National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1871-12-15
The Ue8 Fuiric~ RaVrOdh


ION upon the proposed West falriec
Railroad, in which Your correspond
cnt, &C. has u route entirely new 10
us. This road is to furnish an out
let for the extensive copper mines
Of Corinth and Vcrshre, as well ms
TO accommodate Il large farming ter.
,,,ury, that is now from ten To TWEEN.
" five miles from railroad. viii
ask C.. how can this br done by hay.
irg road running down Waits
River t ricrmont Station, thence
nm Eastmans Brook, aid intcrscct.
inc with the b. {. Il NJ. railroad
near East ilaycihill. IF G. willlook
in The reports Of the General AS.
scmbly for 1869, page l3S, he will
see that the charter of the West
Fa,rlcr railroad Co. was "amendcd
10 as to allow said road to connect
with the Vt. Central at any point in
Windsor Co, or with the Barre
railroad al any point Of sad road,
or with both OF said roads, rs may
hc deemed cXpoa!eAt.'
This route would pass through
tae towns of Ncrshire, C0rinth,
Washington and Barre. Prominent
railroad men havs examined this
route, this fall, from Fairlee to Bar
re, by the way Of Cor!nth Corner,
and prOnoul &c 1t Il very feasible
route, and Of easy grade as easy as
any in the State, for the same dis
tance. This will accommodate all
of the mining territory in that sec.
,ion, rs well as populous and rich
farming country.
in an editorial in the same mum.
ter, YOU advance the idea that the
local traffic OF this proposed road
would not warrant the expense of
broad gauge road but that a mar.
row gauge'road might be made to
pay.
am well aware that the narrow
gauge road is much less expensive;
but rolling stock must lie kept ex.
prcssly for such roads. Is there any
territory on the Central or Passump.
sic roads, of the same number of
miles and estimated cost Of construs-
ton as this proposed road, that
would warrant the expense of con.
structing and running, for local traf
tic merely! The profits. or II large
share OF them, must come from
through freight taken from and de.
livcred to other companies and this
cannot be done on roads Of different
gauge, without the additional cX-
pensc of loading and unloading
In my experience upon railroads in
in the South, have found this very
announcement ; and in many places
where narrow gauge roads were built
and were sufficient for local traf
iic merely, they have been obliged
10 substitute the broad gauge to
shun this Inconvenience and cOntin-
ual expense.
can say with c. "Iron is King"
and "the more railroads the better
if they can be made sclf-sustaining.
But give us Il broad gauge road, so
that We can load cars at our stations,
with the products Of quarries, mines,
and farms, and send them direct to
Hartford. New York, or Boston,
and we will make it pay.
Corinth, Vt Dec. ll.h, 1871.
We did not understand that our
correspondent, c., proposed to have
the West Fairlcc Railroad run down
Waits River to Picrmont crossing,
&c; but that he proposed a new
road over said route, to intersect
with the West Tairlce road, when
the latter should be constructed.
AS to what "Ncd" says of narrow
gauge vs.. broad gauge roads, we
agree with him in the main,as to tho
superior advantages of the latter,
though we dissent from his assertion
that railroads must necessarily de
pend upon through trei9hts, OF
freight taken FROM one road and de
livcred to another, for their profits
The passumpSic railroad, il one of
the most prosperous in the country. |
and, it has always, until Within the
present year, had to depend on 10.
cal business exclusively for its in.
come. If the local business along
the proposed railroad route will not |
pay for rnn..i;g the road aud if the |
COMPANIES aud people along
4, no route do not furnlsli a good |
share of the capital TO build the
road. il ~ almost a certainty that |
, he road will never be built in our
day or generation.
The project of constructing a rail
road over Washington heights is no
new idea. More than twenty five
years ago the first survey was made
10y Capt. McDuffee, who attempt ed
10 find feasible route through the
lowest notch. lie got up on the
east side all right, but found him.
self running his line down n grade
of 200 feet TO the mile on the other
side. Similar projects have been |
repeated since and although the en-.
cineers il later surveys claim to
have found "A feasible route on the