We all know about the Bloomsburg and Sullivan railroad, chartered to reach the Bernice coal fields, but actually only running from Bloomsburg through Orangeville to Benton and Jamison City carrying passengers, wood and farm products.
The first passenger train on the Bloomsburg & Sullivan
The trains in the local area included...
• The Lehigh Valley Railroad ran along the north shore of the north branch of the Susquehanna to Towanda, then to Sayre serving the anthracite coal district of eastern Pennsylvania. A branch at Harvey's Lake chugged to the town of Ricketts.
• The Pennsylvania ran from Selinsgrove through South Williamsport, across the West Branch of the Susquehanna, through Williamsport northward along Lycoming Creek, ending in Elmira. President William B. McKinley's funeral train traveled through Williamsport on these tracks in 1901.
• The Reading Railroad served eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Locally it was on the east side of the Susquehanna, while the Pennsylvania traveled the west side. From 1871, the tracks of this railroad went from Catawissa (then the Catawissa Railroad) through Muncy to Williamsport. After 1928, a spur went from Bloomsburg and Orangeville to Benton, then on north to Jamison City. These tracks were the Bloomsburg and Sullivan. The Reading went into bankruptcy in 1971.
The State Line & Sullivan (part of Lehigh Valley) first served the Bernice coal fields from Towanda, traveling the first four miles over the Barclay Railroad and later the Susquehanna & New York.
Edward Kaseman wrote an excellent book on the Susquehanna & New York, entitled Story of the Susquehanna & New York, first printing 1941, second printing 1963 and third printing 1979. The State Line & Sullivan and Bowman's Creek Branch connected around Lopez and were both owned by Lehigh Valley.
The best known Pennsy line in Columbia County was the Sweet By & By (Susquehanna, Bloomsburg & Berwick), with the original line terminating in Orangeville. The Pennsy line to Wilkes Barre was also a well known line in Columbia County. Jim Laubach remembers going with his father, J. Paul Laubach, to the Bloomsburg station, across the bridge, to pick up parts from International off the "Doodle Bug" that ran on the line. Jim could always tell it was spring because of crates of "peeps" in the baggage compartment.
The railroad we are going to discuss is the Muncy Creek Railroad and Coal Company, later and better known as the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad (W&NB), the dream of Michael Meylert, Laporte, a member of a family that was influential in carving Sullivan County from Lycoming County. Meylert and others organized the railroad in 1864 in order to bring out the resources of Sullivan County and bring in cash-friendly tourists to Sullivan County. Meylert's railroad dream had not materialized at his death in 1883.
The cash-starved W&NB railroad barely survived until late in 1871 when construction picked up from Hughesville to what was then known as Catawissa Junction, now known as Halls Station. A total of 8,433 passengers rode the train a year later, but still far too few to cover the interest payments for the railroad.
In 1885, tracks for the train reached Sonestown and in 1886 tracks were completed to Nordmont and its logging camps and timber operations. From Nordmont, the train faced serious challenges over the next 13-mile route involving four trestles and a treacherous mountainside. The tannery business in Laporte and the coal fields in Bernice spurred investors to push ahead, even with plenty of competition from other sources: The Lehigh Valley Railroad was already there, and the Bloomsburg & Sullivan promised to end up there. The Pennsylvania Railroad decided they would have to buy into the W&NB.
As it played out, however, the Bloomsburg & Sullivan did not attempt to build a switchback up the mountain from Jamison City and the Pennsylvania lost interest in extending the W&NB. The Lehigh Valley came to the coal fields from an extension from Wilkes-Barre.
In 1892, John Satterfield and others acquired a major interest in the W&NB and the railroad pushed on. Most readers know Nordmont and recognize that probably only Branson, Missouri, was built in a more difficult location. Nordmont was then a village of 250 with logging and the Nordmont Chemical Company and its dozen or so company houses about all that was there. The chemical company converted hardwood into alcohol, charcoal and acetic acid--an organic chemical compound which gives vinegar its sour taste and pungent smell. (The chemical plant was converted into a sawmill in 1923 by C.W. Sones).
What readers might not know is that there was a Nordmont horseshoe curve with the village directly in the center of the curve. The tracks climbed 350 feet on a 1.5% grade in order to follow the creek to Lake Mokoma and then north to Laporte. The curving trestle of the main line out of Nordmont was 40 feet high and 336 feet long, curving upward on its six-mile run to Lake Mokoma, a private lake whose prosperity was directly related to the arrival of the railroad. Ice in the winter and tourists in the summer should have been a winning combination, but the tannic acid of the lake from the tree stumps and downed trees in the water proved a poor selling point for the contaminated ice!
In the geographical center of Sullivan County was the county seat of Laporte, home to about 400 people at the time, now about 200 people. The county seat was a mile or so from Lake Mokoma. Union Tanning Company of the United States Leather Company operated the Laporte tannery there from 1866 until 1893. From Laporte, the train crossed, as they say, "miles and miles of miles and miles" on its six-mile trip to Ringdale, crossing Loyalsock Creek over a 476-foot long bridge. Satterfield came next, but little was there except a few houses and a hotel, and nothing much changed after the train arrived. In 1894, a branch was extended to Bernice and the coal fields--only to discover there were no major mines there, although in the area were a reported 350 men manning picks and shovels laboriously bringing out about 500 tons of coal a day.
A side railroad owned by Senator Sones went out of Nordmont up Cherry Run for the Big Run Manufacturing Company. Many older readers will remember the stories of the log train of that company getting out of control on the mountain and crashing.
By 1900, a train ran from Williamsport to Towanda and within a few years chemicals, coal and passengers, along with timber and wood-related products like furniture, bark and leather products used the trains. During the summer months, as many as sixteen passenger and four freight trains ran daily. When the cold months arrived, coal trains increased their operation.
The end came for the W&NB Railroad with the decline in lumber from excessive harvesting of timber and with the coming of the automobile. The "Great Depression" was also a cause. The W&NB Railroad declared bankruptcy in the late 1930s. The surviving rail equipment was sold for scrap. Other than the railroad grade, the only thing left of the W&NB is a fire station built on Railroad Street, Hughesville, on land that had previously been purchased from the bankrupt W&NB Railroad.
The construction of the Williamsport and North Branch (W&NB) railroad around Nordmont, Laporte and Elk Lick is interesting. The nation was getting used to a new concoction called Coca-Cola, President Cleveland was busy getting married to Frances Folsom, 24, who happened to be 25 years younger than the President, and "Liberty Enlightening the World" was unveiled in New York as the gigantic Statue of Liberty was dedicated. To get a flavor of what the times were like, both good and bad, we'll tell you a little about Sullivan County before we get down to the specifics of the story.
Those with some money could enjoy the hotel that John Schaad owned in Bernice. Advertisements of the day reported it to be a "large and commodious house," which actually didn't mean that it had commodes--at least inside! Rooms were "large and airy" and furnished in a "first-class style." Like today, temperatures were hot that August, and the hotel advertised that it was a "desirable place for those who desire to escape the heated term." Certainly its location at over 2,090 feet had something to do with the cooler temperatures of Bernice. The hotel had a bar, supplied with "choice liquors and cigars." Billiards and pool were played in the basement of the building.
Over in Laporte, the town market sold flour at $1.50 a sack, a pound of sugar went for 7¢, a pound of Sunrise Coffee went for 16¢, a pound of Lily Fine cut tobacco went for 80¢, a plug of Bouneet for 50¢, and in the fruit and vegetable department peaches went for 20¢ a can, tomatoes and corn 11¢ a can. Country produce was taken in exchange, items like butter, eggs and potatoes.
Life was hard for most in the area, but there were leisure activities, too. The Thorndale Nine and the Laporte Tannery Club entertained in the "game of ball." A footpath around Eagles Mere Lake was under construction by architect Embley Chase, who constructed two artistic bridges "highly spoken of by the stock holders" of Eagles Mere.
The promise of the coming of the railroad was major excitement in the town. Townspeople were happy that "several manufacturing establishments" would be constructed "immediately on the arrival of the railroad." Someone remarked that the "obstacle to enterprise" would soon be removed when the railroad officially arrived the following summer, noting that the graders on the W&NB were working in Laporte township at the time.
Against that backdrop of life in Sullivan County during August, 1886, a humanitarian tragedy took place that would make national headlines if it were to happen today. Our introduction to this tragedy came in the form of these lines in a newspaper of the day: "A number of our citizens went down to see the ruins of the Hungarian shanty on Friday. Their appetite for dinner was not very ferocious."
One must understand that the railroad needed to be carved out of the mountainside and trestles built high enough over creeks so as not to be taken out by "splash or by flood." All labor was done by hand, using picks, shovels and dump carts. Workers were of various nationalities, and they "holed up" in various places, many times in deserted buildings. They cooked their own food, often using a "bake oven" outside the buildings where they lived. Although not part of the W&NB, one of the geographical spots at Painter Den Club in Sullivan County is the "bake oven" area of the property.
Local women were frequently hired to do the cooking for the exhausted men and were usually paid so much a sack for the baking, although it must have been difficult to find enough women to do this in Sullivan County at that time.
Workers of various nationalities were used to construct the railroads. Those of Italian background were said to be friendly and many of them learned to speak English. Workers representing a number of other nationalities were also employed--Hungarians, Greeks and native-born Americans.
By the time that the railroad reached Sonestown, the wood-fired engines had been replaced with ones using coal, a welcome relief for the farmers. The wood-fired trains would run out of wood about the time they reached Sonestown, and the engineers would often have to stop the train and run out and raid farmer's fences for wood to complete the trip.
As the tracks slowly were laid past Sonestown, places to house the many workers became a problem. It was not practical for the company to run work trains back and forth from Sonestown, so the railroad company built new story and a half shanties for the laborers. About this time, work crews of Hungarians were added to the work list.
Liquor was obtainable easily and bouts of weekend and payday drinking frequently led to near "riot" situations among the crews. The Hungarian men liked to party hearty and shortly after one payday a drunken fight broke out. During the session of "drunken violence" on the first floor of a shanty, a fire started and seven men sleeping on the second floor were trapped, unable to get out through the two tiny windows on the ends of the building.
We surmise that the records of the day in referring to "Hungarians" were referring to the group of people involved in a westward migration of laborers, tradesmen, shopkeepers, artisans and their families. Many were emigrants of the 1848/49 Hungarian Revolution against the Hapsburg Empire. These people, or their parents, had escaped the retribution of the Austrian authorities and were slowly on their way to seek their fortune in the west. Immigrants from Eastern Europe and Italy also worked on the track construction.
In August, 1886, one of the shanties occupied by "the Hungarians who are working on the W.&N.B.R.R." caught on fire. The building was owned by Amos Little and rented by John Pooster, the "boarding boss." Housed in the shanty were 22 men and two women (Mrs. Pooster and her mother), and one child.
Four men and the women slept downstairs, the other men slept in the loft. In the loft the window was simply a small hole about ten inches square for ventilation. The shanty was loosely constructed of boards with a board roof. In this shanty, a small kitchen addition was at the front and this was the location of both the stove and the only door in the house.
Local reports were less than flattering when it was reported that the "inmates" retired about 9 PM. Survivors later testified that about 11 o'clock they were awakened by calls of fire, either from inside or outside the building. Immediately a rush was made for the open air. Those downstairs escaped without difficulty. Of those in the loft, all except six got safely down and escaped. These men could not escape the heat and smoke and did not get to the lower floor. One man was observed trying to force his way through the tiny window when someone behind him pulled him back. The building burned quickly catching the men huddled together in the rear of the building.
For reasons unknown, no effort was made from within or without to save them. The sides of the building could easily have been kicked off, or the roof boards could have been pushed up. Those outside seemed utterly bewildered and when what the local newspaper called "the Americans" arrived they were not told that anyone remained in the building. The occupants all were Hungarians unable to speak any English. The building fell in within twenty minutes and then the horrible discover was made that six men had been cremated alive, and in plain view of "one hundred idle-handed men."
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Cherry Grove Cemetery, beside the road from Elk Grove to Nordmont |
The charming little church near where the men were buried outside of Elk Lick, 19 miles from Back Home in Benton, PA. |
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The remains of the workers were buried behind this church in Cherry Grove Cemetery, beside the road from Elk Grove to Nordmont. Their graves are simply marked, "Here lie the bodies of six Hungarian laborers who died in a tragic fire in the year 1886 while building the Williamsport and North Branch Railroad. Their identity is known only to God."
For more information on the W&NB, head for Thomas T. Taber III's Muncy Valley Lifeline, has three editions, 1968, 1972 and 1995. These references also include the Eagles Mere Railroads. Another good book on railroads in our area, including W&NB and B&S, is by John W. Hudson II and Suzanne C. Hudson, entitled Scenes Along The Rails, Vol. 1, and The Anthracite Region Of Pennsylvania, Part 2. This book, written in 1997, is still available from Depot Square Publishing.
Our gratitude goes to Jim Laubach, who provided much of the background information for this article.
