Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-03-20
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT
Col. Garnett's Report.
To TIE President and Duectcys of'Me Mem
Pills and Charleston Railroad C0mpa-

ny.
HUNTSVILLE, Jan. Is, 1851.
Gentlemen Il have the honor to sub
nit the following report Of the result of an
experimental survey for the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad.
There was one party placed in the field
on the l2th day Of July, and second par
ty on the 26th of August last, and very
thorough survey has been made of the
whole country, $50 miles of line having
been run. These surveys Were made un-
der the immediate charge of Theodore S.
Garnett Esq, Principal Assistant Emf
neer. 1t would have been scarcely pos
sible to perform tins amount of work in
less time, and the results prove the skill
and fidelity with which it has been done.
1t has been found that line may be OBJ
taired equal, in economy of construction,
and in adaptation to the purposes Of trans
portation, to any road Of SIN tlarextent ever
yet projected.
Huntsville, being a poin fixed in the
charter, will be taken as the starting point,
and the connection Of that place with the
Nashville and Chattanooga railroad will
be first described.
The question Of location, east Of Hunts
vile, is one involving so many consdera-
tons, in addition to the actual cost of con-
struction, that 1t is deemed proper to al
lude here briefly to everything which can
properly bear on the question.
The length of the Jackson county line
would be 60 miles---a hne to strike the
Nashville and Chattanooga railroad near
Winchester would be 475 miles, and the
distance, along that road, between the two
proposed points ofjunction, would be rs!
miles.
One half of the Winchester route was
surveyed; the oher portion was examined
by a careful reconnaissance. The Jackson
line will cost, for graduation, masonry and
bridges SI,250 per mile, and it is not prob
able that the Winchester line can be made
for less. But for the sake of argument ii
will be granted that this last will cost only
$4,000 per mile, which is cheaper than
any portion of this road Of the same dis
tance. The superstructure will be estima-
ted, in each case, at $4,000 per mjle.-
These data Will give the first cost Of the
Winchester line at about 100, 900 less than
the other, and ii would form more direct
line to Nashville, &c. But the access to
Savannah, Charleston, Chesapeake Bay
and the Eastern cities, wound be lengthen-
cd l6 miles, and the travel and commerce
between those points and the Mississippi
valley, would have to encounter the pas
sage Of the Cumberland mountain, through
a tunnel and by grades Of los 6-10 #. per
mile, for miles. On the Jackson route,
not only would this le miles be saved, but
the Cumberland mountain is entirely a.
voided and no grade will be used exceed
ing ~ 24-l00 feet per mile, and the cur
vaiure will be much legs.
1t is true that these 16 miles are made
by another Company, and they have to
bear the increased cost of transportation
over these high grades.
But it is self-evidenttruth that the in
terest Of capital and cost of transportation,
on any line of road, must always be the
measure oftar which the persons and pro-
perty conveyed over that road must, in
the end, bear.
There is another consideration of vital
Importance. There is not shadow of
doubt that double track will be required
on the Memphis and Charleston rairoad
at no distant day. Throu- h Jackson this
might be made at a comparatively small
cost, while the tunnel and expensive work
on the Nashville and Chattanooga road,
across the Cumberland mountain, would
offer a serious impediment to the construc-
ton ofa double track.
Again, If we are on the nearest line to our
proposed market, and that line is to be IA
profitable one, it is desirable to have as
short distance as possible, Of roads owned
by distant companies, between your road
and that market 1t would evidently be
an advantage to the Memphis and Char
lesion railroad Company to own the
whole distance to Chattanooga. For that
must be an important point Of exchange,
since the competition must take place there
between the line to the Chesapeake Bay
and the lines through Georgia and South
Carolina. Your road Will receive, from
both these lines, the benefit of the trade
and travel to and from Memphis.
Some idea may be formed of the i'm
portanoe attached to distance on all the
great highways of the country by this fact
Although there were several different
lines of road in existence, over which the
travel between New York and Boston
passed, the capitalists Of these cities found
ii 10 Their interest IN construct what is cal
led the ar line, merely to save a little dis
tanee between two important points. A.
gain, Boston has constructed railroad to
Albany 200 miles long, at a cost Of near