258 



HISTOEY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



Cochrane was his clerk, and in April of the same year was 

 appointed by Benj. Loder agent, and has continued to act 

 in that capacity through all administrations up to the pres- 

 ent time, — about twenty-nine years. This is the very best 

 evidence that he has been a faithful and competent officer. 

 In 1852 the Buffalo, Corning and New York Railroad, 

 now the Rochester branch of the Erie, was completed to 

 Corning, giving an outlet to a vast agricultural and lumber 

 district. The statistics for 1873 show that Corning ex- 

 ceeded in tonnage any other station on the road except 

 Jersey City and Buffalo. The tons of freight forwarded 

 were 830,891, amounting to $503,170.20. Tons of freight 

 received, 31,221, amounting to $122,768.96. Total freight 

 business of the station, $625,939.16. Passenger tickets 

 sold, 74,506; receipts for the same, $72,098.46. Total 

 business of the station, $698,037.62. Since the opening 

 of the Syracuse, Geneva and Corning Railroad, which is 

 now the great avenue for the transportation of coal to the 

 New York Central and the Erie Canal, the freight of this 

 station has materially diminished, but it is still, with its 

 natural increase during the past four years, retained in 

 Corning and only transferred to another office. 



SYRACUSE, GENEVA AND CORNING RAILROAD. 



This road, connecting at Corning with the old " Corning 

 and Blossburg," now the Corning, Cowanesque and An- 

 trim Railroad, forms a continuous line from Antrim, in the 

 coal regions of Pennsylvania, to its connection with the 

 four-track New Y'ork Central at Lyons, N. Y., and with 

 the Erie Canal. The several divisions of this line are the 

 Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim, from Antrim to Cor- 

 ning ; the Syracuse, Geneva and Corning, from Corning to 

 Geneva ; and the Geneva and Lyons road, from Geneva to 

 Lyons, the northern terminus. This route, including 

 branches from Lawrenceville to Elkland, Pa., and from 

 Blossburg to Fall Brook, is owned and controlled by the 

 Fall Brook Coal Company, which has one of its principal 

 offices at Corning, and is operated jointly by the Syracuse, 

 Geneva and Corning, and Lehigh Valley Railroad Com- 

 panies, carrying the celebrated Mclntyre coal from the 

 mines to the Central Railroad, at Lyons. The Fall Brook 

 Coal Company deliver 400 tons per day of their own coal, 

 and run a freight train each way daily, for general mer- 

 chandise. The whole number of miles from Antrim to 

 Lyons is one hundred and twenty-five ; distance from Cor- 

 ning to Lyons, seventy-two miles. 



The Syracuse, Geneva and Corning Railway Company 

 filed their articles of association Aug. 27, 1875. The first 

 board of directors consisted of the following gentlemen : 

 Patrick Lynch, Wm. T. Hamilton, Frank H. Hiscock, Syra- 

 cuse, N. Y. ; Darius A. Ogden, Penn Yan, N. Y. ; George 

 J. Magee, Daniel Beach, John Lang, Watkins, N. Y. ; 

 Alonzo H. Gorton, Alexander Olcott, Chas. C. B. 

 Walker, Stephen T. Hayt, Corning, N. Y. ; Edgar Mun- 

 son, Williamsport, Pa. ; Alexander G. Cattell, Merchants- 



ville, N. J. 



Careful surveys, and a thorough examination of eight 

 different routes between Corning and Geneva, during the 

 months of September, October, and November, 1875, re- 

 sulted in the selection of the present route, which was de- 



cided on by an overwhelming vote of the board of directors 

 during their meeting at Watkins, Dec. 30, 1875. It was 

 principally due to the unanimous vote of the Corning di- 

 rectors that this one route was selected out of the eight ; 

 and experience has shown already that their course of ac- 

 tion w^as a wise one in every respect. 



The work of building the road was let Jan. 14, 1876, 

 to Vibbard, Ball & Stuart, of New York, who sublet it to 

 different parties. Work on the whole line was commenced 

 early in March, 1876, and continued until May 1 of the 

 same year. Then it became evident that Vibbard, Ball & 

 Stuart were not able to fulfill their obligations to the sub- 

 contractors, and work was stopped on the entire line, all the 

 foremen, laborers, teamsters, etc., were paid off by the 

 company from funds advanced by the Fall Brook Coal Com- 

 pany, and the whole work suspended until October, 1876. 

 Gen. Geo. J. Magee had then decided to take himself the 

 contract to build the road. He consequently resigned his 

 position as director and member of the executive committee, 

 and relet the work, mostly to the same parties who had held 

 contracts under Vibbard, Ball & Stuart. Col. Austin La- 

 throp, Jr., of Corning, received the contract for building 

 the timber foundation and masonry for the Corning bridge, 

 also for the construction of all bridges, trestles, etc., on 

 sections 1 to 6, both inclusive. Wm. C. Gibbons, of Corning, 

 had the contract for the earthwork of sections 1 to 6, both 

 inclusive. During the winter of 1876-77 the work was pros- 

 ecuted with all possible speed. Track-laying was commenced 

 at Corning early in April, 1877. On July 4, 1877, a grand 

 excursion from Watkins Glen to Corning had been ar- 

 ranged, and about 500 persons enjoyed the ride over the 

 new road and celebrated the day in Corning. July 5, the 

 work of track-laying and ballasting was commenced at 

 Geneva. The last rail was laid Oct. 11, 1877, and the 

 work of ballasting progressed rapidly, so that on section 3 

 the road could be opened for freight and coal traffic and for 

 passenger transportation Dec. 10, 1877. It has been in suc- 

 cessful operation ever since, and is a grand monument to the 

 enterprise and sagacity of the Fall Brook Coal Company.* 

 The engineer corps consisted of the following persons : 

 A. Hardt, Chief Engineer ; R. H. Canfield, Division En- 

 oineer, South Division ; J. G. Baker, Division Engineer, 

 North Division, succeeded by Edward Canfield, Nov. 20, 

 1876. John Lang, of Watkins, N. Y., is now the Presi- 

 dent and Treasurer of the Syracuse, Geneva and Corning 

 Railroad ; Alexander Olcott, of Corning, its Secretary ; and 

 J. H. Lang, of Watkins, its General Auditor. The present 

 Superintendent is A. H. Gorton ; H. A. Horning, General 

 Passenger and Freight Agent; G. R. Brown, Superintend- 

 ent of Telegraph ; Michael Clancy, Track Master ; all resi- 

 dents of Corning. The Syracuse, Geneva and Corning 

 Railroad connects at Himrod's with the Northern Central 

 Railroad ; at Geneva, with the Auburn branch of the New 

 York Central and Hudson River Railroad, at the same 

 point, with the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and with the 

 Geneva and Lyons Railroad ; affording a direct route to 



* The total cost of the road and equipments was $2,430,988.78. The 

 capital stock of the company is $1,200,000. Amount of stock sub- 

 scribed $1,193,700. 



