The following article appeared in Tyrone Division Special, Vol. 4, No. 5, September 1924, published by the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Tyrone Division.
C.A. Irvin, present agent at Julian, is a grandson of the late Dr. William Underwood who was the instigator, and as well, the first President of the Tyrone & Lock Haven Railroad Company. Mr. Irvin has given us some interesting light on the founding of the present Bald Eagle Valley road.
The portion of the Tyrone and Lock Haven Railroad between Bellefonte and Tyrone was surveyed by John H. McMinn and a corps of engineers in October and November 1856, and a second act of incorporation was obtained February 21, 1857. The Commissioners met on April 13, 1857 and elected Dr. William Underwood as President, and the following managers: Messrs James T. Hale, General James Irvin, Harvey Mann, Dr. J.M. McCoy, W.H. Thomas, Roland Curtin, E.C. Humes, J.T. Matthias, L.A. Mackey, and John I. Thompson. These managers then elected John Thompson, secretary; Edmund Blanchard, treasurer; and John McMinn, engineer.
The western division with the Bellefonte Branch, a total of thirty-three and one-fourth miles, was let to S. Brady & Company for grubbing, grading, and finishing ready for the superstructure for $66,500 on May 7, 1857, and a few days later President Underwood with the Engineer and corps, staked out the first 100 feet. After reading the charter, the President formally broke ground and then all hands went to work and graded that 100 feet. The eastern division of the road between Milesburg and Lock Haven was let to Samuel Brady on May 20, 1858.
There were dark and discouraging days ahead, but the President had a vision and was determined to see it through. Time and again when friends would ask him if he wasn’t about ready to give up, he always replied, “Never! I am more in hope now than ever!”
Dr. Underwood, who was a member of the Society of Friends, called upon an old Quaker friend and asked him to take some stock in the road. The old Quaker remarked, “Well William, I will buy some of this stock just to please thee, but one engine will haul all the freight and passengers that will ever go over your road.”
Dr. William Underwood was born in York, Pa. October 7, 1811. As well as being behind the success of the Bald Eagle Valley, he was also active in promoting the Norfolk & Southern Railway, extending from Norfolk, Va. to Elizabeth City, N.J.
Mrs. Eliza G. Irvin, daughter of the late Dr. Underwood and mother of the agent at Julian, still resides at Julian and is in her eighty-sixth year. She is a most estimable old lady and is still keenly interested in railroad matters.
An engineer on the railroad, by the name of Bill Blue, ran engine two, and one day when out on a run the flue of his engine burst. Being a man of few words, he sent the following telegram to the superintendent: “Flue blue through on engine two. Bill Blue.”
The superintendent, also a man of few words and very much to the point, sent the following instructions: “Bill Blue on engine two. Fix that flue that blew through, and get out of the way of twenty-two, which is soon due.”
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