Dr. Ely's Legacy: the Mount Holly, Lumberton & Medford Railroad

Dr. Ely’s Legacy: The Mount Holly, Lumberton & Medford Railroad Freight train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad backing across a farm near by James Alexander Jr Medford. Note what appears to be the brakeman standing on the rear car. Without an active turntable at the Medford end, trains typically backed down from Mount Holly. (Photo courtesy of the Medford Leas Residents Association) TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OF A LOCOMOTIVE IN MOUNT HOLLY — LOSS OF LIFE — A HORRIBLE SCENE Excerpted from the Mount Holly New Jersey Mirror, May 26, 1869. A train operated by the Camden & Amboy Railroad, running on the tracks of the Camden & Burlington County Railroad, left Vincentown, hauling 19 cars with 100 tons of marl. James W. Allen, a civil engineer from Bordentown who had designed the railroad, had arranged to catch a ride back home in the engine’s cab. As the train passed through Mount Holly between Washington Street and Water Street, the engine’s boiler blew up. The engine made a tremendous bound into the air, descending with great force, breaking ties, bending rails and scattering pieces of machinery in every direction. As it struck the earth, it made a revolution or two, and another spring into the air, fi nally lodging in the creek, a distance of 50 yards from the explosion. The track, for some distance, was plowed up, the rails wrenched from the ties and bent and broken in pieces, and the cars thrown together in a confused mass. The explosion shook houses in the vicinity to their foundations. Job Gaskill, engineer, and Charles S. Platt, fi reman, were thrown upon the side of the track, dreadfully mangled and scalded, and died. John A. Sailer, conductor, was thrown under the wrecked cars, covered with marl, but was dug out and survived. The melancholy occurrence spread a gloom over the whole neighborhood, and for miles around, nothing is spoken of but the suddenness and fatality of the dreadful accident. The company, with remarkable promptness, commenced removing the debris and repairing the track, and soon, trains were running over the road as usual. In a fortuitous twist of fate, James Allen missed the train and merged and fought. Some smaller local rail-building initiatives his life was spared, and a good thing it was for the people of were sponsored by the larger lines in their quest for regional the nearby Burlington County towns, for he was in the midst of dominance and profi ts. drafting the plans for the Mount Holly, Lumberton & Medford The Mount Holly, Lumberton & Medford Railroad (MLM), Railroad. He was able to complete the plans and, when the new serving part of the fertile agricultural center of Burlington railroad started operating by the end of the year, he rode its fi rst County, New Jersey, was one of those. There was a clear offi cial train — in a passenger car. As a full time civil engineer need, and political forces came into alignment to allow its for the Camden & Amboy Railroad, he also served on the board construction. of this local line, something not unusual for the time. THE NEED This little six-mile railroad was both typical of its time, and unusual in its development. In the grand scheme of As one Medford historian would write years later, before the railroad history, it went unnoticed. To the residents, farmers railroad opened in 1869, on a typical summer evening there, one and businessmen of the area, it was critical to their progress. could observe numerous teams of horses pulling farm wagons The typical specifi cs of its railroad operation were not as well loaded with produce, headed west from town, on the way to documented as for the larger railroads, but the stories of the the Philadelphia market. It was described as a very colorful people and forces involved in its creation provide a fascinating scene in the gathering twilight. As the last of the wagons passed insight into the life and growth of the agricultural and resource- Lumberton-Mount Holly ticket, 1917. (Graphic courtesy of the author) rich hinterlands that supported the country’s vibrant cities. Following the end of the Civil War, the spread of railroads had gained vigor, most prominently with the completion of the cross-continental railroad when two lines met at Utah’s Promontory Summit, fulfi lling Lincoln’s hopes. Historians were to characterize the time as one of “railroad fever,” with mighty economic forces building major railroads, and smaller railroads springing up as well. Many railroads changed names, 22 October 2018 Medford’s Friends Meeting House on Union Street, its oil lantern faded in the distance on the overnight journey. A very good team could go from Kirby’s Mill in Medford to the ferry in Camden in four hours and 15 minutes, but a more typical time was six hours. After unloading the wagons in Philadelphia and taking the ferry back across the Delaware to Camden, the road home began. The caravan of tired horses would gradually get smaller as the wagons turned into the side lanes leading to their barns. In many instances, the weary farm boys had fallen asleep at the reins, only to awaken in their own farmyards, having been guided home by their knowing teams. A few miles north of Medford in Lumberton, farmers and small industries were able to load some goods on barges for transport down the Rancocas Creek, which fed into the Delaware Pass signed by H. P. Ely for use until December 31, 1870. This River. Mount Holly had similar access to the creek, however, the is especially interesting since the line was being operated by the process was slow and cumbersome, subject to the tidal impacts Camden & Amboy Railroad, and 1871 passes were issued by of the Atlantic Ocean, with the creek gradually silting in and the C&A. This shows one of the few copies of Ely’s signature in losing navigable depth. Both methods of transport — wagon existence. (Source listing on eBay in 2017, unknown current owner) and boat — were neither effi cient nor reliable. Something better was needed. Years later, under Pennsylvania Railroad ownership, the line THE ARRIVAL OF THE RAILROADS extended eastward to the New Jersey coast, crossing Barnegat Mount Holly, the county seat, had been reached from the Bay and then heading north along the coast; it was referred to as city of Burlington by the Burlington & Mount Holly Railroad in the Back Road, an alternate route to the main line running from 1849, terminating at a station on Grant Street. The line quickly Philadelphia to Trenton and on to New York. came under the domination of the Camden & Amboy Railroad Haines, a Quaker, had started his career as a mason and (C&A), New Jersey’s economic, transportation and political contractor in Philadelphia, accumulating wealth and business powerhouse at the time. It connected with the C&A’s main stature. When he moved to Lumberton, New Jersey, he was north-south line along the Delaware. its most wealthy resident, building a barge port on the upper The operator of the ferry service on the Rancocas Creek, navigable end of the Rancocas Creek, and laying out the streets Enoch Barclay Haines, had seen the need for a direct rail of what came to be today’s Hainesport Township. Anticipating route from Mount Holly straight west to the city of Camden, the eventual demise of barge traffi c on the creek, he had joined farther south on the Delaware waterfront, and directly in several local road improvement companies, and lobbied to no opposite Philadelphia. His efforts to obtain a charter from avail in Trenton for his railroad from Camden. the state legislature were blocked by the C&A, which saw it So important was the protection of the C&A’s statewide as competition to its existing route from Burlington. That monopoly that it maintained offi ces in Trenton, although its service had been extended south and then east of Mount main operating facilities were based in Burlington County’s Holly to serve the productive marl pits in Vincentown, a Bordentown. Critical observers at the time claimed that legislators source of freight revenue. In fact, the C&A had affi liated with in need of alcoholic sustenance or even short-term loans were a number of local railroad endeavors in the rich marl belt of known to visit Apartment 10 in Snowden’s Hotel, maintained by southern/central Jersey. At the time, marl, being rich in potash the railroad near its fi rst station and the State House. and other minerals, was seen as a valuable soil enhancer and The C&A had its own fascinating history dating back to was in great demand by farmers around the state and beyond. the early 1800s. Aside from its innovative engineering and aggressive business practices, its domination rested heavily on Mount Holly passenger station on Madison Avenue, built in 1867 its close affi liation with Democratic party interests who were by the Camden & Burlington County Railroad. It also served the in power in Trenton. State laws were essential to the railroad’s Mount Holly, Lumberton & Medford Railroad starting in 1869. (Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, PHMC) monopoly. As the canal and railroad empire accrued enemies for economic and social reasons, the state government, with its control of the legislature, came to be labeled by critics as “The State of the Camden & Amboy.” At what was referred to as a midnight orgy, upon the closing of the 1860 session of the legislature, legislators reportedly gathered at Apartment 10 to sing: We are all a band of robbers We are all a band of robbers From the Camden and Amboy State.

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