Wake County, NC - Bicentennial File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Barbara Kawamoto Reprinted with permission of the News & Observer and cannot be reproduced without permission. The Railroad Comes to Town The News and Observer December 29, 1991 Raleigh 200/The New Capital By Kemp P. Battle "Memories of an Old-Time Tar Heel" University of North Carolina Press 1945 Kemp P. Battle, President of the University of North Carolina from 1876 to 1891, was born in Louisburg in 1831. The news that the first locomotive engine was about to enter Raleigh drew all the population from the country for many miles around. Her name was "Tornado," locomotives being regarded as feminine. The railroad irons were flat strips, three-fourths of an inch in thickness, spiked on wooden stringers. The locomotive had no spark arrester, and as dry pine was burnt in the furnace, the sparks, although beautiful at night, kindled fires among the dry leaves near the road bed and often burnt holes in the clothes of passengers. On my first trip on a train I had a hole burnt in the sleeve of my jacket and in the skin below it. But all defects were overlooked in the unbounded joy at the novelty. People felt that it was the beginning of great things. A journey in coaches rolling smoothly through hills and high over deep ravines seemed like magic. Although the beginnings were rude and inefficient, people were right in their prophetic boasting. There was boundless enthusiasm as "Tornado" puffed in. Many felt like the old lady in Goldsborough who said on her first sight of a locomotive, "Verify the power of God is great, but the ingenuity of man is greater." ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ==============================================================