Most of the tracks on these early railroads were made of wood covered with strips of iron, known in some areas as Black-Snake Rails . Sometimes they would become loosened where they were joined together, and the ends would suddenly shoot up through the wooden floors of the cars. In their snake-like way they would dart or glide in some unexpected direction. It was possible for some unlucky passenger to be impaled with one of these strips. These rails were a constant menace to the safety and the lives of the people on board. Trains carried sledge-hammers to pound the rails back in shape and sometimes the iron snakes had to be sawed off.
The early locomotives used wood as fuel and had greedy appetites. Sometimes it seemed impossible to keep an adequate supply of dry wood on hand. Showers of sparks from the chimneys fell on the passenger, the wooden cars and bridges, and the surrounding woods, wetting frequent fires. Clouds of smoke also added to the annoyance of passengers, and sometimes boilers would burst.
The early passenger coaches were uncomfortable because of their inadequate springs, hard seats, poor lights, and even poorer heating. Crude coupler, consisting of links with various types of iron bars and pins, were used to attach one coach to another. Brakes also were very unsatisfactory. This could result in an unpleasant experience for the passengers because of the assorted jerks and bounces as each car bumped into the one ahead. There were no signal lights, either of green or of red, to guide the train crews on their way. Various kinds of peculiar accidents could happen. On one occasion a railroad extended its roadbed over the bay of a lake by using a wooden bridge erected on wooden piling. In the spring when the ice went out of the lake some of the moving ice pushed the bridge down, causing the railroad to suspend operations temporarily. At one time or another, most communities were anxious to be served by the iron horse. Farmers and villagers frequently pooled their savings to invest in railroads that might come their way. Sometimes the schemes of the railroad builders were successful, causing infant communities to grow into cities, creating factory towns, and bringing prosperity to the citizens. More often the schemes failed, and the communities concerned frequently stood still or declined.
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