Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1869-01-21
NUMBER lo7.
w. d r.. n. II.
Engineers Report.
~ PINE STREET, NEw YORK
Eth .Ianuarx- 1lRn

~ PINE STREET, NEw YORK..
9th january, 1869. 30
Pres. vii. ts Reading r. r. Co.,
DEAR SIR: with this you will receive the re.
port of N. T. Hobart, Engineer in charge, of your
road, showing the condition Of the work, al the
close of the year 1868. lslsia
Those Disturbances in labor which are gener-
any FOUND attending upon an important Presiden-
iial election, or those adverse interests which
seem TO grow gu, Of the arrangement in usual
economy; produced by railroads in their passage
through ngrlcnlnra districts have not been want
| ing, to retard and to enhance the cost of your
road IL is not surprising that the relations be-
tween the employer and the employed should be
temporarily dcrangcd, by the excitement of so
| important an election, as we have lust passed
through, where transient labor only Is available,
nor is II remarkable, that fences which have
Deen landmarks, from tho time of Penn, shonld
be made (by their owners, who have also de-
scended from that ancient stoek) to yield roluct-
| antly their place to modern improvements.
Notwithstanding these causes of delay, II will
be observed that the work is in q satisfactory
state OF progress, and that the close of the present
winter, Will find the grading and bridging, 60
near completed, that the road may be finished,
and opened for traffic, section by section, at such
times, and in such rotation as the Judgment OF
the Board OF Managers may dictate
i would recommend that the erection Ui Schuyi.
XIII bridge, at Brdsboro, aud the conut ctoD with
tne Penna. II. r., at Coatcsvillc, with the track
thence to the several iron works. in that vicinity
should receive the earliest possible attention and
also, that the track laying at the Wilmington end
oil Inc road, should be commenced oaily in the
spring. The road between Coatcsville and vii.
mington should be opened for traffic, by the MIDI
die oil next summer, to effect which 70 1000 sils
VIII be required, more than will be supplied from
the line of the road, no time should pc lost In
arranging to supply this deficiency.
lsigned. Respectfully,
j. DurroS STEELE, Gu. Eng
WriMISGroN AND READING RAILROAD,
Engineers Office. Coatcsville, Pa,
january 4th, lSG9.l
j. DuTToy STEELE, ESQ,
Chief Engineer:-
Dear Sir.-I present with this report general
view of the state of the work, upon the line of
the Wilmington and Reading Railroad Mt this
date The work OF graduation was commenced
upon portion Of the line, under Willirm NJ
Wiley Co., contractors, the first ol the year lust
past but was not pressed until near the opening
Of spring, owing TO the severity of tbs wiiter.
After the frosts had passed there was general
commencement OF work, upon the greater NUM-
Der OF sections. The masonry of the bridge, at
the crossing OF the river Schuylkill near Birds
boro,' connecting the W. and X. Railrad with
the Philadelphia ana Reading Railroad, was also
begun by the contractors, William Call & Gu.
This masonry consists Of five pirrs and ,ao abut-
ments, of which four piers and tw., u.unpnts
are finished The remaining pier /. Tow htirg
built, (having been delayed mill ia. apirrwas
let out of the canal
Kill bridge is b ing delivered, aud Ilp un work
is contracted for, which will e,srr ;hc erection,
OF the bridge carly in the spring. n timber
for the Hay Creek bridges has been partly icliv-
cred, and the iran work Is ready and puu be
delivered as soou as needed.
The graduation has been nuch retarded upon
the line by the scarcity of men, tl, .ari lion III
the price, and the unsatsfed sta'r tf labor
moving from work to work, and n Il measure
sharing in the excitrmtht incident IL d general
election, that has just taken place these with
other circumstances hcyond the control Of the
contractors, have hindered and delayed the COM
pletion of the graduation MS soon us was frst
anticipated.
The work from Birdsboio to Springfield is in Il
fair state Of progress that now doing is almost
altogether rock work, the lighter portions being
finished, or is Of such light character MS to re-
quire little more than trimming ahead of the
track.
From Springfield TO the Waynesburg Railroad
the work is nearly fushed and at tile iltersec-
tion of the two Railroads there Is au excavation
to be made that will require about two months
work. From this point to Hibcrnia all the scc-
tions are graded, and only require trimming, ex-
cept the light work on section a. From thence
to Coatesville, there only remains section 26 and
part of section 30 to be done; on the latter Sec
ton the work is about one half finished.
From Coatesville, southwark, the work is in
sneh static as TO require only little extra work
more lnah trlmns"s to he ready for the track as
cutting is encountered. The earth has sl been re-
moved from this cut, leaving it In good shane for
winter work. The bridge over the Brandywine
creek, at this place, will be finished in few DAYS
so as TO allow the material from this cut to be
carried over to form the cmbankment on tho
south side.
The rock cutting on section 81 opposite the
Chester County Aims House, is abou; iwo-thrds
finished, and the rest Of the work on the section
nearly completed. Sections 3S, 80, 10, II, ~, a.
"A, 45, and 16, are well under way, and will be
completed during the winter and also the sec-
tions intervening to Twaddell's Bend,at the Della
ware State line. From this point the character
OF the work has been principally rock, and quite
heavy, which has proven difficult 10 remove, al
though the progress made has been quite satis-
factory under the circumstances. This heavy
work extends from section 40 to section 55 and
though tedious, gives evidence of its completion
by spring. The rest of the work, from this point
to the city. of Wilmington, distance of about
five miles, is more than three-fflhs done, and is
steadily.
The work from the forks of the Braudywinc
to the Delaware State line has been much retarded
by The construction OF new csunty road IN the
place of the one destroyed and occupied by the
". d II. r. h. This road through Pocopsin and
Pennsburg townships on the west side of the
creek, was built upon line surveyed for rail-
road, and occupied the ground and about the
level OF our grade line, thereby requiring the
and reconstruction of SO large
portion of 1t.
During the fall, the timber and iron work for
all of the bridges was contracted for, and is being
delivered, and the erection of the bridges over
the Brandywine creek, at the several crossings
south of this place, is going on. There have
been delivered upon the line about nine thousand
railroad slls, principally In this neighborhood
The state oi the whole work upon the line is
such as TO give hope of lis completion early the
coming season. Yours, very truly,
NATHANIEL p. HOBART.
Engineer in Charge.