The president, managers, and company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company completed in 1829, the Gravity Railroad between Carbondale and Honesdale, in Pennsylvania. It was the second railroad constructed in the western hemisphere. The "Stourbridge Lion," the first stream locomotive used in this continent, was built in England for this line and made its trial trip from Honesdale on August 8, 1829. The first shipment of coal over this railroad left the mines on October 9, 1829, and in `1830 the line was opened for general freight. The first passenger train was operated in 1859.
In 1898 operation by gravity and inclined planes was discontinued, and in 1899 the line was changed to standard gauge and operated throughout its entire length by steam locomotives as an integral portion of the lines of the Delaware and Hudson Company.
This shaft was erected in 1913 in commemoration of these historic events. John Bolton was President in 1829, R. M. Olyphant in 1898, and L. F. Loree in 1913.
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