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Page 94
FIRST RAILROAD
CHAPTER XVIII
AFTER the country evolved from the Conestoga wagon and
the stage coach, then the cry came, "give us railroads", and the
Conestoga wagon and stage coach were thrown into the discard. The
present day is hard roads and railroads are going into the discard.
What was known as the valley of the Red Bank and Sandy
Lick Creek from the Allegheny River, eastward to the summit, and the
valley of Bennetts Branch of the Sinnemahoning to Driftwood, a
distance of one hundred fifteen miles, or more, was a region of vast
natural resources of timber, coal, clay, some oil and natural gas.
The nearest railroad to the north was known as the Philadelphia and
Erie, and the nearest railroad on the south was the Pennsylvania
main line, with one or two branches touching the main line of the
Pennsylvania Railroad on the east. None of them, however, extended
over the divide.
The only method of getting the lumber out of this
region was that of floating it down the small creeks, which had to
be done on the spring freshets, and it was a very slow process.
There was no market for the coal, clays or other natural resources.
Reuben Winslow, a pioneer of Bennetts Branch Valley,
had located at Benezette, west of Driftwood on the Bennetts Branch
of the Sinnemahoning Creek.
Mr. Winslow had invested in a large amount of timber
and coal lands. Seeing the advantage his competitors had over him
along the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, he decided to build a
railroad of his own and in 1862 he secured a special charter from
the Legislature of Pennsylvania under the name of the "Winslow
Colliery", granting him the right to operate mines and build a
railroad from the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad into Elk County. In
1864 he secured an amendment to his charter, permitting him to
extend his railroad through Clearfield County and Jefferson County.
In pursuance of this charter Mr. Winslow laid out a
railroad some distance west of the summit of Sandy Lick Creek and
Bennetts Branch and commenced construction operations by grading
part of his railroad line, as well as commencing the tunnel at
Sabula. In 1869 the Allegheny Valley Railroad, by special act of
legislature, secured an amendment to its charter authorizing it to
issue bonds to the extent of ten millions of dollars to build a
railroad through the same territory where Mr. Winslow was
constructing his road. The preamble to that Act is as follows:
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