They
came over the National Road as far as Frederick, Maryland, and there left
it to enter a train of six cars, each accommodating sixteen persons. The
train was drawn by horses. In this manner they continued their journey to
Baltimore.
In the autumn of that year a railroad was opened between New York and
Philadelphia. At first horses were used to draw the train, but by the end
of the year locomotives, which ran at the rate of fifteen miles an hour,
were introduced. This was a tremendous stride in the progress of railroad
traffic.
[Illustration: Comparison of "DeWitt Clinton" Locomotive and Train, the
First Train Operated in New York, with a Modern Locomotive of the New York
Central R.R.]
To be sure, the locomotives were small, but two or more started off
together, each drawing its own little train of cars. Behind the locomotive
was a car which was a mere platform with a row of benches, seating perhaps
forty passengers, inside of an open railing. Then followed four or five
cars looking very much like stage-coaches, each having three compartments,
with doors on each side. The last car was a high, open-railed van, in
which the baggage of the whole train was heaped up and covered with
oilcloth.
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