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GEOGRAPHICAL ROUT ¿
GREAT RAILWAY,
BY WHICH IT IS PROPOSED TO CONNECT
THE CANALS AND "NAVIGABLE WATERS,
NEW-YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, MICHI-
GAN, MISSOURI, AND THE ADJACENT STATES
AND TERRITORIES ;
OPENING THEREBY, A FREE COMMUNICATION, AT ALL SEASONS OF THE YEAR, BETWEEN
THE ATLANTIC STATES, AND THE GREAT VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS.
/<y / .
NEW-YORK ;
G. &. C. & H. CARVILL.
1830.
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//
te.
This Pamphlet, on the subject of establishing a Rail¬
way from the city of New-York to the Western country,
is recommended to a candid examination ; and your per¬
sonal influence and exertions are respectfully solicited
for the promotion of the object.
SKETCH fífrtS >
OF THE
GEOGRAPHICAL ROUT
OF A
GREAT RAILWAY,
BY WHICH IT IS PROPOSED TO GONNECT
THE CANALS AND NAVIGABLE WATERS,
OF
NEW-YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, MICHI¬
GAN, MISSOURI, AND THE ADJACENT STATES
AND TERRITORIES;
OPENING THEREBY A FREE COMMUNICATION, AT ALL SEAS0N8 OF THE YEAR, BETWEEN
THE ATLANTIC STATES AND THE GREAT VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
/• 4. ¿.f. '/{ / v ✓ , f t *■
SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS.
NEW-YORK :
G. & C. & H. CARVILL.
1830.
CONTENTS
FAGE
Atlantie and Mississippi Railway 3
Table of distances on the rout 8
Elevations of different points on do 9
Extent of the communications united by the Railway ... 9
Description of the rout to the Ohio Canal 10
Western division of the rout 12
Comparative advantages of Canals and Railways 15
Cost of Railways 17
Cost of transportation on Railways 18
Favorable nature of the rout 19
Magnitude of the proposed work 21
Ability of the country to execute it . . . . 22
Proper time for commencing the same 24
Advantages of pursuing a general system 25
General description of the Mississippi valley 28
Progress and present state of Railways .30
Late accounts of Railway improvements . 33
—— Visit to Liverpool Tunnel 33
—— Winan's new Railroad car 34
—- Trials of locomotive engines 36
Importance of the results 38
Unexpected character of these results . . . . . . .43
Current value, of Railway and Canal stocks « ■. ., . .44
Trials on the Baltimore Railroad 46
Suggestion on the importance of uniformity in Railroads 48
ADVERTISEMENT.
In drawing up the article, on the Comparative advantages of Canals
and Railways, some use has been made of a manuscript review of the
first edition of this pamphlet, which was placed at the disposal of the pub¬
lishers some months ago. This ieview, which will probably appear, is
understood to have been written by a gentleman now engaged as a civil
engineer on some of our public works. Credit may, perhaps, be due for
other remarks, or facts, contained in these pages, but which it is not in
the power of the writer to designate.
mmm or railway mommti*
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MAYS 1 1921
SKETCH, &€.
ATLANTIC AND MISSISSIPPI RAILWAY.
The construction of a Great Western Railway,
on the rout which is traced on the annexed map, is
recommended to the attentive consideration of every
citizen who feels an interest in the prosperity of his
country, and wishes to promote its rapid advancement
in wealth and power, by the multiplication of those
physical resources which constitute national greatness,
and best promote individual happiness and prospe¬
rity.
The proposed Railway has, for its object, not only
the connection of the great cities on the borders of
the Atlantic with the magnificent lakes and rivers of
the West, by a channel, available at all seasons of the
year, but also the developement of the latent wealth
and resources of large and valuable tracts of country,
which are not now traversed by any of the great
works which have been constructed, or are in pro¬
gress, under the patronage of the several states. It
affords happy facilities for accomplishing these great
objects, in a manner that will best subserve the inter¬
ests of the whole community ; and by connecting the
canals of New-York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois, in one great system, will give increased value
and efficiency to the plans of internal improvement,
which have been adopted in these several states.
The rout commences on the Hudson river, in the
4
vicinity of the city of New-York, at a point accessible
at all seasons to steam ferry-boats, and from thence
proceeds through a favorable and productive coun¬
try to the valley of the Delaware river, near the
north-west angle of the county of Sullivan. From
thence the rout ascends along the Delaware to a
point that affords the nearest and most favorable
erossing to the valley of the Susquehannah, which it
enters at or near the great bend of that river.
Pursuing a westerly and almost level course through
the fertile valleys of the Susquehannah and Tioga
rivers, the rout crosses the head waters of the Ge¬
nesee, having in its course intersected the termina¬
tions of the Ithaca and Owego Railway, and the Che¬
nango and the Chemung canals in New-York, the
great Susquehannah canal in Pennsylvania, and seve¬
ral other points that afford important facilities for inter¬
communication.
From the Genesee river, our rout enters the val¬
ley of the Alleghany, and proceeds along that river,
which affords a navigable communication with Pitts¬
burgh, the Pennsylvania canals, and the Ohio river.
From the Alleghany, the rout intersects the outlet of
the Chatauque Lake, by which a communication may
be established with Lake Erie, and proceeds to the
head waters of the French Creek, in Pennsylvania,
from whence it again communicates with the Alleg¬
hany and the Pennsylvania canals, on the one hand,
and may be connected with the harbour of Erie on
the other.
The benefits which would result from the construe-
«a*
tion of a Railway, on the rout which we have thus
far followed, and its capacity to multiply the elements
of individual and national prosperity, can be best ap¬
preciated by those who have carefully observed the
effects of such improvements : but that portion of the
rout which remains to be considered, offers to our view
results of the highest and most invaluable character.
From the western branch of the Alleghany, we pro¬
ceed in a direction nearly parallel to the shore of Lake
Erie, and entering the northern counties of Ohio, in¬
tersect the great canal of that state on the portage
summit. A free and rapid communication is thus es¬
tablished both with the lakes and the Ohio river.
From the Ohio canal the rout proceeds in a west¬
ern direction, near the forty-first parallel of latitude,
along the fertile table lands which separate the tribu¬
tary streams of the Ohio from those of the great north¬
ern lakes. Having entered the state of Indiana, we
pass the head waters of the Wabash, intersect the
rout of the canal which is to unite the Wabash river
with the lakes, enter the state of Illinois, and passing
near the course of the Kankakee, arrive at the head of
steam-boat navigation on the Illinois River.
The Illinois, which is soon to be connected by a
canal with Lake Michigan, affords good depth of wa¬
ter for steam-boats, with a current so slight as to be,
in many places, hardly perceptible. It affords excel¬
lent navigation for two hundred and fifty mihs,
through a country of unbounded fertility, to the Mis¬
sissippi river, which it enters near the mouth of the
Missouri, and a short distance above the flourishinff
and important town of St. Louis.
Having accomplished this grand object, our Rail¬
way continues from near the bend of the Illinois, and
at a distance of little more than sixty miles, reaches
the banks of the Mississippi.
The proposed point of junction with that immense
river, is immediately above the Rock Island rapids,
from when e the navigation is at all seasons uninter¬
rupted to the River St. Peters, and the Falls of St.
A thony. The country bordering on the Mississippi,
for a great distance above the termination of the Rail¬
way rout, besides its immense fertility, contains in¬
exhaustible quantities of lead ore, and is supposed also
to abound in copper.
The whole distance from the Hudson river to the
Mississippi, at the junction of Rock river, is less than
one thousand miles. The rout extends along one of
the best parallels of temperate latitude, and in great
part through the most fertile and valuable portions of
our country. A Railway constructed upon this rout
would connect, in the most advantageous manner, the
agricultural, navigating, and commercial interests of
the regions bordering on the numerous rivers, canals,
and lakes, with which it communicates ; and would
extend the production and dissemination of valuable
commodities throughout the most distant portions of
our common country.
In a military, as well as commercial point of view,
the results of such a Railway would surpass the power
of calculation. With such ample means for throwing
any amount of military force and materiel, at any time,
to almost any point of our frontier, with a rapidity re-
7
sembling that of an express-rider, we should have
little occasion to claim the respect of our proudest,
foes, whether savage or civilized.
The whole extent of the proposed Railway could
be constructed for a sum not greatly exceeding that
which the state of New-York has expended on its
justly celebrated canals ; and its cost would be trifling,
in comparison with its benefits, or even to the in¬
creased value, which it would give to the lands which
border on the rout. It would, when completed, be
far more beneficial in its effects on the intervening
country, and on our national prosperity, than to turn
the Mississippi itself into the same course. Free from
the inundations, the currents, the rapids, the ice, and
the sand-bars of that might) stream, the rich products
of its wide-spread valley would be dri. en to the shores
of the Atlantic, with greater sp^ed, than if wafted by
the wings of the wind ; and the rapid return of com¬
mercial equivalents would spread life and piosperity
over the face of the finest and fairest portion of the
habitable world.
Without inquiring whether such a work could be
best accomplished by the several states through which
the rout extends ; or by incorporations, aided by
grants of money or lands from the general govern¬
ment ; or by appropriations from the surplus funds,
which will soon be at the disposal of that government ;
it is sufficient to assert, that our citizens have only to
appreciate the value of the enterprise, and raise their
voices in its favor, and it will be accomplished.
8
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND OTHER MEMORANDA.
The various and aggregate distances, on the rout described in
these pages, may be estimated as in the following tables, in which
an average of about ten per cent, is added to the supposed rectili¬
near distances, which, on some parts of the rout, it is supposed,
will more than compensate for the sinuosities of the Railway.
From the Hudson river at Tappan, to )
the Delaware and Hudson Canal $ 55 miles.
Delaware River above Kalikoon Creek - 35
Up the Delaware, to Stockport ----- 15
Across Starucca summit to the Great Bend, 20
125
Binghampton, (mouth of Chenango,) 20
Owego, - -- -- -- -- -20
Head of Pennsylvania Canal, (on the Tioga,) 20
Newtown, or Elmira, (Chemung Canal, ) 12
72
Genesee River, - --65
Alleghany River, at Olean, ------ 28
Chatauque Outlet, (near Pa. line,) ----- 45
Meadville, Pa. ----62
State line of Ohio, - -- -- -- -28
Warren, O. - - -- -- -- --20
Ohio Canal, Portage summit, - 42 290
Whole distance to Ohio Canal, - 488
New-Haven, O. ------- w - 60
Sandusky River, - -- -- -- -30
Fort Finley, - - -.-----25
Fort Brown, - -- -- -- --35
State Line of Indiana, 25
Fort Wayne, - -- -- -- --15
Tippecanoe River, - -- -- -- -75
State Line of Illinois, 55
Pinkamink River, - -----32
Vermillion River, ------- 44
Illinois River, - -- -- -- --24
420
Rock River, - -- -- -- -- 56
Mississippi River, 7
63
970
Elevations of different portions of the rout above the surface of
Lake Erie.
Feet.
Passage of the Shawangunk ridge, 227
Stockport on the Delaware, 345
Susquehannah River at the Great Bend, ..... 315
Chenango Bridge at Binghampton, 290
Tioga river at Newtown, (Chemung canal) .... 265
Olean on the Alleghany river, ...... 845
Meadville, on French Creek, Pa. ...... 500
Ohio State Line, . ....... 450
Ohio Canal Summit, . ....... 395
New-Haven, O. ......... 414
Illinois River, near the mouth of Robinson's River, , . 000
Mississippi River, head of Rock Island Rapids, . . . 125
Great Extent of Internal Navigation united by the Railway.
The actual extent of the internal communication, by the various
rivers, lakes, canals, and railways, connected with this rout, and
with each other, cannot be estimated at less than thirty thousand
miles, and probably much exceeds that distance.
A writer at St. Louis, estimates the whole river navigation above
that town at a fraction short of 30,000 miles. The navigation be¬
low St. Louis, he estimates at 20,000 miles, including the Ohio and
all its tributaries ; which would make the whole navigable waters
of this great valley equal to near 50,000 miles.
These estimates are said to be the result of 44 careful and accu¬
rate calculation," and if we were to add to this the entire line of
the lakes and their tributaries, and all the artificial communications
to be connected by the proposed work, the whole would probably
exceed 60,000 miles.
The greater part, however, of the river navigation, included in
this writer's estimate, is more or less imperfect. Even the Ohio af¬
fords good navigation, according to the best authorities, only four
months in the year, and the navigation of the Mississippi is greatly
obstructed by the Des Moins and Rock Island rapids, which obstruc¬
tions could be entirely avoided by the use of the Illinois river and
the terminating section of the proposed Railway.
How immensely might the commerce of these great rivers be
enlarged by the construction of such a Railway as is here proposed.
To effect such an extensive connection of these waters, by means
of a canal, would, if practicable, be of much less utility than the
Railway, by reason of the interruption of its navigation in the winter
season, and in times of drought, which would be much more defri-
10
m&ntal than on an ordinary canal through a less extensive country,
and calculated for less general purposes. To this must be added
the advantage afforded by the Railway, of conveying passengers
and the public mails, in the most rapid manner, through such an
extensive and important region of country.
The business of the grand canal of New-York, which connects
with the great lakes, and the country on their borders, is chiefly de¬
rived from the country through which it passes ; and owing to the
interruptions of winter, and the hazards and delays of lake naviga¬
tion, answers, but very imperfectly, the wants of the great western
country. In the present state of knowledge, it would be absurd to
rely alone upon canals, valuable as they are, for a communication with
our surpassingly rich and extensive interior. And in opening its
resources, and its extensive river navigation to free access by a
Railway, it would be equally absurd to locate its eastern termination
on the inland portion of a river or canal that should be liable to ob¬
struction by ice. To realize the full value of our canals, rivers and
lakes, we must unite them by a grand arterial communication, which
shall promote the rapid circulation and exchange of all products, at
all seasons, throughout the whole region of country in which they
extend.
Further description of the Rout to the Ohio Canal.
The rout here proposed, is believed to furnish the most practica¬
ble passage from the Atlantic to the Western states, that is to be
found between the Erie canal and the state of-Georgia.
Leaving the Hudson about twenty miles from the city of New-
York,* it passes the high ground which constitutes the western shore
of that river, through the valley of Tappan creek, the only suitable
pass that is to be found in a range of near 100 miles along the river.
From this pass we proceed northwesterly, crossing the range of the
Highlands, through the clove, or Ramapough gap, ascend the val¬
ley of the Ramapough, proceed through the county of Orange,
and near the town of Goshen, to the Shawangunk ridge. We pass
this ridge by the Deer Park gap, cross the Delaware and Hudson
canal near its summit, and proceeding through the county of Sul-
* To this point the channel of the Hudson is rarely obstructed by ice, in
winter, and as the river must be crossed by means of Steamboats, nothing is
lost by making this the eastern termination of the rout, or it might otherwise
be extended along the margin of the river, beneath the Palisado rooks, to a
point opposite the City of New-York.
11
Kvaii, and near the town of Monticello, we reach the vaUey of
the Delaware. We then proceed up this valley, about 15 or 18
miles, to Stockport, in Pennsylvania.
Here we cross the Delaware, and ascend the dividing ridge through
the valley of Stockport Creek, and in proceeding a few miles arrive at
the summit dividing the Atlantic slope from the Susquehannah basin.
This summit, though of moderate elevation, compared with other
routs on which important public works are now in progress, is
probably the highest which this rout presents, if pursued even to the
vicinity of the Rocky Mountains. From it we descend through the
Starucca valley, and soon reach the fertile borders of the Susque¬
hannah river.
Most of the natural difficulties which attend the proposed work
are to be found on that portion of the rout which we have just passed
in review. These obstacles, it is believed, are not of a serious
nature, and can be correctly estimated only by actual surveys, made
by competent engineers. It is thought that stationary power, if
required, will only be found necessary in a very few instances, and
from this point our progressive range is apparently unobstructed.
We now cross the Susquehannah, a short distance below the
mouth of the Starucca, at the angle of the great bend, and pass on
to Binghampton, where we unite with the contemplated Chenango
Canal, which, commencing at this place, is to terminate in the Erie
Canal, near Utica. We thence continue about due West, through
this fertile and beautiful valley, and unite at Owego with the Rail¬
way which is to extend from that place to Ithica, at the head of the
Cayuga Lake, and thus form another communication with the Erie
Canal. Arriving at the Tioga river, we unite directly, or by a
short lateral branch, with the great Susquehannah Canal, which
opens to us, through the heart of Pennsylvania, a communication
with the cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore.
We then proceed along the Tioga, and unite at Elniira with the
contemplated Chemung Canal, and the Seneca Lake, which forms
our third connection with the Erie Canal, and Lake Ontario. Pass¬
ing onward, we arrive at the Western summit of the Susquehannah
basin, and crossing the Genessee river, near its sources, we enter
upon the great basin, or valley which is drained by the Mississippi,
and its tributaries. On a great part of the rout along the Susque¬
hannah and Tioga, it is supposed that almost a perfect level can be
obtained, and in passing from thence to the Alleghany river, no
serious obstruction is apprehended, as the Alleghany ridges here
run under the surface of the great table land of the interior..
12
The surface of the country is described as not broken, but consists
©f large swells of land, with broad shallow valleys intervening.
We now enter the valley of the Alleghany River, or northeast
branch of the Ohio, which forms our first communication with the
almost endless ramifications and extent of the Mississippi, and its
tributary streams. We proceed along the Alleghany, till, in order
to preserve a more westerly course, we diverge from that river, and
cross the outlet of the Chatauque Lake, through which an easy com¬
munication can be opened with Portland on Lake Erie. We con¬
tinue in a course indicated by the general level of the country, and
nearly parallel to Lake Erie, and crossing the navigable waters of
French creek, near Meadville, we proceed through this fine portion
of Pennsylvania, and intersect the canal, which is to extend from
Pittsburgh to Erie, near its summit level. This opens a third or
fourth avenue to the important manufacturing city of Pittsburgh, and
also another rout to the waters of Erie and the upper lakes. Con¬
tinuing our range along this fertile summit, we enter the state of
Ohio, pass through the flourishing counties of Trumbull and
Portage, and near the towns of Warren and Ravenna, to the sum¬
mit of the Ohio Canal. This great Canal, is a work which confers
lasting honor upon the well guided enterprise of a young, but
intelligent and powerful member of our national confederacy. It
unites us again with the Ohio and the lakes, as well as with the
flourishing and extensive country through which it passes.
Western Division of the Rout.
A more determinate specification of the rout to be pursued from
the Ohio Canal to the head waters of the Maumee and Wabash,
and from thence, across the states of Indiana and Illinois, to the
Mississippi River, is rendered unnecessary by the favorable
nature of the country to be traversed, which presents no obstacles
to a free choice of surface and location. A large portion of the
country, comprised in the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, to¬
gether with the Michigan peninsula, and the country between Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi, constitutes an extensive table land, or
plateau, of pretty even character and surface, and of great general
fertility. This great district may, with propriety, be called the
great plateau of Michigan, and constitutes, probably, the finest
portion of the vast region, which is drained by the tributaries of
the Mississippi, and the Canadian Lakes. It is almost surrounded
by navigable waters; having the Ohio on the south, the Mississippi
on the west, the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, and the lakes Michigan.
13
Huron, St. Clair and Erie, on the north. It is intersected by
several valuable tributaries of the Ohio and Mississippi ; the most
important of which, are the Wabash and Illinois ; the latter
enters the Mississippi 20 miles above the junction of the
Missouri, and 35 miles above the town of St. Louis. This river
occupies the lowest portion of the plateau, and from the head
of its navigation to Lake Michigan, there is but little elevation,
so that, in forming a canal, to communicate with that lake, the
water of the latter can, by means of a moderate excavation, be had
to supply the canal, and may be drawn in sufficient quantity to
supply and quicken the current of the river during the dry season.
The Illinois is described as one of the best rivers in our country
for steam-boat navigation ; its channel being good for more than
250 miles, to its junction with the Mississippi, and its current
being so gentle as to be, in many places, hardly perceptible. The
canal in question, is, probably, one of the few which ought to be
constructed in full view of the advantages of Railways, as its
navigation would be always open, during the season in which the
lake itself is navigable ; and therefore, like the proposed improve¬
ments in the bayous of Louisiana, it deserves support under all
circumstances. The construction of a break-water harbor, to
protect the entrance of the canal into the Lake, would perfect its
utilitv.
The great section of country, which we are describing, is inter¬
sected, centrally, by the rout of the proposed Railway, which will
not only lay open its valuable resources and connect its rich in¬
terior with the navigation of the surrounding rivers and the
Atlantic markets, but offers a base line, of unequalled utility,
for lateral Railways and inter-communications, which may be
hereafter established. A Railway may ultimately be found extend¬
ing through the centre of the Michigan peninsula, from the straits
of Mackinaw to the Ohio river, and also from the falls of that river
to Lake Michigan. This great plateau will, indeed, one day be in¬
tersected by thousands of miles of Rail Road communications ; and
so rapid is the increase of its population and resources, that many
persons, now living, will probably see most or all of this accom¬
plished.
The general character of the whole region is, as before observed,
that of a great table land, with its surface gently undulating,
and presenting shallow vallies, and deeper grooves, which have
been worn down by the streams that carry off its surplus waters.
These streams, as they increase in length and magnitude, produce
14
a greater elTect upon the aspect of the country on their borders ;
and towards their junction with the Ohio, or other recipients, are
bounded by the numerous river hills, which form so marked a
feature in western scenery. As the portion of country passed over
by our rout, lies near the sources of the principal streams, much
advantage is afforded to the Railway, by avoiding the deep grooves
or vallies, which are formed by these streams. The extent of
{Iiis advantage will be appreciated by those who are conversant
with the physical character of the great valley of the Mississippi.
Parallel to the proposed line of Railroad, and at the most advan¬
tageous distance between it and the Ohio river, is found the great na¬
tional road, which is extending from Wheeling, on the Ohio, through
ihe capitals of these states and to the seat of government of Missouri.
This road happily coincides writh the proposed work, in supplying
the wants of this extensive and valuable region of country. The
Miami canal, which is completed from Cincinnati to Dayton, will
soon be either extended to Maumee bay, on Lake Erie, or connect¬
ed by a Railway with the Ohio canal, or the harbor of Sandusky,
thus forming one of our most important lateral communications.
In the state of Indiana, the contemplated Wabash and Miami
canal, will form another invaluable auxiliary to our system of in-
ter-communication. Its length will be 280 miles, through a fertile
region ; and the Wabash itself is represented as navigable by boats
for nearly 400 miles. Many other important communications will
eventually be established in this great and flourishing state, which
possesses a more homogeneous character than Ohio. Should the
construction of its great canal be neglected, it will only be for the
purpose of establishing a Railway of equal or greater importance.
The advantages of connecting our Railwa}r with the navigation of
the Illinois, and thus obtaining an unobstructed railway and steam¬
boat rout to St. Louis and New-Orleans, are sufficiently obvious. The
short western section of the Railway, by which it is proposed to con¬
nect the Illinois with the Upper Mississippi, is also of high impor¬
tance, and offers advantages sufficient to justify the execution of that
section without delay. It touches the northwest corner of the Mili¬
tary bounty lands, which will be greatly enhanced in value thereby,
and it offers an excellent communication between St. Louis and the
lead mine country, on the Upper Mississippi, through the Illinois
river, during the dry season, thus avoiding the obstructions which
are occasioned by the Des Moines and Rock river rapids in the Mis¬
sissippi. It would be the principal line of communication with that
extensive and invaluable country, on both sides of the Mississippi
15
lying north of Rock river and the state of Missouri, and which is
now but little known.
The great lead mine district, on the upper Mississippi, situated
between the Rock river and the Wisconsin, is no less remarkable for
its fine aspect and general fertility, than for the inexhaustible quan¬
tities of lead ore, with which it abounds. Although no part of this
tract has yet been surveyed and opened for sale by the government,
and although the means of communication are, at present, imperfect,
yet 13,000,000 pounds of lead were obtained in the year 1828 ; and,
it is said, that five millions of pounds were reported for three
months in the year 1829. At Galena, the principal depot of the
mines, there were 99 arrivals of steam-boats, and 74 of keel-boats, in
1828. The diggings have already been scattered over different por¬
tions of a district, containing 3,000 square miles, and no limit can
be assigned to the future extent of the mining operations. Copper
ore has also been found in its original deposit, in such quantities,
and over such an extent of this country, as to justify the expectation
of that metal's being produced in considerable quantities.
Comparative Advantages of Canals and Railways.
It is not intended to attempt to settle the question of the com¬
parative advantages of Canals and Railways. The merits of the
former have been in this country better known and more fully ap¬
preciated than those of the latter, and although our canals, like our
great rivers, will always remain available for all purposes for which
they are now used, still, it is believed, that in opening new lines of
communication, Railways will, in most cases, be adopted on account
of some one or more of the following considerations :
1st. The resistance to be overcome on a level Railway increases
only at the same ratio with the speed, while on a canal all increase
of speed is met by more than a quadruple ratio of resistance ; con¬
sequently, a much higher degree of speed is attainable on a Railway
than on a canal.
2d. The facilities which Railways afford for the employment of
steam power, and at high rates of speed, by which we are enabled
to use that power with the greatest advantage : horse power being
only adapted to low rates of travelling. Rapidity of conveyance, in
the general intercourse of a great country, is of the highest im¬
portance.
3d. Canals must be made almost on a dead level, and the eleva¬
tions must be overcome by expensive locks; whereas Railways may
be so laid as to overcome an elevation of many feet to the mile
16
without any additional expense, and a rate of elevation not exceed¬
ing 20 or 25 feet to the mile, is not considered very objectionable.
4th. Canals are often deficient in water in times of drought, while
Railways are in perfect order. Railroads, of course, can be laid on
summits^ which afford little or no water for a canal.
5th. Canals are often broken, and rendered useless, till they re¬
ceive extensive repairs^ and their locks frequently become defective,
and must be re-built at great expense. Railways are but little liable
to interruptions of any kind.
6th. Railroads can be used at all seasons of the year, while canals
in our climate remain inoperative, at least five months in the year,
and that too at the best season for disposing of agricultural products.
This advantage, alone, other things being but equal, must give to
Railways an entire preference over canals. The experience on Rail¬
ways, in the northern parts of England and Scotland, and on the
Quincy Railroad in Massachusetts, is decisive on this point.
7th. Canals are but imperfectly calculated to answer the wants of
the travelling public, while Railways afford the safest and best of all
possible facilities for this purpose ; and this too at a season, when our
canals and rivers are closed, and when even our roads are often next
to impassable by the ordinary modes of conveyance. The immense
aggregate of animal suffering, which may be saved at these seasons
on our great travelled routs by the introduction of Railways, merits
the attention of every person having claims to humanity of cha¬
racter.
8th. Railways tend to the draining of the soil on which they are
laid, while canals promote the increase of stagnant waters and un¬
wholesome effluvia, which, in many situations, is a consideration of
great magnitude.
9th. Railways occasion less general hazard and loss of life than
canals. On the latter, many persons annually lose their lives by
drowning, and by accidents in passing the locks and bridges.
10th. Railways occasion no obstruction in passing common
roads, while canals require numerous expensive and troublesome
bridges.
11th. Rivers are easily passed by Railways on good bridges, while
canals require expensive aqueducts, which, if constructed of wood,
soon go to, decay.
12th. Railways afford more general accommodation to the coun¬
try than canals, by enabling the occupants of moderate sized farms
to make outfits for market in their own vehicles, and for which the
power of a single horse is quite sufficient. Also, in requiring a
1?
much smaller portion of time for the accomplishment of this
object.
13th. The use of railways does not result in that deterioration
of morals which usually attends the business of canals, and which
is occasioned by the unhappy influence that boatmen often ex¬
ercise upon each other, and upon the society with which they min¬
gle when unoccupied. A single person is sufficient to conduct a
load on a railway, and his attention is necessarily engaged by the
duties of his employment.
14th. Much damage and loss is sustained on canals by the leakage
of boats and other casualities from which railways are exempt, the
business of the latter requiring no insurance.
15th. Railways will, in no case, interfere with the right to the
use of streams, and water privileges, a matter in which canals often
occasion serious injury.
16th. The cost of a Railway is not more than half or two-thirds
that of a canal through the same rout ; consequently, the same
amount of capital, expended on a railway, will produce greater
benefit to the community.
17th. Branch railways, connecting with the main line for pur¬
poses of local accommodations, are constructed with greater ease
and less expense than branch canals.
18th. Railroads will continue to be benefitted by any improve¬
ment in the application of steam power. Canals, probably, can
not realize this advantage.
19th. Lines of railway may, in general, be made more direct
than canals, as, in laying out the latter, we are obliged, without
respect to distance, to conform more exactly to the natural surface
of the country.
Of the Cost of Railways.
The cost of canals, with the knowledge which our experience in
constructing them has afforded, is said to average about $17,000
per mile, but often exceeds $22,000.
The cost of Railways, as appears by the result of some expe¬
rience, various and careful estimates by skilful engineers, and by
extensive contracts already entered upon, maybe stated as follows ;
A single Railway, or one set of tracks, with suitable turn-outs*
will cost from 7 to $8000 per mile.
A single Railway, with turn-outs, and graded sufficiently wide for
two sets of tracks, will cost from 10 to $11,000 per mile.
A double Railway, with two complete sets of tracks, will ctfst
3
IS
from 13 to $15,000 per mile. The tracks, in all cases, plated with
wrought iron/
A Railway of the first description, extending from the Hudson to
the Mississippi, would cost $8,000,000. If of the second kind,
$11,000,000; and if constructed with double tracks throughout,
would cost $15,000,000.
The largest sum is but little more than half the annual amount of
o
the national income. With the public voice in its favor, it would not
exceed the means nor the enterprise of half a dozen of our most
wealthy and respectable citizens. It does not exceed half the
amount paid in a single year by the consumers of ardent spirits,
in our country ; and, in time of war, would not pay half the expen¬
ses of a single campaign.
Quere—How many successful campaigns would be required to
add as much to the wealth and strength of the nation, as would be
realized by twenty years' operation of this Railway ?
Cost of Transportation by the Railway.
In making a comparative estimate of the cost of transportation,
by different modes of conveyance, we ought always to remember that
time is money, and that the attainment of greater speed and certainty
amounts, in effect, to a reduction of expense. The advantages of a
more speedy conveyance, are often of greater value than the whole
charges of transportation, and these advantages can never be so fully
realized, as by the use of railways.
The actual average cost of transportation, on a railway, does not
exceed one dollar per ton per hundred miles, exclusive of the tolls,f
which is believed to be as low as the same work can be done on a
canal, This estimate is founded upon the ordinary prices of canal
carriige as separate from the tolls. It has been claimed, that a
* It is proper to remark, that these estimates are for well constructed lines of
railway, through a favorable country, and do not necessarily include the costs
of such extraordinary works as the first sections of the Baltimore and Ohio
B-ailroad, or the deep rock cutting on the Erie Canal, near Lockport. In
these cases, objects of special importance have been attained at much addition¬
al expense.
t The cost of a mere draft, or traction, upon a level railway, will not ex¬
ceed a quarter of a cent per ton a mile, and the above rate of one cent per ton
a mile, for the whole cost of transportation, is more than sufficient to cover all
expenses, and afford a reasonable profit. The tolls on each ton may be estimated
at from half a cent to one and a quarter cents per mile, according to the nature
and value of the articles transported.
19
horse can draw a greater load on a canal than on a level railroad,
but when we consider that all increase of speed on à canal, is met
by more than a quadruple ratio of resistance, while the resistance
on a railway, is only in the simple ratio of the velocity, we at once
perceive that the advantage is in favor of the railway, even at a mo¬
derate speed ; and at high rates of velocity, this superiority is great,
almost beyond comparison.
The hazards which are incident to navigation, and which are
avoided by the use of railways, form also an important item in the
economy of transportation. The cases are not rare, in which the
insurance, alone, which is paid on goods sent to the western states,
exceeds the whole amount of freight with which they are charged.
The premiums, now paid for insurance, and the losses sustained
► on our rivers and lakes, and the damages by water in canal boats,
are thought, by some, to be more than sufficient to pay for all the
repairs which would be necessary on a railway.
With this Railway in operation, merchandise could be conveyed
from New-York or Philadelphia, to the Illinois or Mississippi, in a
week, and in two days more to St. Louis, Green Bay, or the Falls
of St. Anthony. Passengers and mails could be transported with
still greater rapidity.
Of the Facilities which this rout affords for a Railway.
The practicable and generally favorable nature of the country tra¬
versed by the rout, has, perhaps, been sufficiently noticed. It mav
be proper, however, to state, that the natural indications of this pas¬
sage to the western country, are so remarkable as to have attracted
the notice of intelligent statesmen and citizens more than forty
years ago.*
* General James Clinton, a distinguished officer in the revolutionary war,
and father of the late Governor Clinton, explored the rout, while the country
was yet a wilderness, and advocated the construction of a National Appian
Way, to unite the Hudson with the fertile regions of the west. Judge Preston,
of Pennsylvania, and other practical men, warmly seconded his views on this
subject, but the country was then comparatively weak in its resources, and not
sufficiently awake to its great leading interests.
To the bold and comprehensive views which were cherished by this venera¬
ble patriot, may, perhaps, be traced that expanded intelligence and ardent devo¬
tion, with which his distinguished son so successfully advocated the cause of
internal improvements ; and no sooner had the latter witnessed the triumphant
establishment of the Erie Canal, than he officially urged the construction of a
parallel canal, upon this rout ; transportation by Canals being supposed, at
20
The following tables of the ascents and descents on the principal
routs from the Atlantic coast, will further elucidate this subject.
Boston and Albany Railroad.
Ascent from Boston to the first summit,
Descent to Connecticut River,
Second principal summit, rise,
Descent from do. .
Third summit, rise,
Descent to Hudson River,
Feet.
918
879
1441
545
185
1130
5098
In 198 miles, or a general average of about 26 feet to a mile.
Proposed rout from New-York to the Ohio Canal.
Feet.
Elevation of the first principal summit, (Deer Park Gap,) . 792
Descent to the Delaware and Hudson canal, . . . 260
Ascent to Starucca summit, . ... 1118
Descent to the Susquehannah level, . ... 795
Rise to Genessee summit, ... , 633
Descent to the Ohio canal, ... ... 520
4118
In 510 miles, or a general average of about eight feet to a mile.
Pennsylvania Canal and Railroad.
Feet.
503
303
400
350
200
200
2060
1600
400
6016
In 520 miles, or a general average of about twelve feet to a mile.
First summit,
Descent to Brandy wine Creek,
Second summit, rise,
Descent from do.
Third summit rise,
Descent to Susquehannah,
Alleghany summit rise,
Descent to Pittsburg,
Ascent to Ohio summit,
that period, to be superior to any other mode of conveyance. The great State
Road subsequently urged by him, was also suggested by the same topographical
facilities ; but its construction was fortunately prevented by the operation of
different local interests. We say fortunately, because it must have been inade¬
quate to the purposes of general transportation, and would probably have been
an obstacle to the construction of a Railway, which may prove of immensely
greater value.
21
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Feet.
815
. 600
. 2540
. 207G
400
6134
In 470 miles, or a general average of about fourteen feet to a mile.
The foregoing elevations are obtained from the profiles on Tan¬
ner's new map of the United States, and from official sources, ex¬
cept the two principal elevations on the proposed rout, which are
approximations to ascertained elevations of neighboring portions of
the same summit. The line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
not being finally located across the Alleghanies, resort has been had
to the elevations of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal rout, and it is
probable that the elevations of the Railway, when located, will ex¬
ceed those of the canal.
That part of the proposed Railway, which lays along the borders
of New-York and Pennsylvania, offers the advantage of opening an
avenue of trade to those frontier districts, the resources and wants
of which are too much neglected in consequence of their exterior
position, in relation to those states, respectively ; and great natural
facilities are certainly obtained by avoiding the ranges of the
Alleghany mountains, and following the valleys of the rivers which
have already been mentioned in describing the rout. The country
abounds with mineral and agricultural resources, the products of
which would soon find their way to our markets. There is, proba¬
bly, no portion of country in America, of equal extent, which would
be more extensively benefitted by a railway than that traversed by
this rout.
Magnitude of the proposed work.
It will not be questioned, that the construction of a good Railway,
from the Hudson to the Mississippi, is a great undertaking, and can
only be accomplished by the appropriation of a large amount of
capital.
Great and little are, however, only comparative terms. The
standard by which to estimate an object of this character, is a due
estimate of the interests involved, and the permanent value and im¬
portance of the work, when completed. That which is a great un¬
dertaking for one individual, may be a light one for a corporation, or
an association of many individuals ; and that which is difficult for a
First summit,
Descent, . ...
Ascent to the Alleghany summit,
Descent to Pittsburg,
Rise to Ohio summit,
22
corporation to accomplish, may be easily effected by applying the
credit and resources of a State —and again, the resources of the
greatest state in the Union are small, compared with those which are
at the control of the general Government, in this most flourishing
period of our history.
Public opinion usually guides the application of the national re¬
sources, and these are always made ready at the call of the public
will. Let the dignity or the rights of our country be assailed by the
strong hand of aggression, and we know that, in their defence, mil¬
lions, and if need be, hundreds of millions, will be poured forth, like
water, not to be gathered again.
If it be the duty of a nation, in time of peace, to prepare for war,
it is both the policy and duty of a free nation, to make that prepara¬
tion, not by the increase of standing armies, and the expensive pa¬
raphernalia of battle, but by devoting the public income to the in¬
crease of the wealth and resources of the country ; or, in other
words, to the actual enlargement of its power. Such appropriations
do not vitiate the body politic, and cause the annual waste of mil¬
lions from the public chest, hut are like seed sown by the agricultu¬
ralist, which, in due time, affords tenfold returns to establish his
prosperity, or to meet the demands of a day of adversity.
It should always be borne in mind, that the application of money,
to the execution of the proposed work,is not an expenditure, but an
investment ; an investment which is to afford a greater profit than
any other ; an investment, which shall annually return its thousands
and its hundreds of thousands, into the national treasury, and shall
add its millions and its hundreds of millions to the value of our soil,
and to the amount of our productive industry.
The amount of the investment called for, is not, therefore, to be
considered great, when measured either by the ability of the coun¬
try, or the value of the objects to be attained. Who can justly es¬
timate the worth of the Hudson, the Ohio, or the Mississippi ? and
which of these great channels of intercourse exceeds, or even equals,
in utility and importance, the work here proposed?
* It appears from the memoir accompanying Tanner's map of the United
States, that the aggregate length of canals and railroads, in the state of Penn¬
sylvania, alone, which are either completed or in progress, is equal to Twelve
Hundred and Thirty-Four miles.
23
Of the Ability of the Country to construct the Railway.
Assuming that the great states of New-York and Pennsylvania
have an interest in the proposed work, equal to the extent of
country, which will be specially benefitted thereby, in each state, it
seems apparent that these states have sufficient inducement to un¬
dertake its construction, at least as far as the Ohio line.
No part of the country, which is now intersected by the canals,
can reap greater benefits than will accrue to those portions of country
which come within the influence of the proposed Railway, and the
extent of country, so benefitted, bears a full proportion to the cost,
as compared with the country through which the canals are already
completed, or in progress.
Pittsburg, the growing 44 Birmingham of the west," and the great
commercial cities of New-York and Philadelphia, would also realize
great advanages from the opening of new markets and new chan¬
nels of intercourse, to say nothing of the benefits which will result
from uniting the communications which are already established.
Philadelphia is said to have invested, at different periods, about
seven millions of dollars, in the promotion of various internal im¬
provements, few, if any of which, can be compared with this in
point of importance and utility. If the city of New-York would
put forth her energies with the same zeal, she might construct the
whole line to the Ohio canal in the lapse of a few years, and thus
open a channel of intercourse, not inferior, probably, to her own
Hudson, or to Long Island Sound.
The great and growing state of Ohio could find means to execute
the work from the line of Pennsylvania to the point of union with
her great canal ; and, probably, with such aid as could be command¬
ed, to extend it to the line of Indiana. This extension of her means
of communication, and the facilities thereby afforded for future
improvements, would be an invaluable return for any efforts which
this state might make to secure the completion of the enterprise.
In regard to the western division of the rout, it must, however,
be remembered, that the states of Indiana and Illinios, are, as yet,
comparatively unsettled, and the land mostly in possession of the
general government. It becomes, therefore, the policy of that go¬
vernment, while the public credit of those states is in its infancy,
to step forward and open a pathway which shall ensure the speedy
sale and settlement of those lands ; and thus, while increasing the
national wealth, open the way to the valuable and more remote
territory, which is now unoccupied.
Nor is the interest of the government less identified with the
24
eastern division of the rout, bearing, as it does, 011 the value of the
public lands in the west, and the prosperity and increase of our
foreign commerce ; but will be richly repaid in the increased reve¬
nue and prosperity of this great republic.
In an imperfect state of knowledge and the arts, the ancient
Romans could cross hills and valleys, almost on a level, with
their stupendous appian ways, to subserve the purposes of ambition
and conquest. Surely, this free and exalted country, full of
energy and intelligence, in an age distinguished for its financial
skill, and for the conquests of mind over the inertness of matter,
can construct a Railway to connect its sea-coast with its magnificent
interior domains.
If we duly consider the fact, that immediately after the conclusion
of the late war, which was attended, in three years, with an expen¬
diture sufficient to construct a Railway from each of our great sea¬
ports to the Mississippi, and from thence across the continent to the
Pacific Ocean, means were readily found to establish a bank with
a capital of 35,000,000 of dollars ; and if we further reflect, that
since that period, we have enjoyed great national prosperity, and
almost completed the extinction of the national debt, we shall at
once perceive, that an appropriation of the funds, necessary for the
construction of the whole line of the proposed Railway, would not
occasion the slightest inconvenience to the national finances.
Proper time for commencing the work.
If the utility and importance of the proposed work be admitted,—
if it be within the compass of our ability to accomplish, and if
it be only necessary to elicit the expression of public opinion in
its favor, it follows that public attention ought to be invited to this
subject without delay.
It is now the most favorable time for conferring this great benefit
on our country that has ever yet occurred. The success that
has attended the establishment of railroads, and which has left
nothing to the uncertainty of future experiment, has removed the
chief obstacles to their adoption. The great speed which is
attainable by this mode of conveyance, and which will, in a
manner, annihilate the distance between the extreme portions of
our country ; the increasing confidence of capitalists in the railway
system, the decidedly favorable opinions of the rout which are
known to be entertained by our civil engineers and intelligent citi¬
zens, the present freedom of the rout from all embarrassment by
grants for short sighted local objects, the extraordinary coincidence
of the work with the most advantageous use of all the existing chan¬
nels of communication, the highly ihvorable nature of the country
to be traversed, the great increase to the value of property which
it must confer, and the cheering prospect of moral and social im¬
provement which it is calculated to afford,—all conspire to rouse irs
from our apathy in regard to this great work, and demand strenuous
and united exertions to secure its accomplishment.
Advantages of pursuing a general system of Internal Improve¬
ment.
All who are acquainted with the general features of our extensive
country, must be aware of the importance of locating its great lines
of internal communication on such routs as will best conform with
its physical character, and its general wants.
Political geography, and political influence, have little to do with
the merits of this subject, but have often occasioned unfortunate em¬
barrassments, and obstacles, to the promoting of the public welfare.
The difficulties which have attended, and often prevented, the estab¬
lishment of important improvements in some of the states, and the
conflicting and unfortunate views of speculative policy, which have
been engendered in others, afford sufficient warning on this subject.
Every true patriot and friend to his country's prosperity, will dis¬
card the short-sighted principles of a selfish local policy, and seek
to lay the foundation of our future greatness upon the most
enduring and productive basis.
In examining the great features of our interior, as separate from
the sea coast, we find it to possess, substantially, the form of a paral¬
lelogram of great extent from east to west, and reaching from the
blue ridge of the Alleghanies, or rather from the mountains of New-
Hampshire, to the borders of the Pacific Ocean. Now it is obvious
that our great artificial lines of communication, should intersect
the country, through its whole extent, or at least as far as the ex¬
isting extension of our population will permit, and that all the in¬
dications and facilities which the topography of the country affords,
should be rendered available.
These great lines of intercourse should be generally parallel in
their rout, and not run too near each'other for any considerable dis¬
tance, in order that each may accommodate as large an extent of
country as may be done with advantage, and the intersections by
other routs should be in a transverse direction, except in cases
where the conformation, or general interests of the country, may
require converging or diverging lines.
The Atlantic or Eastern coast of the United States consists of three
I
26
great curvatures, ©r bays, the central, and most important of which,
is that comprised between the great capes or headlands of North
Carolina and Massachusetts. This curvature is distinguished by-
three great branches, or estuaries, invaluable in themselves, and for
their tributary and auxiliary communications, viz. the Hudson,
the Delaware, and the Chesapeake. On these, and on the bay of
Massachusetts, are situated the most important of our commercial
cities.
From the first of these estuaries, a canal has been opened to
the great chain of lakes, or Canadian Sea, which affords imper¬
ishable evidence of the correct conceptions and magnificent en¬
terprise, which induced its execution. This brilliant example
has been promptly imitated, in the commencement of several lines
of canal and railway, which are now in progress, from the es¬
tuaries of the Delaware and Chesapeake, towards the great
plain, or basin, beyond the mountains, and of the number, are two
gigantic enterprises, undertaken by private corporations ; one of
which has commenced a Canal, and the other a Railway, whicht
from different points on the waters of the Chesapeake, are to be
extended across the Alleghanies. On this last general rout, we have
also the national road, which has already penetrated the great plain
beyond the Ohio, and is to be extended to the state of Missouri.
The great outline of these improvements accords, for the most
part, with the views here suggested, and is in conformity with the
general topography of the country ; but whoever will cast his eyes
over the wide expanse lying between the routs leading from the
estuary of the Delaware, through Pennsylvania, to the west, on the
one hand, and the great canal from the Hudson to Lake Erie on the
other, will at once perceive the expediency, if not the necessity, of
constructing the Railway on the rout which is proposed. It extends in
a course parallel to the other great works which we have mention¬
ed, and through a country now left comparatively waste, and des¬
titute of the essential means of improvement ; and which, though
small, perhaps, in mere political power and influence, would richly
repay for the energetic vitality which would be imparted to all
its various interests.
It will be perceived, that the northward curve of the rout, be¬
tween the Hudson and the Ohio Canal, is rendered necessary, by the
formation of the surface ; and conforms, also, to that of the Erie canal,
from which it maintains an average distance of near 100 miles.
Proceeding westward into the valley of the Mississippi, the par¬
allel of the national road is also most exactly preserved, and at the
21
most suitable distance. The great lakes, with the Fox and Wis-i
consin rivers ; and the Ohio river, with a portion of the Missouri,
form also two irregular, but important parallels. Natural lines of
intersection, and facilities for further inter-communications, every
where present themselves; and the triumphs of skill and industry
will ere long complete the great system, which nature has begun.
Should the intelligence and enterprise of Massachusetts not prove
inadequate to the support of her best interests, we may expect that
the great eastern curve of our sea-coast will soon be most advanta¬
geously united by a railway with the waters of the Hudson. By the
contemplated railway from Boston to Providence, a union will also
be formed with the waters of the bay of Rhode Island, on the great
central curve; and, by the aid of an excellent rout of navigation,
mostly inland, another line will be thus completed between the Hud¬
son and the bay of Massachusetts.
Little exertion is now wanting to perfect the communications be¬
tween the commercial cities, on the waters of the Hudson, Dela¬
ware, and Chesapeake, which are now almost united by a system of
internal navigation. With the aid of a railway from the Hudson to
the Mississippi, on the proposed rout, our great system of inter¬
communication would be rendered almost complete, and its benefits
be extended beyond the limits of human calculation.
Such a system of internal improvement may be easily established,
should the energies of the country be but partially directed to the
accomplishment of the object. Little would then be wanted to
complete the outline, but an extension of the same benefits to the
district lying between the gulf of Mexico, the Ohio, and the great
southern curve of the Atlantic coast. This may be accomplished
by substituting a railway for the contemplated road from the seat of
government to New-Orleans. This rout, which is nearly parallel to
the blue ridge, would serve as a base line for numerous improve¬
ments, and would, at a future day, be intersected by the South Ca¬
rolina railroad, and other lines that may yet be extended from va¬
rious points on the Ohio river, and the borders of the Atlantic.
The spirit of improvement is abroad in the land, and when this
important section of our country shall awake to its true interests,
and shall have burst the shackles of a jealous and short-sighted
policy, it will rise triumphant over physical obstacles, and the
stronger mounds of local prejudice ; and its several political mem¬
bers will shine, writh distinguished brightness, amid the stars of om;
national galaxy.
2S
General description of the great Valley, or Basin, of the
Mississippi.
From the American Quarterly Review, for March, 1829, is ex¬
tracted the following eloquent description of the Great Valley of
the Mississippi ; into the most valuable portion of which, this rout
extends in nearly a central direction. It forms part of the article
on Darby's View of the United States,—a valuable work on
our physical geography, which ought to be in the hands of every
American citizen.
The great central valley of the United States may be naturally
divided into the following very distinctly marked sections, viz. :—
1st, The western slope of the Alleghany mountains ; 2dly, The
eastern slope of the Rocky mountains—these have but little width ;
3dly, The sand plains that commence at the foot of the Rocky moun¬
tains, are about five hundred miles in width, producing stinted
shrubs and prickles ; and with but little elevation above the great
Mississippi plain, rest upon, and form the line of its western ter¬
mination. 4thly, The great plain of the Mississippi valley, com¬
mencing at the foot of the Alleghany mountains ; it extends fifteen
hundred miles west, to the sand plain, and is limited north by the
valley of the northern lakes, and south by the Missouri hills, and
a line crossing from them to the Cumberland mountain, and passing
by an inflection, not far from the mouth of the Ohio. This is
much the most important division ; contains the nucleus of the
growing population of the wTest, and combines most of its fertility.
The great plain of the central, or Mississippi valley, claims our
attention. It extends from the western slope of the Alleghany,
to the sand plain legion that we have just described—a distance of
about fifteen hundred miles ; and from the valley of the northern
lakes to the mouth of the Ohio, a distance of six hundred miles in
width. This is the most valuable region of the United States ;
uniformly fertile, and the seat of our western population. It em¬
braces the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky;
parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Michi¬
gan ; and a region about five hundred miles in width, lying west
of these states and organized territories. No part of the globe pre¬
sents such an extent of uniform fertility. It is literally all arable ;
there are no sterile plains, no rocky or precipitous ridges, and
scarcely any swamps to deform its fair surface. This uninterrupted
fertility arises from the decomposition of the great limestone pan
upon which it rests.
This region, although crossed by the great rivers Mississippi,
Missouri, Ohio, and their branches, is really nota vallev, but a plain.
The difference in elevation over its whole surface is only a few
feet. Actual surveys tell us that such is the fact. The north-east
corner of this plain, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, lies about eight
hundred feet above the tides ; the plains of Kentucky and West
lennessee are about the same height: at the mouth of the Ohio.
29
but little diliereut ; and as we go westwardly, up the Missouri or
Arkansas, to the sand plains, the same conclusions force themselves
upon us. The great and numerous rivers that cross this plain, in¬
stead of forming distinct valleys, do but indent narrow lines or
grooves into its surface, barely sufficient to contain their floods.
These river channels, as the currents roll on, must form a declivity ;
and towards the lower parts of their courses, sink deeper into the
plain ; hence the large rivers of Ohio, Missouri, and others, seem
bordered with abrupt hills of several hundred feet elevation towards
their mouths ; but the tops of these hills are the level of the great
plain, and are formed by the smaller streams which fall into these
large rivers, when their channels are thus worn down ; and, to give
themselves an easy slope, these small streams must wear down in
a corresponding manner, the neighboring part of the plain ; and
leaving the abrupt points between them, present the appearance of
river hills.
The formation of this plain is entirely secondary, resting upon a
horizontal limestone rock, whose thick strata have never been pene¬
trated through, although the auger has pierced it in many different
places, in search of salt water, to the depth of four, and frequently
six hundred feet. This limestone pan is generally but a few feet
below the surface, and supports strata of the bituminous coal and
saline impregnations, throughout most of its whole extent. It runs
under the Alleghany mountains on the east ; the sand plains on the
west ; rests on the granite ridges of Canada on the north; and is
limited by the Cumberland and Ozark mountains on the south.
The decomposition of this rock has fertilized this wide region,
and its absorbent and cavernous nature, prevents swamps and
moisture accumulating on its surface. Without mountains to re¬
lieve, or deep valleys to draw off the water, this widely extended
region appears dry, clean, and healthful.
In addition to its unlimited agricultural capacity, this great plaiu
abounds in mineral resources : its coal field would cover half of
Europe, and is 1500 by 600 miles in extent. We enter upon this
bituminous coal in Pennsylvania, on the western waters of Susque-
hannah, and travel upon it through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missou¬
ri, and to the very sand plains of the west—a distance of more than
1500 miles ; and from the Cumberland mountains in Kentucky and
Tennessee, to the lakes, a distance of 600 miles. This coal is pure,
lies above the river channels, and to quarry it, costs about twenty
cents a ton. Iron ore abounds generally, but in Missouri there is
a mass of this ore, forming a hill of 500 feet in height, and five
miles in extent, which yields seventy-five per cent, of fine malleable
iron. The lead districts of Missouri and Illinois, would cover 200
miles square, and seem to be the richest region of that metal on
earth.—Near 13,000,000 pounds were smelted in the year 1828, and
it is confidently expected to furnish 20,000,000 for the market in
1829. Salt water is found over the whole extent of this region ;
yielding from one-eighth to one-twelfth of its weight in pure muri¬
ate of soda. This salt water, in many places, breaks out in the
ffiapeof springs and fountains : hut more frequently, the inhahi-
eo
tarns bore to the depth of from 300 to 600 feet into solid rock ;
and when they strike the veins, it generally rises to the surface ;
and so general is the distribution of this indispensable article, that
no doubt exists of its meeting the wants of the population in all
stages. Gypsum and saltpetre are found in abundance, and most
of the clays and earths useful in the arts. Here, indeed, will " every
rood support its man for such a region, without barren, heath,
mountain, waste, or slope, and where all is fertile and healthful ;
where no timber lands need be left for fuel ; with mineral resources
enough to stimulate all the arts, and contribute to all wants :—who
can say what is the limits of its future population? Europe could
seat all her nations comfortably upon this plan.
Of the Progress and present State of Railways in Europe and
the United States.
The ancient Romans were so sensible of the importance of rapid
and regular modes of conveyance, that all the cities of their vast
empire were united by roads far superior to any that have been
executed in later times, and of a much more expensive character
than the best railways now in use. These roads were made so
firm and solid that they have not yet entirely yielded to the dilapida¬
tions of 1600 years. Their total extent, according to Rondelet,
was about 48,000 miles.
Railways of wood, and of an inferior character, designed for
limited purposes, were first introduced into England as early as
1680. Iron tracks have since been substituted, and they have been
used with great advantage at the coal mines, and for other special
objects, where an efficient and economical mode of transportation
was found necessary. They have also been used on inclined
planes as a substitute for locks, in passing from one canal level to
another.
It is only within a few years, however, that any considerable at¬
tempts have been made to establish railways for general purposes.
The entire success of these undertakings has fully established the
superiority of this mode of conveyance, and the English people are
now engaged in such an extension of their system of railroads, as
promises results of the most important character.
An important work of this kind, now near its completion, is the
Liverpool and Manchester railway, the length of which is 34 miles.
It is executed in a superior manner, and is carried under the town
of Liverpool, through a tunnel, excavated in the solid rock, one mile
and a third in length. So great have been the obstacles overcome, and
the expenses of extinguishing private rights, that the cost of the
railway has exceeded $60,000 per mile. It has, also, to coin-
ai
4
pete, not only with the best Macadamized roads, but with two es¬
tablished canals between the two places. Notwithstanding this, the
superiority and success of the railway is so unquestionable, that the
stock has gradually risen in the market from 90Z. orlOOZ. per share,
paid, to 175Z. which was the price obtained at the latest advices.
The introduction of the locomotive steam engine, as amoving power
on the railways, and the extraordinary increase of speed, as well as
power, which has been thereby attained, promise to work a revolu¬
tion in human affairs, as great as has been accomplished by the ap¬
plication of steam to the purposes of navigation.
The aggregate length of Rail Roads in Great Britain, including
those now constructing, is estimated at near 3000 miles. Such has
been the impulse given to public opinion, by the success of the
system, that it is now contemplated to establish railways on the
great routs from Liverpool and Edinburgh, to the British capital.
Other new railways and branches, are fast extending in that
country.
The people of the United States, being less slow to take advan¬
tage of well tested improvements, than the inhabitants of older
countries, are now engaged, with their accustomed ardor and intelli¬
gence, in the establishment of railways.
In Massachusetts, the Quincy Railway, of seven miles in length,
has been improved, both in summer and winter, for several years.
In Pennsylvania, the Mauch Chunk railway, of 9 miles, and the
Lackawaxen railway, of 1(5 miles, are in full operation.
The following railways have also been commenced, and are now
in a rapid progress of execution, viz.
Baltimore and Ohio railroad, ...... 350 miles
Baltimore and Susquehannah railroad, .... 48
Richmond and Chesterfield, Va. ..... 12
Columbia railroad, from Philadelphia to York, 96
Pottsville, Pa. to various coal tracts, (length unknown,)
606
The following are Railways, for which provision has either been
made by law, or charters have been granted to private companies, or
in the construction of which, the interest of the public is so much
excited as to render their speedy completion highly probable.
Massachusetts Railroad from Boston to the Hudson, . 200 miles .
Boston and Providence Railway, connecting the Bay of >
Massachusetts with that of Rhode-Tsland, \
Boston and Brattleborough, . „ . , 114
Albany and Schenectady, N. Y 16
Hudson and Berkshire, N. Y. . . , . . 25
32
Cattskill aiidlthica, N. 1. .
lthica and Owego, N. Y.
Amboy and Bordentown, N. J. ....
Frankstown to Johnstown (Alleghany mountains) Fa.
Baltimore, and Washington, ....
Charleston and Augusta, S. C.
167
28
30
40
38
130
831 miles.
The railways first established, are not of the best and most per¬
manent construction, and do not, therefore, admit of the most perfect
economy in transportation. That at Quincy has settled the question
of their advantageous use during most of the winter, in our climate.
Thirty miles of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad are at this time*
»
nearly completed, which, with the railway from Philadelphia to Co¬
lumbia, on the Susquehannah, will be executed in the best manner,
and will afford to the American public, a palpable demonstration of
the great benefits which are to be derived from the establishment of
good lines of railway.
An approved method of constructing railways, is, first to grade the
line of road, free from short curves, and as near a level as possi¬
ble. A small trench is then formed for each track, which is filled
with rubble-stone, on which are laid blocks of granite, or other
suitable stone, which will square about one foot, and of as great
length as can be obtained. The upper and inner surfaces, or angles,
of each pair of tracks, are dressed perfectly even, as well as the ends
of the blocks at their joinings. Bars, or plates of wrought iron, near
half an inch in thickness, are then laid upon these blocks or rails,
on a line with their inner surfaces, and fastened to the stone
with iron bolts or rivets, entering about four inches, in holes fitted
to receive them, and at distances of about 18 inches. The
distance between the two tracks, for the wheels, should be about
five feet.
The railway cars, or carriages, are fitted with iron wheels, which,
being cast in a chill, afford surfaces like hardened steel. Each wheel
lias a flange, or projecting.rim, of about one inch in depth, which
runs below the rail-plates, on the inner sides of the tracks, and which
effectually prevents the wheels from leaving the rails.
The rail plates are sometimes laid upon timber of proper hardness
and texture, but this should be avoided in all cases where suitable
stone can be procured.
Elevations, or slopes, in a railway, not exceeding 52 feet in a mile,
or one foot to 100, can be surmounted by locomotive engines, with
Closfi of 1899.
33
full loads; but it is desirable that the elevation should not exceed
one foot in 200, or 26 feet to a mile. When inclined planes of
great elevation are necessary, they are ascended by the aid of steam
engines fixed at their summits, or other stationary power.
Late Accounts of Railway Improvements.
Reference will in vain be had to standard authors, on the subject
of railways, for obtaining an accurate knowledge of the entire pro¬
gress which has been made in this interesting branch of physical
science. Though much valuable information has been furnished by
some able and practical men, who have written on the subject, yet,
having been chiefly conversant with incipient difficulties, and draw¬
ing their facts from imperfect exhibitions of science and skill, they
have, in their opinions and prospective views, fallen as far
short of a due estimate of railways and the powers of locomo¬
tion, as did the illustrious Fulton, in estimating the maximum
speed which would ultimately be obtained by steam-boats.
Some information may be gathered from the following articles of
current intelligence, which are derived from the English and Ameri¬
can prints.
A Liverpool paper, of the 26th August, contains the subjoined
account of Mr. Huskisson's visit to the Liverpool Railroad and
Tunnel :—
On Friday morning last, agreeably to previous arrangement, Mr. Hus-
kisson left Sudley, soon after ten o'clock, accompanied by the Mayor, Mr.
Lawren.ce, chairman of the railroad committee, Mr. Moss, deputy-chair¬
man, and others, with a view of inspecting the various works now in pro¬
gress on the nearer line of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad.
The magnificent viaduct at Sankey, which consists of nine arches,
of 62 feet span, first claimed attention ; and the excellence and beauty of
the workmanship became the theme of universal admiration. It is assu¬
redly one of the most picturesque monuments of art in the country ; and»
in conjunction with the tunnel and the whole railroad, with its embank¬
ments over valleys, and its cuts through hills, will form one of the finest
public works in the kingdom. The eliptical bridge, at Rainhill, was the
next object of curiosity and praise. The party thence proceeded in car¬
riages to the further extremity of the embankment at Broad Green, which
rises over the beautiful country through which it passes, in some places,
above forty feet, and affords a very interesting view. Here wagons were
in readiness for the party, and they were dragged by a locomotive engine,
by Mr. Stevenson, at a rapid rate all the way to the bed of marl on this
side of Olive Mount, passing through the immense cut, in stone, through
the mount, which, in one part, is scventv feet below the surface of the
field.
On this side of the bed of marl, (not yet removed) Mr. Stevenson's new
velocipede received the Mayor and his distinguished guests, together with
a number of other gentlemen, and, propelled by levers, worked by a few
workmen, conveyed them tothe mouth of the tunnel, at the back of Edge-
34
vale.The whole area sunk in the hill, and the walls above, were crowded
to excess. On the arrival of the velocipede, Mr. Huskisson and his party
were recognised, and the air was rent with loud and repeated cheers.
Three wagons, fitted with seats, and already neaily filled by ladies and
gentlemen, awaited the arrival of the party, prepared for a ride under
ground to Wapping. The Harmonic Band, who occupied another wagon,
played a number of choice airs, to the delight of the assembled multi¬
tude.
Mr. Huskisson took his place, with the mayor and other gentlemen, in
the foremost wagon; and in a few minutes, the whole train, chained one
to another, started to the tune of u Off she goes," in fine style, amidst
the animating shouts of the spectators. The tunnel was illumined by
eighty-eight gas lights, in a direct line of above a mile and a quarter, and
the effect, particularly to those who flew through it in the wagons, was
not only beautiful, but sublime. Great numbers of well clad individuals
promenaded its caverned extent ; and, lest an accident might occur, of
which the proprietors are extremely cautious, the wagons were not per¬
mitted to run at full speed; but the velocity was nevertheless great, and
the ride was performed in about five minutes. The band occupied the
last wagon in the train, and endeavored to play during the descent ; but
the sound of their instruments was drowned bv the thunder of the wa-
gons and the enthusiastic shouts of pedestrians, who stood like statues as
the wagons passed them. On reaching the bottom they struck up the na¬
tional anthem, and the crowd outside the rail cheered the arrival of the
train.
When Mr. Huskisson alighted, he expressed his extreme gratification
at his day's excursion. What he had seen, was not only novel, but in ex¬
tent and magnificence, it exceeded all he had anticipated ; and he was
heard to say, with respect to the whole line, that he envied the feelings
of Mr. Stevenson, who had planned and conducted the works, and un¬
der whose active superintendence they were so rapidly approaching to
completion.
From mid-day till five o'clock, wagons, loaded with delighted passen¬
gers, continued to descend the tunnel, which became an animated tho¬
roughfare, ringing with the shouts of hundreds of our townsmen, blended
with the silvery voices of our fair townswomen.
The number who visited the tunnel on Friday, including young folks,
who were admitted gratuitously, with their parents or friends, could not
be much short of two thousand.
In the Liverpool Chronicle, of the 26th Sept. we find the follow¬
ing paragraph, relative to the Railroad Car, invented by Mr.
WI NANs :
u Railway Experiments.—On Wednesday, several gentlemen assembled
on the level piece of Railway, between Edgebill and the Wavertree road
to witness the trial of Railway carriage wheels on Mr. Winan's principle.
The carriages and wheels weighed, were 0 tons. 11 cwt. 1 qr. 3 lbs.
and was loaded with pig iron, 3 0 1 21
making a total of weight to Ç
be moved, } 3 11 2 24
A contrivance for ascertaining the requisite power, or weight, to move
the above, was used, that had previously obtained the sanction of two
eminent engineers ; and every means resorted to, to obtain a fair and im-
35
partial result, being assisted by the overlookers, and some men from the
company's depot to keep the railway clear and clean. The carriage and
weight were moved along the roads, at various speeds, and with 10 lbs.
12 lbs. 15 lbs. 17 lbs. and 19 lbs. from which the following proportionate
results were deduced :
1 lb. moved 334 and kept it moving 4£ miles per hour.
1 lb. 44 470 44 44 u 3 44 44
1 lb. 44 6 1 6 4 4 44 4 4 2è 44 "
When motion was first given by other power to the carriage, then
1 lb. with 617 kept it moving 4£ miles per hour.
1 lb. 44 800 kept it moving.
When 12 lb. 12 oz. and upwards were used to bring the carriage and load
forward, it invariably gained in speed.
On the whole, the results were highly satisfactory, and from them it
would appear, that a horse's work on the Railroad, at a slow speed, may
be brought to approximate much nearer to his work on a canal, than per¬
haps had been generally imagined. One point seemed to be fully estab¬
lished, that this principle has greater advantages under a quick speed, than
under a slow one ; for when considerable speed was given at first, by oth¬
er power, the speed was better kept up or increased by the respective
Weights, than when tried under a slow speed.
From the above, it appears, that rating the power of the horse, at
150 pounds, the result will be equal to 41 tons, drawn by a single
horse, at the rate of two and a half miles an hour.
In the tables found in the books, founded on experiments formerly
made, on the old railroads and cars, one pound is stated to draw 170
pounds, which equalizes the advantages of traction on a canal and
railway, at a speed of about 5 miles an hour, and of course giving
a canal the advantage in traction, at lower rates of speed. If, how¬
ever, we take the above experiment, with the Winans car, as the
basis of calculation, the effect will be equalized at a speed below 2 1-2
miles an hour, and the work, which may be performed by the same
power on Canals and Railways, at different rates of speed, will
stand nearly as follows.
Velocity in ( On a level ( < Advantage in favor
miles per hour. ( Railway. ( On a Canal. { of Railroads.
2 ¿ 52,000 say 52,000
5 52,000 13,875 3f to 1
7 52,000 7,080 7 to 1
10 52,000 3,468 15 to 1
13,5 52,000 1,900 27 to 1
The results of the above experiments, are, however, more favorable
than will probably be realized in the general use of cars constructed
on the same principles.
Steam Carriages.—Some experiments have been recently made on the
Liverpool and Manchester Railways, by putting in competition several lo¬
comotive Steam Carriages. There are, it seems, only three Railways in
m
Great Britain, which have been constructed for the purpose of super¬
ceding the employment of ordinary roads by the public, as far as carriages
are concerned. The first was the Surrey Railway, which is used for the
transportation of heavy goods ; the second was the Stockton and Dar¬
lington Railway, on which steam power was, for the first time, employed
in transporting passengers. This has beaten the old turnpike road out of
the field. Since the present year, it is stated, it has drawn to it nearly the
whole carrying trade between Stockton, Richmond, Darlington, &c.
The third is the Liverpool and Manchester Rail way, of which about
fourteen miles have been already laid. The Directors of this Railway
offered a premium of 500/. for the most improved locomotive engine, " ca¬
pable of drawing after it, day by day, on a well constructed railway, on a
level plain, a train of carriages of the gross weight of twenty tons, includ¬
ing the tender and water tank, at the rate of ten miles per hour."
For this premium, two engines were started, the least powerful of
which went without any load at the rate of eighteen miles an hour, whilst
the Novelty engine actually realized nearly double that speed.
An English Editor remarks, of Railways in general, what some person
had said before of the Stockton and Darlington Line :—" Let the country
but make the Railroads, and the Railroads will make the country."
Baltimore Paper.
Railway Experiments The adoption of Railways, for the purposes of
general transportation, together with the use of locomotive steam en¬
gines, marks a new era in the progress of internal improvements, and
promises results as wonderful, and of more general utility, than even
those which have already been realized from the application of steam to
the purposes of navigation. Our citizens, it is feared, have been too little
awake to the great benefits that must result from the establishment of
well chosen lines of Railway through the interior of our own country,
vvjiich affords a better field for such improvements than any other por¬
tion of the globe.
The great Railroad, between Liverpool and Manchester, being nearly
completed, atrial was lately made of the speed and working powers of
several new locomotive engines, on a level portion of the road. From
the results obtained on these trials, which are detailed in the English
papers, the following have been selected, as affording sufficient evidence
of the high advantages and great perfection of this mode of conveyance.
The directors had offered, in the month of April last, a prize of 500/.
for the best Locomotive engine, which should, at a public trial, draw on
the railway a given weight at the greatest speed, and the least expense,
and suitable preparations were made for this important and interesting
experiment. By this competition, the capability of the Railway, to do all
that was promised, and a great deal more, has been at once placed beyond
all doubt ; and the chances of a profitable return for the money invested
in it, increased at least ten fold. This demonstration of the extraordina¬
ry celerity with which carriages may be propelled on Railways, must also
give a powerful impulse to the more extensive adoption of this great mod¬
ern improvement.
It was required, that each engine, entered for the competition, should
weigh not more than six tons, and be capable of drawing after it, day by
day, on a level plain, a train of carriages of a gross weight equal to three
times the weight of the engine itself, at a rate of not less than ten miles
per hour, with a pressure of steam on the boiler not exceeding fifty pounds
31
en the square inch. Great crowds of people were assembled to witness
the sight ; and never, perhaps, on any previous occasion, were so many
scientific gentlemen and practical engineers collected together.—The
interesting and important nature of the experiments to be tried, had drawn
them from all parts of the kingdom, to be present at this contest of lo¬
comotive carriages, as well as to witness the amazing utility of railways
in expediting the communication between distant places.
The engine, which made the first trial, was the Rocket," of Mr- Ro¬
bert Stephenson. It is a large and strong built engine, weighing 4 tons,
3 cwt. and went with a velocity thought surprising enough. It drew a
weight of 12 tons 9 cwt. at the rate of ten miles 4 chains in an hour ; and
when the weight was detached from it, went at a speed of about 18 miles
an hour. The journey was 1 1-2 miles each v. ay, with an additional
length of220 yards in which to stop the engine—making, in one journey,
3 1-2 miles.
On the third day, this engine started for a run of 35 miles with its
load, which is exactly ten journies, and including all the stoppages at the
ends, was performed in three hours and ten minutes, being upwards of 11
miles an hour. After this, a fresh supply of water was taken in, which
occupied 16 minutes, when the engine again started with its load and ran
35 miles in 2 hours and 52 minutes, which is upwards of 12 miles an hour,
including all stoppages. The speed of the engine, with its load when in
full motion, was from 14 to 17 miles an hour ; and had the whole distance
been in one continued dilection, there is no ooubt but the result would
have been fifteen miles an hour.
On the fifth day, this engine was run without its load, and stripped of
all its extra weight and appendages. In this condition, seven miles was
performed in 14 minutes, being at the rate of 30 miles an hour. This was
a highly interesting exhibition, and gave universal satisfaction.
The next engine that exhibited its powers, was the " Novelty," of
Messrs. Braithwaite and Erickson. The lightness of this engine, its com¬
pactness and beautiful workmanship, excited universal admiration ; a
sentiment which was speedily changed into wonder by its performances.
« It was resolved to try, first, its speed merely; that is, at what rate it
would go, carrying only its complement of fuel and water, with Messrs.
Braithwaite and Erickson to manage it. Almost at once it darted off at
the amazing velocity of 28 miles an hour, and it actually did one mile in
the incredibly short space of 1 minute and 53 seconds, or at the rate of 32
miles an hour. Had the railway been completed, the engine would, at
this rate, have gone nearly the whole way from Liverpool to Manchester
within the hour; and Mr. Braithwaite has indeed publicly offered to stake
1000/. that as soon as the road is opened, he will perform the entire dis¬
tance, (34 miles) in that time.
On the fifth day the Novelty again started, in order to make a fair ex¬
periment of her power, her load being attached. Mr. Vignoles, the engL
neer, who rode on the Novelty, and timed it, has given the following re--
cord of its weight and performances :
cwt. q. lb.
Weight of the engine, water fuel, &c. . 74 1 6
Load assigned by the judges, . . . 122 0 0
Total weight of engine, load, and several passengers, 10 tons, 6 cwt. and up¬
wards.
The engine went off from the starting place at the rate of twelve
miles an hour, and the velocity rapidly increased during the whole trip.
The one and a half miles was performed in 4 minutes, 30 seconds, being
at the rate of 17 1-2 miles an hour. There is no doubt that the
38
Novelty, thus loaded, would have freely travelled at the rate ot 20 miles
an hour, in a continued direction.
The Novelty, after this highly interesting experiment, ran down to the
grand stand with empty wagons, into which, a large party of gentlemen
and ladies mounted, among whom were Dr. Traill and his family. The
doctor timed the speed of the Novelty, while running the full course, and
it appears to have averaged 22 miles an hour, with 45 passengers ; and at
one period it carried the same passengers at the inconceivable rate of 32
miles an hour.
Several other locomotives were tried on this occasion, with various, but
highly favourable results.—JV. Y. Commercial Advertiser.
Locomotive Carriages.—We cannot allow the grand and astonishing re¬
sults of the late experiments with Locomotive Carriages on the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway to pass, without once more calling the attention
of our readers to the new prospects which open upon us from those experi¬
ments. We have already expressed our sense of the very interesting and
important character of the results which have been attained by the locomo¬
tive engines: but this is a subject which appears the more important the
longer and more attentively it is considered. We had intended to give seve¬
ral illustrations of the effects of this improved mode of conveyance, but this
has already been so well done in articles which we have extracted from the
Scotsman and the Liverpool Times, that we need do little more than direct
the attention of our readers to those articles.
There is scarcely any more important means of advancing and perfect¬
ing the civilization of a country, than by a good system of internal com¬
munication. The greater the facility of travelling, from place to place, the
more active will be the social and commercial intercourse ; and the more
ready the transmission of all the fruits of the earth and all the products of
manufactures, the more rapid the communication of improvements and in¬
ventions, and the more complete the dissemination of knowledge. Time
is money in all operations requiring labor, and therefore a saving of time
will be a saving of money. In every country there are tracts and situa¬
tions which would be highly valuable but for their distance from towns and
the more populous districts ; by easy and quick modes of conveyance, this
disadvantage is overcome, and the most may be made of all the natural
capabilities of the country.
It seems highly probable, that, in a short time, we shall travel on railways,
with ease, at the speed of thirty miles per hour; and it is difficult for the
imagination to foresee how great will be the changes produced by such a
rate of conveyance. Time will, of course, be required to establish rail¬
ways on the great lines of communication, and the utmost care should be
taken to construct them on the best principles; but the success of the Liv¬
erpool and Manchester Railway, and of the locomotive carriages upon it,
renders it certain that this mode of conveyance will become general, and
that the advantages which attend it will be realized to the community.—
Leeds' Mercury.
The late Steam Carriage Experiment at Liverpool.—It is melancholy
to observe, how rarely objects, events, or individuals, are esteemed
according to their importance. All the periodical pens in London,
at this moment, are at work upon the Turkish Treaty, the New Po¬
lice, Cobbett s Corn, Mr. Lister's Tragedy, the Newark Meeting,—and,
perhaps, one or two kt most bloody and barbarous" murders. We have
columns and pages filled, day after day, with comments on these matters,
39
•which, two months hence, will be completely superseded by something
equally ephemeral, while we have not seen in one of the metropolis prints
a single remark on the experiments at Liverpool, which unveil mechanical
truths of such stupendous importance, that if objects are to be judged of
by their influence on the condition of man, the Russian campaigns, the
Catholic Question—nay, though some may stare, we will add—the French
Revolution, sink into nothing in the comparison. How trifling was the
effect produced by all rhe wars ofthe fifteenth century on the state of the
world, compared with the discovery of Printing! And how little were
the consequences of that discovery understood by the contemporaries of
Faust and Gottenburg! The experiments at Liverpool have established
principles which will give a greater impulse to civilization than it has
ever received from any single cause since the Press first opened the gates
of knowledge to the human species at large. They may be said to have
furnished man with wings, to have supplied him with faculties of loco¬
motion, of which the most sanguine could not have dreamed a few years
ago. Even steam navigation gives but a faint idea of the wondrous pow¬
ers which this new agent has put into our hands. It is no exaggeration
to say, that the introduction of steam carnages, on railways, places us on
the verge of a new era—of a social revolution, of which imagination can¬
not picture its ultimate effects.
The three best engines, when yoked to loads equal to three times their
own weight, respectively performed as follows. The first travelled at the
rate of 11 miles, the second of 14 miles, and the third of 20 3-4 miles in
an hour. The distances passed over were not short, in these cases, the
first having travelled 70 miles, the second 25, and the third 21. In an¬
other trial, the lightest engine was proceeding at the rate of twenty-four
miles in an hour, with its full load, when the joint of a pipe failed, and
stopped its motion. It is to be observed, too, that the engine worked
under considerable disadvantages. The piece of railroad, selected for the
experiment, being only 1 3-4 miles long, the engine had to check its v> -
locity, make a full pause, and begin again about twelve times in going
twenty miles. A great amount of power was thus wasted, and in many
cases, the engine, perhaps, had not acquired its maximum or terminal velo¬
city when the stop took place. We run no risk, therefore, in saying, that
the performance, upon an unbroken line of road, of the full length travel¬
led over, would have been greater than the average of these short trips.
One of the heavier engines, the Rocket, drew 36 passengers in a car¬
riage, at a velocity which sometimes reached 28 miles an hour. The light¬
est engine, (the Novelty,) when loaded with 45 passengers in wagons,
made several trips with a velocity of 22 miles an hour, at an average ; but
when she was going at her greatest speed, she travelled at the scarcely
credible rate of 32 miles.
The Rocket, also, drew a number of passengers (about 30, we believe)
upon an inclined plane, rising one foot in 96, at the rate of 12 miles an
hotrr. This single fact shows how much the powers of the locomotive
engine have been underrated; for Mr. Walker, in the Report which we
noticed on Wednesday last, inferred from the facts he had collected,
that the entire power of one of these machines would be consumed in
dragging its own weight up an acclivity like this, at two or three miles per
hour.
We are quite aware that the performance of a single engine, when its
powers are tasked by way of experiment, and for a short time, will exceed
the average rate of a number working permanently. But against this
we must place, on the other hand, the disadvantage of having this motion
checked and renewed every five or six minutes, the inexperience of our
engineers in the construction of machines for such rapid rates of motion,
40
and the accidents to which tirst attempts are liable. The Novelty, the
most successful of the engines, was the first which the makers had ever
built. Making due allowance for these circumstances, we have not the
slightest doubt that we have it now in our power to command a velocity
of thirty miles an hour, on a level, well made rail road, or 25 miles, allow¬
ing for the necessary stops ; and we know that this is theopinion of some
of the most skilful engineers who witnessed these experiments. Such a
rapid rate of travelling, of course, will not be attempted at first. Perhaps
it would be attended with too much danger to be permanently adopted at
any time ; but taking it as the extreme term of what is practicable, we
may approach as near to it as circumstances will permit. No one, who
saw7 the experiments, doubts that 20 or 24 miles an hour are within reach,
safely and easily, whenever a double railway is laid, (as it will be by and
by) to allow of two different velocities being employed ; a slow one for
goods, and a quick one for passengers.
Twenty years ago, wre believe, the mails did not travel faster than about
7 miles an hour. From 7 miles it was raised to 8, and every one cried
out, what an improvement ! From 8 it was raised to 9, and this was
hailed as nothing less than " prodigious !" Attempts are now making
to force it up to 10 miles an hour, but at any thing beyond this, to a cer¬
tainty, horse power fails us. How then shall we find terms adequate to
express the value of a discovery which lifts us at once from 9 miles to 20
or 24 miles an hour ?—which carries us as far beyond the speed of the
mail, as the mail is beyond that of a brewer's dray, ora carrier's wagon ?
The extraordinary speed of this conveyance is only one of its many ad¬
vantages. A friend of ours, who was present at all the experiments, and
in the wagon, when going at thirty-two miles an Pour, assures us, that
the motion is so remarkably smooth and easy, that if you fix your eyes on
the inside of the machinery, or on any distant object, you cannot believe
that you are travelling faster than in an ordinary stage coach ; and it is
only when you look at the hedges, trees, or houses close to the road, and
see them vanishing like meteors, that you get an idea of the tremendous
velocity of your movement. The editor of the Leeds Mercury, who was
present, says :—" We had the pleasure to travel on a level at the rate of
twenty-eight miles an hour, with as little appearance of danger, and even
of undue speed, as is felt in a stage coach travelling on the highway at
the ordinary speed. The motion, indeed, of the carriage, is so slight, that
the passengers could read, with perfect ease, at the period of its utmost
velocity ; and if the springs, on which the carriage for the passengers was
mounted, had been in perfect order, we think it would not have been very
difficult to write." Were the vehicle nicely poised on springs, and cover¬
ed in to exclude the external current of air created by its motion, you
might imagine that you were in a state of perfect rest, while you are fly¬
ing along the surface with the speed of a racer. Then the steam horse
is not apt, like his brother of flesh and blood, to be frightened from his
propriety by sudden panics which defy the prudence and skill of the dri¬
ver. Explosion, if it takes place, will not injure the passengers, for they
are in a separate vehicle, and t he enginemen may be trusted with the care
of their own lives. The rails, too, which confine and regulate the motion
of the engine and carriage, keeping them upon one invariable line, and
that line perfectly smooth, lesser) the chances of accident in a remarka¬
ble degree, as the proceedings at Liverpool shew ; for though scores of
persons were hanging about the carriages, and thousands standing along
the sides of the paths, and pressing within a few inches of the machines,
while moving with their ut most speed, not a single individual received
the smallest injury. In daylight, and with good arrangements, our
friend's opinion is (and few are more competent to judge) that, travelling
41
in the steam coach, at twenty miles an hour, may be much more safe, as
Well as pleasant, than in an ordinary stage coach at eight or nine.
One of the great recommendations of this species of conveyance will
be its cheapness. It is expected that the goods will be carried from
Manchester to Liverpool for less than five shillings per ton. Men, of
course, cannot be packed like bales of calico, but let us allow them five
times the space, and suppose that the charge is in proportion. Now,
since twelve passengers, with their luggage, are reckoned equal to a ton
in the mails, it follows that a place, in the steam coach from Manchester
to Liverpool, should cost the twelfth part of 25s. or 2s. We may arrive
at the same result by another process. It may be inferred, from one of
the experiments, that the Novelty would carry fifty passengers from the
one town to the other at the rate of20 miles an hour, and would of course
yield the proprietors the sum of 51. by an hour and a half's work. Six
trips a day, performed at this rate, would produce 30/. ; which we conceive
would make the conveyance of passengers a very profitable branch of
trade. As the Railway Company will have a monopoly, they may prob¬
ably charge more at first, but when Railway carriage is subjected, like
other branches of business, to the law of competition, we imagine the
terms will not be higher than we have stated.
When the carriage of goods, which is now about 9*7. or 10*7. a ton per
mile by land, is reduced to 2*7., and when, in point of speed, one day does
the work of four, the heaviest commodities, such as corn, potatoes, coals,
will bear the expense of carriage for a hundred miles. The result of this
will be, that the living in great towns will be reduced, and the price of
raw produce will rise in remote parts of the country. The facility, celer¬
ity, and cheapness of internal intercourse, contribute more, probably, to
the advancement of civilization, than all other circumstances put together.
Sixty or seventy years ago, the journey from Edinburgh to London occu¬
pied 20 days. At present, taking the average of all the modes of convey¬
ance by land and water, it occupies three or four, and the quantity of tra¬
velling has increased probably 20 or 30 fold. Are we too sanguine in anti¬
cipating another increase, equally great, when the time is reduced from
three or four days to 20 hours, the expense in almost the same proportion,
and when the traveller is put in possession of a much higher degree of ease
and comfort ? Let the improvement we speak of be realized ; let what
was once a journey of twenty days be reduced to one of as many hours,
and we have not a doubt that we shall have five hundred times as much
travelling as we had in the year 1760. In point offact, when the time is re¬
duced from eighty hours to 20, the result is exactly the same as if
Edinburgh were brought as near to London, as Leicester or Birmingham ^
and, to pursue the comparison, when the journey was one of 20 days,
the effect is the same as if Edinburgh had stood in Iceland. Besides, we
must always remember, that the intercourse grows in a much greater
ratio than the distance is shortened. Volumes might be written with¬
out exhausting the materials for speculation arising out of such a change.
To use our own words, when writing upon this subject, in 1824, " With
so great a facility and celerity of communication, the provincial towns
of an empire would become so many suburbs of the metropolis—or
rather the effect would be similar to that of collecting the whole inhab¬
itants into one city. Commodities, inventions, discoveries, opinions,
would circulate with a rapidity hitherto unknown, and, above all, the
intercourse of man with man, province with province, and nation with
nation, would be prodigiouslv increased."—Edinburgh Scotsman.
6
42
Locomotive Engines.—The recent trial of these on the Liver¬
pool and Manchester Railway, is, without doubt, one of the most
interesting experiments, in regard to the powers of such machines, which
has yet occurred, whether we view it as an exhibition of scientific and me¬
chanical skill, or look forward to the wonderful improvements in the in¬
tercourse and internal communication of the country to which this grand
discovery may yet be applied.—In regard to the use of locomotive car¬
riages on common roads, we have repeatedly and decidedly expressed our
opinion, and the reasons for it, that ail such projects are crude and ill con¬
sidered, and inconsistent with any just view of principles ; and we regret
to see ingenious persons still wasting their efforts on such vain projects.
But on railways, as we formerly stated, all those impediments, by which
the engine is rendered so insufficient, even on the smoothest turnpikes,
are entirely removed. There the engine, however ponderous, meets with
hardly any resistance to oppose its progress, and accordingly drags after
it the.most enormous loads ; and when these are lessened or thrown off, it
then advances with a speed beyond any thing ever attempted on land or
water, and to which indeed we can hardly assign any limits, because the
engine is neither checked like animal force, by the mere speed of its mo¬
tion, nor resisted as in navigation, by the continued and increasing oppo¬
sition of the element in which it moves. It is on the railway, therefore,
that the locomotive engine has always been displayed with striking ef¬
fect, and the engines lately exhibited furnish new and remarkable exam¬
ples. With a load of thirteen tons, including many passengers, Mr. Ste¬
phenson's engine, the Rocket, travelled at the rate of fifteen miles an
hour; and the engine of BraithwTaite and Erickson, of London, moved at
the astonishing speed of 28 miles an hour. " It seemed, indeed," says a
spectator, "to fly, presenting one of the most sublime spectacles of hu¬
man ingenuity and human daring the world ever beheld. It actually
made one giddy to look at it, and filled thousands with lively fear for the
safety of the individuals who were on it, and who seemed not to run along
the earth, but to fly, as it were, on 'the wings of the wind.' It was a
most sublime sight—a sight, indeed, which the individuals who beheld it
will not soon forget." Such is the account of those engines ; and we can¬
not conclude without remarking how slowly improvements advance, even
in our enlightened community, and how much they are retarded by preju¬
dice and by partial and interested views. The locomotive engine has now
been travelling on railways for upwards of t welve or fifteen years, and
with complete suceess, yet the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Com¬
pany were originally restricted, by their Act of Parliament, to the use of
horses, and even after the self-moving engines were allowed, a warm con¬
troversy arose on the question, whether it might not be advisable to sub¬
stitute the artificial, and in other respects extremely inconvenient appa¬
ratus of fixed engines, and long ropes, extending from mile to mile, all
along the road : and lastly, the first Engineer of the day, has recently de¬
clared himself, from want of experience, incapable of offering an opinion
whether either of these plans will fully answer in practice.—Nothing,
however, can prevent, sooner or later, the application to the purposes of
trade and intercourse, a machine of such prodigious powers of trackage
and swiftness of locomotion as above described. Let us only consider, for
a moment, the consequences of such an engine travelling from London to
Edinburgh, at the rate of 15 or 20 miles an hour, and thus performing the
journey in less than a single day and night—of the practicability of such
a scheme there can be little doubt ; and all that is wanted is capital and
skill to carrv it into effect. — Edinburgh Courant.
* c
43
The Triumphs of Steam.—The march of improvement seems likely soon
to become a race ; so much of it at least as is to be effected by steam-en¬
gines. We have mentioned the great interest and excitement produced
in Great Britain, by the recent competition of Locomotive Engines on the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Since then we have received three
numbers of the Mechanics' Magazine, a work published in London, each
of which contains some notice of the truly amazing results of these expe¬
riments. The motto of one of these numbers, well expresses the feeling
which every one must have in contemplating the late inventions :
441 had a dream, which, in my waking hour,
Seem'd less the work of fancy's airy power,
Than reason's deep creation."
In fact, a very wonderful fairy tale might be made, in which the marvels
would be sufficiently striking and beautiful, without exceeding the experi¬
ence of a workman at a gas factory, a steam-mill, or the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway. To show how soon what is regarded as visionary,
comes, in the present age of invention, tobe not only accomplished, but far
surpassed, we may notice the following, amongst many other interesting
facts connected with locomotive engines. On the Stockton and Darling¬
ton Railway, the maximum speed was eight miles an hour. The idea of
any thing beyond that rate was scouted as visionary. Mr. Wood, who
published his book on railways, after the opening ofthe Stockton and Dar¬
lington Railway, was pleased to say, " It is far from my wish to promul¬
gate to the world that the ridiculous expectations, or rather professions of
the enthusiastic speculatist will be realized, and that we shall see engines
travelling at the rate of twelve, sixteen, eighteen, or twenty miles an hour.
Nothing could do more harm towards their adoption, or general improve¬
ment, than the promulgation of such nonsense !" It was under these im¬
pressions that the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
lately offered the premium of j£500 for the most improved locomotive en¬
gine. They stipulated that it should be 44 capable of drawing after it, day
by day, on a well constructed railway, on a level plane, a train of carriages
of the gross weight of 20 tons, including the tender and water-tank, at the
rate of ten miles per hour." More they did not ask for ; and as if to evince
how perfectly they agreed with Mr. Wood as to the "nonsense" of expect¬
ing more, they selected that gentlemanHo be one ofthe judges of their
competition. What has been the wonderful and unexpected result? Mr.
Wood not only saw what he considered nonsense, reduced to unquestiona¬
ble matter of fact, but he saw the least powerful ofthe engines then ex¬
hibited, reach " the highest degree in his scale of nonsense." It went,
without load, at the rate of eighteen miles an hour, while "The Novelty,"
actually realized almost double that speed! This is going forward per
saltum.
While we are wholly at a loss to compute the effect of so important a
leap in improvement on the general affairs of society, we may mention the
gain arising from it to the proprietors of the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway alone. The competition produced by their premium of 500/. had
such an effect on fhe public mind, that the selling price ofthe Company's
shares advanced no less than 10 per cent. Their total capital is 650,000/.,
so that the gain is 65,000/. We shall pursue, at another time, some of the
important considerations which this topic suggests.—Bait, paper,
The editor of the Liverpool Mechanics' Magazine rode in the mirac¬
ulous Railroad vehicle, called the Novelty, which is to travel at the
rate of a mile or more in two minutes* He describes his ride thus :
44
'i A carnage, with seats tor the accommodation of passengers, being
substituted for the loaded wagons attached to the Novelty, about 45 la¬
dies and gentlemen ascended to enjoy the excursion by steam. We can
say, for ourselves, that we never enjoyed any thing in the way of trav¬
elling more. We flew along at the rate of a mile and a half in three
minutes, and though the velocity was such, that we scarcely could distin¬
guish objects as we passed them, the motion was so steady and equable
that we could manage, not only to read, but write."
Extract of a letter from W. Brown, Esq. received in Baltimore, dated
Liverpool, November 6th.
u Mr. Winansand Geo. A. Brown have just returned from Rain Hill,
about 12 miles from this city, on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad,
where they have been amusing themselves riding on Mr. Sttvenson's
Locomotive Engine, at the r-ate of twenty-eight miles an hour—drawing
about thirty passengers. She is represented to have gone one mile in a
minute and sixteen seconds ! (about forty miles an hour !) but this Mr-
Stevenson himself can scarcely credit. She drew forty-two tons, on a
level road, fifteen miles per hour. New Railroads are projecting all
over the country—a meeting is to be held on Wednesday to create a
company to carry one to Birmingham. Canal property is ruined. I be¬
lieve the Sanky has fallen from 1800/. per share to 600/. In fact, they
are even anticipating that it may be necessary to let the canals dry, and
to lay rails on them. The canal property, in this country, has cost about
thirty millions of pound sterling—its length about 2600 miles."
Extract of a letter from a respectable gentleman in Liverpoolto his friend
in Baltimore, dated 19th November, 1829.
You will be rather surprised when I communicate to you that the Stock¬
holders in the Sankey Canal, the most profitable canal in this kingdom,
rising from £100 to £1800 per share, have had a meeting this week, as is
most confidently believed, to take into consideration the expediency of
letting it dry and laying a Railroad on it, and that they are about apply¬
ing to Parliament for this liberty. This very day Lord Grosvenor, the
Earl of Derby, and the Marquess of Stafford, with some of the Liverpool
and Manchester Directors, are going over the road, accompanied with
Engineers, for the purpose of making examinations. These noblemen
are very heavy holders of canal property, and think it may be advisable
to make them into railroads.
A railroad from this to London is contemplated, and I believe a nego¬
tiation is at this moment going on between the Manchester Railroad Com¬
pany and certain powerful and influential holders of canal stock, in order,
so far as possible, to make the canal property available, provided they will
support a bill in Parliament for the above object. This is, however, kept
as quiet as possible. Thirty millions sterling are invested in canal pro¬
perty in this country, and its fall must, therefore, ruin many people.
The late experiments must save you a great deal of money in levelling.
Rain Hill inclined plane ascends one foot in ninety, (fifty-five feet per
mile,) and it was intended to place a stationary engine on it, but it is now
quite unnecessary, as the locomotives ascend it with considerable leads.
The Manchester Railroad stock has advanced to 171/. and the Bolton
and Leigh to 124/.
45
The daily expense of a locomotive engine now at work on the Man«
•ehester Road, (a large engine,) is—Engine-man 4*., fire-man 2s. 6c/., coals
3s. 4d.y oil 1*.—1Total, 10s. 10d.
This, supposing the engine to carry 30 tons, at the rate of ten
miles an hour, and to work 12 hours each day, realizing but 10
hours' speed, or 100 miles, makes the cost of traction about 1-23
of a penny sterling, or less than one tenth of a cent per ton a mile.
jRailroads.—The shares in the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad sold,
before the act was obtained, as high as 58 guineas premium. On the
20th of November, they were sold at 162/. per share, namely, 90/. the
amount of calls on each, and 72/. premium. The Bolton and Leigh rail¬
way shares are now at a premium of 2/. ; and the shares in the Wigan
railway, though only projected three weeks ago, are all taken up, and al¬
ready at a premium of 4L per share.
Railway Sha?*e$.-—The shares in the Manchester and Liverpool Rail¬
way, which, a few months ago, were selling at 118/. a share, are now sell¬
ing at 175/., being at the premium of 65/. They have risen with great
rapidity since the experiments at Rainhill, and such is the estimation in
which they are now held, that it is very difficult to procure them on any
terms. The demand is very considerable, and there are scarcely any in
the market.
Railways made from Canals.—The practicability and desirableness of, at
some period or other, converting the numerous canals with which this
kingdom is intersected into railways, is an interesting subject of specula¬
tion, and has latterly been exciting some attention. We have heard, we
believe on good authority, though, of course, we do not vouch for the
truth of the statement, that the engineer of the Huddersfield Canal Com¬
pany has very recently made a representation to the Committee of Ma¬
nagement of that concern, that the best, if not the only chance of making
it profitable, is to convert it into a railway.—Manchester Guardian.
According to a calculation recently made, there are 103 canals in Great
Britain, extending 2682 miles, formed at an expense of thirty millions ster¬
ling.
O
Railroads in France.—That railroads are far preferable to canals for
communication, is a truth of which England has been only of late con¬
vinced by the dear bought fruits of experience. Our continental neigh¬
bors, profiting by our discovery, are gradually extending, throughout the
whole of their fine country, a system of communication by railroads, which,
ultimatelv, will be of extreme benefit to their domestic commerce. The
tram road between St. Etienne and Lyons is now rapidly advancing ; and,
from the tunnels, bridges, and embankments, required for its completion,
will be inferior to none which this kingdom can, at present, boast.—Liv¬
erpool Atbion,
46
Railroad Experiment.—An experiment was made on Saturday on
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with a car built upon an improved
construction, by Jno. Elgar and Geo. Gillingham, of this city, which we
learn, resulted to the entire satisfaction of all who witnessed its powers.
We are assured by a gentleman who has examined its structure, that it
promises to be a highly useful improvement. The car, conveying thirty-
six men, was drawn by one horse with great ease, at the rate of at least
twelve miles an hour, and there was not the smallest doubt but that could
double the number of persons have found accommodation upon it, that the
horse would have been able to have conveyed them at the same speed. So
little effort was required on the part of the animal, that the traces were
frequently quite slack. We subjoin a description of the car :—
In this carriage, the axles extend through the wheels as far as to ad-
. o
mit of a journal outside. The bearing, or box in which the journal re¬
volves, is one piece of cast iron ; the aperture is formed by casting
it on a chill, the size of the journal,—but the sides of this chill are
composed of segments of a circle larger than that of the journal, so that
the latter receives the bearing upon only one fourth of its circumference-
The journal is of steel, and the end is turned to a blunt centre point,
which runs against the back end of the box, and is the end-bearing in¬
stead of shoulders.
There is a packing plate passed on the journal in front of the box,
which is screwed up to the latter with packing to exclude the dust and
confine the oil. The box will contain perhaps one half gill of oil, be¬
sides the journal, which insures a perfect lubrication of the latter. This
combination procures, perhaps, as great a reduction of friction (the lead¬
ing object in constructing a railway car) as any other mode that is as
cheap, simple and permanent.
We learn that the Railroad Company have nearly in readiness several
cars for the conveyance of passengers, and for articles of burthen, upon
various plans of construction ; and that it is contemplated to make some
experiments upon the road with them in a few days.—Baltimore American.
The Railroad.—The mild temperature of yesterday, resembling
much the soilness of an early summer's day, attracted a number of visi¬
ters to the Railroad. Several parties of ladies and gentlemen were pres¬
ent, among whom were the Hon. Mr. Webster of the United States
Senate, and lady. Two of the carriages were brought out, and made
several trips to and from the viaduct at the rate of eleven to twelve miles
an hour. From fifty to sixty passengers, we learn, filled the carriages, at
each trip, and the whole were drawn by a single horse with perfect ease.
We are also informed, that the light carriage of which we spoke yesterday
was brought out by the gentleman to whom it belongs, for the purpose
of ascertaining the effect of wind as a propelling power. A small light
sail having been spread to the very gentle breeze which prevailed, it car¬
ried the carriage and the six persons who were in it at a rapid rate. The
experiments afforded much amusement to the spectators, and went to
shew that with a larger sail and a fresh breeze, carriages may be propel¬
led with the greatest velocity.—American.
Railroad Experiments.—We have, on several late occasions, taken
notice of the novel and highly satisfactory experiments which have been
made on that part of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, laid down between
Pratt-street and the Carrollton Viaduct. Notwithstanding the limited
47
extent of this experimental line, the road appears to attract fresh crowds
of visiters every day the weather will permit, all of whom, whether citi¬
zens or strangers, come away highly gratified. The weather yesterday,
being remarkably mild and pleasant, vast numbers availed themselves of
the opportunity to examine the road and Viaduct, and to enjoy the grati¬
fication of a ride in the Winans carriages. The Hon. the Post Master
General, having reached this city the evening before, and being desirous
of visiting the road, he was, accordingly, accompanied thither yesterday
by the gentlemen attached to the Board of Direction. A carriage hav¬
ing been brought out, the party, consisting of twenty-four ladies and
gentlemen, including the Post Master General, were drawn to the Via¬
duct by one horse, in actually a little less than six minutes ! After
alighting to view the magnificent granite structure,—of which a minute
description was published in last week's American,—the party again seat¬
ed themselves, and were conveyed back to Pratt-street in the same brief
period, or at the extraordinary rate offifteen miles an hour ! In order to
show the perfect ease and rapidity with which heavy loads can be trans¬
ported on a well constructed railroad, three carriages were attached to
each other, and being filled with more than eighty persons, were readily
drawn by one horse at the rate of upwards of eight miles an hour. Aver-
aging each passenger at one hundred and fifty pounds weight, and esti¬
mating th© three carriages to weigh together two and a half tons, it fol¬
lows, that a single horse has actually drawn a load of at least eight and a
half tons, at the speed of upwards of eight miles an hour. And this ex¬
traordinary result was accomplished without any apparent distress to the
animal, or, indeed, uncommon exertion on his part—Bait. Payer.
Railroad Travelling.—The Mayor of the city of Baltimore, the mem¬
bers of both branches of the City Council, with other gentlemen, to the
number of forty-two in all, on Wednesday last took a ride on the Balti¬
more and Ohio Railroad, to visit the Carrollton Viaduct. They seated
themselves in two cars connected together, and were drawn by a swift
trotting horse, which took them easily to the Viaduct in eight minutes,
and returned in less than seven and a half minutes, being at the rate of
about 13 miles an hour.—Boston Paper.
Internal Improvement.—No place in the interior of the Union can pro¬
bably boast of such rapid rise and progress, in the same space of time,
as Pottsville, Pa. It is but a few years since it was the safe retreat of
the fleet stag and the ferocious bear—the sporting field of the indefatiga¬
ble huntsman and his yelling hounds. Instead of the rebounding echo of
the huntsman's horn, and the yells of his anxious pack in pursuit of the
flying game, you now encounter the noise and bustle of a busy and popu¬
lous borough. Property, which, six years ago, could have been pur¬
chased at ten dollars per acre, now sells readily for so many thousands !
The improvements which have taken place within a few years at this
place, seem almost incredible. Pottsville, even at this time, presents,
probably, a wider scope for speculators than any other place of its size
in the country.—Poulson's Am. D. Adv.
Effects of Internal Improvement.—At a sale of lots, which took place
at Hebron, Ohio, on the 4th and 5th ult. about thirty lots were sold, the
4S
whole embracing about seven acres of land, which averaged more than
one thousand dollars per acre. This town is at the junction of the great
National road, and the Ohio Canal, 26 miles west of Zanesville.
The subjoined article, from an English paper, with the comments
of an American editor, appeared after these pages were prepared
for the press, and contains a valuable suggestion on the subject of
establishing great lines of railway, adapted to the nature and extent
of the country.
The proposed great Western Railway.—In a Manchester paper, receiv¬
ed by the last arrivai from Liverpool, we find a project for constructing a
Railroad, "if possible, through the island, from South to North, or at all
events, from London to Edinburgh."
A work of this kind, say the Editors, "would be of prodigious impor¬
tance, not merely foi the purpose of facilitating the ordinary intercourse
which takes place between different parts of the country, but also in a
political and military point of view. In case of invasion, or internal com¬
motion, the whole disposable force of the country could, with the aid of
such means of conveyance, be brought to act on any given point in an
amazingly short space of time,—a circumstance which would enable go¬
vernment considerably to diminish the number of troops, which, under
other circumstances, they might be compelled to keep up. It appears to
us, that, in order to secure the execution of a work of such first rate im¬
portance, Ministers ought to cause a survey to be made of the best line
which presents itself for the formation of a Railway, such as we have de¬
scribed, without paying the slightest attention to the towns or districts
near which or through which it may happen to pass. A power should
be obtained from the Legislature to grant a certain sum per mile to any
company, who, being about to construct a railway, would make it wholly
or partly upon the line laid down, and in a manner which should be pre¬
scribed to them. By the adoption of this plan, it is probable that a con¬
siderable portion of the national railway might be constructed at a mode¬
rate cost, and the remainder then be completed at the public expense. If
some plan of this kind be not adopted, it is probable that many railways
will be so formed as to afford little assistance in the construction of that
national work, which, at some period or other, must be undertaken."
If these remarks had been written in reference to the proposed Rail¬
road from this city to the Mississippi, every one would acknowledge their
applicability and point. We ought, however, to except the words "if
possible;" for it admits of no doubt that the Road to the Mississippi is
practicable, in a physical point of view; that it is more necessary than a
Railroad North and South, through Great Britain; and that it will even¬
tually, if not immediately, be productive of far greater advantages. These
advantages are so clearly set forth in the communication of Col. Clinton,
which we publish at length to-day, that we need not repeat them here.
We know not a Railroad that opens a communication to more valuable
commodities. Besides bringing some 20,000,000 or 30,000,000 acres of
valuable land into close connexion with the largest markets in the coun¬
try, it connects with, or passes through, inexhaustible mines of coal, iron,
lead, and perhaps copper. It will be neither encumbered with locks, nor
sealed up with ice, nor will it subject the cars and carriages which run
upon it, to the sluggish motion which is unavoidable on canals—New-
York Journal of Comwprcp.
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Il allume
To gentlemen of intelligence and influence is res¬
pectfully suggested the*idea of a Topographical In¬
stitute, the object of which shall be the collection and
preservation of facts and information respecting the
physical geography and resources of every section of
our country. The numerous scientific examinations,
and surveys which have been made by public authority,
and by enterprising associations, have developed a
vast mass of intelligence, which it is highly impor¬
tant to preserve and to dissemminate ; and the
results of mineralogical, geological, hydrographical,
and other investigations, which might be obtain¬
ed from various sources, would »be of great value.
The lights of science thus concentrated, would illu¬
mine the paths of individual enterprise and public
prosperity.
A national institution of this kind, with branches or
depositories in the several states, it is believed would
be patronised by the general and state governments ;
and might, perhaps, be advantageously connected with
the Lyceums in our large cities, or with other literary
associations.
Sketch of the geographical rout^ of a great
railway, by which it is proposed to connect the
canals and nagigable waters of the sta+os of New
York, Penna.»Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri; and
the Michigan, north-west and Missouri territories..
Now York, 1829. 16 p. and trap.
HE2761.
.1829*
GEOGRAPHICAL ROUT
OP A
GREAT RAILWAY,
BY WHICH IT IS PROPOSED TO CONNECT
THE CANALS AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
OF THE STATES OF
NEW-YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO, INDIANA, ILLINOIS, MIS¬
SOURI; AND THE MICHIGAN, NORTH-WEST, AND
MISSOURI TERRITORIES;
OPENING THEREBY A FREE COMMUNICATION, AT ALL SEASONS OF TI1E
YEAR, BETWEEN THE ATLANTIC STATE8 AND THE
CREAT VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
A / 3 -
áirto=<K>orlt :
G. & C. & II. CARVILL.
Ludwig Sc Tolofreo, Primera,
7 h i
' 1 1829.
áf íyl
SKETCH, &c.
• ATLANTIC AND MICHIGAN RAILWAY.
Tiie construction of a Great Western Railway,
on the rout which is traced on the annexed map, is
recommended to the attentive consideration of every
citizen who feels an interest in the prosperity of his
country, and wishes to promote its rapid advance¬
ment in wealth and power, by the multiplication of
those physical resources which constitute national
greatness, and best promote individual happiness
and prosperity.
The proposed Railway has for its object, not only
the connection of the great cities on the borders of
the Atlantic with the magnificent lakes and rivers of
the West, by a channel, available at all seasons of the
year, but also the developement of the latent wealth
and resources of large and valuable tracts of coun¬
try, comprising the border counties of the states of
New-York, New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and ex¬
tending along the more remote portions of the rout,
which are not now traversed by any of the great
works which have been constructed, or are in pro¬
gress under the patronage of the several states.
It affords happy facilities for accomplishing these
great objects, in a manner that will best subserve the
interests of the whole community ; and by connecting
the great canals of New-York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
4
and Indiana, at different points, will afford important
collateral aid to the plans of internal improvement,
which have been adopted in these states.
The rout commences 011 the Hudson river, in the
vicinity of the city of New-York, at a point accessible
at all seasons to steam ferry-boats, and from thence
proceeds through a favourable and productive coun¬
try to the valley of the Delaware river, near the
north-west corner of New-Jersey. Here it forms a
junction with the rout of the Delaware, Lehigh, and
Lackawaxen canals, which are in progress in Penn¬
sylvania, and with the Delaware and Hudson canal
in New-York. From thence the rout ascends the
valley of the Delaware to a point that affords the
nearest and most favourable crossing to the valley of
the Susquehannah, at ornear the great bend of that
river.
Pursuing a westerly course through the fertile
valleys of the Susquehannah and Tioga rivers, the
rout crosses the head waters of the Genesee ; hav¬
ing in its course intersected the terminating points
of thelthicaand Owego Railway; the Chenango and
the Chemung canals in New-York; the great Susque¬
hannah canal in Pennsylvania, and several other
points that afford important facilities for internal
communication.
From the Genesee river, our rout enters the val¬
ley of the Alleghany, and proceeds along that river ;
which affords a navigable communication with Pitts¬
burgh, the Pennsylvania canals, and the Ohio river.
From the Alleghany, the rout intersects the outlet
of the Chatauque Lake, opening thereby a communi¬
cation with Lake Erie, and proceeds to the head
waters of the French Creek, in Pennsylvania, from
whence it again communicates with the Alleghany
and the Pennsylvania canals, on the one hand, and
with the harbour of Erie on the other.
The benefits that would result from the construc¬
tion of a Railway, on the rout which we have fol¬
lowed, and its capacity to multiply the elements of
individual and national prosperity, can be best appre¬
ciated by those who have carefully observed the
effects of such improvements; but that portion of
our rout, which remains to be considered, offers to our
view results of the highest and most invaluable
character.
From French Creek, the western branch of the
Alleghany, we proceed into the rich northern coun¬
ties of Ohio, intersecting various streams, and the
great canal of that state, in a direction parallel to the
shore of Lake Eric, till we arrive at the rivers which
empty into the Avestern extremity of that lake.
Having crossed the Sandusky, Maumee, and St.
Joseph's rivers, tributaries of Lake Erie, the rout
enters Indiana; passes the head waters of the Wa¬
bash and the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan ; crosses
the canal which is to unite the Wabash river with
the lakes ; enters the state of Illinois, and, passing
along the course of the Kankakee, continues to the
head of sleam-boat navigation on the Illinois river ;
from whence provision has been made for opening a
•communication with Lake Michigan. This portion
of the Railway would open to immediate occupation,
immense tracts of the public lands, of the most exu¬
berant fertility ; and offers to the enterprising indus¬
try of our hardy settlers, such facilities, in the pursuit
of wealth and prosperity, as even the giant growth of
our young and flourishing country has never afforded.
Ü
TI îc Illinois a fiord s good depth of water for steam¬
boats, and its current is so slight as to be in many
places hardly perceptible. It affords, perhaps, the
best navigation in America, for two hundred and fifty
miles, through a country of unbounded fertility, to
the Mississippi river, near the mouth of the Missouri,
and the flourishing and important town of St. Louis.
Having accomplished this grand object, our Rail-
way continues from near the bend of the Illinois, and
at a distance of little more than sixty miles, reaches
the banks of the Mississippi.
The proposed point of junction with that immense
river, is immediately above the Rock Island rapids,
from whence the navigation is at all seasons uninter¬
rupted to the River St. Peters, and the Falls of St.
Anthony. The country bordering 011 the Mississippi,
for a great distance above the termination of the
Railway rout, besides its immense fertility, abounds
with lead ; 12,000,000 pounds of which were, it is said,
obtained during the last year.
The whole distance from the Hudson river to
the Mississippi, at the junction of Rock river, is less
than one thousand miles. The rout extends alonsf
one of the best parallels of temperate latitude, and in
great part through the most fertile and valuable por¬
tions of our country. A Railway constructed upon
this rout would connect, in the most advantageous
manner, the agricultural, navigating, and commercial
interests of the regions bordering on the numerous
rivers, canals, and lakes with which it communicates ;
and would extend the production and dissemination of
valuable commodities throughout the most distant
portions of our common country.
In a military, as well as commercial point of view,
7
the results of such a Railway would surpass the power
of calculation. With such ample means for throwing
any amount of military force and materiel, at any
time, to almost any point of our frontier, with a
rapidity resembling that of an express-rider, Ave should
have little occasion to claim the respect of our proud¬
est foes, whether savage or foreign.
The whole extent of the proposed Railway could
be constructed for a sum, little, if at all, exceeding that
which the state of New-York has expended on its
justly celebrated canals ; and its cost would be trifling
in comparison with its benefits, or even to the in¬
creased value, which it would give to the lands which
border on the rout. It would, when completed, be
far more beneficial in its effects on the intervening
country, and on our national prosperity, than to turn
the Mississippi itself into the same course. Free from
the inundations, the currents, the rapids, the ice, and
the sand bars of that .mighty stream, the rich products
of its wide-spread valley would be driven to the shores
of the Atlantic, with far greater speed, than if wafted
by the wings of the wind ; and the rapid return of
commercial equivalents would spread life and pros¬
perity over the face of the finest and'fairest portion
of the habitable world.
Without inquiring whether such a work could be
best accomplished by the several states through which
the rout extends; or by incorporations, aided by
grants of money or lands from the general govern¬
ment ; or by appropriations from the surplus funds,
which will soon be at the disposal of that government ;
it is sufficient to assert, that our citizens have only
to appreciate the value of the enterprise, and raise
their voices in its favour, and it will be accomplished.
8
TOPOGRAFIIICAL AND OTHER MEMORANDA.
The various and aggregate distances, on the rout described in
the preceding pages, may be estimated as in the following tables,
in which an average of about ten per cent, is added to the supposed
rectilinear distances, which, on some parts of the rout, it is sup¬
posed, will more than compensate for the sinuosities of the Rail¬
way.
Mil«.
From the Hudson to the valley of the Delaware river, - - - SO
Up the Delaware valley, and to the Susquehannah, - - - 80
To the Susquehannah canal,near the junction of the Tiogariver, - 60
To Genesee river, - -- - - -- -- -- -- -- 90
To Olean, on the Alleghany, - -- -- -- -- -- - 30
To tho outlet of the Chatauquc Lake, ---------50
To navigable waters of French Creek, - -- -- -- -40
400
From French Creek to the Ohio line, - -- -- -- --35
To the Ohio Canal, - -- -- -- -- -- -- - 70
To Black river, - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -30
Huron river, - ---------------35
Sandusky river, - -- -- -- -- -- -- --25
Maumee river, at Fort Defiance, (Junction of the Auglaise,) - - 65
268
From Fort Defiance to the state line of Indiana, ----- 25
St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, - -- -- -- -- --45
State line of Illinois, - -- -- -- -- -- -- - 100
Head of Illinois river (junction of the Kankakee and Des Plaines) 40
Steam-boat navigation at the bend of the Illinois, ----- 60
270
From the Illinois to Hock river, -----------56
Mississippi river, - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 7
63
993
Great Extent of Internal Navigation united hj the Railway.
The actual extent of the internal communication by the various
rivers, lakes, canals, and railways connected with this rout, and
with each other, cannot be estimated at less than twelve thousand
miles, and probably much exceeds that distance.
To effect such an extensive connection by means of a canal,
would, if practicable, be of much less utility than the Railway,
by reason of the interruption of navigation in the winter season,
which would be much more detrimental than on an ordinary canal
through a less extensive country. To this must be added the advan¬
tage afforded by the Railway, of conveying passengers and the public
9
mails, in the most rapid manner, through such anex tensive and
important region of country.
The business of the grand canal of New-York, which connects
with the great lakes, and ostensibly, with our more western waters,
is chiefly derived from the country through which it passes, and
owing to the interruptions of winter, and the hazards of lake
navigation, supplies but very imperfectly the wants of the great
western country. In the present state of knowledge it would be
absurd to rely alone upon canals, valuable as they are, for a com¬
munication with our surpassingly rich and extensive interior. And
in opening its resources and its extensive navigation to free access
by a Railway, it would be equally absurd to locate its eastern ter¬
mination on the inland portion of a river or canal that should be
liable to obstruction by ice. To realise the full value of our canals,
rivers, and lakes, we must unite them by a grand arterial commu¬
nication, which shall promote and impel the circulation and ex¬
change Of all products, at all seasons, throughout the whole region
of country in which they extend.
Comparative Advantages of Canals and Railwaijs.
It is not intended to attempt to settle the question of the com¬
parative advantages of Canals and Railways. The merits of the
former are in this country better known and more fully apprecia¬
ted than those of the latter. The following considerations may
therefore be here offered to notice.
"The canal has the disadvantage of a resisting medium to con¬
tend with, acting against the draught in the inverse ratio of the ve¬
locity of the boat. The speed of a canal boat is also limited by
the destruction, which rapid motion occasions to its banks.
" In this respect, the Rail Road has a great advantage over
canals ; as it will undoubtedly prove the most rapid mode of con¬
veyance for passengers that has yet been devised. The Rail Road
is also built and kept in repair, at from one-third to one-half the
expense of the canal. It may be used in winter as well as summer.
Whereas, a canal, in this part of the country, would be frozen four
or five months in the year, and at that season, too, when most
needed. A canal must be perfectly level, while on a Rail Road,
a variation from level not exceeding 25 feet in a mile, is no serious
objection ; and a rise of 50, GO, 70, or 80 feet to the mile, where
the distance is short, maybe overcome by the addition of one or
more horses. And this, in such a country as ours, is a very im¬
portant consideration.
" Rivers and streams are much more easily passed by Railways
than Canals. Railways may be easily passed in all plac.es ; Canals
only by expensive and troublesome bridges. Railways arc likely
10
to be greatly benefitted by the use of the steam engine, which, it
is pretty well ascertained, can never be applied to Canals. Indeed,
the adoption and general use of steam conveyance on Kail Roads,
will soon be realised in this country, as it has been in complete
and successful operation for several years in England.
" One more fact, in relation to the relative value of Rail Roads
and Canals, seems to sum up and include all the others ; and that
is, a company of individuals have been; incorporated with a capital
of 82,2GU,000, for the erection of a Rail Road from Liverpool to
Manchester. This company, after having had to encounter the
enormous expense of an under-ground tunnel for about 1¿ of a
mile, partly under the city of Liverpool ; after having expended
about 800,000 per mile ; and notwithstanding this road will havo
to compete with two canals, running to and from the same places ;
their stock, just at the moment the road is about to be opened, and
with all the Rail Road experience which British capitalists now
have, is actually worth an advance of 40 per cent, on the price of
their shares."
Of the Cost of Railways.
The cost of canals, with the knowledge which our experience
in constructing them has afforded, is said to average about 817,000
per mile.
The cost of Railways, as appears by the results of some experi¬
ence, various and careful estimates by skilful engineers, and by
extensive contracts already entered upon, may be stated as follows.
A single Railway or one set of tracks, with suitable turn-outs,
will cost from 7 to 8S000 per mile.
A single Railway and turn-outs, graded sufficiently wide for two
sets of tracks, will cost from 10 to 811,000 per mile.
A double Railway, with two complete sets of tracks, will cost
from 14 to 815,000 per mile. The tracks in all cases, plated with
wrought iron.
A Railway of the first description, extending from the Hudson
to the Mississippi, would cost 88,000,000. If of the second kind,
811,000,000, and if constructed with double tracks throughout,
would cost 815,000,000.
The largest sum is but little more than half the annual amount
of the national income. With the public voice in its favour, it
would not exceed the means, nor the enterprise of half a dozen of
our most wealthy and respectable citizens. It does not exceed
half the amount paid in a single year by the consumers of wines
and spirits in our country ; and, in time of war, would not pay half
the expenses of a single campaign.
Quere.—How many successful campaigns would be required to
11
add as much to the wealth and strength of the nation, as would be
realized by twenty years' operation of this Railway ?
Cost of Transportation hy the Railway.
The actual average cost of transportation on a Railway does not
exceed one dollar per ton, per hundred miles, exclusive of the tolls.
With this Railway in operation, merchandise could be conveyed
from Philadelphia or New-York to the Illinois or Mississippi in a
week ; and in two days more, to St. Louis, Green Bay, or the
Falls of St. Anthony. Passengers and mails could be transported
with still greater rapidity.
favourable nature of the Country traversed by the proposed Rout.
That part of the rout which lays through the borders of New-
York and Pennsylvania, offers the advantage of opening an avenue
of trade along those frontier districts of country whose resources
and wants are too much neglected, in consequence of their exterior
position, as relates to the states respectively. Great natural facili¬
ties are also obtained, on this rout, by avoiding the great cluster of
the Alleghany mountains, and following the valleys of the rivers
which have been mentioned. The country abounds with mineral
and agricultural products, which would speedily find their way to
our markets. There is probably no strip of country in America,
of equal extent, whose lands and products would be so extensively
benefitted and raised in value, as that traversed by the rout which
has been described.
Companies have been incorporated for constructing Railways
from Ovvego, on this rout, to Ithica, at the bead of Cayuga Lake ;
from Ithica to Catskill; and from Hudson, on the opposite side of the
river, to intersect the great Massachusetts Railway, from Albany to
Boston. The Railway from Philadelphia to the Susquehannah, may
be continued, to intersect our rout ; and with the aid of the great
work now progressing from Baltimore,we might anticipate a perfect
communication between the valley of the Mississippi and all our
great commercial towns on the borders of the Atlantic.
Of the Country between the Ohio River and Lalces Erie and
Michigan.—by Major Long.
Here are presented two varieties of country distinctly marked.
The one exceedingly hilly, and the other of a waving aspect, pre¬
senting extensive flats, with occasional hills, and swells of moderate
12
height and declivity. The line of division between these two
tracts commences on the Mississippi, near Cape Giradeau, and runs
north-easterly, terminating near the eastern extremity of Lake
Eric.
North-westerly of this limit, the country wears a different aspect.
The river valleys are broader, and more regularly defined. No
hills of any considerable height or magnitude, if we except nume¬
rous swells, some of which arc broad and extensive, are here tobe
seen. Extensive tracts of flat country, with scarce an undulation
upon their surface, are presented.
Of the Country between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi.
By the same.
No part of the region traversed by the expedition, can be con¬
sidered more interesting than that under consideration. The sur¬
face, which is generally prairie, is agreeably diversified by gentle
swells and valleys, and checkered by skirts of woodland, fringing
its numerous water courses. The soil in many places is exuberant
in a high degree, and is no where infested with rocks or stones.
The bottoms, especially, exhibit proofs of the greatest fecundity,
in the rankness of their vegetable products. To these valuable
traits must be added, the abundance of lead ore, which prevails in
many places ; all of which conspire to render this country quite as
valuable as any other tract of equal extent, within the basin of the
Mississippi.
The foregoing remarks are intended as applicable more particu¬
larly to the tract bounded north by the Wisconsin and Fox rivers,
south by the Illinois, east by Lake Michigan, and west by the Mis¬
sissippi river, than which, few countries of equal extent can boast
of a finer aspect. The rivers included within the limits just as¬
signed, are the Chicago, Mihvacke, Manitowake, and several others
of less note, tributary to Lake Michigan. The Des Plaines, De
Page, Fox, Mequin, &c. tributary to the Illinois; the Kock and
Makebea, with several others of smaller size that mingle their wa¬
ters with the Mississippi. Rock river has many tributaries, among
which arc the Kishwacke, Pektannon, Little Pektannon, and War-
semon rivers, all of them respectable streams.
The country embracing the southern extremity of Lake Michi¬
gan, and extending inland many miles from the Lake, presents no
hills, except the sand drifts that border that extremity of the Lake ;
but the country is an extensive flat, embracing woodlands and
meadows, alternating with each other.
13
The Illinois river is to be ranked among the most important of
the western rivers, inasmuch as it affords greater facilities as a wa¬
ter communication between the lakes and the Mississippi, than any
other stream. Its length, from its mouth to its source, at the junc¬
tion of the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers, is 300 miles. For
fifty miles on the upper part of this river, shoals abound which
are a serious impediment to its navigation in a low stage of water.
Below this, the navigation is exceedingly easy to the mouth of the
river, a distance of £59 miles. The current is exceedingly gentle,
and often quite imperceptible. It enters the Mississippi 25 miles
above the mouth of the Missouri.
Of the Progress and present State of Railways.
The progress of Rail Roads lias been so rapid in England, that it would be
as difficult to present a detailed account of them, as of the American turnpikes.
In 1812, there were between SCO and 300 miles of Rail Roads in Wales only ;
and they are now employed at all the principal coal and iron mines in Great
Britain, many of which, before the invention of Rail Roads, were not worth
working, but have now become valuable property ; and barren, worthless, un¬
inhabited wastes, have become pleasant, prosperous, and extensive villages.
It is supposed there are now more than 3000 miles of Rail Roads in England,
erecting, or in successful operation. It has been proposed to construct a
Rail Road from London to Edinburgh, a distance of about 350 miles, over
which it is calculated to transport passengers twelve, and goods eight miles
an hour.
This improvement is just beginning its progress in other parts of Europe.
In Germany, it has the sanction of the emperor and his government, and ap¬
pears to be making rapid progress. In fact, if Europe remains at peace ten
years, it is easy to foresee that a total revolution with regard to its internal
commerce will be produced by the general introduction of Rail Roads.
Though slow, incredibly slow, as this country has been in turning its atten¬
tion to this important subject, yet the entering wedge has been driven; and
the inquiry, What is Truth, in relation to a matter of such vital importance,
is beginning to be seriously and earnestly made. The inhabitants of many
parts of the United States are already reaping important benefits from the in¬
troduction of this improvement. Vast quantities of coal are now consumed
in almost every part of our sea board, the price of which is several dollars less
per ton than it would have been but for the facilities which a Rail Road has
afforded for its transportation. The construction, uses, and advantages of tho
Quincy Rail E.oad in Massachusetts, are familiar to many. The cars upon
this road carry from four to five tons. Two cars arc considered as a load for
one horse, travelling at the rate of three miles an hour. This is for continued
operations through the day. If the horse, however, is put to its utmost capa¬
city, such as is frequently the case with truck horses, he can carry double this
load. Many apprehensions were entertained that severe frosts and deep snows
would injure and obstruct its operations. But the frosts of two winters have
done no harm to the road; nor has the snow, which, winter before last, was
deeper than has fallen before for several years, presented any serious obstruc¬
tion. " On first passing it, while the snow was light, two pieces of plank were
placed before the car, meeting in an angle at the centre, and drawn along the
rails ; by this means the snow was effectually removed, so as to render the
travelling of the wheels as free as in summer." It is doubtless truo, that a
Rail Road, as well as a turnpike, may be at times partially covered by snow,
bo as to require some digging. But it will not often happen, that snow will
prove such an obstruction as may not bo easily and speedily removed by the ad¬
dition of another horse.
The resistance to the motion of a load, arising from friction, principally at
14
the a xles, on a level Rail Road, has been found, by repealed experiments, not.
to exceed one pound in every 200 or 210 pounds, or about eleven pounds to a
ton. That is, a weight of eleven pounds, suspended over a single pulley and
attached to a load of one ton, is sufficient to overcome the friction and keep
it in motion. Friction is always in proportion to the weight, whether the mo¬
tion be slow or rapid, and whether the road be level or not. If the road is not
lovel, there will be an additional resistance to be overcome in ascending, pro¬
portioned to the degree of ascent.
This resistance is found to be equal to eleven pounds in an ascent of twen¬
ty-six feet to a mile; and greater or less just in proportion as the ascent is
more or less. It follows, therefore, that to move a load up a Rail Road inclin¬
ing at the rate of twenty-six feet in the mile, it will require a power equal to
twenty-two pounds to the ton. That is, eleven to overcome the friction, and
eleven to overcome the gravity of the load. But if the same load is moving
down, the gravity will be just sufficient to overcome the friction, and the only
power, necessary to be exerted by the horse, will be to regulate its motion at
the most convenient pace for himself.
Upon this calculation, and supposing the load to be eight tons, including the
weight of the wagon, it would require, on a perfect level, a power equal to
raising eighty-eight pounds over a single pulley to carry it forward.
Ün a riso 2G feet to the mile 17G pounds.
52 44 44 2G4 44
73 44 44 3>2 41
80 44 44 359 44
And 80 feet is found to be the greatest rise necessary to be made in any part
of the road leading from Boston to Albany.
The power of continued exertion by a horse of ordinary strength, on an ave¬
rage of the estimates of fifteen different experienced engineers, is equal to the
perpendicular lift of 122 pounds over a single pulley, or to the carrying for¬
ward on a level Rail Road eleven tons ; and this is the ordinary power for con¬
tinued labour the year round. The extreme power of ahorse, for occasional
exertion, a short time, is three or four times this amount.
At the Beckwith Colliery in England, each horse in his daily labour travels
194 miles, exerting a power equal to carrying 17| tons on a level for half the
distance, and for half a mile of the rout equal to 28¿ tons.
A horse, supposed to compare with the common truck horses in Boston, car¬
ries, on the Quincy Rail Road, four loads each day, (sometimes five,) weighing
12£ tons exclusive of the wagon. A small part of this road ascends at the rate
of sixty-six feet per mile. A single horse has carried 17^ tons over the road at
once.
A single horse on the Monkland Rail Road, in England, carried at once four¬
teen loads weighing fifty tons, seven miles in one hour and forty-one minutes.
The first two miles level, the remainder on a descent of from five to forty-five
feet in a mile.
An article in one of our late periodicals gives an account from Germany, of
a new model for a Railway and Railway-carriage, which together, enable the
horse to carry double the quantity usual on the English Railway. We have
also recently an account of a carriage, presented to the directors of the Balti¬
more and Ohio Rail Road, which is said to be so constructed as to avoid in a
great measure the usual obstruction of friction, and with which a single horse*
upon a level Rail Road, can carry forty tons.—Jackson.
Further Description of the Railway Country.
The following eloquent description of that fine and extensive
region of country into which this rout extends, deserves our atten¬
tion. Itis extracted from the American Quarterly Review,—Article
Darby's View of the United States,—which has just appeared.
The great central valley of the United States may be naturally divided into
the following very distinctly marked sections, viz :—1st, The western slope of
the Alleghany mountains ; 2dly, The eastern slope of the Rocky mountains,
—these have but little width ; 3dly, the sand plains that commence at the
foot of the Rocky mountains, are about five hundredjniles in widths produce.
15
lug «'tinted shrubs and prickles ; and with but little elevation above the great
Mississippi plain, rests upon, and forms the line of, its western termination.
4thly, The great plain of the Mississippi valley, commencing at tho foot of the
Alleghany mountain, it extends fifteen hundred miles west, to the sand plain,
and is limited north by the valley of the northern lakes, and south by the
Missouri hills, and a line crossing from them to the Cumberland mountain,
and passing by an inflection, not far from the mouth of the Ohio. This is
much the most important division, contains the nucleus of the growing popu¬
lation of the west, and combinesmost of its fertility. 5thly,The valley of tho
northern lakes and St. Lawrence. 6thly and lastly, The slope of the Gulf of
Mexico ; this begins near the mouth of the Oliio, and very gently inclines to
the Gulf; embracing the delta of that mother of rivers, and the states of
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia,
and Florida.
The great plain of the central or Mississippi valley first claims our attention.
It extends from the western slope of the Alleghany, to the sand plain region
that we have just described, a distance of about fifteen hundred miles, and
from the valley of the northern lakes to the mouth of the Ohio, a distance of
six hundred miles in width. This is the most valuable region of the United
States ; uniformly fertile, and tire scat of our western population. It embraces
the states of Ohio, Indi ana,Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, parts of Pennsylvania,
Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Michigan ; and a region about five hundred
miles in width, lying west of these states and organized territories. No part of
the globe presents such an extent of uniform fertility. It isliterally all arable ;
there are no sterile plains, no rocky or precipitous ridges, and scarcely any
swamps to deform its fair surface. This uninterrupted fertility arises from the
decomposition of the great limestone pan upon which it rests.
This region, although crossed by the great rivers Mississippi, Missouri,
Ohio, and their branches, is really not a valley, but a plain. The difference in
elevation over its whole surface is only a few feet. Actual surveys tells us
that such is the fact. The north-east corner of this plain, near Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, lies about eight hundred feet above the tides; the plains of
Kentucky and West Tennessee are about the same height ; at the rnouth of
the Ohio, but little different ; and as we go westwardly, up tho Missouri or Ar¬
kansas, to the sand plains, the same conclusions force themselves upon us. The
great and numerous rivers that cross this plain, instead of forming distinct val¬
leys, do but indent narrow lines or grooves into its surface, barely sufficient to
contain their floods. These river channels, as the currents roll on, must form a
declivity; and towards the lower parts of their courses, sink deeper into the
plain ; hence the large rivers of Ohio, Missouri, and others, seem bordered with
abrupt hills of several hundred feet elevation towards their mouths ; but the tops
of these hills are the level of the great plain, and are formed by the smaller
streams which fall into these large rivers, when their channels are thus worn
down ; and to give themselves an easy slope, these small streams must wear
down in a corresponding manner, the neighbouring part of the plain; and leav¬
ing the abrupt points between them, present the appearance of river hills.
The formation of this plain is entirely secondary, resting upon a horizontal
limestone rock, whose thick strata have never been pentrated through, al¬
though the auger has pierced it in many(diiferent places, in search of salt water
to the depth of four and frequently six hundred feet. This limestone pan is
generally but a few feet below the surface, and supports strata of the bitumi¬
nous coal and saline impregnations, throughout most of its whole extent.—It.
runs under the Alleghany mountains on tho cast ; the sand plains of the west;
rests on the granite ridges of Canada on the north, and is limited by the Cum¬
berland and Ozark mountains on the south. The decomposition of this rock
has fertilized this wide region; and its absorbent and cavernous nature pre¬
vents swamps and moisture accumulating on its surface. Without mountains
to relieve, or deep valleys to draw of the water, this widely extended region ap¬
pears dry, clean, and healthful.
In addition to its unlimited agricultural capacity, this great plain abounds
in mineral resources ; its coal field would cover half of Europe, and js 1500
by 600 miles in extent. We enter upon this bituminous coal in Pennsylvania,
on the western'waters of Susquehannah, and travel upon it through Ohio, In-
IG
diana, Illinois, Missouri, and to Ihn very sand plains of tlic west ; a distînes
cf moro than 1500 miles; and from the Cumberland mountains in Kentucky
and Tennessee, to the lakes, a distance of GOO miles. This coal is pure, lies
above the river channels, audio quarry it, costs about twenty cents a ton. Iron
ore abounds generally, Lilt in Missouri there is a mass of this ore, forming a hill
of SOOfeetin height and five miles In extent, which yields seventy-five per cent,
of fine malleable iron. The lead districts of Missouri and Illinois, would co¬
ver 200 miles square, and seem.to be the richest region of that metal on earth.
—12,000,000 pounds were smelted in the year 1028, audit 1b confidently ex¬
pected to furnish 20,000,000 for market in the year 1029. Salt water is found
over the whole extent of this region; yielding from one-eighth to one-twelfth
of its weight in pure muriate ofsoda. This salt water, in many places, breaks
out in the shape of springs and fountains ; but more frequently the inhabitants
bore to the depth of from 300 to G00 feet into solid rock ; and when they strike
the veins, it generally rises to the surface ; and so general is the distribution of
this indisponsihle article, that no doubt exists of its meeting the wants of the
population in all stages. Gypsum and saltpetre aro found in abundance, and
most of the clays and earths useful in the arts. Here indeed will " every rood
support its man;" for such a region without barren, heath, mountain, waste, or
slope, and where all is fertile and healthful; where no timber lands need be
left for fuel ; with mineral resources enough to stimulate all the arts, and con¬
tribute to all wants ;—who can ray what is the limits of its future population ?
Europe could seat all her nations comfortably upon this plain.
Late observations on the English Railways.
The follow ing are extracts of letters xvritten by the agents of
the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company, now in England,
employed in obtaining information in relation to Rail Ways, and
the application of moving power on the same.
Darlington, Durham County, >
January 26th, 1829. J
Dear Sir,
We have the gratification to assure you that experience, daily deve-
lopes the great advantages resulting from the introduction of Rail Roads;
and as the best proof of the increasing confidence of a discerning public, in
their adaptation to the purposes of general trade,several of this kind have recent¬
ly been projected. The expectations of proprietors, in those already completed,
have evidently not been disappointed ; and stockholders in the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway are so sanguine of profit, that even now there is an
advance of forty per cent, in the price of shares, and yet this Railway must
compete with two canals already constructed between those places !
On the Killingworth Rail Road, part of which has an inclination of fifty v
feet per mile, a Locomotive Engine, of eight horse power, descends with a
train of twenty loaded wagons, and returns with the same number of empty
ones—each wagon weighing about 14 tons, and containing 53 cwt. of coals,
in all 4 tons for each wagon. On the Stockton and Darlington Railway, wo
have seen a Locomotive Engine of ten horse power, descend a slope of ten
feet per mile, with a train of twelve loaded wagons at 15 miles per hour, and
return with the same wagons loaded at the rate of ten miles per hour—the
weight of each wagon averaging 25 cwt. and containing 53 cwt. ofcoals*—
And Mr. Hackforth informs us, it is by no means unusual for a Locomotive
Engine to take 24 loaded wagons from New Sheldon to Stockton, a distance of
20 miles—return with the empty ones, and afterwards proceed with a like
number to Darlington, 8 miles, and return with the wagons to New Sheldon
in twelve hours.t Indeed the same Engine has travelled with a train of 24
empty wagons, from Stockton to Darlington, 12 miles in one hour. The
whole distance is ascending—a small portion as much as 72 feet per mile, and
a considerable portion of it 36 feet per mile. Such are the statements which
have been made to us, and which in general we know to be facts.
* This is conveying an aggregate weight of 45 tons, ten miles per hour,!
r Thus travelling a distance of 56 miles in twelve hours, and carrying this unmcnto weight.
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