Since the Fish Commission became more and more involved 

 in fish culture, it was necessary to find an inexpensive and safe 

 method of transporting live fry to the place where they were to be 

 released. It was not difficult for Baird to obtain full cooperation 

 of the American railroads, who granted to the Fish Commission 

 special low rates for travel of personnel and for delivery of large 

 containers of water and young fishes. Later on, special railroad 

 cars were built for this purpose. One such car was frequently 

 seen at the railroad terminal at Woods Hole. 



On July 18, 1872, the Old Colony Railroad opened its services 

 to Woods Hole. This improvement was a great benefit to the village 

 and of considerable convenience to the members of the Fish 

 Commission. The first train conductor, Augustus S. Messer, 

 remained in the service of the company for many years and became 

 highly respected and known and loved by the residents and commuters 

 for his friendliness and services which he was eager to extend. The 

 administration of the railroad encouraged friendly relations with the 

 travelling public; this policy was continued until the late 1950's when 

 due to the financial adversity of the owners, the New York, New 

 Haven, and Hartford Railroad, to which the Old Colony Railroad was 

 leased in 1893, stopped passenger service between Boston and Woods' 

 Hole. Good transportation facilities were an important factor in the 

 growth of Woods Hole as a scientific center. At first the fastest 

 train travelled from Boston to Woods Hole, a distance of about 80 

 miles, in 3 hours 10 minutes. Soon, however, the famous "Flying 

 Dude' train was inaugurated. It made its first trip early in the 

 spring of 1884 and cut the travel time to only 1 hour 47 minutes. 

 The Old Colony Railroad "was the equal to any road and inferior to 

 none." (Fisher, 1919). 



At the request of Baird the Old Colony issued special tickets 

 which facilitated transportation of the officers and employees of the 

 Fish Commission to and from Woods Hole. An agreement with 

 various other railroad companies authorized the Fish Commission 

 to transport live fish in the baggage cars of passenger trains without 

 extra charge and allowed the Commission messengers to have free 

 access to them while en route. 



During the formative years the final decision crystallized in 

 Baird's mind regarding the location and character of the permanent 

 laboratory of the Fish Commission. In 1882 he arrived at the 

 conclusion that the proposed station was to be used both for research 

 "and for propagation of the marine fishes and that the best conditions 

 for the latter purpose were found on the south coast of New England 

 because greater variety of fish can be found here and so far as the 

 winter hatching was concerned, the cold being much less severe, and 

 the other circumstances more favorable. " The choice was between 

 two locations: Newport, R. I. , and Woods Hole. The citizens of 

 Newport showed great desire to have the station and exerted their 

 influence on Government authorities to induce the Fish Commission 



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