LOCOMOTION BY EIVER AND RAILWAY. 



Miles. 



4. New York to Lake Erie 400 



5. Philadelphia to Pittsburgh on the Ohio . . . 400 



6. Baltimore to the Ohio 350 



7. Charleston, South Carolina, to Chatianoogy, in Tennessee 350 



8. Savannah, Georgia, to Decatur, Georgia, and Montgomery, 



on the Alabama . 500 



There are also in progress of construction several detached lines 

 of railway along the southern shores of the great lakes, intended 

 to connect together the numerous cross-lines which traverse that 

 country, and so to form an unbroken system of railway communi- 

 cation with the interior. An extensive line commencing at Galena, 

 on the Upper Mississippi, in the heart of the mining region, crosses 

 the state of Illinois, and passing Chicago, skirts the southern shore 

 of Lake Michigan. This line is complete and under traffic. 

 From Michigan city it crosses the State of that name, arriving at 

 Sandusky, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. From Sandusky 

 this vast artery, following the shore of the lake, arrives at Dunkirk, 

 where it unites with several great trunk-lines, which, traversing 

 the States of New York and Pennsylvania, communicate with the 

 seaboard at Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. The extent 

 of this line, running west and east from the Mississippi to the 

 Atlantic, is not less than 1800 miles. 



19. "When it is considered that the railways in this country have 

 cost upon an average about 40000Z. per mile, the comparatively low 

 cost of the American railways will doubtless appear extraordinary. 



This circumstance, however, is explained partly by the general 

 character of the country, partly by the mode of constructing the 

 railways, and partly by the manner of working them. With 

 certain exceptions, few in number, the tract of country over which 

 these lines are carried is nearly a dead level. Of earthwork there 

 is but little ; of works of art, such as viaducts and tunnels, 

 commonly none. "Where the railways are carried over streams or 

 rivers, bridges are constructed in a rude but substantial manner 

 of timber supplied from the roadside forest, at no greater cost than 

 that of hewing it. The station-houses, booking-offices, and other 

 buildings, are likewise slight and cheaply constructed of timber. 

 On some of the best lines in the more populous states the timber 

 bridges are constructed with stone pillars and abutments, supporting 

 arches of trusswork, the cost of such bridges varying from 46s. per 

 foot, "for 60 feet span, to 61. 10s. per foot for 200 feet span, for a 

 single line, the cost on a double line being 50 per cent. more. 



20. When the railways strike the course of rivers, such as the 

 Hudson, Delaware, or Susquehanna too wide to be crossed by 

 bridges the traffic is carried by steam-ferries. The manage- 

 ment of these ferries is deserving of notice. It is generally so 



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