Here's the 1885 schedule for the railroad that ran through the southwesternmost corner of Dryden to the East Ithaca station, then from there through Freeville to McLean and Cortland.
| To Cortland & Canastota | Distance from ELMIRA | Stations | To Elmira | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freight & Accom | Sunday Express | Syracuse Express | Albany & Utica Ex. | Elmira Express | Albany & Utica Ex. | Sunday Express | Freight & Accom | ||
| 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 2.45am | 9.40am | 4.13pm | 8.49pm | 45.87 | Besemer | 9.52am | 3.47pm | 6.38pm | 10.59am |
| 3.00 | 9.50 | 4.25 | 8.53 | 50.55 | [East] ITHACA | 9.43 | 3.36 | 6.28 | 10.39 |
| ... | *9.56 | *4.31 | *9.01 | 53.35 | Varna | *9.36 | *3.31 | *6.21 | ... |
| 3.28 | §9.58 | §4.35 | §9.06 | 53.85 | Snyder's | §9.34 | §3.28 | §6.19 | 9.50 |
| 4.08 | 10.06 | 4.40 | 9.14 | 56.73 | Etna | 9.29 | 3.20 | 6.16 | 9.35 |
| 4.47 | 10.12 | 4.47 | 9.20 | 59.54 | FREEVILLE | 9.20 | 3.14 | 6.01 | 9.20 |
| 4.57 | §10.18 | §4.52 | §9.26 | 61.80 | Malloryville | §9.13 | §3.09 | §5.58 | 8.40 |
| 5.10 | 10.22 | 4.56 | 9.30 | 63.39 | McLean | 9.03 | 3.05 | 5.54 | 8.32 |
| * - STOP ON SIGNAL [flag stop] § - TRAINS DO NOT STOP. | SUNDAY TRAINS STOP AT ALL POINTS. | ||||||||
The freights took about two and a half hours to cover that distance of 17.52 miles. Express trains took around 45 minutes, more than three times faster. I'm guessing that "Snyder's" is Mrs. C. Snyder's house at the modern intersection of 366 and Monkey Run, as shown in this 1898 map from the Goodrich Centennial History of Dryden.
This comes, once again, from David Marcham's excellent Ups & Downs of a Rural Life: Elmira, Cortland & Northern RR 1867 to 1967 and On. He reprints a (slightly fuzzy - I hope I got it right) schedule on page 20.
Posted by simon at January 21, 2011 5:16 PM in history