15-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, February 27, 1911: The roads were so muddy that I went up the railroad to school and came home that way. Besse was out this afternoon. Wish I had all of my lessons out for tomorrow especially my latin.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
It’s hard to picture how bad the mud must have been in the era before paved roads. Railroad tracks for the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad (S.B. & B. R.R.) crossed the Muffly farm.The route went from Watsontown to McEwensville and Turbotville and then continued east to Washingtonville, Bloomsburg, and Berwick.
My father says that Grandma always called the railroad the Sweet Bye and Bye.
According to an essay by the Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick Railroad (S.B. & B.R.R.) was often called the ‘Sweet Bye and Bye’ because traffic was intermittent, and trains traveled at a slow speed and stopped at every hamlet and feed mill along the route. Sweet Bye and Bye is also the name of an old-time hymn.
There were flag stops at two feed mills between Watsontown and McEwensville (a distance of only 4 or 5 miles). One was at a hamlet called Pioneer–it’s just a group of 4 or 5 houses today–and the other was at Truckenmiller’s Mill which was located next to the Muffly farm.
The railroad was also sometimes called the Weak and Weary railroad. It was a financial failure because there were no major industries along the route.
The S.B. & B.R.R. no longer exists, but the track is still used by trains transporting coal to the Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP & L) power plant at Strawberry Ridge near Washingtonville.
Filed under: McEwensville, Turbotville, Watsontown Tagged: | Susquehanna Bloomsburg and Berwick Railroad
[...] and her sister Ruth probably flagged down the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick train at the feed mill near their farm. The train stopped at every hamlet between Watsontown and [...]
[...] of the Muffly farm. The women may have come by horse and buggy—or may have taken the train. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad provided passenger service to Turbotville—and there was a flag stop at a feed mill near the [...]
[...] be horrific. The roads between the Muffly farm and McEwensville were not paved in 1911—but the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick railroad tracks crossed the farm, so Grandma sometimes walked the tracks to town when the roads were [...]
[...] to Watsontown—or maybe they took the train to Watsontown. (There was a whistle-stop for the Susquehanna Bloomsburg and Berwick Railroad at Truckenmiller’s Feed Mill which was located near their farm.) Once the sisters got to [...]
[...] Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick railroad tracks crossed the Muffly farm, so Grandma could walk the tracks to get to McEwensville [...]
[...] was about five miles from the Muffly farm. There was a whistle-stop for the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad near their farm. Grandma and her sister Ruth probably needed to change trains at [...]
[...] is about 10 miles east of McEwensville. He probably came on the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick train since its route took it through both the Muffly farm and Ottawa. The train had a whistle-stop [...]
[...] tracks for the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad went along the edge of the Muffly farm. Ruth probably got on the train at a nearby feed mill. There [...]
[...] Bryson refers to Blanche Bryson. She was a friend of Grandma and her sister Ruth. The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick railroad tracks crossed the Muffly farm, and there was a whistle stop at a nearby feed mill. I’m [...]
[...] and her mother probably rode the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick train to Watsontown. There was a flag stop at the feed mill near their farm. They probably then took [...]