Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1845-03-29

INC Wnole distance from Mt Carbon to Sha.
mokin being fraction short OF thir,y.nne miles,
from Which deduct two and onp-fonrlh miles of
the Mount Carbon Rail Road, leaving thrty.six
and three.'ourths miles of road TO BE- made TO
complete Rail Road communication, without
inclined planes, from PhaGclpha 10 the Su>.
qurhanna. at the confluence of the North and
West Branches
In examining this route | have kcp, the
three primary objects before noted stead " in
view To pass tte dividing ground between
the waters OF the SchuylklI aud those of the
Su,quchenna at the lowest oblainable SUBMITS:
To overcome those SUBMITS with the most gen.
tie grades that the country will admit Of, with.
out lnjuIlciou-ly Increasing the lcug,h Of the
road by a route too crcultous, aud with no
curves of less than 500 feet radius And To lo-
cate The road So Us To accommodate the general
interests Of the country traverspd by the road,
without inlnfy 10 the more widely extended IN
tcresis OF the road, and the general utlny
thereof
By reference to the annexed plan of the cuun.
try. IL viii 10 readily perceived that by this
route the road would accommodate the mining
operations Of a large portion of the Schuylkiil
reg on. fairly open the small basin st Railing
Ron. onh the vast mineral wealth Of the Malro.
noy coal region, also large portion Of tie Sha
mokln region. Although the DJuv.lc aud
Pu'tsvIIle Raj Road WAS intended 10 traverse
the MahOnoy coal region Tor a greater distance
than the r"ad would by the present route, yet
It the d Il =. K. X. VAS even completed, II
would not accommodate ;he ruiuing uperai ons
ct that region IA general, We'll as the road
would by tn" present proposed route, from the
fact of the D. p. X K. brrng too much elevated.
1t is admitted that the d & p. IL. r. at Glrard-
vile is low enough to favor the mining opera
tl"ns at that place, but by the time it reaches
the Centre Turnpik" II is over one hundred feet
above the level OF Mahonoy creek, and at the
turnpike there WAS intended to have been an
ascending inclined plane. which elevated the
road above nearly all the coal from there 10 the
Locust summit. But by the present route ii Is
proposed to cross Mnhouoy creek soon after that
stream leaves the coal region, and at level
sufficiently low TO favor the opportunity of *.
tending branch railroads into IN" Goa region at
water level through the valleys at Mahonuv,
Shenandoah Mine Run, &c. and thereby favor
the general Mining operations at Mater level
IN all the ravInes tributary To this natural out
let for the coal; und by keeping the road with
nj h.,n ara q
noy creek Ia Big run gap, and there enter the
coal basin al luw level, will also favor Tho
mining operations at water level IN the various
roy'ncs tributary TO this natural outlet for the
jnrng, N the lcas', the mere widely extended
interests and general utility of the road Ano-
iher favorable feature OF this route deserving of
note, il, that from the Mahonny coal region 10
the proposed tunnel, or Broad Monntnln summit
level, Qhe direction in which the coul OF this
region will be- lrnneportcd,) the Ascending grade
is but forty feet pr mile, mp which dra't en-
ginrs will be capable OF ascending wnh heavy
unjns.
In constructing this rod, an expensive item
is the tunnel through the R5oad Mountain, il
being thrrty seven hundred feet in length, aud
about four hundred feet brlnw the top of the
'onnniain at that place 1t Is the only place
within many miles either east or west Of the
line, where tunnel of hat lcuI'h would pl =
through the mountain at that level But from
the ia et of il being the means oF reducing the
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