From the Cortland Democrat of Cortland, NY
Friday, March 21, 1924

Daring Girl Walked Midland Trestles

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   The Democrat's story of the old Midland Railroad and its numerous trestles recalled to many of our readers, events of the seventies associated with the building of the road and its operation. None is more interesting than a letter from Mrs. Edith Cotton of Anderson, Indiana, formerly of Cortland and the town of Taylor, and in her youth a resident of DeRuyter. Mrs. Cotton's story of her adventures follows :

   "Dear Editor - I was greatly interested in the article about the old Midland. It carried me back to the time when as a girl DeRuyter was my home. From 1865 to well into 1872, my father had a wagon shop there, and so we were there when the great railroad was built. Our home was near the road coming in from the east, and we could keep account of the trains coming in and going west. After a bad snow storm we did not see the train for days and when the road was finally broken clear, there would be two snowplows and two or three engines puffing and whistling in to let you know they had mastered the many cuts and the snow was cleaned out.


Wibert Trestle Highest
   "Wibert Trestle was the highest one on the road, and long. Its height was 165 feet in the highest part, that lay about two miles from Quaker Basin, just beyond was a short trestle 71 feet high. One summer I taught in the school house close to the trestle. Coming up from DeRuyter the road had a sharp curve onto the highway, and a few yards on the other side the trestle began.

   "Some young people came one Friday night to take me home, and we walked out to it. There were three of us and, in the daring of youth, we walked across it, little realizing what we were getting into. Before half way across we wished we were back where we started. When across, we felt sure we could never return the way we came, and we looked at the steep sides of the hill, thinking to go down and cross the basin and climb the other side to the roadway. No use; we had to walk back and did so in fear and trembling, hand in hand. A short time after that there were a few white hairs on one side of my head, but whether that was the cause is not know, gray at 18 years of age!

   "The school was four miles from DeRuyter, so being homesick, would walk home at night and back in the morning; one morning I found it had been raining, and knowing it would be muddy by road, decided to walk the railroad. I remember rightly there were seven or eight trestles from DeRuyter to the one of 71 feet previously mentioned, counting that so there were five or six to walk. There was a strong wind and when crossing the long trestle in Quaker Basin, which was in the open, had to stop often and hang to the rail to keep from being blown off. When I reached terra firma once more, another long breath was taken for my second hair-breadth escape. I was carrying a lunch basket, and a package.

   "A Sunday school was held in the schoolhouse each week and one Sunday morning three children were coming down from Crumb Hill to attend and were about half way across when an engine coming from DeRuyter burst into view at the short curve across the road. The engine stopped as soon as possible and when at a standstill was where those children had thrown themselves down on the planks at the side of the trestle. Very likely their parents had told them to do this in case they were ever caught there.


Trestles Became Dangerous
   "Those wooden trestles were to have been filled in inside of five years, but they never did anything towards it that I ever heard. The last months the road was operated it was a menace to life; have heard my brother-in-law tell many a time about his going out morning after morning not knowing whether he would ever see home again; the high trestle would shake and groan when the freight train went over them, "Brownie", as he was called on the railroad, had many escapes according to his experience.

   "This may not interest you, but seeing your article that brought it all back to me, thought you might like to hear more about it. One time coming up from Norwich the train had to stop in a deep cut to shovel some snow out; the cut had been full from a previous severe storm, but had been cleared the width of the cars. While waiting we walked up above the cut to look down on the top of the car and it looked like flooring laid on the snow, could not see the car windows. On crumb Hill snow was always sifting when there was any."

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Editor Blanchard Helped Build Railroad

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   L.D. Blanchard, editor of the Cincinnatus Times, is one of those still living in Cortland county who had a hand in building the old Midland railroad and then helped operate it. Mr. Blanchard's note on his connection with the work follows :

   "I read with much interest the historical sketch of the old Auburn branch of the New York & Oswego Midland Railroad, in The Democrat, and am preserving the same. I well remember all the characters mentioned and was familiar with the line from Norwich to Cortland from its opening to the abandonment of that section from Norwich to DeRuyter.

   "Your statistician, inadvertently I am sure, omitted my name in mentioning the earliest employees on the Auburn branch. My services there began as a driver of livery rigs, carrying civil engineers on construction work; drover scraper team on grading work for contractor Tom Murphy; was a boy helping with track layers from the High Bridge trestle west of DeRuyter to Cortland; telegraph operator for Station Agent George W. Blodgett at DeRuyter one year, then transferred to Cortland as operator for Agent H.R. Rouse. Later was station agent at Cook's Falls, on mainline.

   "While at DeRuyter taught my younger brother, S.D. Blanchard, telegraphy. He has been for more than thirty years at the Pennsylvania Railroad station at Brockway, Pa., where he is now employed."