Branchville and Bowman Railroad
Problematic Minutiae
If we
knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would
it?
Albert
Einstein
Despite all the reseach that has been focused on the Branchville and Bowman Railroad there still remains many loose ends concerning this short line. Several of which will be addressed here in the chance that readers of this web page may be prompted to reply with more enlighten comments. Note that all <mis> interpretations are my own and in no way should be taken to reflect upon the quality of the research and the writings of others. This page will be in a continuous state of flux as I find more minutea to address. Either that or some other obsession will develope in my life (see).
Smoak's Tramway and sawmill
Hilton (1990) reported that Smoak's Tramway was 9 miles long, while Fetters (1990: 130) noted that it was 6 miles in length. Lincoln (n.d., 1985) related that E.T.R. Smoak purchased and enlarged John Rowe's sawmill which was located a mile from what would later be the townsite of Bowman. which would place the mill site about 10 miles from Branchville. So just how long was the tramway?
This excerpt from the December 25, 1886 statistical supplement in the Northwestern Lumberman may have been Fetters' source (thanks to the 4L e-mail list for this information):
Branchville- Smoake Tramway Co.; E. T. R. Smoake, John S. Smoake, and D. W. Smoake, owners; location, Orangeburg Co.; length, 6 miles; dumping at mill; wood rail; 36" gauge; 1 Tanner & Delaney locomotive, 7 tons; 5 cars; average load per car, 1000 feet.
Besides providing an alternate spelling for the family name, this source places one end of the tramway in the Cattle Creek area by late 1886. The Lambrick stop on the B&B is recorded as being 6 miles from Branchville (SC RR Com 1910). Based upon numerous genealogical postings concerning the Smoak and Dukes families it is my opinion that E.T.R. Smoak owned land in the Cattle Creek area, possibly acquired from his mother's family. If so, then it appears that the land John Rowe reportedly leased from E.T.R. Smoak would have been in the Cattle Creek area rather than in the Cow Castle Creek drainage as noted in Lincoln's unpublished manuscripts (n.d., 1985)..
The 1893 SC Railroad Commission Annual Report stated that the B&B was 11 miles in length with a half mile long spur. Elsewhere in the same report it was related that the line ran 10.0 miles from Branchville to near Bowman with a 0.5 long spur from the main line to Smoak's mill. Where along the B&B line was the half-mile long mill spur?
Fetters (1990: 131, most likely citing the December 1886 issue of Northwestern Lumberman) reported that the tram would dump it load of logs in a pond at the mill site in Branchville.
My best guess for Smoak's mill site would be in Branchville, at least by the end of 1886. Here the milled logs could be loaded directly onto cars for shipment over the standard gauge SC Railway. This direct loading process would not have been the case if the mill site was located elsewhere due to differences in gauge between Smoak's Tramway and the SC Railway.
In his research notes, Wayne Lincoln (personal communications and undated notes) related that there was an agreement by the B&B RR to pay E.T.R. Smoak $48,000 for the 9.5 mile long tramway and equipment. Payment was made in company stock and through bond issues. This would indicate that the tramway was extended another 3.5 miles sometime between 1887 and 1891.
The assumption that the tramway was extended some 3.5 miles after 1886 is somewhat supported by the threat of competition from another logging railroad. In 1886, the Edisto and Bunches Ford Tramweay received a state charter (State Act 355, issued December 24, 1886) to construct a logging line from Felders, a siding on the Columbia Branch of the SC Railway a few miles south of Orangeburg, to run southeast to Bunches Ford (a crossing of Four Hole Swamp between Bowman and Holly Hill, near were US 15 crosses the swamp) in the Four Hole Swamp (Fetters 1990: 131). While this line was never built, the prospect of competition may have lead Smoaks to extend his tramway closer to the Four Hole Swamp.
B&B's equipment roster
The first known reference to a B&B equipment roster is from the 1897 Poor's Manual of Railroads: “Equipment, Locomotive (leased) 1; Cars, Passenger 1, Box 3, Flat 10, Other 2; Total 16.”
Both Hilton (1990) and Lincoln (n.d., 1985, 2001) identified the B&B's leased locomotive as a narrow gauge, 4-4-0 Baldwin (S/N 8081) built in July 1886 for the Augusta, Gibson & Sandersvlle RR in GA, where it was designated #4 and named the “Marie Mitchell.” In 1893, the AG&S was reorganized as the Augusta Southern Railroad Company and the track relayed to standard gauge (VA Tech: Ms84-015, Ms84-016). Sometime after this, the “Marie Mitchell” was leased to the B&B. Later the engine went to the Jefferson & Northwestern in east Texas, as their #12 (Lincoln 2001).
What was used between 1891 and the arrival of the AG&S engine sometime after 1893? Did the B&B replaced the wheels on the Tanner & Delaney it had acquired from Smoak's Tramway to enable the engine to run on steel rail?
In his unpublished B&B manuscripts, Lincoln (n.d., 1985) notes that Smoak's Tramway used narrow gauge flat cars obtained from the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta. Were these the five logging cars mentioned in the December 1886 issue of Northwestern Lumberman, or were they later acquisitions? Also were these CC&A flat cars still included in the 1897 B&B equipment roster?
A copy of an August 25, 1909 invoice for a balloon type smoke stack, valued at $80, from the Georgia Locomotive Company to the Glover Machine Works for Mittle and Shuler, Branchville, SC" appeared in the January, 2003 newsletter of the Southeastern Chapter of the R&LHS. It was submitted by Richard Hillman, the author of Glover Steam Locomotives; The South's Last Steam Builder. A quick review of Hillman's (1996) book indicates that the B&B did not own a Glover locomotive, new or used. There exists, however, a ca. 1909-1910 photograph, attributed to the B&B, of a balloon stacked, 4-4-0 locomotive (Lincoln 1985).
In the 1915 edition of Poors Manual lists 4 engines for the B&B Railroad. Lincoln (n.d., 1985 and in various personal commications) believes that this entry was in error due to a misunderstanding that came about when a company employee reported the actual number, “4”, assigned to the only engine operated by the company. However, a news article from the Orangeburg Times and Democrat indicates the B&B had operated 3 different locomotives by the winter of 1917 (see "B&B Out of Service at the bottom of this page). After all this, one is left wondering just how many engines did the B&B operate over its 35 years. The engine count from the 1920 Poors manual is back down to one.
Gauge
3' or 3' 11", that is the question. For some reason the 1904 issue of Poors Manual records a track gauge of 3' 11" for the B&B. What in blazes is this all about? By the 1920 issue all is well as the track gauge has shrunk back down to a more acceptable 3'.
Documents that may provide further information on the B&B.
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