I Dedicate this web page to my father Warren R. Fargo
who worked 38 yrs on the Erie RR
This is a picture of me when I worked as Train Dispatcher for the Erie Lackawanna at Salamanca New York just before they moved the Dispatchers to
Youngstown Ohio about Oct 1962.
We controlled the Allegany-Meadville Divisions
Buffalo & Southwestern Sub Div
Bradford Sub Div
Toby Branch
Dunkirk Branch
C& E ._ Columbus & Erie
&
The River Line
The first ground for the Erie was broken at Deposit , N.Y. Nov. 7, 1835.
Above is a picture of Deposit's Station The insert is a reproduction of
the plaque in a monument at Deposit which marks the ground
breaking ceremony
The Erie was The Railroad of Firsts
1842 First to ship milk into New York City.
1842 First to use Conductor bell cord to signal engineer.
1847 First to use iron rails rolled in America
1850 First to construct Telegraph line along right of way.
1851 First railroad to use telegraph for its operations.
1851 First railroad in United States of 400 miles or more in length.
1851 First through railroad to connect Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes.
First in United States to use broad six foot gauge widest on the
American continent in 1851.
1861 First to provide tank cars for moving oil
1867 First to bring fresh California produce into New York City.
First to use the ticket punch.
In addition the Erie provided the widest and highest clearances
between New York and Chicago , Carried the most perishables from the
west coast to New York and had the most complete radio-telephone
communications system among trunk -line railroads.
1st Telegraph Train Order
The first telegraph train order ever sent on any railroad was issued on the Erie R.R.
Charles Minot, the Erie General Superintendent, sent the order
in 1851 shortly after the original Erie opened.
Earlier a commercial telegraph line had been constructed along the railroad, It was
constructed by Ezara Cornell who founded Cornell University and started the Western
Union Telegraph Company.
Minot used to hear the operators in the stations of the telegraph converse idly between
stations during slack periods. Many times they chatted about trains.
This gave Minot his idea. He started dispatching his trains by use of the
Telegraph. A system of dispatches or orders was developed by which trains were enabled to
pass one another at stations and to proceed over the line. This was used until 1888
when the block system of control was developed and became more predominant.
During the inaugural run of the Erie on May 14th 1851 Minot had used the telegraph to
Wire from Middletown to Port Jervis to have a locomotive ready to replace the one on the
train which was having trouble.
FIRST PERISHABLES
On june 28, 1887, the first car of fruits ever to reach New York from California arrived in New
York on an Erie train. This was the beginning of the Erie's important perishable
traffic leadership. Carrying more than 90 per cent of the perishable goods to reach the
New York region and gained recognition as the Route of The Perishable's
NEWS VIA THE ERIE
In the early days presidents and governors messages were highly important news. The news
papers of the country used all sorts of stratagems to deliver these stories first. The New
York and Erie Railroad back in 1842 helped the New York Sun to score a beat on New York
Governor Seward's message. The New York Herald used the standard channels to get the
message from Albany to New York. It went by courier down the east bank of the Hudson
River. The resourceful Sun took it to Goshen by courier. From Goshen it sped on the Erie to
Piermont, where it went on an Erie Steam boat for the trip to the big city. The Sun editor had
a typesetter on the boat who set the story before the boat docked in Manhattan. The Sun was
on the street with the governor's message an hour before the Herald.
BUTCHER BOY
The first newspapers sold on a train were sold on the Erie. An enterprising young man named
Billy Skelly was the originator of the popular practice . He was the first " news butcher". Over a
century ago he started selling on the New York and Erie. He was able to get a monopoly on
Erie trains between New York City and Port Jervis. His activities led to the establishment of
the Union News Co.
FIRST ERIE TRAIN
The first Erie passenger train on the New York and Erie Railroad ran on June 30th 1841.
The locomotive "Rockland" pulled the train and the trip was from Piermont to Ramapo. The
journey, about 20 miles took 65 minutes. Even before that . on June 17th, 1841 a locomotive
the "Eleazar Lord" made the same trip.
Erie Helps Oil Industry
The Erie Railroad was the principal form of transportation on the scene
when oil was discovered in this country, and the first oil tank car was operated
on the Erie. The first oil "tank" car consisted of two squat wooden vats on a flat
car. Everybody was afraid of leakage but the cars were a big success.
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