Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1872-08-31
TO CUBA HILL AND BACK.
A Run Over the Finished Psrtien Of the
Wilmington and Western Railroad
A Wonderful Blast

At the invitation Of j. T. Head, Esq,
President Of the Wilmington and Western
Railroad Company, snumber of gentlemen
gathered at the office of the Company, In
the Exchange Building, on Saturday even.
ing at b o'clock, and they were Conveyed
thence In an omnibus to the locomotive
house of the new road in the southern
portion Of the city, where a train was
awaiting them, together with number OF
ladies aud gentlemen who had driven down
in their own convcyances. The train con-
sisted of locomotive, a passenger 9ar and
a platform car with benches and a roof,
hut open sides. Most the gentlemen chose
this, as il facilitated observation, and
observation was the object of the trip.
The IRA was under the command Of
Superintendent Hodguman himself, aud
of course all went we'll, as do all things
under his control.
We swept out through the beautiful
country between this city and the Red
Clay Creek Valley making excellent time,
with a smOothne's Of motion remarkable
| in a new road. Passing Marshall's rolling
mills Al the entrance OF the valley, We
arrived ~ Qteenbank Station, noAr Phillips
| Mills, where the train halted and WIN, e..
| Philips E-q., one OF the dreci ors OF the
road entered and bal cd us with Ten
minutes for refrrshmen s." which was
the signal for general deseIliun Of the
train Tor the in ide OF the station house
where we found spread out an abundant
supply Of excellent apples and lucious
grapes. After justice bad been done them
| he station house was duly inspected
| aud the expression of admira1O for its
neatness, beauty and convenience was gem
eral and emphatic. IL IS truly q mod i
for a small station house
Returning to the train we speeded on
again pnst the beautiful Brandywine
Springs properly and Woods rolling mil
to Cuba Hill, where the track laying hns
been brought to an end until the eStensiv,
b asting operations there are couple ed
This hill has hen q veritable hill OF din
Guilty to the company. II was found
necessary to blast through solid rock mort
than one hundr' feet az the base and fifty
feet high, and though this would not prove
much of a difficulty with strati1td o.
soft rock, he G, owing W the exceeding
hardness aud solidlty Of the rock encoun
tered, IL has proved q difficult, lsboriou
and expensive process.
Immense saud blasts have been Tesoftes
TO and rocks varying from a hundred
weight to ton haye been blown high II
| AAAi AAA hliA NNoAtt ANA ihA AuAlAANho VI aAh
around the place. The most remarkabl
of all these blasts was one which lifted al
immense rock out Of the cut to height @
seventy or eighty feet and hurled
through the woods, breaking trees, &c
! for hundreds Of feet, and finally strikin
the ground and rolling or bouncing som
twenty feet 10 where We. saw Flying
Ii has been measured by the engineers an
its weight computed from the measure
! ment is between forty and fifty tons.
Our party of observers stopped Ion
enough TO witness two or three sma
blasts aud then returned sOmewhat slowl
down the road as tho train had TO |
backed home.
The toilsome work OF blasting at Cub
, Hill is at last about completed and Il
{ track can be laid through there in a fe
7 days, after which it can be swiftly pushC
u on to completion.
The road is evidently admirably hui
{ so far rs IL goes, and its equipment is
the very best character. The buildin
, though not extravagautly costly, are nea
:, ly painted and tastefully designed, viii
It It's cars are strictly first class. Good tas
y has been displayed, too, in choosing Il
% names for the stations. The first staff,
y will probably he at the Newport and &,
turnpike OF rice hohui ana Is not
named we believe. The station of Phi
lips Mills, ca miles from this city,
~ called Greenbank; that at Alan Wood
n Co, g Mills, miles further on. Alandi
u and the next station, mile further on,
ne the midst of the hills Of which, Cuba
II, the chief, Is appropriately called Hig
OF land. Altogether the inspection was
d, most satisfactory one, and the trip
IL lightful. On arriving back at locomoti
or house, q vote Of thanks was rendered I
nj President and Directors of the Compar
he