J. Massey Rhind. The city's filtration system is
of special interest to engineers; it occupies 20 acres, has eight filter
beds, and filters 15,000,000 gallons of water daily.

Albany's key position with respect to New York, Boston and Buffalo
ensured its commercial development. The first passenger railroad in
America was operated between Albany and Schenectady.

The first train in the state, consisting of the locomotive "De
Witt Clinton," named for the seventh governor, and three coaches
(resembling early stage coaches), was built for the Mohawk and
Hudson Railroad Co., the original unit of the present New York
Central Lines, and was chartered in 1826 to run from Albany to
Schenectady--a distance of 16 M. The locomotive was constructed
at the West Point foundry and taken to Albany by boat. It had its
first trial on rails, July 30, 1831, burning anthracite coal and
attaining a speed of 7 M. an hour. After remodeling, it made the
trip from Albany to Schenectady in one hour and 45 minutes, using
pine wood for fuel. On Aug. 9, 1831, two trips were made, during
which a speed of 30 M. an hour was reached. The train ran on iron
"straps" nailed to wooden "stringers." As originally built the
locomotive weighed 6,758 pounds, which, in remodeling, was
increased to 9,420 pounds--less than the weight of one pair of
wheels of a modern locomotive. At a banquet on the occasion of
the formal opening of the line (Aug. 13, 1831), President
Camberling of the railroad gave the following toast: "The Buffalo
Railroad! May we soon breakfast at Utica, dine at Rochester, and
sup with our friends on Lake Erie." The original train is still
preserved and may be seen in the right balcony of the Grand
Central Station, N.Y.C.

The first steamboat in the United States made its initial trips between
N.Y. and Albany, and the first canal connected Albany with Buffalo.

The original Erie Canal was one of the greatest of early
engineering projects in America, and its importance in the
development of N.Y. State, and of the country to the west, can
hardly be overestimated. Construction was begun in 1817, under a
commission including Gouverneur Morris, De Witt Clinton, Robert
Fulton, and Robert R. Livingston, and in 1825 the main channel,
363 miles in length, was opened between Albany and Buffalo, the
total cost being $7,143,790. Three br