Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-09-28
VIRGINIA AND TENNESSEE RAILRoAp-lrs CON

nec,ions completed and proposed. We do not now
wish to refer back to lis early history to the wisdom
of those who 6rst projected it. The present and fu
ture results are Of much more Importance to us, aud
from these results In fact will the road and ts asso
ciates be Judged in the future. Thoee facts that
wa, wisely projected and perseverengly and en-
ersecnily carried through that it through tine
ruilest portion of Virgins, aud that it drains vast
tributary country, equsi TO that tapped by any
road in the world, arer.N enoush. We want to
see it operated with th::ls,sm energy aud wisdom
and with management eqssl to the magnitude and
Importance of the line. The Presidents and Directors
Of our railroads not those on whom the prosperity
OF the mainly Depend be, on those who are
intimately connected with their every day operation,
from the superintendent to the fireman. We want Gu.
ergy decision and experience in those who guide and
goveru-men like Messrs Dodamesd huth and Gill,
who know their profession "by heart" Ia all its de-.
tails, and who glory in 1t. 1t is not wish purpose
10 condemn, though we find much in the management
of our roads which calls loudly for remedy. Bat the
Virginia aud Tennessee railroad, built for the pur
pose of draining the Southwest. and an avenue
for the produce of that rich and prolific country bor
derng the Tennessee river, should not be conduct
ed merely passenger rail road. or its rates OF
charges kept 80 high, that rival roads, under dead
vsnisges can carry of that produce which antci-
pated, and on which much of the prosperity Of the
State depends. Kali roads built or devoted merely
to The transportation Of passengers add but little 10
the development of the country through which they
pass. 1t is the heavy freight transporting lines which
improve and build up towns and cities along their
routes and it will avail the State but little, matter
how many travellers may pass through Virginia TO
the North West it the rail roads OF South Caro'ir"
and Georgia carry of the produce-the freight
which We anticipated in the beginning. IT,"
same may be said of the Covington and Ohio ard Vir
ginia Central 1t is claimed that they when finished,
will carry most of the passengers from East TO West
or from Washington to the Ohio and the Mississippi,
though the produce of the West, which 10 Of more
importance, cannot be reached. But let US consider
how much benefit that travel may bs-of what worth
is it to the State at large, even suppose We obtain IL
which is not certain, since the great lines Of travel
will be from and TO the great centres of commerce
and tradel Our railroads were not built. any more
than canals, with the mere view of making money
common carriers. The State did not invest her
funds with the view of direct profit from the in
vestment. 1t was to develops our internal re-
sources and our external trsde to bring to cs-
the wealth: .at lies within and around our Common
wealth, and to take advantage OF our peculiar posl-
ton, by IL, ABILITIES which they give us as commoL
ransporir svenues and not for the mere purpose Of
waiting transient travellers from one end OF the
State TO th ,ther. The Virginia and Tennessee road
of all ohe' should bo heavy transporting avenue,
portage Dad, from the waters of the South West
% those he James the East. There is no other
r".:-i d" "h'ai" 'h" '--'- - -t-' -"r;"n ~
c.pt by tle crcuitous way Of the Hoaion New nnc
Gresnbrier rivers and james River and KanawhH
Canal, which does not now seem TO promise mnch.
The amount Of trade that will eventually flow IN
upon it must be prodigious if that trads s encour
aged to come instead Of being repelled, a. ut present.
Ii is provided with two outlets al Lynchburg,
by water and the other by rail, connecting with
Richmond Petersburg, tide water and the hsrbor OF
Norfolk, in the most available manner, and on that
,core requires no better facilities. It might, however,
discharge great part of s heavy trade at Buchanan
in the event of crowded busness, which would give
it the advantage of down grade from Christiansburg
to that point. We cannot that the proposed con-
nectiun with Charlottesville, with North Csrons,
by way of the Staunton will be Of any service to the
rail road or the State. They cannot bring an add
tionsl trade 10 the tdewater section neither will they
materially increase The travel on the Virginia and
Tennessee rail road since that road now claims the
shortest route to the Southwest by several hundred
miles, and 'cut off" of one hundred miles more
will not be any greater nducement 1t will. however
have the effect of making this road more thorough,
devoted to passenger traffic, and less liable and less
able to become that which Virginia requires OF it, p
great freight or grand trunk line, 10 bring in produce
and carry out merchandise.
At New River, 81 miles from Lynchburg, or about
10 from Buchanan. it strikes one Of the great natu-
raj highways of nature, and one too that may yet be.
come an avenue from the West which would, il open.
II, place trade on this line, much more than If
could accommodate with a single track, and OF ten
times the value to the Eastern cities and Virginia, OF
all the passengers it may or could possibly carry
When we consider that the distance from Central to
the mouth Of Grssnhrier il only about 10 miles, and
the fall little over 800 feet, there can bs no impossi'
bilty even improbability, Of the opening ot Inc
New Rverto this point for the trade of the West 6y
steam-lhat trade which Virginia has 80 long been
anxious TO Obtain, and for which Boston, New York
Pniladelphis and Baltimore, have emulated in COM
mercial strife and expenditure. At or near Abing
don and ts terminus starts of the great projected
line 2O0 miles into Kentucky, which would drain an
extent of country equal to the main stem itself, and
bring down another food of trade, which, under pro
per management, could have no other outlet
This, too, demands heavy transporting ave
nue. for produce, much more than mere pas
senger road. Its connection or continuation into
Tennessee, at least as far as Knoxville, at present
demands the transportation of heavy freight. 1t the
object Of the road aud the purposes OF the State ln
building the road. would be realized. We find even
now the lines of Georgia and South Carolina coming
over the Eastern mountains to cut of the trade which
we anticipated and, unless we eau carry fre'ght d
cheap as they, or the roads Of other States do, the
"cut oG" will be efectua II they, with grades
equally as heavy, carry heavy freight 4io mie'
chssper than our roads can do il over 334 miles, We
think the State should not assist in laying another
rail- for all our railroads !: cFec. = The simple feat
Of huring travellers from sud OF ihs state 20 tuo
other or of carrying few visitors TO the Springs in
the summer months. This however, ihol Oh ''is only
alternative need not be the csse since our roads car
carry freight as cheap the Georgia roads, 1t pro-
perly managed and equipped. A business OF soooo'
tons per year, at moderate charges, would pay mucf
better than 80 900 or even 100 900 tons at high rates
The former would bring the smiles OF prosperity viii
It, while the latter would only add to our emosrrsss
msnt and drive the industrious to more liberal an
enterprising States.
The Virginia and Tennessee Rail Road, from Salt.
ville or theresbout, must become essentially port
ago road since from that point produce must take th
land thai is practically speaking for the preeen
day the head Of steam navigation on the Tennessee
and its tributary waters; or if it is not the presen
head. it undoubtedly soon will be, since there l' eve
ry ndu ut for the extension Of steam navigation
to this place Here, then, VIZ have grand start'n
point for the portage tract one that We cannot AVOID
except at reat expenditure from the waters OF tn
South-w 10 those of the East; and here will concer