I suppose that in pursuing any interesting project such as I have been doing, one must bring an end to it. The ten years that I have been compiling facts, pictures, maps, visiting the various sites, and my talks with many interesting people have more than rewarded me for the time I have devoted to my hobby. Never once did I lose interest or have any desire to abandon my work, rather my interest continually seemed to increase. With the writing of this compilation of facts I thought my hobby would end. How wrong I was.

Now I find I'm only about half through as I realized I had detoured from my original plans to write this booklet. My original plan was to construct a scale model of the first car, secondly to construct a miniature replica of the area from the quarry to the wharf. This would include the street, house and buildings that existed around the time of the building of the first railroad.

In searching for facts, records and pictures for my original idea, I acquired so much interesting data that I felt I should share it with others.

During the first four years of my research, never once was I able to locate the original plans of Gridley Bryant, or for that matter, copies either. Because of this fact, I was allowed through the courtesy of Miss Caroline Crane of Adams Street in Quincy, to photograph and take measurements of the replica of the first car, which was used in Quincy's 300th Anniversary in 1925. With the demolishing of Badger's Garage on Adams Street, where the car had been stored for many years, it was transferred to Miss Crane's barn. Figure 191 shows some of the pictures I took of this car.

Finally, I discovered where blueprints of Bryant's original plans had been made by the Historic American Buildings survey under the direction of the Department of the Interior around 1938-1940. I was able to purchase a copy of these blueprints, thus my patience was rewarded. In June 1958, Mr. Robert Faxon advised me that he had located the original plans which had been the property of his father. He was kind enough to let me look them over. However, inasmuch as I had the blueprints, it wasn't necessary to make more copies.

During my visits with Richard Muzzrole to the various railroad sites, he was kind enough to give me numerous artifacts which he had found during his excavations. Figure 192 shows some of the artifacts which include a piece of the original iron rail from the inclined plane, some of the old-time wedges, shims, nails and pieces of bolts used to fasten the rail to the granite sleeper. Figure 193 is a picture of one of these old type wedges which belongs to Mr. Louis Badger.

It is my intention to use a piece of this rail, cut to size for my model to run on. Also, from a piece of granite from the Bunker Hill quarry, I intend to have some sleepers cut to size and make a roadbed section as shown in Figure 8, thus giving a little historic fitness to the model.

During the years of my research, I have come across many references as to who deserves credit for various "firsts" in connection with the railway.

According to the generally accepted meaning of a railroad, which performs as a common carrier, transporting commodities and passengers, certainly the Granite Railway, even though it never carried any passengers, nevertheless could be classed as a common carrier by reason of the fact that it carried granite for a stipulated price per ton, even though it was referred to as a tramway rather than a railroad.

In checking the records, tramways were in operation in Boston as early as 1807, being used to remove dirt from Beacon Hill. In 1809-10, a tram was built at Crum Creek, Delaway County, Pennsylvania, another about a mile long built around the same, near Richmond, Virginia, another using wooden rails built in Armstrong, as well as one that was built in 1825 in Nashua, New Hampshire, all preceding the building of the Granite Railway. However, nowhere did I find where they were employed as so-called "common carriers". The Granite Railway never employed any other motive power but gravity and horsepower, continuing to use this method until around 1866. By referring to the picture of the first car and comparing it with the first engines constructed and operated by steam, Figure 194 certainly shows quite a change.

Another question that has arisen from time to time is where the granite for the monument came from and where was it "dressed". Milton claimed the distinction from facts in her possession. No doubt some of the granite was "dressed" in East Milton in stone sheds in the vicinity of "Railway Village" as well as at the wharf. Some were privately owned and operated as well as others being owned and operated by the Railway Company.

One further remark along these lines. There is no question as to the fact that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad operated the first steam passenger and freight cars.

Rather than involve myself in any arguments one way or another, I will let the facts as written in this booklet speak for themselves. It is my honest belief that from all the records I have seen and the evidence that Richard Muzzrole has uncovered, the Bunker Hill Lane area is where the railway first started, where the first granite sheds were located, and that the two quarries on Bunker Hill Ledge is where the granite came from during most of the monument's construction.

In my opinion the work that has been done by Richard Muzzrole in unearthing the remains of America's first railway should be preserved. It was the beginning of a new era in the American way of life and to me is fully as important, historically, as many other phases of Americana that are being preserved.

First, the section of the original roadbed, shown in Figures 12 and 13, that he excavated and which have since been covered over and graded are very important and should be unearthed and preserved. Next, the work he did excavating the large area off Bunker Hill Lane, which was not only the starting place of the first railway, but also where the granite business started as one of our big industries. I feel that this property should be acquired and all the relics kept in a building that could be erected as well as one to house the replica of the first car. Inasmuch as the original roadbed and sleepers are still in place, it would not take much to place the timbers and iron rails to complete the track and put it in working order.

During numerous travels through various parts of the eastern United States in the past few years, I have found a great deal of work is being carried on in preserving our early historical background by the Parks Department of the Department of the Interior. Perhaps they could be persuaded to acquire this valuable historical find also.

In closing, I have discovered two things. First, without my many talks with most interesting people, this project never could have been accomplished, and secondly, people around Quincy apparently are not interested in our historical heritage. During my travels and research I have found that Quincy has more places of historical interest than perhaps any other place in America, but it is slowly becoming extinct because of lack of interest as well as funds. It seems strange that people will travel to many other sections of this country and pay many thousands of dollars to see other places of historical interest, most of which have been well-preserved, but not so in our city. No doubt what has been unearthed by one man in connection with our transportation will soon be lost instead of being preserved for the future.

One final note. All in all I never realized the immense amount of work necessary to discover the facts pertaining to just one project, and the amount of interest that can be obtained through a little effort.