boards. In this way the coaches were kept
apart and the silk hats of the dignitaries who had been invited to
participate in the opening of the road rescued from total
annihilation."

"I'll bet everybody was glad to disembark at Schenectady," declared
Stephen.

"I'll wager they were! They must have been exhausted from being jounced
and jostled about. Nevertheless the novelty of the adventure probably
brought its own compensations, and they were doubtless diverted from
their woes by the sight of the cheering and envious spectators, the
terrified horses, and the open-mouthed children that greeted them
wherever they went."

"But the promoters could hardly expect the public to be very keen for a
steam railroad after such an exhibition," reflected Steve.

"Fortunately our forefathers were not as critical as you," said his
father, "and in consequence the coach line from Albany to Schenectady
was speedily supplanted by a steam railroad, as were the various coach
lines into the interior of the State. As a result hundreds of
broken-down coach horses were turned out to pasture, a merciful thing.
Gradually a series of short steam railway lines were constructed from
one end of the State to the other, until in 1851 these were joined
together to make a continuous route to Lake Erie. Perhaps we have only
scant appreciation of the revolution that came with this advance in
transportation. It meant the beginning of travel and commerce between
the eastern States and those in the interior of the country; it also
meant the speedy shipment of eastern products to the West, where they
were greatly needed, and the reception of western commodities in the
East. But more than all this, it signified a bond of fellowship between
the scattered inhabitants of the same vast country who up to this time
had been almost total strangers to one another, and was a mighty stride
in the direction of national loyalty and sympathy. Therefore it was
entirely seemly that Millard Fillmore, then President of the United
States, and Daniel Webster, the Secretary of State, should be honored
guests at the celebration that attended the opening of the railroad."

"Did the road reach no farther than Lake Erie?" asked Stephen.

"Not at first," replied his father. "From that point commerce was
carried on by means of ships on the Great Lakes. But in time western
railroad companies began to build short stretches of track which later
on they joined together as the other r