THE TRANSFER TABLE
The Wilmington Chapter NRHS Official Newsletter
Internet Edition

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    May MEETING NOTES -

     The May 2000 opened with Secretary Walt Robbins reading his minutes from April and Treasurer Ralph Stevens report was accepted as read.  National Director Tom Posatko reported on the Board of Directors Meeting including the fact that Frank Tatnal will retire as Editor of The Bulletin after 13 years and that former National Director Ed Thornton got special mention for his excellent work on Chapter Development.  President Phil Snyder spoke about the Chapter Trip to Gladstone, NJ and our upcoming Chapter Picnic.

PHOTO CONTEST
    Greg Ajamian was a winner in the 1999 photo contest with the photo at right of white squares of frost on the ties at Point of Rocks, MD.  Page 3 shows Roy Soukup's prize winning photo of Wilsmere Junction from the 1998 contest.

   The winners in this year's National Railway Historical Society Wilmington Chapter Annual Doug Weaver Memorial Photo Contest 

SCHEDULE NOTES
Notices, announcements, schedules, etc. are provided here as a service to the members. The Chapter has no affiliation with any commercial operation, museum, or tourist line.

Sunday, July 30 - AUBURN VALLEY RAILROAD DAYS - 1 - 4:30 PM, at Tom Marshall's estate on Rt. 82 in Yorklyn, DE

Saturday, August 12th - 40th Anniversary Celebration East Broad Top RR, 10 AM, 40th Anniversary Celebration of re-opening of East Broad Top Railroad & establishment of Rockhill Trolley Museum. Special Train & Trolley operations and Parade in afternoon. Twilight Train & Trolley rides (if demand warrants) Vintage East Broad Top Film program after dark. Numerous other activities all day. Anniversary Celebration does NOT replace the Fall Spectacular. Fall Spectacular will occur on Columbus Day weekend as usual.  Maximum of two locomotives in steam and although many local & state officials have been invited, the event is NOT intended and NOT expected to be a platform for any kind of announcement.     East Broad Top Railroad, P. O. Box 158, Rockhill Furnace, PA 17249    814-447-3011

Thursday, August 17 - 9 AM to 5 PM   RR Circus Days, RR Museum of PA, Strasburg Friday-Saturday, August 18-19 - 9 AM to 6 PM & Sunday, August 20 - 11 AM to 5 PM. Scale models of circus trains, equipment & performances, displayed by Circus Model Builders International.

Sunday, August 20 - WORK TROLLEY EXCURSION on SEPTA   Depart Elmwood Car Barn 1 PM, West Philadelphia streetcar routes, return ~6 PM, air-conditioned Kawasaki 9000 (celebrating 20th anniversary) and orange maintenance PCC. fare $35  check payable to  Wilmington Chapter, NRHS   c/o Steve Barry, 117 High St, Newton, NJ 07860   [ do NOT send requests to the Chapter mailbox ] contact Steve Barry directly at 973-383-3355 (9 AM- 5 PM) or e-mail steve@daylightimages.com

Saturday & Sunday, August 26-27 Great Scale Model Train Show 9-4  Saturday, 10-4  Sunday, Gettsyburg, PA  http://www.gsmts.com/index2.html

Sunday, August 27 - AUBURN VALLEY RAILROAD DAYS - 1 - 4:30 PM, at Tom Marshall's estate on Rt. 82 in Yorklyn, DE

Saturday & Sunday, September 9-10    DUNELLEN RAILROAD DAYS excursions to High Bridge, NJ by NYS&W #142 (steam), depart 10, 12, 2:30, & 4:30, three classes call for tickets/info 877-872-4674   or  www.877trainride.com

Sunday, September 10    ANNUAL RAILROADERS DAY CELEBRATION at PINE CREEK RR 11 AM - 4:30 PM train trips, parade of trains, more, Allaire State Park, NJ  call 732-938-5524

Saturday & Sunday, October 7-8    Great Scale Model Train Show 9-4  Saturday, 10-4  Sunday, MD State Fairgrounds, Timonium, MD.   http://www.gsmts.com/index2.html

This copyrighted article was written for the "Transfer Table", the newsletter of the Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society by member Richard Hall  © Richard E. Hall 2000

DINNER IN THE DINER AND SOME RAILROAD HISTORY By   Richard E. Hall

    "Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer,...." are the words from a popular song called "The Chattanooga Choo Choo" that I remember from a few years ago when I was younger.  Actually that was quite a few years ago, it was back in the 1940's.  In a way, those words might also describe having lunch or dinner in the Gap Dinner, in Gap, Pa., up Rt. 41 at the intersection of Rt. 30.  The food has always been good, so is the service (no real complaints, after all they are human), the servings are ample and the prices have been reasonable.

    So what does eating at the Gap Dinner have to do with a little bit of railroad history?  The old photos that they have hanging on the walls.  There are many old photos displayed on the walls of the Gap Dinner, a couple of them having old views relating to the railroad.  But there is one of the old railroad related photos in particular that is responsible for this short article.  On the east wall, near the northeast corner of "The Old Gap Room", is a photo showing work in progress in the railroad cut passing through Mine Ridge at Gap.

    I had spotted that photo several years ago and it held a very special interest for me.  I knew a little about Major John Wilson's survey for building the Philadelphia & Columbia Rail Road through that area.  I also knew of a problem that had been encountered in building the line through Mine Ridge, that is the big cut at Gap. Because of that, I realized what bit of railroad history was shown in that photo.  However, I couldn't resist "innocently" asking about the photo to see what kind of an answer I would get.  As I had expected, I was told that it showed them building the railroad through the Gap Cut.

     It indeed shows workers digging in the cut and building track, actually they were rebuilding the track through the cut, but it was not when the Philadelphia & Columbia Rail Road was being built, which was in the early 1830's, no photos.  What is shown in the photo is work in progress on a major improvement project to reduce the grade on "Gap Hill".  The first phase of that project was started by the PRR in 1881 and completed with the deepening of the Gap Cut to lower the elevation of the tracks in 1883.

     Major John Wilson started surveying the route for building the Philadelphia & Columbia Rail Road in 1827 and the first contracts for construction were let in 1828.  Major Wilson then served as the engineer in charge of construction of the P&C until his death in 1833.  He was succeeded by Edward F. Gay, who completed the work. The work of building the line was generally carried out as Major Wilson had planned it, except for the deep cut curving through Mine Ridge at Gap.

     The route was laid out to have a maximum grade of not more than 30 feet per mile, except for the two inclined plains, one at each end of the line.  To maintain that 30 foot per mile maximum grade, there was to be a cut 37 feet deep through Mine Ridge at Gap.  But when the grading for the construction of the line reached that point, that depth for the cut through Mine Ridge could not be attained.  The problem was a large pocket of quicksand that was encountered in digging the cut.  The engineers were unable to fill in to get through the quicksand or to stabilize it in any way to support the track.  The tracks could not be put down at the elevation planned for the cut.

     After spending a large amount of money and losing much time trying to overcome the problem, the depth of the cut was limited to only 23 feet.  That required a major line relocation to the west and produced grades of 45 feet per mile for _ mile, then 40 feet per mile for _ mile, both east and west of Gap.  Those figures are from information found in trade publications dating to the 1830's and 1840's.  The accompanying elevation chart was prepared by the PRR about 1879 and shows the westbound grade from about midway between Christina and Mine Ridge at Gap, changed from 29 to 43 feet per mile.  Coming east, the grade was 29 feet per mile to just west of Gap, then 40 feet per mile to the summit at Gap.  The increase in the grade from the .56 generally maintained in building the P&C to .85 at Gap may not seem like much, but it was sufficient to creating a severe operating headache in limiting the tonnage that could be hauled over it.  It is interesting to note that in the 1880 era, the grade was still stated as feet per mile, not in percent, or the rise in feet, or tenths of a foot, of elevation in one hundred feet.

     Work on the line west of Gap was suspended and a new route surveyed for over a mile to the west.  If you have ever looked across toward the railroad from Rt. 30, at a point just west of Gap, and noticed a mound of grass covered earth curving across a meadow, you saw a bit of railroad history.  You were looking at the original route surveyed for the P&C and the general area where the construction for that original alignment and grade through Gap was temporarily suspended.  Relocating some sections of the line for curve reduction in a later era left small parts of the original P&C line abandoned.

     The grade called "Gap Hill" became an operating problem for the P&C, and as the volume of railroad traffic increased, so did the problem.  The Pennsylvania Railroad inherited the Gap Hill operating problem when they acquired the Philadelphia & Columbia Rail Road from the State in 1857.  The tonnage restrictions imposed by Gap Hill impaired the operating efficiency of the line.  By the late 1870's, the PRR had become a large enough company to have both the financial and engineering means to overcome such problems. The PRR engineers devised a plan to overcome the quicksand problem at the Mine Ridge Cut and reduce the grade on Gap Hill.

     The PRR engineers had devised a rather simple plan to drain the pocket of quicksand and started working on it in 1881.  While the plan in itself was rather simple, it was very dangerous for the men actually engaged in doing the work.  But that was not often a major consideration back in that era.  What the engineers called a "sub drift", actually just a small tunnel, was to be dug starting from a point well down on the side of the hill.  It was to go in through the hill to reach a point below the pocket of quicksand. The quicksand was to then be drained, flowing out through the tunnel.  That was accomplished in 1883 and work on deepening the cut and lowering the tracks was immediately begun.

     That old photo hanging on the wall in the Gap Diner dates to 1883 and shows the work in progress to deepen the Mine Ridge cut at Gap and lowering the track to the new elevation.  That photo shows us how one track had been removed and the grade for that one track was dug out.  When the desired depth was reached, a new track was built at that level.  While that work was being done, the through traffic was maintained on the other track.  When the new track was ready for traffic, it was placed in service and the other track was removed and that side was dug out to the new elevation.  Changing the depth of the cut also required that the grade on both sides of the cut had to be changed at the same time.

    We are able to learn a lot of railroad history from looking at such old photos.  Even when, as in this case, where we are limited to the short time that is spent in the diner.  I would like to have a copy of that photo to study it more closely.  It would not have been unusual in a case like this for there to have been several photos taken.  Of course we can only speculate as to rather that may have been done here, but it would be great be able to see them if there were others.  There so many little details relating to the people, their life and work of that era to be discovered when we can study an old photo over a period of time.

    The accompanying chart showing the track elevations east and west of Gap is reproduced from a small hand drawn chart inked on linen that was included in a book of locomotive and car drawings and related notes and some maps. Special books of this basic type, with only minor variation in format and content, were often prepared for PRR officials in that era.  This particular book had been prepared and issued to a man named P.D. Smith, otherwise not identified as to his position.  The book is now in the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, but it is in very poor condition. There is no date in the book showing when it was made, but one of the printed drawings for switches is dated 1875, which gives a starting point in trying to establish the date.

    An approximate date for the book was established by studying the various equipment drawings that are included and identifying the class and date of adoption for those cars and locomotives.  All of the cars and locomotives illustrated had been built prior to 1875, except one locomotive that was adopted that year.  There is also a drawing included for a "proposed class E gondola" which had not yet been built.  Since the "proposed class E gondola" was adopted and built in 1880, it has been concluded that the book was prepared about 1879.  (The old class E later became class Gc when the "new" class system that we knew was adopted in 1887.)  In that way, it was determined that this Philadelphia Division track elevation chart had been drawn before the work was begun to reduce the elevation, and the grades, through Mine Ridge at Gap. 

    It is good that the management of the Gap Diner has put their collection of old photos on display where interested members of the public may enjoy seeing them.  It would also be nice to be able to get a copy of that one pertaining to the railroad.  But there is one thing that in the long run would be even better.  That would be for the Gap Diner management to get that photo copied, put the copy print with their display in the diner and then donate the original photo to the Pennsylvania State Railroad Museum at Strasburg for preservation with their railroad photo collection.

    (Note; This had been started late last year, but it was not finished until early January.  On our next visit to the Gap Diner, in mid January of this year, the photo described here, and other photos, were not in the places where they had been hanging for years.  I was told that the photos had been removed for safety because of Christmas parties that had been held in that room.  On later visits, some of the photos had been put back on the walls in "The Old Gap Room" of the Gap Diner, but not the one mentioned here.  I inquired about it and was told that the new management wanted to change some
of the photos on display.  But I did get to see this one, it is with some that were being held in the office and the lady brought it out to me.  I was told that the plans for them was unsure as to rather they would again be placed on the walls for display.  I do hope that this one does get put back on the wall.)              © R.E.Hall 2000

Accompanying Diagrams:
(For 1879 era track elevation chart Dillerville to Coatsville)  This PRR track elevation chart dating from the 1879 era, just before the cut at Gap was deepened, shows the grade as 43 feet per mile westbound
and 40 feet per mile eastbound.
(For modern track elevation chart, Phila. Div. to Phila. Term. Div. & on to Phila.) This modern PRR track elevation chart shows the grade through Gap as 0.71 percent westbound and 0.6 percent eastbound.  That is an improvement over the 0.85 percent when the line was first opened by the Philadelphia & Columbia Rail Road.
6   1879 track elevation Dillerville to Coatsville  
7   This modern PRR track elevation chart shows the grade through Gap as 0.71 percent westbound and 0.6 percent eastbound.  That is an improvement over the 0.85 percent when the line was first opened by the Philadelphia & Columbia Rail Road.

CHAPTER EVENTS  

Thursday    July 20, 2000   7 PM    Chapter Meeting Do - It - Yourself Program
Thursday    Aug. ??, 2000   ? ? Chapter Outing  meeting will NOT be in Claymont!
Thursday    Sept. 21, 2000  7 PM    Chapter Meeting program by Roy Soukup, Jr.
Thursday    Oct. 19, 2000   7 PM    Chapter Meeting program not known at this time
Thursday    Nov. 16, 2000   7 PM    Chapter Meeting program not known at this time
Sunday  Dec. ??, 2000   5 PM    Holiday Dinner  in lieu of normal monthly meeting, program not known at this time

The Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) meets at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday of each month [except August & December] in the Darley Room at the Claymont Community Center on Green Street in Claymont, Delaware. Visitors are always welcome.  Admission to regular meetings is free.

The Transfer Table
   The Transfer Table is published six to ten times per year as the newsletter of the Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.  Items in this publication do not represent the official position of either Officers or Members of the Wilmington Chapter or the Editor of this publication.

    Permission to reprint articles and news items appearing herein is granted to NRHS Chapters and other newsletters provided appropriate credit is given.   Contributions are always welcome and should be sent to the editor at SD40GMA@aol.com or send to: P.O. Box 1136, Hockessin, DE 19707-5136.  Deadline for entries is the 25th of the month.

Chapter Officers
    President   Phil Snider
    Vice President & Historian  Ron Cleaves
    Treasurer   Ralph Stevens, Jr.
    Secretary   Walt Robbins
    National Director   Tom Posatko
    Editor  Greg Ajamian
    Public Relations    Frank Ferguson, Jr.
    Event Photographer  Bruce Barry

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