Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1850-07-19
IL Il PO IL T.

To The Stockholders Of the Rutland and Bur
hngton Railroad Company.
GENTLEMEN,
AT your annual meeting in lS49, you were
pleased 10 order your Board OF Directors to omen
your Road for travel and freight, through its
entire line, by the first day of January, 1850
You were at that time informed of the estimated
amount Of work remaining to be done, and its
magnitude must have satisfied you, that the
execution Of this order, within the time limited,
would call for an effort, seldom if ever exceed
cd in Railroad construction in New England
The Board regarded this order as Imperative
No obstacle which could be overcome, must be
permitted TO prevent its literal execution.
And now, Gentlemen, your Board have the
high qualification of being able 10 announce to
you in this formal manner, what you already
know and understand, that your direction in
this matter has been obeyed. A train OF cars
from the ocean and another from the lake, each
full frcighted with stockholders and friends of
this great enterprise, met and exchanged con-
gratuIations in the rock excavation upon the
summit at Mount Holly, on the lSlh December,
1919 being thirteen days in advance of the
period when this work. by your order, was d.
rcctcd to be finished. Prom that dav to the
present, regular daily trains for freight and
passengers have passed each way over the en-.
tire line.
1t would Re burdcnsome, if not improbable
and painful, TO recapltulatc, on an occasion like
this, the peculiar difficulties and embarras.-
mcnts which have clustered around and beset
this enterprise, from the earliest period OF its
existence. Some o. the most prominent have
been seen and publicly known, but the memory
4 ~ IoJ tI,
be dreaded, must be reserved to those who have
been obliged from their position, 10 grapple with
and overcome them. 1t is sufficient to say,
that these difficulties and embarrasslnents. of
whatever aspect or character they may have
been, have so far yielded to the efforts you have
made, as to place the Rutland and Burlington
Railroad, prominently before the country, as a
work now practically completed, and forming
an important and necessary link in the great
chain Of internal improvements, For all this
success, we may be permitted TO congratulate
ourselves and each other
But, Gentlemen, this is not the purpose for
which, under our charter, we have assembled.
The day has arrived, when duty demanns of US,
your agents, to lay before you faithfully and
truthfully, and iu sufficient detail to be correct
ly understood by ALL the manner in which
we have discharged the great trust you have
CuHlluiuPy Iepuseu III us, anu u present Tor
your consideration, our views of the future, so
far as our own great interests are involved the
protection of which you will not fail to cherish
and secure.
The Rutland and Burlington Railroad, omit
ting fraction, is 100 miles in length, forming
the Northern and Western portion of the great
trunk line from Boston TO Lake Champlain, and
there connecting with the various avenues lead
ing to Canada, and the Western Lakes. The
cost Of this Road was estimated, in its prelim-
nary survey, at S3000O 900. 1t was TO cross
the Green Mountains in Vermont, at an eleva-
ton of some 400 feet above tide and was to
encounter, at that point especially, an obstacle
in rock cutting OF most formidable and cx-
pcnsive character-too much so, in the opinion
OF many, to Justify the necessary outlay. The
contractors commenced the work of grading in
the spring of lS47, since which, up to the day
OF its completion in December, 1919, the work
progressed regularly and steadily and with but
occasional and partial interruptions During
this short period there have been removed g..
,l94 cubic yards of earth, more than 800
600 yards of which IS a tenacious clay, hard.
pan and quicksand; and 323 $50 yards of solid
and 81 500 yards Of loose rock. There have
been constructed 81 ,9lli yards of cuvert ma,
sonry, 3S, 1855 yards OF bridge masonry, I,297
yards of arch and pier masonry, 1896 yards
of bank or supporting wall, and 5,5003 iincal
feet of bridging. The mechanical charac cler of
this work, for durability and strength, and for
architectural symmetry and beauty, will bear
comparison, we think, with similar work
wherever found in this country. The entire
line of track, which. with necessary turn-outs,
does not fall short of 1875 miles in length, was
laid in six and an half months by one party of
contractors. The sum of $4,000 has been
paid for fencing, embracing largo portion of
the line whdh passes through the cultivated
parts of the country, where fencing was mmc.
diately neccssary,-and Sl7,O23 II for depot
buildings, principally al way-sta,ons.
1t is known TO you, Gentlemen, that a large
portion of that part OF the line between Burling.
ton and Brandon, passes over a country where
either clay or aluvial soil predominates.
These materials, unsuitable for perfect road
bed, have required during the fall, winter and
spring months, to be covered with gravel, for
which heavy expenditure has been incurred.
The natural material between Brandon and
Bellows Falls, is generally of a much more
favorable character; but, never theless, has re-
quired considerable expense. Gravel has now
been placed on nearly the whole length of the
line, not more than twelve miles in all rhmain-
ing the Road throughout is in good running
order.