USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > The story of Bridgeport > Part 7
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The others listened to him in silence. They too, wondered about this railroad business. It was all very well for young Alfred Bishop to paint glowing pictures of what it would mean to Bridgeport, but then he was looking at it from the business end; besides he wasn't even a Bridgeporter-at least not till lately.
"I think Zeb's right," spoke up Jud House with his long drawl and his corncob pipe over one ear where one might expect to find a whisp of hay. "If that thing comes through here it's going to mean a lot of changes. Won't need the hosses anymore; won't need hay and oats; like as not the hens won't lay as I hear the noise is terrible. Guess it means the end of us farmers."
"May mean the end of all of us," put in Zeb darkly. "Those young inventors are crazy and they're drivin' others crazy with them. This country's going to perdition, that's what. The young lads not satisfied with the good old stage coach eh? Anybody ever get killed in a stage coach? Ever get burned to death with flying sparks? No sir! They're safe and trusty as clockwork. I'm telling you Providence never intended man to travel at such outrageous speed!"
In the light of modern knowledge, such an attitude as these Bridgeporters held in 1836 sounds hardly
believable. Yet it was typical of the times. In England, just a few years previous, one of the fore- most men of the times had said:
"Carriages could not go at anything like the con- templated speed; if driven to it, the wheels would merely spin on their axles and the carriages would stand stock still," while an English periodical stated:
"What can be more palpably absurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives traveling
JESSO MENTON
CRACKERS
twice as fast as stage coaches . . . . ? We trust that Parliament will, in all railways it may sanction, limit the speed to eight or nine miles an hour, which we entirely agree with Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on with safety."
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WHAT A LAUGH!
Some of the learned minds in America were as hind-sighted. The "Boston Courier" under date of June 27, 1827, said in an editorial :
"The project of a railroad from Boston to Albany is impracticable, as every one knows, who knows the simplest rule of arithmetic, and the expense would be little less than the market value of the whole territory of Massachusetts; and which, if practicable, every person of common sense knows would be as useless as a railroad from Boston to the moon."
Captain Basil Hall rode by stage coach in 1829 over the present route of the Boston and Albany railroad. He described the hills, ravines and rivers and said:
"Those Yankees talk of constructing a railroad over this route; as a practical engineer, I pronounce it simply impossible!"
But "those Yankees" did construct a railroad from Boston to Albany as we well know today; and they constructed other railroads through New England in the face of ridicule, misgivings and mulish opposition.
Not only were the farmers and the cracker barrel orators against the railroads but many of the small business men also. Even the ministers viewed the new venture with skepticism, especially those who looked with disfavor on Sunday traveling. One even suggested from the pulpit that it might be a good idea to keep a list of all those who transgressed by traveling on Sunday and to publish the same to the shame of all concerned. Another reminded its pewholders that "Sunday travelers are generally not happy men" and suggested that "a Sabbath keeping Rail-Road establishment" would be "an honor to New England."
But the Connecticut obstacle hurdlers went ahead with their ideas and theories nevertheless, and the year 1835 saw the hatching of a plan for a railroad from the Massachusetts line to the Connecticut shoreline.
Two days before Christmas, December 23rd, 1835, there gathered in Kent a little group of men com- posed of "delegates representing the towns on and near the contemplated route for a railroad from Danbury through and along the valley of the Housatonic to Stockbridge, Mass."
In the winter of 1835-36, a survey was made from Danbury north to the Massachusetts state line. In
May, 1836, Enoch Foote, William Peet, W. C. Sterling of Bridgeport, and others, were granted incorporation papers by the state legislature under the name "Ousatonic Rail Road Company" and granted a charter with permission to build a road from the north line of the state of Connecticut south -- "to Bridgeport, to New York state line in the town of Ridgefield, or to the Fairfield county railroad."
TURNPIKE COMPANIES HOWL
Immediately a howl went up from the turnpike companies, especially those whose roads would parallel the new line. They remonstrated loudly against the injustice that would be done them by the granting of railroad charters. Owners of stock in, and the officers of, the great turnpike companies which terminated in Bridgeport and which had been the feeders of the city's trade and commerce for a quarter of a century, fought tooth and nail against the chartering of the Housatonic railroad which would drain the country from which they derived their support and in the end, kill their business. These parties represented in petitions to the legisla- ture, drawn up by the best lawyers in the county, that they had chartered and vested rights which were threatened with destruction, but which the state was in honor bound to respect. They pointed out that they had invested large sums of money in the building and improvement and repair of the great turnpike roads and that stock in the chartered companies was owned in many instances by widows and orphans and held in trust for other dependent persons, "whose all was imperilled by the railroad proposed."
Disregarding for the moment, the widows and orphans, brought into the argument to sound a sad and pathetic note, there was some understandable ground for the complaint of the turnpike companies.
Fifty years before, roads in towns, out of towns and between towns, were for the most part in terrible condition. The villages were supposed to keep their own roads in repair and to that end were allowed to levy a highway tax. But the towns and villages were poor; most of the voters paid their tax in labor and there was little money spent on the highways.
To rectify this situation, the General Assembly in 1792 took from the control of the towns, certain main highways leading from one large community to another, and authorized the erection upon the roads of gates at which it was lawful to collect toll
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from travelers, the money thus collected to be used exclusively for the improvement of the highways. This arrangement was satisfactory to the towns as it freed them of the necessity of extra highway expense.
The first turnpike of direct interest to the village of Newfield was that operated by the Stratford and Weston Turnpike Co. which was incorporated at the October session of the General Assembly in 1797. This touched the present Brooklawn Avenue.
Following this, came the Bridgeport and Newtown Turnpike Company (October 1801) then the Newtown to Norwalk turnpike, the Monroe to Black Rock turnpike, and in May 1828, the Huntington turnpike which ran from the center of Huntington to Bridgeport.
The only other turnpike company with a road entering the city of Bridgeport was incorporated by the General Assembly at its May session of 1832. This was known as the Black Rock and Weston Turnpike Company.
The turnpike companies worked the highways, kept them in repair and collected toll upon them to pay for the repairs. They were chartered by the state. Large sums were invested in these enterprises and as most of the travel of the times passed over them, they were profitable investments.
Thus it was not surprising that, when the possi- bility of a railroad took shape on the Bridgeport horizon, that the turnpike companies should fight the issue with all their resources. Although such resources were ample, the turnpike companies lost the fight.
HOUSATONIC RAILROAD
It will be seen that the Housatonic railroad charter, granted by the state legislature, allowed a choice of three terminals. Bridgeporters, at least the more progressive citizens, were anxious that the road should terminate here. They saw that the road would bring to Bridgeport, the trade of the Housa- tonic Valley; more, eventually, the road might even extend to New York, there to open up a whole new field of business.
Leader of the progressive group was Alfred Bishop, lately of New Jersey. Young Bishop, though not a Bridgeporter, was a Connecticut man. Born in Danbury, he had gone at an early age to New Jersey to farm, but farming did not hold his interest
and he turned his attention to canal construction.
Bishop saw great possibilities in railroading and the dawn of the railroad era in this state brought him home. The year 1836 found Bishop in Bridgeport, the most persistent figure in the move to locate the terminal of the Housatonic railroad in this city.
Now, in order for the railroad to terminate in Bridgeport, it was necessary that a considerable amount of stock should be sold here. After indi- viduals had bought their utmost, enough money was not secured. Funds were urgently needed. One historian has suggested that this necessity for more money was one of the chief reasons for organizing the borough of Bridgeport into a city. Whether or not this was true is not known. It is known, how- ever, that on March 2, 1837, just a short time after its incorporation as a city, Bridgeport passed a resolution which pledged the aid of the city to the new railroad company, to the extent of $100,000. This sum was afterwards increased to $150,000. Bonds were issued and sold for the raising of the money.
So far so good. A contract to build the road was made with Messrs. Bishop and Sykes and work was commenced July, 1837, about 300 men being employed by the contractors. It was planned to build the road from the Massachusetts line (south side of the town of Sheffield) the road to follow down the Housatonic Valley as far as New Milford, thence along the Still River Valley as far as Brookfield, thence along the Pequonnock River Valley to Bridgeport.
No sooner was the road commenced than financial difficulties arose. Owing to the panic of 1837, which caused nearly all banks and moneyed institutions in the country to suspend specie payments, subscrip- tions for stock were not paid as rapidly as had been anticipated and progress of the road was delayed.
Worse, the city was now faced with a debt of $150,000, the interest on which was accumulating. The city had made no provision for payment of the same, and the citizens were called on to pay interest on these bonds. This was next to an impossibility for many, in such circumstances as were some of the Bridgeporters. Many moved from the city to escape the tax levy for these payments and others openly declared their resistance. The question was carried into the courts, and in every instance the courts found against the city. It was not until 1856 that a
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sinking fund was established which enabled the city to eventually free itself from the burden.
CITY CELEBRATES
But to return to the building of the railroad. By February, 1840, the southern division of the road from Bridgeport to New Milford was opened. An old account tells us that :
"The Housatonic Railroad was opened by an excursion train from Bridgeport to New Milford February 11, 1840. The people came from all parts of the country and waited until late in the afternoon, on a cold winter's day, and some went home before the train came; but finally it made its appearance to the great pleasure of the interested multitude. In
floor of the car. It was customary in those days for each engine to carry a man with a sledge hammer. He watched the track and when he spied a spike sticking up, reached down and drove it home. Some of the trains also carried brushes before, one hanging over each front wheel, to keep the tracks clean.
There were other things to "annoy" the passengers. The comparatively tiny little engines, with their huge wood burning chimneys, spattered sparks over the riders, and fires were frequent. The coaches, patterned at first after the regular stage coaches, were hard and uncomfortable, without springs, just fastened on flat boards. Smoke, sparks, dust and jolts were the regular routine until the passenger reached the station when he was practically flung to
THE "MIDNIGHT EXPRESS" The above is the "New Milford" one of the early trains running on the Housatonic railroad. Pine knots were first used as fuel to stoke the engines. Courtesy of C. B. Burr of Ansonia.
the expression of the appreciation of the event, the church bells were rung with much earnestness, and the old cannon, located on the rocks then south of the village houses, poured forth its thunder of welcome to the screaming railroad steam engine- whistle."
The remaining portion of the road, from New Milford north, was opened December 1, 1842.
Much annoyance was caused by the original track which consisted of iron straps fastened with spikes to wooden sills. The spikes often became loose when the weight of the passing train caused them to curl up into "snake heads."
Sometimes these "snake heads" poked through the
the platform by the force of the stop. Brake power in the beginning was supplied in the form of either a hand or foot brake and stops were anything but gentle. A more primitive type of brake was in vogue in certain sections for many years. When the engineer reached the station, he opened his safety valve and several strong porters would seize the end of the train and hold it back while the station agent thrust sticks of wood through the wheel spokes.
Peleg Bronson of Bridgeport was one of the early engineers of whom we have record. An old script states that Peleg commenced work for the Housatonic in December, 1843, "at the age of 17 years, under R. B. Lacey, local agent at Bridgeport and acting
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THF STORY F BRIDGEPORT
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assistant superintendent. He first assisted at the freight station in handling freight, etc., but soon was given employment on a locomotive as wood passer and oiler. From that position he worked up to engineer which he occupied for many years."
TRAIN OFTEN UNRAVELED
Accidents were many on the early railroads. The clumsy locomotives often broke down and horses and oxen had to be impressed to drag the cars to the nearest station and repair shop. Sometimes the engineer "lost" part of the train when it became un- hitched. For this reason, crooked roads were popular. Then the conductor could look back and "see if everything was alright."
In the year 1844, an act of incorporation was passed by the Connecticut Legislature which gave a company organized by Joseph Sheffield of New Haven and Anson Phelps of New York and others, permission to build a railroad from New Haven to the western boundary of the state.
Two years later, May 11, 1846, the legislature of the state of New York granted the company composed of these same persons permission to extend their proposed railroad from the Connecticut line to connect with the Harlem road at Williamsbridge, New York. A contract was signed October 27, 1846, for the building of a road from the depot of the Hartford and New Haven railroad in the city of New Haven to Williamsbridge. Work was to be commenced December 1, 1846.
Trains were running from Bridgeport to Fairfield by September 2, 1848, but it was not until January 1, 1849 that the road was open for travel over its entire length. The fare from Bridgeport to New York at that time was one dollar.
Alfred Bishop, mainly responsible for the building of the Housatonic railroad, led the movement for the Naugatuck Railroad, for which a charter was granted in 1845. This road ran from Bridgeport to Winsted, being completed to the latter town, September 24, 1845.
In the summer of 1872, a consolidation of the New York and New Haven, and the Hartford and New Haven roads was effected. The new title, New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company was coined at the time of incorporation of this new company, August 6, 1872.
The present company is the result of the combina-
tion by purchase, merger, consolidation and lease of 203 smaller constituent lines, covering practically the whole of southern New England. Through ownership of various subsidiary companies, either in whole or in part, the company also furnishes steam- boat, trolley, and highway motor service in the same territory.
From the date of the incorporation of this com- pany, there were frequent additions until finally its rail lines, either owned or leased, formed a veritable network through Connecticut, Rhode Island, and
THE RAILROAD DEPOT IN 1897
Back in the old days when the railroad tracks ran across Fairfield Avenue at street level, the depot looked like this. Tracks were not raised until 1905.
Massachusetts, connecting this thriving industrial territory with New York City.
Among the "additions" were the Housatonic Railroad Company and the Naugatuck Railroad Company.
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Rail- road Company was the first steam railroad in the country to adopt electrification of any portion of its lines, in 1895. Electrification from New York to Stamford took place in 1907 and June 21, 1914 saw the electrification extended all the way to New Haven.
The present New Haven railroad proper includes 2,061 miles of road; with 640 steam locomotives, 152 electric locomotives, 1352 passenger train cars and 18,864 freight cars. (1936)
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With what prophetic instinct spoke a young engineer, following a trip through Connecticut al- most a hundred years ago! The engineer, R. B. Mason, made a survey in 1838 for a railroad from Bridgeport to New York. Upon the completion of the survey he was bold enough to say that in his estimation the travel over such a road when built, might even amount to several hundred each way daily! He was thought a visionary.
Yet today, the first few months of 1936 showed no less than 600 passengers riding each way between Bridgeport and New York daily.
FIRST HORSE CARS
No sooner had Bridgeport settled back in its accustomed routine following the tumult over the railroads, when someone suggested horse drawn vehicles on tracks for urban travel and the citizens were in a turmoil again.
Some of the owners of elaborate carriages said that it would be impossible for them to drive across the rails without upsetting. Others insisted that the high speed horse cars dashing along at five or six miles an hour would run them down. Still others pointed out that the "innovation" would be "entirely unsafe" for the women and children.
Be that as it may, the Bridgeport Horse Railroad Company was incorporated in 1865 with a capital stock of $100,000, the charter giving the privilege of extending the line from the starting point near Pembroke Lake in east Bridgeport to Mountain Grove Cemetery and Black Rock, with a branch to the railroad depot at the foot of Fairfield Avenue. Cars commenced to travel over the tracks January 23, 1866.
The new venture did not succeed. Business was slow and the company, unable to meet expenses, was practically abandoned.
Twenty years later, in January, 1885, the Bridge- port and West Stratford Horse Railroad Company was chartered, its franchise giving it the right to construct a track for horse drawn cars from the railroad depot in Bridgeport, to Stratford. There was also a branch track through East Main Street to Crescent Avenue. First cars were put in service October 12, 1885. By 1888 there were nine cars and 41 horses.
This enterprise was very successful. In August, 1890 the Bridgeport company was purchased by a
Rochester syndicate and in 1892 it was sold to Charles A. Hotchkiss of Bridgeport. In 1893 a company under the name of the Bridgeport Traction Company was organized.
From this date on, the various leases and reorgani- zations which took place in connection with Bridge- port's urban service, were quite complicated. They may be set down thusly :
The Bridgeport Traction Company was formed July 14, 1893 by the consolidation of the Bridgeport Horse Railway Company, the Bridgeport Railway Company and the East End Railway Company.
The Bridgeport Traction Company in turn was purchased by the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company.
August 1, 1906, the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company leased its trolley properties to the Consolidated Railway Company.
In 1907 the Consolidated Railway Company was merged with the New York, New Haven and Hart- ford Railroad Company, which therefore acquired these trolley leases, the Consolidated disappearing from the scene.
In 1910 the New Haven Railroad sublet these street railway properties to the Connecticut Com- pany, a subsidiary company organized for the purpose of operating all the railroad's trolley properties in Connecticut.
So much for the involved corporations and incor- porations.
CHAMPAGNE 'N EVERYTHING
A trip made by several prominent Bridgeporters to Springfield, Mass., to see how the "new electric car" worked, doomed the Bridgeport horse cars to the discard.
After some argument, the Common Council approved a recommendation that the Bridgeport Traction Company be allowed to substitute electricity for horse power. August 23, 1894, the first electric trolley was started over the Bridgeport tracks.
It was a great day and an important one. Andrew Radel, then manager of the company, turned the controller. On the car were Mayor Bostwick, E. G. Burnham, Samuel W. Baldwin, Frank Beers, all of whom were members of the Board of Public Works, and President N. H. Heft, head of the Bridgeport Traction Company.
The car stopped halfway between the depot and
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St. Michael's Cemetery for the formal dedication, Mabel R. Sherwood told us in her excellent series of articles on industrial Bridgeport in "Bridgeport Life."
To give proper import to the momentous occasion, President Heft leaned over the dashboard of the trolley, and smashed a bottle of champagne on the front of the car.
The first electric cars were small, with no vestibule and not even any kind of a windshield, which made the motorman's job somewhat arduous during the winter months. After a while there was a projection across the front of the car to shield the motorman's face, but the sides were still left open.
In the wintertime, the little open cars were closed in with box-like structures. The fenders were taken off and a shear-like device to be used as a snow plough, was substituted.
On the first cars there was but one fender and when the motorman reached the end of the line, he had to carry the heavy fender around and attach it to the opposite end. The fender weighed about 200 pounds.
One man cars were in operation in 1921 but many feared to ride in them at first, as they were believed dangerous.
In recent years bus lines have been substituted for
some of the trolley lines. The first line to be motor- ized was the old Oak Street line. The first suburban line to have buses was the Bridgeport, Derby line which was changed over in 1924. Eight years later, buses began to run between Bridgeport and New Haven.
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