388 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



No. 7 



ofdesfrijction. And wlienever the wise crealor j Thus it will be perceived ihai all the elemenla 

 iliiiiks proper to brinir nboiil sncli an event, how iofcost were, at that time, lar ler-^s than they have 

 easjy wtll ii be (or him to set (i-ee laieni iieat, and 1 been (lurin<r the eonsiruction ol'lhis road, 

 iet loose other ehemical aiients treasured up in 'l~hese are cenainlv comparisons by no means 

 coal fields and all combuslihle matters, in order to ! unlavorable to your vvork, and when we add that 

 produce <reneral conflaijjration, tiiat will consume yours is the only one of the roads mentioned, in 

 this earth and its furuiiure, and cause it to pass which rock excavation was encountered to any 



away like a downy leather in a (iirnace ! 



extent, and the difficulties to be overcome by ex- 

 cavations and end)anknients are iiir more consi- 

 derable than on the cheapest oC these other roads, 

 and nearly as erreal as on the most expensive, it 

 is believed that the board have reason to congra- 

 tulate themselves on the moderate cost at which 

 their work will be completed. 



In makinir the loreyoin^ comparisons, the item 

 ofbriiJijes has been tieducied in eaidi case, because 

 thai is the only way in which a comparison can be 

 liiirly made. 



There are five bridi^jes on the Raleigh and Gaston 



rail-road, most of them in situations of peculiar 



ifficulty. ThPte are few bridojes in the world 



RAI.EIGII AND GASTOIV KAIL-ROAD. 



Extract from the late annual Report. 



Tlie calculations of the entire cost of the work 

 Iiave been carefully made, takinj^ the sums actu- 

 ally paid fir sucti parts of it as have been coitiple- 

 fed ami settled for, and the most accurate estimate 

 that can i^ow be had of the parts remaining to be 

 done. It appears from these calculations, that the 

 work will be done within the estimate of i^l,21.5,- 

 000 given in my last report. I therefore reler yon 



to that as the sun) which will not be materially I hi<rher Ihan that over Tar river. The aogregale 

 exceeded, if at all. This sum exceeds the capital length of ihe bridijes is 3.240 feet, and iTieir'cost 

 with which the company was originally incorpo- will be ^155,000. ' When this is included, the cost 

 rated, which was .Hi 800,000, with the privilege of | per mile ol' the road will be S14.378. The bridg- 

 increasing to ^1,000,000. 1 cannot feel surprised [ jng on the Petersburo and on the Richmond and 

 at this excess of the actual cost over a conjectural ; Frederickshiirtr roads has bren liir less, while that 



on (he Richmond and Petersburg road has been 

 greaier than on 'his. 'i'he cost of the Richmond 

 and Fredericksburg road, when bridgin<j is inclu- 

 ded, is $;13, 934 per mile, and that of the Richmond 

 and PeteiobiiriT road StiSl.llO per mile; that of the 

 Peiersburtr road is i5 10,1 10 per mile. 



Comparisons equally as advantageous might be 

 made with many other works, but ihe\ are deemed 

 unnecessary. I will merely adil a list ol"several nail- 

 roads and their cost per mile, taken from the late 

 report of the president and directors of the Huu- 

 satonic Rail-Road Company : 



Boston and Worcester rail-road, ^37,000 per mile. 

 " ■ " 42,000 " 



22,000 " 

 34,000 " 

 45.000 " 

 40.000 " 

 40,000 " 

 61.000 " 

 19,000 " 

 52.000 '' 

 20,000 " 

 15,000 " 

 It should be mentioned that the Housatonic 

 road is just commenced, and that it fijilovvs the re- 

 markably level valley of the Housatonic. 



As some apprehensions have been expressed 



estimate, made before any survey of the route, and 

 based on data quite vague and inaccurate. Even 

 if an iiccurate estimate had been made, the rise in 

 prices which occured about the period of the com- 

 mencement of this work, and winch has most 

 unexpectedly continued to the present time, would 

 have been sufficient to account ibr a great increase 

 pfcost. 



A cor^parison ofthe cost of ihis work, with the 

 actual cost of the rail-roads in the same range ol 

 couniry in the stale of Virginia, and with many 

 roads at the north, will satisfy any inquirer, that it 

 has not exceeded what wasjiistly to be anticipated 

 from the character of the coiinirv passed over. I 



will instance the Richmond and Fredericksbur.r i Rwst'"'" and Providence 

 Rail-Road, both because it approaches nearest I Norwich and Worcester 

 to this in character, and because no one at all 1 y eslern 

 acquainted wiih the management of that road, I New-Jersey 

 while constructing, has ever doubted that the | ^''^"'^'<'" ■'^'"'' ^'^"^^°.^ 

 strictest economy was used. That road co^t ^12,- | Columbia and Philadelphia " 

 900 per mile, exclusive of bridging and of loconio- | Albany and Schenectady '' 



lives and cars, which is .^360 per mile more than "" ' *""' " 



the cost of yours, with the same exceptions, 'i'he 

 cogt ofthe Richmond and Petersburg road, exclu- 

 sive of bridges, cars, &c. ha.q been about ^21,444 

 per mile, or ^8,904 per mile, more than yours. 



The cost of the Petersbut-fr rail-road (not inclu- 

 ding the Greensvife branch, which was much more 

 expen.<ive) wiih ihe same exception of bridijes, 

 cars and locomotives, has been about -99.700 per | that the stock of this road will not be valuable, 



.„:l„ T'l.:, 1, .. ...:ll 1 - ! 1.1 .-e^ ^ try ' I > , > 1 1 ,• • . . ' 



Ulica and Schenectady 



Stonington " 



Hartlord and New-Haven " 



Housatonic " 



mile. This last will be perceived to be ^2.840 per 

 mile less than ilie cost of the Raleigh and Gaston 

 road. This dilieience is fully accounted for by 

 the circumstances of the case. Labor was hired 

 during the constrnciion of that road at an average 

 price of about -970 per annum ; bacon was at 7 to 

 8 cents, beef at 2 to 4 cents, and corn at 40 to 50 

 cents per bushel. Rail timber in that section of 

 eounlry is much more abundant than it is on your 

 road, and coiisenuenflv, could be troilen (i^r about 



20 percent. 



The iron for the Petersburcr road i <rnine among us. 



I hope I may be excused for saying a word on the 

 subject. 



It is well known that, since the road went into 

 operation, causes beyond your control have pre- 

 vented you from offering such facilities to the pub- 

 lic as would ensure a large amount of transporta- 

 tion ; and yet the amount has exceeded what any 

 one anticipated. No reasoning man can now 

 doubt that the tonnage transported over the road 

 will fiilly equal the expectations of the most san- 



eost about §47 i)er ton, delivered in Petersburg, 

 while that li)r your road costs about Q70 per ton, 

 delivered at Gaston. 



It has been siifrrrested that the transportation 

 ofiroodsand produce on a rail-road yields but a 

 small profit. Let us examine into this. 



