The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1846-08-15
For the New Era.
A PLAN

Tor re .D"MHg me portsmouth aud Roanoke
Rail Road, and Mode Of Construction.
will take occasion here to say. it would af
ford me and every friend of the Road much plea
sure 10 see it laid with II iron rail, bn, do not
believe, under present circumstances, sufficient,
sum can be raised 10 do it, Then what is TO be
done must great work like this. one Of such
vital importance. especially TO this Town, and
also to the city of Norfolk, be abandoned for the
wantof $3.50 600? Such sum will buy and put
the Road in first rate order on a superior plan; for
experience has already taught us lessons of wis
dom not easily forgotten. And we might a, no
distant day expect to see the Road from one end
to the other, laid entirely with L iron, and that
too from the profits of lis business This plan
that now propose to you is cheap and yet du-
rahle one, and it is practicable for the people of
Portsmouth and Norfolk to do it, The Road now
extends distance of Sd miles TO Boykins Depot
would suggest to commence there, and take up
iron. railing, and stills, down To the 40 mile post,
and distribute the same from there to Portsmouth,
which would be sufficient TO put this part of the
Road in good order. | will state here for the
information Of persons unacquainted with the
Road. that the first IL miles from Portsmouth TO
Suffolk, is laid with heavy and good quality of
iron, and it is now in pretty fair condition, ex-
cept the stills, and they much decayed At
the 20 mile post, inst beyond Suffolk, commences
another portion of the Road, l-2 miles long.
laid with good bar iron now in fine order. il hav-
ing been relaid within the last three or four years
The balance of the Road TO the 40 mile post is
tolerably good, the timber being very good and
sound these Ia miles of Road should not be taken
up until all the materials for the new Road shall
have been transported over it, Commence, then.
at the 40 mile post with your new Road, on TO
Weldon. distance of 3S 2 miles, after the
following plan The iron to 2 | 2 inch wide by
34 thick, the bars to be l2 or lS feet long, nail
holes 10 inches part-to prevent the ends of
bars from drawing up, as is so often the case
would suggest to have an oval 8 spike, with
thread on the end, driven through the rail, with
nut on the end Of the spike, and to have one
IN each end of every bar. | next propose to
have sub or foundation rail, running parallel
with the Road, 3 by 10 inches, TO he laid fiat
and level just below the surface Of the ground
Competent Judges say such timber will last twenty
years. There will be required stills by inches,
nat Top and bottom, 3 feet apart, 6 ] 9 feet long,
to be bedded on the Top Of this bottom rail and
at least half of the sill, will be above ground
You will then want.a top rail- 5 by 6 inches. laid
on the top o.! these stills, and trunnelled throuob
both sill and bottom rail. II would then he ne
cessaTy to have wrought iron knee representing
right angle, one end fastened to the stills with
spikes, and the other eb1 fastened to the top rail
by SO screw bolt, running through both knee and
rail, with nut on the inside of the rail- and to
be on every other one or left apart, to be made of
the surplus scrap iron taken from the Road The
whole Road could be completed in six months. or
less time. 1t would cost $4,000, to lay down the
50 miles Of new Road, and s2,5O0 TO take
up and repair the IA miles. this end Of the Road.
IT would cost 8 500 to repair the bridges.
After the Road is finished let the Company
lay out 20 or S25,000, in Il iron yearly, which
they could very easily do, besides paying diyi-
dend OF b or per cent on the stock, To Law ON
this end of The Road and the other end of the
Road being new would want very trifinp repairs for
ten years, in which period they will have laid r
iron to the ~ mile post, and in ten more years
they will have the entire Road laid with T. iron,
20 miles Of it being purchased with the 70 2
miles of flat bar taken off the Road.
| am satisfied that the cost of the Road canno,
exceed my estimate, or the expenses when fin
ished. In making this estimate of the supposed
income Of the Road, and expenses when finished.
have been governed by the former business, and
in looking over the report of the President, for the
year ending September 30, 1910, find the re-
cePis S77 ,9Ol 81, and il is fair to presume that
If the Road was in good order, it could do a much
better business than was ever done on il. Pas.
senger trains should ron daily and freight trains
too il necessary, and we have every reason to be-
lieve, that it would require two heavy Freight
trains to haul the amount that would he o6ersJ