On Feb. 14, 1852 -- shortly over 150 years ago -- the Terre Haute & Richmond (TH&R) Railroad made its first 73-mile voyage to Indianapolis.

For nearly a century, railroads were Vigo County's premier industry.

Chartered in 1847 by Chauncey Rose, Samuel Crawford, James Farrington, Elisha Mills Huntington and James H. Turner, the TH&R -- soon to be known as the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad -- provided the primary western terminal for eastbound rail traffic until late 1857.

Crucial to the railroad's initial success was Charles R. Peddle.

Rose and Peddle, a resident of Philadelphia, began communicating in early 1851. Their first meeting occurred in the Astor House at New York City on April 1 of that year.

During that meeting Rose hired Peddle as "master mechanic" for the TH&R and authorized him to supervise the shipment of four Hinkley steam locomotives from Hinkley & Drury Locomotive Works in Boston to Indiana.

Two engines were shipped to Terre Haute; the other two went to Indianapolis.

Rose was a master of detail. During his return trip to Terre Haute, he stopped at Albany and Greenbush (N.Y.), Buffalo (N.Y.), Toledo (Ohio), and Cincinnati to make precise arrangements. He outlined his instructions in a letter to Peddle dated April 7.

Forty years later Peddle recalled that first meeting and the subsequent events:

"I accompanied Mr. Rose to Boston the next day (April 2) to look after the engines, which were nearly completed, and hired a man named W.E. Miller, father of a well-known Vandalia engineer by the same name, to test one of them when they were put into service.

"The engines, when completed, were towed to Buffalo by rail, and there they were hauled through the streets by horses to the docks in the harbor about three-quarters of a mile away.

"Some of the streets were unpaved and were axle deep in mud. Two of the engines were loaded on a sailing vessel and I went with them over the lake (Lake Erie) to Toledo.

"There they were unloaded, hauled to another dock and let down on skids into a canal boat, a rather ticklish operation as the swell from the lake and from passing steamboats kept the canal boat in constant motion.

"The two engines were forwarded to Terre Haute by the Wabash and Erie Canal as directed by Mr. Rose and consigned to Samuel Crawford.

"I had to wait several days for the two remaining engines left in charge of Miller on account of the difficulty in getting a suitable vessel in Buffalo and I sent Miller, on arrival, in a packet boat to overtake the two engines en route to Terre Haute.

"On their arrival in Terre Haute (on June 6, 1851) Miller picked up a few hands and unloaded them on the canal bank near the projected track. He put one of them in running order, assisted by Constant W. Mancourt, his fireman, and held himself in readiness for whatever service should be requested.

"I took the other two engines to Cincinnati by canal, where the canal boat -- a staunch one -- was locked down into the Ohio River and provided with a pair of sweeps and a steering oar.

"The captain of the boat, named Cooney, was an old Ohio River man and, under his guidance, we shoved out from the shore into the swift and turbid current and floated down to Madison. It was a rather perilous trip as every swell caused by passing steamboats swept over the gunwales of the craft and made frequent use of the pump necessary.

"John Brough, president of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, gave me all the assistance necessary to unload the engines, haul them up to the levee to the railroad track, and tow them to the shops in North Madison.

"Here I put them together and run them separately under steam to Indianapolis. One of them was turned over to William Baugh, now known as 'Uncle Billy' Baugh, at the request of Thomas A. Norris, the late constructing engineer of the TH&R Railroad.

"The other engine was held in reserve for ballasting the road when needed.

"Accompanied by my wife and baby I took my passage on the stagecoach on Saturday afternoon in the latter part of June 1851 and reached Terre Haute a little after sunrise on Sunday morning, where we were welcomed by the genial host of the Prairie House, Touissant C. Buntin, and provided with a first class breakfast."

Though a 10-mile stretch between Fillmore and Greencastle was still unfinished, the Terre Haute & Richmond transported westbound passengers from Indianapolis to Terre Haute as early as Dec. 5, 1851. Patrons were required to use a stagecoach to commute the intervening distance.

By the end of 1851, the railroad owned seven locomotives, three passenger cars, 40 boxcars, 30 platform cars, 70 gravel cars, a baggage car and a mail car.

Rose and Peddle accompanied engineer Baugh on the maiden trip to Indianapolis on Saturday, Feb. 14. Passengers were charged 5 cents a mile or $3.65.

Peddle, who became the superintendent, continued to work for the Terre Haute & Indianapolis, known as "The Vandalia Line," until retirement.

He remained Rose's close confidante in other matters, as well, serving on the board of managers at Rose Polytechnic Institute from 1874 until his death in 1893.