RAILWAYS. 



803 



cars, the workmen were nut able to drive them 

 down, but were actually obliged to drag up the cars 

 for them to descend in. At first the wagons de- 

 scended at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an 

 hour ; but it was necessary to reduce the speed, as 

 it injured the machines, and by agitating the coal, 

 involved the driver in a cloud of dust. The cost of 

 this railroad was 3050 dollars per mile. The Mount 

 Carbon railroad company was incorporated in the 

 spring of 1829, and the railroad was begun in the 

 succeeding October. It commences at mount Car- 

 bon. At the termination, the road is elevated upon 

 thirty-one piers of masonry erected upon the land- 

 ings. The road passes thence through the gap of 

 Sharp mountain, following the valley of the Schuyl- 

 kill to Morrisville. It here leaves the Schuylkill at 

 its junction with the Norwegian creek, stretching 

 up tile valley of the latter, and crossing it several 

 times ; hence it runs directly through Pottsville to 

 the Forks, a distance of 6208 feet from the piers. 

 The east branch is 14,200 feet in length. It passes 

 through the Peacli mountain tract, and terminates 

 upon the Flowery Field tract, &c. The west 

 branch commences at Marysville, and is 16, 400 feet 

 in length. This railroad has a width of eighteen 

 ieet surface, occupied by a double track from the 

 head of both branches to the commencement of the 

 piers at mount Carbon, where a third track is added. 

 The iron plates on which the wheels run, are 

 two inches wide by three-eighths in thickness, bev- 

 eled on the edge and having the nail-holes coun- 

 tersunk, the beads being trimmed off, to prevent 

 jarring. The cost of this railroad was 100,000 dol- 

 lars. The Schuylkill valley railroad commences 

 at Port Carbon, ami terminates at Tuscarora, a dis- 

 tance of ten miles. There are fifteen lateral rail- 

 roads intersecting it, the distances of which com- 

 bined, amount to about thirteen miles. The main 

 stem consists of a double track. The laterals have 

 but a single track. The cost of the main stem was 

 5500 dollars per mile ; that of the laterals, 2600 

 dollars per mile. The Schuylkill railroad is thir- 

 teen miles in length, consists of a double track, and 

 cost 7000 dollars per mile. The Mill creek rail- 

 road commences at Port Carbon, and extends up 

 Mill creek four miles. This road consists of a sin- 

 gle track, and cost about 14,000 dollars. There 

 are about three miles of lateral railroads, intersect- 

 ing the main stem, which cost about 2000 dollars 

 per mile. The West Branch railroad commences 

 at Schuylkill Haven, and terminates at the foot of 

 the Broad mountain. The length of the road, in- 

 cluding the west branch, is fifteen miles. The main 

 stem has a double track ; the cost was upwards of 

 150,000 dollars. There are also about five miles of 

 lateral road intersecting it, which consist of a single 

 track ; the average cost of the laterals was about 

 2000 dollars per mile. 



The Pinegrove railroad extends from the mines 

 to the Swatara feeder, a distance of five miles. This 

 road cost about 30,000 dollars. 



The Little Schuylkill railroad commences at Port 

 Clinton, and extends up the stream to the mines, 

 at Tamaqua, a distance of about twenty-three 

 miles. 



The Lackaivaa^cn railroad commences at the ter- 

 mination of the Lackawaxen and Delaware and 

 Hudson canal, and connects that canal will) the 

 coal bed in Carbondale. It is sixteen miles in 

 length, and overcomes an elevation of 800 feet. 

 This rise is surmounted by five inclined planes, in 

 three and a half miles, each from 2000 to 3000 feet 

 in length. The cars are drawn up by stationary 

 engines. The railroad consists of a single track of 

 wooden rails, capped with iron. The co.st was 

 6500 dollars per mile 



| The Alleghany portage railroad is intended to 

 connect the eastern and western sections of the 

 Pennsylvania canal, and complete the direct line of 

 communication between Philadelphia and Pittsburg. 

 The route adopted commences at Frankstown, and, 

 leading upwards along the valley of Blair's gap run, 

 crosses the Alleghany mountains at Blair's gap sum- 

 mit, and descends in the valleys of Laurel run and 

 the Little Conemaugh to Johnstown, a distance of 

 thirty-eight and a half miles, or in a right line of 

 nearly thirty and three fourths miles. The summit 

 is 1397 feet above Frankstown, and 1137 feet above 

 Johnstown, and is to be surmounted by means of 

 eleven inclined planes, six of which are to be on 

 the eastern, and five on the western side of the 

 mountains. The sections between the inclined 

 planes are graduated at an inclination not exceed- 

 ing thirty feet per mile, and the curvatures are gen- 

 erally limited to a radius of 603 feet, except in four 

 instances ; the most abrupt curvature has a radius 

 of 410 feet. The cost of the entire route was estima- 

 ted at 612,000 dollars. This railroad is constructed 

 by the state of Pennsylvania. In March, 1831, an 

 appropriation of 700,000 dollars was made for the 

 construction of this railroad, and the extension of 

 the Juniata division of the Pennsylvania canal from 

 Huntingdon to Hollidaysburg, about two and a half 

 miles beyond Frankstown. 



The Central railroad extends from Pottsville 

 down the valley of the Shamokin creek toSunbury, 

 which is near the junction of the Susquehanna with 

 its western branch. 



The West Chester railroad leads from the bor- 

 ough of West Chester, which is twenty-three miles 

 west of Philadelphia, to Paoli, where it joins the 

 Philadelphia and Columbia railroad. 



The Philadelphia, Germantown and Xorristown. 

 railroad is about nineteen miles in length, extend- 

 ing from Philadelphia to Norristown, on the Schuyl- 

 kill. 



The Philadelphia and Delaware county railroaa 

 extends from Philadelphia south-westerly, along the 

 western margin of the river Delaware. 



The Philadelphia and Columbia railroad is intend- 

 ed to connect the Delaware navigation at Philadel- 

 phia with that of the Susquehanna at Columbia, 

 passing through the counties of Delaware, Chester 

 and Lancaster. The principal summit on this rail- 

 road is the Mine ridge, which is 599 feet above the 

 Delaware at Philadelphia. There are two inclined 

 planes, one at Columbia, which is 660 yards in 

 length and ninety feet in height, and the other, 

 which is 180 feet in height, at the Schuylkill, near 

 Peter's island, in the vicinity of Philadelphia. At 

 the foot of the latter inclined plane, the Schuylkill is 

 to be crossed by a bridge 900 feet in length, which is 

 now constructing. From the Mineridgegapsummit, 

 at Henderson, westward, to the head of the inclined 

 plane at Columbia, the distance is twenty-nine miles, 

 and the ascent and descent is 848 feet. From the 

 same summit, eastward, to the head of the inclined 

 plane at the Schuylhill, the distance is fifty miles, 

 and the ascent and descent 940 feet. The whole 

 length is 82 miles. It terminates in Philadelphia 

 at the intersection of Vine and Broad streets. The 

 sum of 600,000 dollars was appropriated by the 

 legislature of Pennsylvania, in March, 1831 , towards 

 the completion of this work. It has been stated 

 that in 1832 the whole number of railroads in Penn- 

 sylvania, of greater or less extent, is sixty- seven. 



The Newcastle and Frenchtown railroad extends 

 from Newcastle, on the Delaware, to the Elk river, 

 near Frenchtown. It consists of a single track, with 

 the requisite number f turn-outs, and is nearly sir- 

 teen and a half miles in length, and is only 853 yards 

 longer than a perfectly straight line drawn between 

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