Syracuse's First Postage Stamp

The Empire State,
She rides on Eastern time,
She's the "rollingest" baby,
On the New York Central line.

Background

The Pan-American Series (#294-299), intended to promote an international exhibition then being held in Buffalo, New York, was released on 1 May 1901. The stamps had been more than six years in the making, and a Post Office Department report in 1900 expressed the hope that they would "at once delight the eye and . . . gratify the Department and the public." Neither the Department nor the public was disappointed.

Series designer Raymond Ostrander Smith and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing delivered a beautifully engraved series attractively printed in two colors. Vignettes of cutting edge modes of transportation made the Pan-Americans an instant hit with the general public, while collectors appreciated that an entire set of singles could be had for only 30¢. (The Trans-Mississippi issue of 1898 had cost $3.80 and the Columbians of 1893 a whopping $16.34!)

The 2¢ value in the series, however, holds special significance for Syracusans.

The 2¢ Value

In 1894, when the Post Office Department's plans for series became known, executives at the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad shrewdly realized that the 2¢ value presented an exciting advertising opportunity. Because it would pay the domestic letter rate, more copies would be printed of it than of any other stamp in the series -- nearly 210,000,000 -- and most of them would be used on domestic mail.

George Daniels, general passenger agent for the New York Central, lobbied hard to have its Empire State Express line featured on the stamp. According to Max Johl, the doyen of twentieth century philatelists, Daniels managed to convince the Post Office that

more had been written about it [the Empire State Express] than all the other trains ever placed in service and the resultant advertising had been one of the greatest factors in bringing before the other nations of the world the superiority of American machinery . . .

He further explained that as the Pan-American exhibition was to be held in Buffalo . . . the Empire State Express was a logical subject to be used.

Daniels wasn't just blowing smoke; Leslie's Weekly later estimated that the Express handled nearly 60% of the passenger traffic to and from the exposition!

Convinced, the Post Office Department instructed the Bureau to prepare the 2¢ dies featuring the Empire State Express.

The Yates Photograph

A model was needed from which to create an artist's drawing, the first step in the engraving process. Smith, the series designer, used a photograph of the Empire State Express taken on May 10, 1893 by A. P. Yates of Syracuse. The image shows the New York Central's Locomotive 999 drawing four cars near Syracuse; visible are the railroad's four sets of tracks and some classic railroad telegraph poles with their crossarms and glass insulators.

Locomotive #999

Locomotive 999 had been built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works for the New York Central earlier that year. After some trials between Schenectady and Albany, the railroad assigned her to the Empire State Express route, pulling a four-car train between New York and Buffalo. Her first run was scheduled for May 10, 1893.

The Express left New York City that day hauled by the venerable Locomotive 870. Railroad officials and members of the press assigned to cover the event boarded at Albany. Several hours later, the Express arrived on Syracuse's West Fayette Street, traditionally the changing station for the New York Central.

There, on a siding, groaning and belching up clouds of soot, waited Locomotive 999, the 62-ton pride of the railroad. One of the most magnificent runs in railroading history was about to begin.

Westward she steamed: past the Central's Geddes Street yards, the state fairgrounds, and the Solvay engine house. It must have been somewhere on this leg of the trip that Yates snapped his photograph (railroading enthusiasts who have seen the photo estimate that she is making about 60 miles an hour). After a station stop in Rochester, the pride of the New York Central was put to the supreme test.

There were three dozen miles of straight-a-way between Batavia and Buffalo, and on them Engineer Hogan threw the throttle wide open. A lone fireman raced back and forth to the tender, furiously shoveling coal into the yawning furnace, and the iron horse stretched her legs. Railroad officials and members of the press on board the train, using watches and mileposts, calculated their speed at 112½ miles per hour! When Engine 999 arrived in Buffalo, it had traveled 69 miles in 68 minutes!

The next day the Empire State Express, hauled by Engine 999, left Buffalo on the return trip to Syracuse. Engineer Hogan was once again at the throttle. Back at his starting place, hundreds of Salt City citizens turned out to see the throbbing, snorting, iron monster. They could barely believe that the massive engine, which only yesterday had crept through Washington and Salina streets at 15 miles an hour, later that same day had broken every land speed record.

Conclusion

When Raymond Ostrander Smith sat down with AP Yates' photo of Engine 999, he probably had no idea that he was creating Syracuse's first postage stamp. A photograph, taken by a Syracusan just outside his native city, showing a soon-to-be legendary locomotive designed to service that city, setting out memorializing Syracuse, New York on postage.

http://alphabetilately.com/US-trains-02a.html

http://www.1847usa.com/identify/YearSets/1901.htm

http://panam1901.bfn.org/documents/twins_railroad_trip.htm

Michael Ammann, President

John Smigel, Webmaster