Mar., 1917] Columbus, Ohio, Quadrangle 143 



the interstreani strip between the two major streams, climbs 

 from its flood plain station in the western part of the city, up 

 the bluff obliquely for seven miles until it emerges on the 

 upland, and then almost immediately plunges into a deep cut 

 with ascending grade through the Powell moraine to a still 

 higher inter-morainal till plain beyond the town of Powell. 

 Two engines are employed to pull nearly every freight train 

 this far out from the city. Where the road is well up on the 

 interstream area it swings away from the main stream beyond 

 the head ends of the little fringing tributaries bordering the 

 Olentangy River. This is done to find a more nearly level 

 course and to avoid building so many bridges. 



The Big Four, Pennsylvania and former Cleveland, Akron 

 and Columbus, now a Pennsylvania line — the other three roads 

 to the north — leave the Union Station on the east bluff of the 

 Scioto River; hence do not need to make a climb but at once 

 strike out on the interstream till plain. (Fig. 3.) The first and 

 second are essentially parallel as far as the northern boundary 

 of the area with no curves, bridges, cuts or fills, because they 

 are so far from the major streams that the till plain is still 

 undissected. (See topographic map.) One small bridge over a 

 stream while still really within the city, and a slight grade 

 south of, and a shallow cut through, the Powell moraine con- 

 stitute the only exceptions to this generalization. If it were 

 not for this adjustment — if, for example, the route of either 

 railroad had been laid out one to one and one-half miles nearer 

 the Olentangy stream — thirty-five to forty bridges would have 

 been necessary with almost continuous cutting and grading. 

 No road follows either of the four valleys north from Columbus 

 because the interstream areas afford a much more practicable 

 route. 



All the roads east, south and west lie on the level till plain 

 paying no particular attention to valley or stream, because 

 none is far below the till plain. No railroad out of Columbus 

 follows a valley even for a short distance, except the Pennsyl- 

 vania, the Toledo and Ohio Central, and the Big Four west for 

 two or three miles, and the Hocking Valley and the Toledo and 

 Ohio Central south for an equal distance. In all these cases, 

 exit from the valleys is made as quickly as possible in order to 

 use the level upland till plain. Not only do the roads out of the 

 city avoid the valleys but over the whole area no railroads can 

 be found in valleys at all. 



