It was stated that the B.B. & P. RR would be ready for transportation of coal from the coal strip mines in Lafayette by July 15th, 1864. The actual date of completion was not until January 5, 1866, at which time the Erie Railway Company purchased the Buffalo, Bradford, & Pittsburgh Railroad Company from Daniel Kingsbury, who was the sole owner of the railroad. The price was considered just a "Song and a Dance" by the Erie officers and A.W. Newell, Daniel’s nephew, said "they just plain bought it."
After the purchase, the Erie named Daniel Kingsbury the President and A. W. Newell the General Freight Agent and Master of Transportation. The finished railroad opened with little or no fanfare and was referred to as the Bradford Branch of the Erie Railroad. The railroad and land lease began Jan. 1, 1866, running for 499 years.
During this time span, the 1864 Stone Arch Bridge was constructed at the height of the American Civil War. Today, in the year 2011, the Civil War is celebrating it’s 150th anniversary.
It has been told for many years that the 1864 Stone Arch Culvert Railroad Bridge in Big Shanty, Lafayette Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania was constructed by Confederate prisoners.
In my opinion, there is truth to this fact that Confederates had a hand in this construction. In Lawrence W. Kilmer’s book, the Erie Railroad 1863 - 1976 Bradford Branch, on page 14, there is a reference to this fact and I quote, “A huge stone culvert on the line in Big Shanty bears the date of 1864, and is mounted in the keystone part of the structure. This was constructed by Confederate prisoners."
A story was told that the Erie Railway transported Confederate prisoners from the Elmira, NY, prison camp to McKean County to work on the construction of the railroad and arch bridge. It is unlikely this was the case because Camp Elmira did not open until July 6, 1864. But there was a chance that prisoners waiting to be placed in Camp Elmira were sent to be used for hard labor, prior to its opening. Stranger things happened during the Civil War.
It was more likely that Confederate prisoners from Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois, may have been the prisoners in question - not being transported for hard labor, but as escapees.
A record of escaped Confederate prisoners from Northern camps has a total of 1273, in which 253 escaped from Camp Douglas. The number was probably much larger because the Union prison camps in the North were known for inadequate record keeping.
During the command of Colonel Charles V. De Land of Camp Douglas in August 1863, more than 150 men escaped. In November of 1863, some 70 Confederates escaped at one time. Some of the men were members of the famous John Hunt Morgan’s Raiders.
The men would dig tunnels under the barracks to make their escape. Some were recaptured, but many got away to freedom - to fight again.
Some of the men that were recaptured were placed in a 17 foot square room under a guard house that was called the "White Oak Dungeon" at Camp Douglas. It was suitable for 3 or 4 men at the most. On October 26, 1863, twenty-six men actually escaped from the White Oak.
My belief is that during some of the large escapes, men made it along the Railroad lines to the east into Ohio and Pennsylvania.