Valley Express Newsletter Spring 2021 - FCVRRHS.org French Creek Valley Railroad Historical Society, Meadville, PA 16335
P. O. Box 632
Meadville, PA 16335
"Preserving Railroading's past, for now and the future."
Valley Express Newsletter Spring 2021
French Creek Valley Railroad Historical Society
P.O. Box 632 Meadville, PA I5335
History 0f the Meadville Railway
by Carl Timko
There was enough interest to build another railroad in Crawford County, that a meeting convened at the Crar{ord County Court House in March of 1880. At the time the only rail lines available were the New York Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad (whose ancestor, the Meadville Railroad is not the subject of this article), and the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad. The NYP&O, having taken over the former Atlantic & Great 'Western, was struggling financially and the E&P was a ways west of Meadville; the closest town on the E&P being Linesville. The need was there to build another line, not just because of the reasons mentioned above, but goods needed to be shipped from and to Meadville, without having to rely solely on the NYP&O. Plus the competition would be good for the merchants in that shipping rates were likely to be more affordable.
Through the discussions, building a rail line out from Meadville to connect to another line raised enough interest to have a committee of fifteen members to be appointed to raise the necessary funds, with George W. Delamater as the chairman, and H. L. Richmond, the secretary. Mr. Delamater in later years would go on to be a politician, and ran for the Pennsyhrania governor's seat in 1887, but lost. Mr. Richmond was a lawyer and had been a Pennsylvania State Representative between 1873 and 1875. This committee organized with the following appointments: James J. Shryock as president, F. V Ellsworth as secretary, George M Delamater as treasurer, and the directors were Samuel B. Dick, S. C. Stratton, Archibald S. Dickson, Cyrus Kitchen, Walter F. Harper, W P. Porter, and Arthur C. Huidekoper.
Mr. Shryock was involved with many railroads during his lifetime. He helped form the Meadville Railroad (ater to become the Atlantic & Great 'Western of Pennsylvania), the Bear Creek Railroad, the Shenango & Allegheny Railroad, the Pithole Railroad, the New Lisbon Railroad, the A&GW of New York, the A&GW after the lines in NX PA, and OH were merged, and was co-owner of Gill and Shryock, L dry goods store in Meadville. Mr. Dick was a retired Civil War colonel that would go on to be a Pennsylvania state legislator, a contractor that with Mr. Huidekoper would complete the Pittsburgh Shenango & Lake Erie from Hartstown to Albion. Mr. Dick would also be the Pittsburgh Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad president until 1900. Mr. Kitchen was the president of Meadville Savings Bank, and Mr.Harper would become the mayor of Meadville in 1882 and 1883. The board would select Mr. E. A. Doane, a civil engineer, to survey possible routes for the new railroad After doing many surveys, he presented three possible routes. One was from Meadville to Stoneboro and connect with the New Castle & Franklin Railroad, which would end up being sold the next year and reorganized as the New Castle and Oil City Railroad.
Another route was from Meadville, over the New York Pennsylvania & Ohio (the former A&GW), over the French Creek Canal towpath and to Evansburg (later to be renamed Conneaut Lake). A third route was from Meadville, along Conneaut Lake, through Evansville and into Linesville, connecting with the Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad, a Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary that stretched from Girard Junction in Erie County to New Castle, with trackage rights over the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern (New York Central) to Erie. The latter route was the chosen route.
In establishing the Meadville Railway, capital stock was set at $125,000. Subscriptions from Meadville area citizens and businesses raised $88,000, while the Linewille and Evansburg area raised $5,000 each. That left the board $25,000 short of their goal without much hope of raising any more from the local citizens. As a last resort, the board negotiated with the E&P/ PRR to meet the shordall. An agreement was settled on November 24, 188O, but with conditions. The Meadville Railway, once it was completed, was to be leased to the E&P The E&P agreed that it would operate it at actual cost.
Construction began as soon as a charter was in hand. The estimated cost to build the railroad was $250,000, but the actual cost ended up being $3l2,OOO due to the track being extended to the "center" of Meadville. That $312,O00 then would equate to $7.7 million today. Seeing how the investors were serious in building the railroad, loans were obtained to finish building the rail line. Wood for the bridge to cross French Creek (east of what is now or was Seco-Warwick) came from Harry McClure's sawmill. On October 3, 1881, the Meadville Railway opened for business. The first year of operation netted about S28,000, as did the second year. Unfortunately, the Pennsy road operated the Meadville Railway at such a high operating ratio that the Railway never received enough and in turn defaulted on the loan. During the summer of 1883, the holders of the first mortgage were going to foreclose and sell the railroad, but stockholders tried to form a plan to raise money. This effort did not go well, so creditors tried to pool their money to acquire the railroad and informed all unsecured creditors of the chance to opt in. Only two gentlemen accepted the offer. There is a discrepancy about who bought the railroad. Tbe History of Crawford County - 1885 states that Arthur C. Huidekoper and George W Delamater bought the railroad for $150,000. An article from the January 10, 1884 edition of the Greenaille Argus stated that CoL D. S. Richmond bought the railroad in the interest of a pool of junior creditors. According to this article, F.W Huidekoper was the only other bidder.
But, according to the PA State Senate history website, Mr. Delamater owned the Meadville & Linesville and became its President. On February 12, 1884, the company was reorganized as the Meadville & Linesville Railway Company, and cancelled the lease with the Erie & Pittsburgh.
Next issue will review the structures, infrastructure and the likely situation with the rolling stock.
(Editor's Note: Many thanks to Scott Woods, Ron Stafford, Dennis Mead, and tbe Pennsylvania Railroad Technical Historical Society for
information.
References were
' PRRT&HS website (www.PRRTHS.org)
" Greenville Argus Conneautville Courier
* "History of Crawford County - 1885"
* "Pennsylvania Lines West' Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad' by Al Buchan
* Minutes of the Meadville Railway Co.
' Pennsylvania State Senate website (www.legis.state. pa.us)
We hope everyone is safe and well. There seems to be some hope of normalcy in the near future with the distribution of the vaccines. We hope everyone can get their vaccination, which should enable us to all get back together again. When we do, it is advisable to still wear masks and maintain distances. That being said, we are progressing nicely with the interior of the depot. You can read more about it and other interesting articles inside this issue. Thank you to all the members that have given their time and effort to renoyate the depot. We are trylng hard to get all the other interior work done so we can start laying the flooring. The flooring would be the last job in our Phase I agenda. Finishing the floors would enable us to set up to open the museum. We are all looking forward to that. The museum will have the main display area, a utility room, a kitchenette, a work shop, a library, a layout room and a storage area. One of our new members has proposed erecting a small building to house a blacksmith shop, which would demonstrate some of what Meadville's Erie Railroad shops did just down the rails from the depot.
For now, we are having only board meetings every second Monday, instead of the usual membership meetings, in order to keep everyone safe. We look forward to the day when we can all gather again. Like the restoration of the depot, it isn't too far away. Stay safe and well!
Bernie Hanmore
CONTRIBUTORS
* Drew Bailey * Paltniero Toyota
* Arden Hibbard * Jack Sheets
* Melissa Mencotti * Elizabeth Williams
* Kiwanis Club of Meadville
There's lots more information as well as interesting photos and stories on our website: Check it out at www.fcwrhs.org
Cormmittie Reports to the Members
BUDGET fINANCE / INSURANCE / FINANCE
Some recently acquired items will be placed on the website "For Sale" page. One book has been placed on the site for sale, with many more titles coming soon. Books on the Alaska Railroad, the Atlantic Coast Line, railroads in New York state, and Union Pacific are just a few of what will be coming soon to the website (www.fcvrrhs.org )
-Carl Timko
HISTORY & ARCHIVES
Cataloging the collection is continuing, but at a slower pace than expected. The pace is expected to pick up very soon. Cad Timko is working to catalog and inventory the collection using QR codes and a spreadsheeet.
Carl Timko
MEMBERSHIP
The membership roll seems to be fairly steady despite losing board member Nick Ozorak due to his relocation. Al Reibel has been named as a
director in the February 2O2l board meeting. Al has been a long-time memtrer and has served as a director before.
We welcome our new members: David Boyd, Greg Boyd, Dorothy Waite, Otis Evans, Linda Sheets, John Spencer, and Mike Warren.
Welcome aboard!
- Ed Cronin, Carl Timko
MODEL RAILROADING CLUB
The Model Railroading Club has been on hiatus since the start of the pandemic. Students have been working on their own proiects at home, with
sofire virtual attendance with a mentor. Recent events will have caused the reduction in the number of mef,tors to one, Ed Cronin. Nick Ozorak
is moving to Virginia and David Ellis is planing a move in the very near future. If anyone is available and would like to teach some students the art of model railroading, please contact a board member. Clearances may be required to accept a post as a mentor. Please contact a board
member for more information.
-Daue Ellis, Carl Timko
MTH (Mike's Train House) Electric Trains will soon be closing. It is expected the model train manufacturer will close its doors in May.
Preparations are already underway even though one last run of uncatelogued models are being produced. Already there have been auctions of
artwork, samPles, and archival inventory at MTtI's Maryland warehouse by Cabin Fever Auctions. MTH has sold off HO and S scale tooling and
molding to Scale Trains. Atlas Model Railroading has purchased select O scale tooling and molding. A list of the products can be found at
wwu.atlasrucorn. www.atlasrr.com, Carl Timko
Meadville Railroad Depot - Progress.
We continue to move forward with the reconstruction of the Depot. As of March 10, 2021., we have been working exclusively on the south 100
feet of the building (Phase 1).
All framing has been completed, all drywall installed, finished, primed and painted. All ceilings will be installed by the end of March. Restrooms are completed. The flooring has been ordered (Luxury Vinyl Plank) and will be installed by mid-April. That leaves wainscoting, window and door trim, baseboards and the kitchenette counter top, upper cabinets and a new kitchenette entrance door. That will wrap up Phase I.
Phase II deals with the north 50 feet of the building. In that portion of the building, the existing floors will be repaired, sanded, and sealed. Walls will be framed and wiring will be completed. Next the walls and ceiling will be insulated with open cell foam. Closed cell foam will be installed on the underside of the floor. Finally tongue and grove or shiplap boards will be installed over the insulation onto the roof rafters and wall framing.
We are considering installing one or two restrooms in the Phase II space. A new HVAC system will also be required for the Phase II space. At
this time we estimate the cost of Phase II at $50,000. If we can raise the required funds, we may be able to finish the interior of the entire
building by Christmas of this year.
-Ed Cronin
(Editor's note: Hauing eyes cannot deal taitb fluorescent lighting, tbe new LED ligbt Panels are wonderful. Ihey can be dimmed and are not
barsb, giving an even ligbt. Kudos for cboosing tbese ligbts)
PROPERTY & EQUIPMENT
The railroad equipment on display in Pomona Park in Meadville seems to be ready for a tourist season should the pandemic be minimized with the vaccination of nearly everyone. Should the display open up this summer, masks and social distancing will still be required.
-Jobn Snyder
PUBLIC RELATIONS & EDUCATION
Carl Timko participated in Brian Miller's Allegheny College Public History virtual course on April 8. Carl explained the history and mission of the French Creek Valley Railroad Historical Society through a Zoom meeting to Mr. Miller's class. Dr. Miller, a professor at the college, hopes to educate his students on the history that is right in this community.
-Carl Timko
SPECIAL EVENTS & PROGRAMS
Due to the pandemic, there haven't been too many train shows to attend. It is hoped the CoVid-19 vaccines will be distributed quickly to
facilitate the attending of train shows soon. In the meantime, there have been many virtual programs on the internet. Trainworld has been
having several virtual showcases featuring many model railroad manufacturers. There will be at least one virtual NMRA convention this year.
Check out theCalendar of Events on page 6.
-Carl Timko
ON THE SIDE TRACK
Big News from Class I Railroading.
The Canadian Pacific Railway and the Kansas City Southern are to be merged pending approval by the Surface Transportation Board. Canadian
Pacific Railway is purchasing the KCS for 25 billion dollars. The new entity is to be named Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway. This transaction will connect Canada, the United States and Mexico in one rail network. It also reduces the number of Class I freight railroads to five. If approved, one wonders if Canadian National, Union Pacific, Norfolk Sourhern, CSX, and BNSF will consider a merger amongst themselves or any Class II or III railroads to compete with the new CPKC, should the STB approve the deal, which isn't expected until the middle of 2O22. Other Class I railroad companies include Amtrak, VIA in Canada, and FXE in Mexico. - www.cpr.ca (Canadian Pacific R1t) Canadian Pacific Railway also recently acquired the Central Maine & Quebec Railway in both the U.S. and Canada. The transaction was completed June 3, 2020. The Canadian
Pacific now has access to Searsport, Maine and Port St. John, New Brunswick. - www.sprcd Candian Pacific Railuay While searching for contrasting photographs, the following photo of the depot presented itself. The date was June 19, 1962, the day the Erie Lackawanna had a train wreck in Meadville, as seen to the left. (This photo was cropped; not seen is the rest of the wreck in front of Millers Lumber Co.) Note that the
elevator protrusion on the roof had not been added yet. This was still owned by Mr. Brock at that time. The elevator was likely added along with
the Meadville Farm & Garden sign after the Mattocks Brothers bought the business.
Photographs from Meadville Tribune, Craword County Historical Society files.
Also, the large door on the north side seems to be wider than it is now. A pickup truck seems to have engine trouble as the hood is up. A large
stake bed truck is straddling the rails on the east side, either loading or unloading. There are houses behind the depot with St. Mary's Roman
Catholic Church west of the depot on the right side. These structures were likely all removed during the early 1970s when Meadville started an
urban renewal proiect that removed the Erie Railroad depot and installed the French Creek parkway.
