196 A. L. Bishop — The State Works of Pennsylvania. 



let us begin at its eastern terminus and examine the various sec- 

 tions in order.* 



llie Philadelphia avd Columbia railroad was the first link in the 

 western chain. It commenced at the intersection of Vine and Broad 

 streets, Philadelphia, and terminated at Columbia on the Susque- 

 hanna, a distance of 81.6 miles, opening a direct communication 

 between the valleys of the Delaware and the Susquehanna, and 

 intersecting those of the Schuylkill, Brandywine and Conestoga. 



As originally built, the road had two inclined planes. At a dis- 

 tance of about two miles from its point of commencement it crossed 

 the Schuylkill by a viaduct 984 feet in length, and immediately 

 ascended an inclined plane of 2,805 feet in length and 187 in height. 

 Another inclined plane 1,800 feet in length and 90 in height was 

 descended immediately before joining the canal basin at Columbia. 

 The planes were never satisfactory, being slow and expensive in 

 their operation,! and they were scarcely finished before efforts were 

 made to avoid them. On the 30th of N^ovember, 1836, a contract 

 was entered into for the construction of a road six and one-half 

 miles long to avoid the one at Columbia. At its completion in 

 March, 1840, the plane was abandoned. One track of the Schuylkill 

 plane was avoided in October, 1850, and the other the following 

 December, by the construction of the West Philadelphia railroad 

 from a point near the present Ardmore station to the Avest end 

 of the Market Street bridge. Various lateral extensions of this 

 road were made, the two most important of which were those to 

 York and Gettysburg. The legislature authorized the construction 

 of this section of the main line of works on the 24th of March, 1828, 

 and in March, 1834, a single track along the entire route from 



* Most of the facts found in the following description of the public 

 improvements were taken directly from the reports of the canal commis- 

 sioners, and from Tanner's Canals and Railways of the United States. 



f Tliey were operate<l by stationary engines located at the head of the 

 planes. When open for use the prevailing opinion regarding its method 

 of operation Avas that the farmers and other citizens along the line should use 

 the railroad the same as they used the turnpikes, i. e., purchase suitable 

 wagons to be hauled by animal power and pay a certain toll to the state 

 foi- tlu' use of tlie roadway. This method of operation was put into practice 

 for a time. The demonstration of the practical)ility of steam-enginos for 

 motive power resulted in the ado])tion of locomotive engines in a short time. 

 The state supplied the motive power for the transportation of goods and 

 passengers, while the cars were owned by individuals or companies. 



