Archbald, James, 1793-1870

James Archbald was born in Ayrshire, Scotland on March 3, 1793 and at the age of fourteen, immigrated to America with his parents. In 1817 he became a contractor on the Erie Canal and worked with John Jervis. Jervis appointed Archbald as an engineer on the Delaware and Hudson Canal which opened in 1828. He became the superintendent of works and played a prominent role in the engineering of the gravity railroad and in coal mining operations. In 1848 he was hired by the Pennsylvania Coal Company to survey the route and then supervise construction of a gravity railroad. In 1853 he resigned from the D & H and the PCC and was appointed vice president of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad. In 1856 he returned to Pennsylvania and became chief engineer of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad until his death on August 26, 1870.