management has usually had the
foresight to prepare well in advance for future needs.

CHAPTER IV. THE ERIE RAILROAD

"Before introducing a friend to a distinguished stranger, it is
advisable to give him some account of the person whose acquaintance he
is about to make; and so, fellow-traveler, whom I introduce to the New
York and Erie Railroad, it may be well to prefix here a brief sketch of
the history and present condition of this, the Lion of Railways. True,
he is yet in an unfinished state, but you will find that what there
is of him is complete, and of wondrous organization and activity. His
magnificent head and front repose in grandeur on the shores of the
Hudson; his iron lungs puff vigorously among the Highland fastnesses of
Rockland; his capacious maw fares sumptuously on the dairies of Orange
and the game and cattle of Broome; his lumbar region is built upon
the timber of Chemung, and the tuft of his royal extremity floats
triumphantly on the waters of Lake Erie."

This exultant, characteristically American, description appeared in
Harper's "Guide-Book of the New York and Erie Railroad", published in
1851, soon after the opening of the main line of more than four hundred
and sixty miles from Piermont on the Hudson to Dunkirk on Lake Erie.
That this railroad, which after nearly twenty years of struggle and
of financial vicissitudes had finally linked the Great Lakes with the
Atlantic coast, was looked upon as a property of wonderful character
and limitless future is indicated in all the railroad literature of that
time. Appleton's "Illustrated Handbook of American Travel", published
in 1857, devotes several pages to a description of this remarkable
achievement in railroad extension and among other things says:

"This great route claims a special admiration for the grandeur of the
enterprise which conceived and executed it, for the vast contribution it
has made to the facilities of travel, and for the multiplied and
various landscape beauties which it has made so readily and pleasantly
accessible. It traverses the southern portion of the Empire State in
its entire length from east to west, passing through countless towns and
villages, over many rivers, through rugged mountain passes now, and anon
amidst broad and fertile valleys and plains. In addition it has many
branches, connecting its stations with other routes in all directions,
and opening new stores of pictorial pleasures.... An interesting featur