When the authority to construct the railroad had been granted, Gridley Bryant started work at once. Considering the terrain over which this first railroad was to be built; through hills, woods and swamps, over rocky areas to tidewater, it seems remarkable that it took only five months to construct the roadbed, lay the tracks, build a trestle, wharf and construct a car to haul the granite blocks. The construction was started May 1, 1826 and on October 7, 1826 the first car ran over the so-called tracks from the start of the railroad at Bunker Hill Ledge to the wharf at Gullivers Creek, in East Milton, on the Neponset River.

The job of building the roadbed was given to William N. Gardner of East Milton, a very capable engineer, who had been working with Gridley Bryant for a number of years. This job had been given to Mr. Gardner because of his having had considerable experience in stone construction work. His ability has been evidenced by the fact that today the work he did in building the roadbed is in about the same condition as when he built it in 1826. This fact was discovered by Richard Muzzrole, an amateur archeologist, who made extensive excavations during the early part of 1958 and subsequently uncovered the first section of the roadbed which is clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5. ²

The bed over which the tracks were to be laid was dug to a depth of one foot. The purpose of this was to eliminate any danger of damage to the roadbed from frost. This procedure was used over the roadbed after it left the swamp area. As evidenced by the excavations at the start of the railroad at Bunker Hill Ledge, and by referring again to Figures 4 and 5, it can be seen that the roadbed was much deeper, in most cases three to four feet deep. The granite sleepers were cut to size. According to Bryant's own records, the size was seven feet in length and from ten to twelve inches square. Here again, the size varied at the Bunker Hill Ledge area; from Mr. Muzzrole's excavations, the sleepers varied in size, being seven to eight feet in length, eight to fourteen inches across the top, and twelve to eighteen inches deep. Apparently the larger sleepers were used at the loading area to eliminate any danger of breakage. Again referring toFigures 4 and 5 which show the construction of the roadbed as well as the size of the sleepers. It also gives one a good idea of the method used in the construction which would insure a good solid roadbed. ²

By referring to Figure 6, one can get an idea as to the variance in size of the sleepers. This one was eight feet long, ten inches deep, and ranged from fourteen inches across the top to eight inches across the top at the opposite end.

Each of these sleepers had a round, hand drilled and centered hole about one and one half inches in diameter and twelve inches in from each end of the sleeper. By referring to Figure 6, the hole (arrow) shows. These sleepers were laid in the previously excavated roadbed, eight feet apart, measuring from the center of one hole to the center of the next hole and so on with each succeeding sleeper. The purpose of the holes was to fasten the wooden sills to the sleepers. These sills were twelve inches high and six inches wide. To the sills was bolted oak strapping, three inches wide and one and one quarter inches thick. Naturally, the oak "rail" soon proved to be unfit and worthless for the purpose as one trip of the car under load chewed them to bits. They were replaced by granite strips and when these proved unsatisfactory they were in turn replaced with an iron "rail" or track for the car to run on and were the same size as the original wooden strapping. At first, when the wooden rail was used, it was laid the entire length of the road except where the track crossed the highway and roads. Here, granite strips were used until eventually the iron track was used entirely.

A "tie" rod was used to keep the wooden sills secure, one having been discovered intact by Mr. Muzzrole during his excavations. Figure 7 shows him pointing to one of the rods still fastened to the sleeper. By referring to Figure 8, a drawing by Mr. Muzzrole, it shows the general construction of the roadbed and track, a top view and a side view.

So much for the construction of the roadbed both at Bunker Hill Ledge and the rest of the road except the swamp area. After Mr. Muzzrole had nearly completed the so-called first phase or section of the roadbed, he turned his attention to the swamp area in the fall of 1959. This is the area over which the trestle was built. ²

In order to examine this area, he cleared away a section twelve feet wide and 280 feet in length, and by following the foundations of the trestle which once supported the tracks, he discovered valuable information. ²

During this work he found the remains of 37 of the original pilings, which originally comprised 34 sets, supporting the trestle. Being able to reconstruct the trestle from evidence he found, he reports that it was twelve feet high in the center, nine feet at the western end and five feet at the eastern end. It was nine feet wide, and the horses walked on planking between the rails. ²

The pilings were of pine or hemlock, spaced seven feet apart at either end where they rested on dry land and nine feet apart when set in water. The ties on the trestle were of wood, whereas all others were granite. ²

No drawings, photographs or notes relative to the area are known to exist. The only previous mention I have been able to find is that there was a trestle over the swamp about 750 feet in length.

Further evidence uncovered shows that the trestle was built in 1826 and, according to his findings, was dismantled sometime in 1829 when Willard decided to transport the granite blocks by teams of oxen rather than use the railroad. Figure 9, a map drawn by Mr. Muzzrole, shows the location of this section of the route, while Figure 10 shows a view of the area. ²

During his excavations of this area, a number of granite sleepers were found and were removed and placed in the first section of the road in order to try and complete this section.

If one wishes to get a good idea of how the construction of the roadbed looked in 1826, it will be time well spent to go to Bunker Hill Ledge where he has unearthed approximately five hundred square feet. The only things missing are the rails and wooden sills.

According to the records, movement of granite over the railroad was between October 7, 1826 and January 17, 1829 when all work on the construction of the monument ceased because of lack of funds. This meant no transportation of granite, no work at the Bunker Hill Ledge, and none at the monument site.

When additional funds had been raised by the Association and work resumed, Willard decided to move the stone by teams of oxen rather than use the railroad again, his main purpose being to eliminate all possible delay and breakage, both being considerable during the railroad's handling. A little more than a third of the stone used in the construction of the monument had been transported by rail and water, the balance being handled by the teams of oxen over the roads. However, from what I could learn, the loss of this business didn't affect the railroad too much as they had by this time started buying property that had granite on it. In 1830 one quarry location was opened and operations started. This was known as the Pine Hill Ledge which over the years to follow furnished the best and darkest Quincy granite. The opening of this new quarry brought into being a new section of the railroad called the "inclined plane", being known as such from then on. This will be explained in another section.

Willard's use of oxen teams over the highways rather than using the railroad is evidenced by an interesting letter which apparently was needed to convince the Association that he had not erred in his judgment. While the distance traveled by rail was about two and one half miles from quarry to water's edge, I have found no mention as to the entire length from quarry to monument. However, I do not believe it to be too much less than the other route.

This letter, written in 1834, was apparently in reply to a previous letter from Willard.

"The location of the 'Bunker Hill Ledge' is described above in the words of the deed of conveyance; its distance from the site of the monument, by the land route through Boston, was measured under the direction of Mr. Alexander Wadsworth, who reported as follows:-"

"Boston, November 10th, 1834

Solomon Willard, Esq., - Sir, The measures reported by chairman who measured for me the distance by the road from the Bunker Hill Ledge, in Quincy, to the monument on Bunker hill, are as follows, to wit:

From Bunker Hill Ledge to ---	Miles	Qrs.	Rods
Howards Corner	0	3	40
Railway House	2	2	58
Stone Marked "8M to Boston"	2	3	0
Commencement of Lower road, at Mills	4	2	0
Road leading to Neponset Bridge	5	2	40
Turnpike	6	0	44
Glover's Corner	7	1	40
Draw of Free Bridge (to South Boston)	10	0	16
Church, head of Sea Street	10	2	4
Hanover St., through Federal and Marshall	11	0	72
Bunker Hill Monument	12	1	29

Very truly yours,

Alexander Wadsworth"

Figure 11 is a copy of a map, probably drawn by Willard, which shows the route from the Bunker Hill Quarry to the monument site in Charlestown. This more or less coincides with the route outlined in the above letter.

After leaving the swamp or marsh area, the roadbed continued to its terminus in an almost straight line. The method of construction this portion of the roadbed, as previously told and thoroughly described in one of the records, was evidenced by the excavation of a section which was partly discovered during the construction of the new Southeast Expressway. Mr. Muzzrole completely uncovered the area obtaining much valuable information as well as numerous artifacts. In April 1958 I visited this site and took numerous pictures and measurements. Figures 12 and 13 show a portion of the original roadbed still intact except for the wooden sill and the rail, this section being untouched for 132 years. However, in visiting this same site in July, I found that it had been covered over and graded. Even though there had been considerable written about in the newspapers, no interest was shown in preserving the site.

From Bryant's own record I quote in part relative to the construction of the part of the roadbed mentioned above. This, taken from a letter written in 1859 to a Charles Stewart, says: "The deepest cutting was fifteen feet and the highest elevation above the surface of the ground was twelve feet. The several grades were as follows: the first commencing at the wharf or landing, was twenty-six feet to the mile, the second, thirteen feet, and the third, sixty-three feet. This brought us to the table lands that ran around the main quarry." This was no doubt at the foot of the "inclined plane". As for the other elevations, the only record I find is through Mr. Muzzrole's calculations, which was the swamp area. He discovered a ledge near the center of the curve which proved to be the highest point of the entire road. The horses had an uphill climb for the first 900 feet and after that it was downhill all the way. The uphill grade was a very slight one. At the rate of six and one half inches per hundred feet, the total climb was less than six feet.

The cost of constructing the roadbed from Bunker Hill Ledge to and including the wharf at Gullivers Creek was $50,000. So well had William Gardner constructed this road that today, in 1961, the granite work he did is still in good condition as evidenced by Mr. Muzzrole's excavations. It is his belief and desire to reconstruct the portion at the beginning just as it used to be, and all that would be necessary would be to fasten the wooden sills and rails in place, bringing the replica of the first car to the site and thus show its operation.

The annual cost of maintaining the entire road was less than $100.00, a far cry from today's railroad maintenance costs.

THE WHARF

The wharf or landing, the terminus of the railroad, was located at Gullivers Creek in East Milton. This location was adjacent to the Neponset River, making an ideal location for both rail and water transportation. The granite used in its construction came from the Bunker Hill Ledge as well as quarries in East Milton. In addition to a granite platform used for the unloaded granite blocks, there was also a turntable constructed here as well as one at the foot of the "inclined plane", being constructed sometime around 1830. While the walls of the wharf are still standing, the rest of it has disappeared except for a few portions uncovered by Mr. Muzzrole in May 1957. He uncovered an area, which he believes was used as a loading platform, which once contained the equipment used to lift the large granite blocks onto the sloops or barges. He describes his theories in a newspaper article as to what took place at the wharf even though he maintains they are only tentative. Figures 14 and 15 show the area around the wharf as it looked around 1890; even portions of the original roadbed are visible. Figure 16 shows the wharf around 1926, and it looks very much the same today.

Figure 17 is a copy of a pen and ink sketch showing one of the granite sloops being loaded at the wharf and the railroad car in the background unloading the granite blocks. This sketch was drawn from the original by Miss Margaret White, who used to be my geography and drawing teacher in grammar school.

The cost of building the wharf was included in the original cost of constructing the railroad; however, in August 1830, numerous changes and additions were made at a cost of $3,000.00.

From my research of the records, the construction of the railroad and the wharf progressed more or less according to schedule. In spite of delays, if we consider the type of terrain that a good deal of the roadbed was constructed over, plus the fact that all the work was done manually and with the use of oxen, there must have been very little time wasted by the workmen.

THE FIRST RAILWAY CAR

Finally we come to the most important part of the railroad, the building of the first car.

The original plans of the first railroad car are still in existence, being drawn by Gridley Bryant, and are in the possession of Mr. Robert Faxon of Quincy, his father being the last president of the Granite Railway Company before its demise.

The job of building the first car was given to Mr. Willard Felt of East Milton who was a wheelwright and blacksmith. His shop was located at the corner of Adams and Squantum Streets next to his home. In later years this shop was turned into a fine residence and is still occupied. Figure 18 shows the house as it looks today, its outside little changed through the years except for the roof. After constructing the first car, Mr. Felt made additional cars and did all the work making and repairing cars and machinery in connection with the railway.

The frame work of this first car was made of oak timbers. The wheels were six and one half feet in diameter. The axle tree was arched in the center to give more space above the ground. The loads of granite blocks were carried on a platform made of oak, ten feet long and about four feet wide. The platform was placed between the two rails and the blocks of granite were rolled on the platform by men with crowbars and rollers. Then the car was run over the loaded platform and four chains running over grooved wheels attached to shafting at the top of the car were then hooked to eyebolts at the corners of the platform, and these chains were then wound upon the shaft by wheel or lever power, thus raising the platform and suspending the load between the wheels.

Perhaps one can get a better idea of the construction of the car by referring to Figure 19 than by having me try to explain it. This picture is one taken of the replica made from the original plans and drawings and was used in Quincy's 300th anniversary in 1925. Figure 20 shows a copy of the original plans as drawn by Gridley Bryant. Figure 21 is a copy of plans taken from the original and used in building the replica in 1925.

The cost of building the first car was $600.00. I have been told that it cost around $1,000.00 to build the replica and, at today's high costs, it would cost from $2,000.00 to $2,500.00 to build this same car now. This first car continued in constant use for nearly 50 years until the Granite Railway's road rights were purchased by the Old Colony and Newport Railroad in 1870.

However the road and its cars had fallen into poor condition during the Civil War from neglect. This gives one some idea of the sturdiness of the car and its excellent construction, coupled with the fact that this car carried loads of granite averaging six to seven tons and that it was built almost entirely of wood (oak) with the exception of the gears, chains and wheel flanges, a fact borne out that the car continued in operation for nearly 50 years.

This car was never used for anything but carrying granite and was drawn easily by one horse. This horse had no difficulty pulling the loaded car, and one round trip from the quarry to the wharf and return consumed about one hour and a half.

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