Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1852-04-28
New Raiiroad Project.

II
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. that the
construction of Railroad from Nashville,i
Tennessee, to intersect the Pennsylvania
Railroad at Latrobe. is in contemplation.
In order to make public the best probable
route, &C., for such road, We requested
a statement from gentleman ofthis place.
who is skillful engineer, and well ac-
quainted with the topography of the
country. He kindly complied with our
request, and his statement will be found
Immediately below the article from the
Bulletin:
-. Great Railroad TO the West.
y 's' On our fourth page viii be found the
full proceedings of the stockholders.meet-
ing of the Pennsylvania Railroad Compa-
M, to which we invite attention. AT
this meeting proposition was submitted
nv Mr.. Kennedy of Philadelphia, for the
construction of a railroad from Latrobe,
on the Pennsylvania railroad, southwest
Along the valley of the Monongahela,
through Uniontown, to the Virginia line.
The citizens of Fayette county will furn-
Eish the money, if the Pennsylvania Rail
road Company will make the road. This
will be the first link in great chain that
can be constructed, reaching to Nashville
and thence capable of extension indehi-
nitely.
From the Virginia line, where it is
proposed this link shall terminate, road
south of the Ohio, to the Big Sandy river,
which separates Virginia from Kentucky,
NAV be constructed with ease, and the
entire distance from Latrobe to the Big
Sandy, is but 225 miles. A road is al
ready in progress of construction, from
Big Sandy to Lexington, whence there is
now railroad to Louisville. A road is
also about to be made from Lexington to
Nashville. Thus by making the railroad
from Latrobe to the Big Sandy--225
miles-Philadelphia will secure contin-
uous railroad, in very direct line, to
Nashville. 1t was stated that the whole
Journey from Philadelphia to Nashville
may be made, over such road in 36hours.
but even if it should require 40 hours, no
one could complain. as it would be the
most direct and rapid route to the heart OF
the great Southwest that could possibly
be made.
The is one great advantage in this pro-
posed route that should be borne in
mind, it obviates all difficulty likely to
arise from bridging the Ohio river since
it avoids that river entirely. and passes in
line as nearly direct as could be desired,
along its Southern shore. 1t secures for
ever to us trade that belongs to us now,
and ought not to be permitted to be diver
ted-that of Kentucky, Tennessee, and
other Southwestern States. Any one
that will take map and follow with the
eye, the route we have laid down, will
be struck with its advantages. 1t is wor-
thy of serious thought whether 1t is not
important to secure the business of this
wealthy region, when it can be accom-
plished by the construction OF only 225
miles Of Observation-Disclosures EVen'ng
Bulletin"
The route for a railroad from the State
line near the crossing of the Monongaheia
to Sandy river, which separates Virginia
from Kentucky, as proposed in the "Phila-
delphia Evening Bulletin" might follow
the valley of the Monongahcla and the
West-fori of that river, by way of Nor
gantown, Fairmont, ClarkSburg and Wes-
ton, thence through the counties of Gilmer,
Kanawha, Cabe!I and Wayne, to Sandy
river; or a route from Clarksburg some.
thing west of that indicated might answer
equally we'll The Monongahela and
West-fork are crooked but lis believed
that by an ordinary amount OF Tunnelllng
such as is generally encountered in a
billy country-a Railroad line might be
obtained much shorter than the river, and
probably it might not greatly exceed the
length of ordinary roads now travelled.
For the whole distance through Virginia,
along the proposed route, the country is
hilly, the hills rising to the height of some
two, three of four hundred feet but low
gaps are found in all of the ridges where
the elevations frequently are quite in
considerable.
The lands Of this country, though hilly,
are very productive in all the grains com
mon to Pennsylvania, and probably they
are not exceeded by any country in the
production of grass. We have inexhaus-
tible seams Of bituminous coal, varying
from to feet in thickness; and on the
Great KanaWha river, there is an album
dance of camel coal, of a superior quail
ity.
From the Great KanaMha to the mouth
of Sandy, distance of 4s miles, a sur
vey for railroad has been recently made,
and the estimated cost Of construction,
that is, graduation, masonry and bridg
ing, is Sc, 100 per mile. No survey has
ever been made of the route from the
Pennsylvania line to the Great Kanawha,
but it is supposed that the difficulties upon
this line will not exceed those met With on
the line of the Baltimore and Ohio rail
way through Virginia and the cost
of this road may be taken as very fair
indication of what the cost would be of a
similar road from the Pennsylvania line