October 9 Gala honoring Michael Barrett a huge success – “Grand Opening” draws a crowd – Museum popular with visitors – Renovations move ahead – Horseshoe Tour November 1 -- Articles on bells and rail joints

We had quite a summer! Our belated “Grand Opening” event August 14 drew a large crowd, including Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello and representatives from the Troy City Council and Rensselaer County Legislature. A slight rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. A highlight of the event was Henry Burden descendant Ada Gates’s presentation on her adventurous life. She described her difficult but ultimately very successful quest to become one of the first female farriers in the U.S.

GRAND OPENING IMAGES

Grand opening ribbon-cutting

Mayor Mantello with Executive Director Ouellette and Gateway Trustee Joe Reilly

Ada Gates

Our October 9 Gala honoring Gateway Executive Director Emeritus Michael Barrett was attended by a large number of his Gateway friends as well as by people from his wide array of historic and civic engagements.

Passengers from cruise ship arrive by bus

The Burden Iron Works Museum opened in early May, and our volunteer docents have been kept busy ever since with visitors from around the country and even a few international visitors. Adding significantly to the numbers this year is a full schedule of visits to the museum by passengers visiting Troy on American Cruise Line. The ACL excursion to the museum has proved very popular, and at the height of the season we were getting around 30 ACL visitors a week.

Three-phase power has been installed to the museum building in preparation for the installation of a heat-pump-based air conditioning system. We hope to move ahead with the AC over the winter or spring. Initial contacts have been made regarding the recreation of the cherry wainscotting that once graced the Burden Iron Co. office building. The old “library” has been replastered and painted; further work awaits completion of the AC project.

Gateway Gala Honored Executive Director Emeritus Michael Barrett

Honoree Michael Barrett addressing the Gala

Over his lifetime in Troy, Michael Barrett amassed a large number of friends from his work with the Gateway, other local historical organizations, the Troy Area United Ministries and the world of politics. Many of them turned out to help us celebrate him at our October 9 Gala. He was both praised and slightly roasted by his long-time collaborator on all things Troy, Kathy Sheehan, director of the Hart Cluett Museum. Michael spoke remarkably briefly about his efforts to promote the region’s industrial history. He said he was optimistic that with further work “we can become a mecca for heritage tourism.” He was presented with a gift from the Gateway board, and a certificate of appreciation from Congressman Paul Tonko.

MORE GALA IMAGES

In line for the excellent buffet at Franklin Terrace

Gateway President Fred Alm at the podium

Guests mingling before the Gala

The Humble Rail Joint was Critical for Railroad Safety

Although locomotives were never built in the region of interest to the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway (Schenectady has that distinction), our region was deeply involved in making other products for the railroad industry. Among the products manufactured locally were rails (Rensselaer Iron Works, Troy), cars (Uri Gilbert, Green Island), car wheels (Jonas Heartt, Troy), and spikes (Burden Iron Co., Troy). Another product made in Troy throughout much of the 20th century was the rail joint. These were made in the mill originally built for the Albany Iron Works in 1849 – the same mill that rolled the iron plates for the hull of the U.S. Navy Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

Rail joints are the engineered pieces of metal that join two sections of rail. A pair of rail joints essentially clamps the rail together using four or six strong bolts. Their performance is obviously critical for railroad safety. Like all aspects of railroad technology, methods for connecting rails varied widely in the early 19th century and evolved rapidly.

By the early 20th century the technology had matured enough that today’s joint bars look very similar to those of a hundred years ago. This does not mean, however, that there have not been significant advances in metallurgy and detail profile design to extend durability of the requisite clamping force to maintain a solid joint.

Modern mainline track is nearly 100% welded, eliminating all bolted joints which are structurally weak and require constant maintenance at significant expense. Branch lines and side tracks are not so highly stressed, so mechanical joints with joint bars are still in demand.

Even as Albany Iron Works went through many corporate transformations, the business of making rail joints continued at the original mill under different owners. The Rail Joint Company (RJC) was organized in New York City in the late 19th century to meet the demand for improved joint technology as American railroad tonnage grew and the load on track increased. The company had plants around the United States, but its primary plant was in Troy.

By 1957, the Rail Joint Company was a division of Poor & Company of Chicago. After 1968, Poor & Company became Portec Rail Products, Inc., a conglomerate of various rail industry suppliers. The Troy plant continued in production at the historic Civil War-era rolling mill until 1989. Portec’s rail joint operations were acquired in 2010 by another rail supply conglomerate, Koppers, which continues to make rail joints in Huntington, West Virginia.

Upon the closure of the Troy plant, Portec donated records and artifacts to the Gateway. The gift encompasses hundreds of samples of rail sections sent by railroad and trolley companies from around North America. The samples are from both “steam railroads” and “traction lines” (aka streetcars or trolleys). Both types of railroads use what is called “T-rail,” a rail which has a flat base, a vertical web and a thick head. Both also used girder rail, a specialty adaptation for track that is embedded in pavement for urban applications, featuring a “wing” to one side of the head that provided for a flangeway that helped keep foreign material from interfering with the flanges that guide railcar wheels to stay on the track.

After reviewing this material, a possible explanation for them has emerged. The exact size and shape of the rail would determine the size and shape of the joint bars. While some customers had robust engineering departments that could provide suitable specifications for the needed bars, many did not. These customers simply sent a rail sample to RJC, who could then make joint bars guaranteed to fit that particular rail type. RJC took each sample and sawed a two-inch-thick section and punched identifying marks. These were accumulated over decades and probably kept so that subsequent repeat orders could be handled expeditiously.

Rail joints were often rolled from old railcar axles. After rolling, bars would be cut to finished length and holes would be hot-punched for the transverse bolts that hold the joint together. In addition to rail sections, the Gateway’s Portec gift includes handheld tools which appear to be quality control gauges.

This article was written by Gateway supporter and railroad historian Jeff English.

James Harrison: From Bell Caster to Bell Chimer

James Harrison started his career in America as a molder at the Jones bell foundry in Troy, New York, and ended it as a bell ringer (chimer) of the West Troy Meneely bells at Christ Episcopal Church in Reading, Pennsylvania. In between, his life had many ups and downs.

According to available information, Harrison was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1823, where he learned his trade as a metal molder or founder. He emigrated to America in the1850s. He worked briefly in New York City before moving up the Hudson River to Troy. He appears in the 1855 census as a "Porter", but in subsequent censuses he is listed as "bell molder," "works in Bell Shop," and "Bell Founder."

Unfortunately, the census does not list his employer, which could have been either of the two bell casting companies active at the time: Andrew Meneely’s Sons in West Troy or Jones & Hitchcock/Jones & Co. in Troy. His home, however, is listed as First Street between Adams and Jefferson Streets in Troy, which is near the Jones bell foundry, and perhaps we can assume that he walked to work at Jones rather than making the trip across the Hudson River to West Troy.

Harrison was married to Ann, also born in England. The couple suffered several tragedies while living in Troy. They lost three infant children, who were buried in the New Mount Ida Cemetery in Troy. In addition, their house was severely damaged in a flood. The Troy Weekly Times of February 14, 1857, wrote this harrowing description: “Mr. James Harrison and family, who resided in First Street between Adams and Jefferson, had a very fortunate escape. He was awakened by the roar of the flood, and jumping up went knee-deep into the water. He instantly awakened his wife, and taking his two little children in his arms, made for the door. That instant the door gave way, and a flood of water came rushing in the house. It was with the utmost difficulty that they made their egress. Mr. Harrison was not able to secure any of his furniture, and much of it will be sadly damaged. Even their clothes they were unable to get, and have been dependent on the kindness of friends to clothe them today.”

It is likely that the Harrisons resided in Troy for about six years. They later lived in Chatham, Connecticut; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and finally Reading, Pennsylvania. It is believed that Harrison worked in or managed foundries in these places. According to his obituary in a Reading newspaper, he resigned his local foundry position “to take charge of the chimes of Christ Cathedral, of which church he was a member, which position he held up to the time of his death.” With this change of occupation, he also acquired the title “professor.”

As a chimer Harrison played a set (or chime) of ten bells cast in 1874 totaling 10,109 pounds. The individual bells range in weight from 2,559 pounds to 237 pounds. At least one of the bells was a gift from the local Eckert family and bears an inscription. The bells were installed in the church steeple by West Troy Meneely’s rigger John O’Connell, and the order also included a chime stand. The cost in 1874 was $5,500. The same bells purchased today would cost $575,000.

Harrison was a chimer at the church until his death in 1890. His wife died in 1905. They had a son who also became a molder.

We thank Gateway supporter Elton Dise, the Watervliet Historical Society, and the Verdin (Bell) Co. for providing information for this article.

Horseshoe Tour to be Offered Again This Year

The Gateway hopes to reestablish the tradition of offering its annual fall “History of the Modern Horseshoe” tour. This year’s tour will be held on Saturday, November 1, starting at 10 am at the Burden Iron Works Museum. Participants will first learn about Henry Burden and his development of a series of machines to make horseshoes, and the world’s most powerful water wheel that powered the mill where the horseshoe was made. Participants will then have the opportunity to visit the site where the water wheel was located (be aware that virtually nothing of the water wheel remains at the site). Please dress for the weather, wear appropriate footwear, and be ready for some rugged walking. Cost is $20 per person. Reservations may be made at info@hudsonmohawkgateway.org or via our website https://hudsonmohawkgateway.org/walking-tours We hope to offer a wider range of of tours next year.

Newsletter - Fall 2025