVEY SEAY
Gaston. These papers, yellowed
and brittle with age. contained the
following unusual items:
“Gaston. Tuesday. 31st March,
1840
Raleigh and Gaston Railway Co.,
Dr.
Mail. Engr. Cap.. Trainhand,
each breakfast and dinner,
6 meals . 75
Extra engineer and fireman,
each breakfast . . .25
Petersburg Railway Company. Dr.
Mail. 1 Engineer. 1 Captain.
1 Fireman. 1 Trainhand,
each dinner, supper, break¬
fast and two lodgings. 14
meals . $1.38
Extra 1 Engineer, supper,
lodging and breakfast . . .38
Mr. Styles. 3 drinks . 19
Mr. Myers. 5 drinks. 1 Do,
1 Do. 4 Do (a 4
«2 //
. 49
2 pints brandy and bottles . 50
Old files of the Seaboard Rail¬
way show that in 1873, there
thrived several paper mills at
Wake Forest and Neuse. N. C.
These mills, which no doubt used
rags, are now extinct. Another old
North Carolina industry about
which little is now known, was
the manufacture of pig iron at
Locksville, now Moncure.
Coal from the present Cum-
mock coal fields was used at Locks¬
ville in the manufacture of car
wheels from the ore deposits at
Ore Hill. N. C. Much of the Locks¬
ville pig iron was shipped to
Wilmington. Delaware.
The beginning of North Caro¬
lina’s fame as a winter resort had
its origin at this time, with the
opening of the first "Winter Hotel"
at Kittrell. according to old rail¬
road files. This hotel was a popular
rendezvous; fox hunting, horse¬
back riding, squirrel shooting and
other sports being among the
amusements offered guests.
A Decided Contrast
What a contrast the present-day
air conditioned and streamlined
trains operating on heavy rails
present when compared with our
pioneer trains! I have before me a
picture of the "Raleigh." the first
locomotive of the Portsmouth and
Roanoke Railroad — a queer-looking
contraption with a high smoke¬
stack in front and with four enor¬
mous wheels. This engine was
imported from England.
Wooden tracks were used in¬
stead of steel ones and six miles
an hour was considered a reckless
rate of speed. Trains were not
allowed to run at night.
It was almost taking one’s life
in one’s hands to ride on one of
these pioneer trains. Sometimes
the end of the rail would become
loose and be jammed up into the
coach. Several accidents and
deaths due to this cause occurred
before the flat iron rail was re¬
placed by the modern type.
One of the greatest celebrations
ever to be held in Raleigh was
when the first locomotive of the
Raleigh and Gaston entered the
Capital City. When the capitol
building was finished. Raleigh and
Wilmington had a joint 3-day
celebration in Raleigh, one of the
most elaborate in the history of
the state up to that time.
It was comparatively easy to
construct a railroad on level land
but when building one even as far
west as Greensboro was suggested,
engineers shook their heads, be¬
lieving it impossible. It was finally
attempted, although it was 1876
before the first railroad scaled the
Blue Ridge.
Probably the most remarkable
feat of engineering was made in
1881 when the state built a railroad
running from Salisbury to the
mountains by way of Morganton.
This railroad followed the old
turnpike past Old Fort. Tunneling
through the Blue Ridge, it swept
on down the Swannanoa Valley to
Biltmore and on to Asheville,
bringing regular transportation
facilities to the mountains.
The development of North Caro¬
lina is inseparably linked with
railroad construction. This does
not pretend to be a history of that
contruction but some of the for¬
gotten events revealed by some of
the old files of our early railroads.
io
THE STATE. Apbil. 26. 1947