The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-06-27

AZ this ensnt We have shout . 800 !. I.
ishcd milesNf Railroad In Ohin. ~ ".
has been ab0u ~, 000, 900. Thu s = soss
constantly abogt thirty thousand A..
hundred locomotives, fve thoussrH -. -
and consume tvs hundred and sftv 49,
sand cords Of WOOD each ycsrI m.
vast machinery-a greater ops ~. -.
been employed, in . cdmmumisy IL Tia -.
magnitude, in any presiou eonda;ar y
society. What does Ill this i.;ns,v >. =
compiish? Have the benefits eouHIIed ~
vast outlay Of money, men and t5I.Sl. s.: -
There are few things Of which s0e;ss. /,
more thoroughly convinced, thaH q ~
great and superior advantages Of the Rs;l.
road over any other mode Of 1ocomotion
Nothing but this conviction could ~.
caused the immense expenditure Of capitol
and labor on Them in SO short time. krt
great q the advantagesof the Railroad -
they have> accrued in way which was nj
at first at all calculated on. 1t is sinpuls,
how completely the actual results have i,
many things disappointed the original bro.
Jectors, aud yet have accomplished mora
than their estimates. Some Of the vrea.
differences betweeen the original theories
and the actual results are these
!. There was an entire miscalculation -
to the potcer Of locomotives. Twen,v
years ago it was commended that locomo.
tive could not ascend more than fiftv fest
TO mile, or if it did, that the friction would
be so great as to make it Improbable. n
this theory were true, the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad would have no existance. for
there are grades OF one hundred and 6f,een
feet on that road! These grades are easily
passed, and it has been satisfactorily proved
that locomotive will ascend a grade two
hundred feet to mile, with moderate
train Ut cars. This fact has made il prac-
tlcable to make roads where none was an
tlcipated, and to carry the heaviest kind of
2. Twenty-Five years since, it was an
public, that railroads could only esrry nas.
sengers, or very light freight. They npst
be left to canals. Time has, howeye,'
proved that this assertion was not onlv .
mere theoretical dogma, but that It was iba
very opposite of the fact. From .une,;os
power of steam, railroads are all well calcu.
lated to carry heavy freigh,s. There are
several remarkable examples of this but.
perhaps, none so signal as that of the Read.
ing Railroad, which is employed solely in
carrying coal alongside the Schuykill canal.
Another strong illustration is the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad, four ffths of whose re-
celpts are from .freights. OF the freight
carried On this road, four hundred thousand
tons are coal! Of the -four and cattle 90
ing from the West, u portion passes over
grades OF one hundred and fifteen feet
Thus we have a full complete demonstration
that steam locomotives on railroad can car.
ry heavy freights to any amount, and make
the carriages profitable. The most singular
thing attending this overthrow of theories.
is, that but for this utter failure of the
original theories, not one of our best roads
could live or prosper. If, for example. a
railroad could not conquer more than ffty
feet grade, easily our great roads could have
carried no heavy freight, and if they were
this day confined to only passengers. or
very light freight, they would not make their
expenses. Thus railroads prosper by be-
coming just what they were not expected to
be-heayy carriers Of freight. This gives
US very favorable view Of our Western
railroads; for, it is the West, that the great
est proportion Of surplus freights will be
found. If the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad
becomes Gas it will do) the main carrier
Tor the surplus corn, grain, whiskey and
hogs OF the productive region from CincIn-
natl to st. Louis, its freights will be Its
most productive business. IL the Marietta
Railroad should carry, as it well may,E 1.-THE
100000 tons Of coal carried on the Baltimore
Toad, that will be the most productive share
of its business ia