Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1845-03-28
NEB PRESS
From the Boston Courier.
PORTLAND AND MONTREAL
RAIL ROAD.

ala, WHO tnON uOWh, WTote Ont, ana NubiiSh'u
in that paper, the ingenious and very lmag-
native speccl, Of the Judge, which has fur.
nshed no little amusement in this quarter.
was IA Boston spy in disguise but we can
assure him of his mistake; we have not sup
posed here that our brother John over the
line was so credulous as to require any ennis
sary To put him on his guard against the
Down Casters.
Again, this writer bubbles at a seeming
contrarety in our diction, when we speak Of
the rapid flight Of the Judge, first throueh
and then orcr the White Mountains but let
Us ask him if the passage through the gorge
is no, at n mountains height above the level
oft sea aud let US ask him, in plain, so.
Der earnest, by wha, route, either ADORE, be-
tow ~ npo. ,nis r-4rtsliIaI sphere, and by
what species oflocomolives, the Express is to
pass, as the Judge states, in sir hours be-
tween Portland and Montreal, and ask him
to define its position, height, length and cost
Tho only light we can find upon the sub.
JIG, is the speech of the Judge, in three long
columns of the Montreal Herald, and a re-
eonnOisance of rnnte from Portland to
Montreal, hearing date Dec. 9Th, 1914, and
signed by James Hall, Civil Engineer.
This document certainly presents the
Portland route in less glowing coIors than
the Vivid fancy Of our friend the Judge,
,otere he iounl air lines and dead levels for
locomotive gong two Hundred and four
miles continuously, a, the rate of thirty four
miles an hour, stops included. Mr.. Hall
says, page 4 Of his report, speaking of the
country beyond Rumforj, on the Andros-
cogein-
Beyon that point IN the north and west the Whole
REGION presents hp and rugged aspect High
mountains AMI swelling hills dtrn vnlles lakes and
P'nis, win MYERS and bro, ks running IN every t
rec'on as they wind Their courses TO their outlets
lorh' the entire face of The rrsentinp nj first
sg1t, an npnssihl. barrier against the construction
:" even me co'mmnn hghN and much more 50 Ia
ina OF railroad iack. The whole country north of
Aninver, IN The NngnnN1y route 10 the nuntlnrv
Is Vel wilderness, and M settlements are found nf-
Ter p1sSine the !,ouniarv line, within thirty miles Of it,
on The Cannd1 ,ile On the Western route On
Elements. AMI Travelled road near the route nre to
be t"ind tor most of the distance TO Coebrook, and
onward To the Canada line.
One of the routes proposed-,he North.
ern-i"r this grand railway, when il leaves
tn" AndroScoggin, passes through howIing
wilderness, and the other, for its recommen.
da'ion, presents the fact that one road, most
OF the way, and few scattering settlements
are found and more hoped for. We'll may
the learned Judge sugpcs, that this railroatl
twill he AS fixed in its course as the torrent
OF Nlaear'," for surely no lateral roads will
ever tap it in surh drsolnte regions. And
the clause in the Maine charter, disconn,e-
nancing, if not prohibiting, a cross road from
Boston, is quite supcr1uons.
And what are the conclusions Of Mr.. Hall
as to distance ? The learned Judge puts il,
at two hundred and four miles by the lati-
fuae and the longitude, which take no ac-
count Of the inequalities of the mundane
sphere. Bat Mr.. Hall makes the Northern
Mee hundred miles long, or more than fifty
miles longer than an air line from Boston
to Montreal; he States it thus, viz.
t"i,ana 20 nnuoyrr; 72mles.
Canada line To Sherhrnn;, via Salmon river. u
SheF"ro'He 10 Montreal 81
500
To show the character Of the line ,hronpl,
wilderness nearly one hundred miles in OK.
tent, single extract from page 9 Of Mr..
Halls report will suffice, viz.
From the out!c'n Inc West Branch the route mass
G. NJ the valley nfi he Middle Branch; the frs, three
miles requiring heavy emhank menis side wa ing and
some rock excavation; aud the gr,des must he ahoul
n'lety ihree feet per mile Thence succeeds two
miles Of level by range Of ponds ihenrc one mil,
with Use OF one HIM rcd feef which NAV he over
come nv n Grade of 6fv feet per mile w co,nnen.
eng bacx one mile. an kc"nng IN the slope of the
mus AL Iining the ponds. From this II the no ,nda
~ is one mile and three four'hs. p1ri e the dis
'anre embraces the shore Of pond q" hich is The
source o the Nngllowav md the last three fourth.
OF mile 'lsfs one hundred and thirty feet. which
NUS Dt overcome ny teepinr nlnnr the stores Of the
mis-, AMI dividing the grade equally for the whole Lis
t'nce whch viii, in that case be abou, seven,y.fve
feet per nile.
Such description Of railroad route re-.
qn'res no commentary. Tn. " 100 capi.
talis's" of the Eastern Railroad will at once
if they are railroad men. understand what
prospects i offers for fat dividends.
But :hrre is another line, or rather crcni
for both the lines are apparently semicircu
lar, winding round the Androscoggin, which
Mr.. Hall thinks less mpraclicahlc. This i,
the Western route, bending towards Bangor
ronnd the Androscogpin 10 Andovrr, theme.
by umhagoe Lake and The Divville Motel
To Col~brook, Sl'"rhrook and Monircal, ;
ronle whirh Mr.. Hall estimates at from, fy,
haadred and fortysi to ten hundred am
t0riy, seren miles. or about the length Of ~
air Ine from Boston to Montreal. On thi
route, says Mr.. Hall, page o.
FROM Andover. The western r,utc p,s.e. m the val
lev uf S'wyer's hrnnk sun nit ten mites dviIin
the waters Of This s'r"nm and Nead Camhripe
VII oh ON nio Lake U'nhaeog F5r ne most n
MS distance, The erades rW rary from i'm IN eigb
~ feet per mile with heavy embnn k nent. side. wal
ing, and some rock excava ion. On this summit.
den ruf will he necessary, and heavy emhankmen
and ,hic walling, for distance of mile.
He then crosses Lake UmIngog by
bridge haJa mile long, twice the length q
our bridge at Springfield, which cost sl2O,
600.
BY page 10 of this Report. We lear
that t.....
Al Dxyille Notch; there is ris. If zoo fee, in
disan'e of hr"ofonr'hs Of mile the s,s,erIy sid
and tall Of 100 feet in stance If one. f,urtb Of