George, Does the book you mention say what years William Calder was doing business? Marcia Fronk ----- Original Message ----- From: "George F. Nagle" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 3:44 PM Subject: RE: [PADAUPHI] Cars, Canal Boats and Stages in 1829 > Cars may refer to the mail shipments, that William Calder had contracted. Or > perhaps it's the other way around and the "stage" is mail and the cars are > larger passenger coaches. You are right that no rail lines existed in > Harrisburg. The first "railroad" to reach Harrisburg was a horse-drawn > train that made its debut in August 1836. A month later a steam locomotive > made its appearance. > > On the other hand, William Calder had built up his business in Harrisburg to > the point that fifteen coaches were leaving the town daily. All the above > info is from Gerald Eggert's excellent book "Harrisburg Industrializes" > (1993, University Park, The Pennsylvania State University Press), pages 21, > 29-31. > > The other possibility is that the 1829 date is wrong, as happens sometimes > in those older county histories. > > Is there a transportation historian who could shed more light?