More from the Schuylkill River Area

The Little Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad (LSSR) began its existence as a potential canal. In 1822 a prominent resident of village of Catawissa, Pennsylvania, Christian Brobst, proposed a canal be constructed up Catawissa Creek to its headwaters. The steam locomotive on the front

of this post card was named after this town. The plan was to meet the headwaters of the Little Schuylkill River, about 3 plus miles away. Another canal would be constructed in the Little Schuylkill River to Port Clinton, where it would join with the Schuylkill Canal and Navigation to Philadelphia. Brobst, although not an engineer, proceeded to himself conduct a survey in 1825 of the proposed Catawissa Canal with home-made instruments. The plan went "nowhere". The difficulty of digging a three-mile canal (to connect the two rivers) through mountainous terrain was one example of the difficulties. However, Brobst used his Catawissa Canal project to get elected to the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1827. In the period between 1827 and 1829, in the first and second coalfields, the preferred mode of transportation was shifting from canals to railroads. Brobst now advocated a railroad through the Catawissa Valley. Brobst persuaded Stephen Girard, Philadelphia banker and capitalist, and Moncure Robinson, engineer for the Pennsylvania Canal Commission and an accomplished railroad engineer, to tour the route where they were favorably impressed. The Legislature authorized a professional survey for this railroad. The railroad received a charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on February 28, 1826. Construction began in 1830. The tracks were constructed with strap iron on wood rails. Beginning with horse-drawn cars in 1831, the LSRR operated between Tamaqua, located at the end of the coal-rich Panther Creek Valley and the Port Clinton terminus of the Schuylkill Canal. It later made a rail junction with the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company. In 1833, the railroad acquired two steam locomotives, built in Liverpool, but the wooden tracks did not support the engines, requiring a resumption of animal-powered operations. This over-extended investment nearly bankrupted the young company. Only in 1845 did iron "T" rails replace the wooden rails, allowing the costly English locomotives to return to regular service. In 1854, the LSRR completed a junction with the Catawissa Railroad at Tamanend (also called Little Schuylkill Junction). In 1857, it built a roundhouse in Tamaqua, housing 21 locomotives and a turntable. In 1863, the company was leased by the Reading Railroad for 93 years. It formally merged with the Reading in 1952.

The post card was published by the Tamaqua Historical Society in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. You can visit their website here: https://www.tamaquahistoricalsociety.org/

How Do You Pronounce Schuylkill?

The Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad was a 30 mile long set of tracks whose purpose was to bring coal from Tamaqua to Port Clinton, Pennsylvania. It also carried passengers to and fro.

The train pictured on the front of this post card is dumping the coal into a barge to be brought to market. The most information that I found about this railroad was in a letter to the president of the company from a lawyer dated July 3, 1941. The president was asking for an opinion as to whether or not the railroad was subject to paying into the Unemployment Insurance system of the time. Here is an excerpt from the letter: The Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad and Coal Company was incorporated September 14, 1829, under an act of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of making a lock navigation on the East Branch of the Schuylkill River. By special act of April 23, 1831, and supplementary acts, however, the company was authorized to build and operate a railroad instead of a canal. It constructed a railroad, as authorized, and opened it for operation on November I5, 1831. The Little Schuylkill Railroad between Tamaqua and Port Clinton was completed and began operating with horse drawn coal and passenger cars which were pulled along wooden rails with steel straps attached to the top. The opening of this railroad was considered an engineering marvel of the time and was celebrated with a great deal of fanfare. This was only the 3rd rail route to be constructed in America at the time. The road was operated directly by the company from that date to April 1, 1863, when the entire road was leased by the company to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. On December 1, 1896, this lease was terminated and the property was as of that date leased to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, successor to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, for a period of 999 years. On January 1, 1924, the lease was assumed by the Reading Company, successor to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, and the Reading Company has continued since that date to operate the line of railroad of the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad and Coal Company in interstate commerce, as lessee under that lease. In view of the conclusion reached by the Board in that decision with respect to the carrier status of the New London Northern Railroad Company, it is my opinion, for the reasons stated therein, that the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad and Coal Company is now, and at least since August 28, 1935, has been, a carrier by railroad subject to Part I of the Interstate Commerce Act, and for that reason is an employer under the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts. The railroad merged with the Reading Railroad in 1952, thereby ceasing to exist. By the way, Diane Herner from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania says, “Those of us from Philadelphia say ‘Skookle’.” The post card was published by the Tamaqua Historical Society in Tamaqua. https://www.tamaquahistoricalsociety.org/train-rides

Their website,says that each year, the historical society sponsors and conducts train rides departing from the Tamaqua Station during the Summerfest and at Christmas time. The train rides are presented in cooperation with the Reading and Northern Railroad. They have a facebook page if you would like to follow them. You can find it by searching on facebook or through the link on their website.