Later Means of Communication 229 



the principle of two people who have nothing getting married 

 to share their united poverty, the later company surrendered 

 its Westchester County rights to the earlier company, and the 

 two combined in 1838 as the New York and Harlem Railroad 

 Company. The Legislature of 1840 affirmed the contract 

 between the two companies, and further authorized the 

 construction of a bridge over the Harlem River, and the exten- 

 sion of the road to Putnam County. By this last date, the 

 country had begun to recover from the panic of 1837, s0 that 

 by the time the extension was begun through Westchester 

 County more funds were forthcoming, and the capital was 

 increased to $1,950,000, and $1,000,000 more were needed to 

 carry the road to the county line. 



The first portion of the road above the Harlem River was 

 to extend to White Plains. The easiest route was found to 

 be by way of the valley of the Mill Brook to Williamsbridge, 

 whence the valley of the Bronx River was followed to White 

 Plains, a distance of twenty miles. By this route not much 

 grading was necessary, nor was there required much blasting 

 through rock. Several bridges were needed, which, however, 

 did not give the engineers much trouble, as the spans were 

 short ; this was not the case, however, with the bridge over the 

 Harlem River, which, for a long time, was a hard nut for the 

 engineers to crack. 



The road was a single-track one, and was finished to Ford- 

 ham by October, 1841, to Williamsbridge by 1842, and to 

 White Plains by the end of 1844. It thus passed through the 

 towns of Morrisania, West Farms (Fordham), Yonkers, and 

 Eastchester within the Borough. "The first running of the 

 trains through the country was a matter of great curiosity 

 and crowds of people surveyed them from the surrounding 

 hills," said an old employee of the company. Celebrations 



