Bay State Iron Co. tracks
From: "Nancy S. Seasholes" nseashol@bu.edu
Is it really true, as you say on your web page entitled "Bay State Iron Company CPRR Rail, 1863 & 1866," that the very first rail for the western part of the transcontinental RR., laid in Sacramento in October 1863, was made by the Bay State Iron Co. of Boston? I'm a historian working on interpretive signage for the former Bay State Iron site and need to know whether that statement on the web page is really true.
—Nancy S. Seasholes, Ph.D.
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 10:12 PM
2 Comments:
The CPRR Museum webpage which explains in excruciating detail that: "Pear-shaped Central Pacific Railroad 56 lb./yd. rail cut from a rail branded 'BSI Co. 63; ordered by Theodore Judah in the Fall of 1862 from Bay State Iron Co. of Boston, Mass.; shipped around the Horn on the 'Herald of the Morning'; first rail laid by the Central Pacific Railroad in Sacramento City, Cal. on October 26, 1863. This rail was used between Sacramento City and Colfax, Placer Co., Cal. [The actual order was executed by Huntington, after being turned down for credit by the NY rail makers. He was referred to Bay State Iron Co. by the Ames Brothers, of Mass., (suppliers of shovels for the CPRR, which now litter the desert in Nevada) who knew him for years via the hardware store.]" was just kidding, and it actually means that the Komodo Dragon is the world's largest living lizard which can be found at the National Zoo in our Nation's Capitol ... and the picture of the CPRR 1863 BSI rail actually instead shows a deceased Norwegian blue parrot.
From: "Chris Graves" caliron@cwnet.com
The FIRST rails laid on the CPRR were 60 lb wrought iron rails, made by the Bay State Iron Co. of So. Boston. The initial shipment was 5,000 tons, shipped on the Williams Line out of Boston, the first Clipper ship used was 'Herald of the Morning.' The second shipment was on another Williams Line ship, however I don't have that name at my fingertips.
That initial rail was branded B S I Co 63, it can still be found in odd, out of the way places from time to time, altho l haven't seen any in the 'wild' for 3 or 4 years.
—G J Chris Graves
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