The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1872-09-05
Grand Marrow aswa~e RafIroad
Gelen.rnaion I'm Mis.I.Ainni


celebration I'm mississippi.
On last Thursday, the 18th nit
the completion and opening of the
Ripley Narrow Guage Railroad was
celebrated with great demonstrations of ioy
at Ripley. Tippah county, in this State By a
eonconrsc Of nearly ten thousand people.
This event has marked new era in railroad
construction in the Southwest, for we believe
it Is the first Narrow Guage Railroad which
| which has been constructed and opened for
business South Of the Ohio river, and we are
proud To know and record that Mississippi
enterprise has been the first TO accomplish
this grand pioneer undertaking.
The present starting point OF the road is
at Middleton, in Tennessee, on the Memphis
and Charleston Railroad, about half way
/ between Grand junction and Corinth, and
the present terminus at Ripley, in Tippah
county, Mississippi, distance of twenty
| five miles and due South from Middleton.
This section which is now completed is only
the first link in the cham for a Grand
Trunk Narrow Guage Railroad which is
projected to traverse the whole length of
the State North and South from the Tennes-
see line to the seaboard at Mississippi City
anu d country now entirely
remote from railroad facilities. With the
subsidy of four thousand dollars per mile
from the State which is now secured by the
completion of this first link the enterprise
will undoubtedly be pushed forward vigor-
ously. Capt. Hardee informs US that he has
in course of preparation an official paper on
the subject of Narrow Guage Railroads to
be addressed to the people of the State and
showing their complete adaptability to all
| the needs and wants of our people, and we
shall therefore look forward with a great
deal of interest to this forthcoming produc-
ton.
We cannot bestow too much praise
on the interchangeable spirit and energy
displayed by Col. Falkner in carrying for
ward his project to its present successful
poiGt, and especially as we have been in
formed that the earth work was commenced
abont the 1st February last and the road
finished on the 28th day of August, and
more wonderful than all, that the last nine
teen miles of iron had been laid in twenty
days.
If the people in Union, Pontotoc, Chicka-
saw, Oktibbeha, Winston. Neshoba, Newton,
Issaqueua, Jones, Perry, and Harrison
counties, will now come forward and avail
themselves OF Col. FaIkner's energy by Civ
ing him a helping hand, it will not be many
months before they will hear the iron horse
snorting through their wild woods devel-
oping their now hidden resources of that
section of the State, and thus repaying
them ten-fold for what little assistance
they may be called upon to give. They
must remember that this Narrow Gauge
Railroad can be constructed and put in
operation at one half the cost of other roads
thus securing a cheaper transportation and
at the same time answering all the purposes
for which railroad is required. We wish
the Ship Island, Ripley and Kentucky Rail-
road God-speed, and speedy completion
by its energetic President, Col. w. c. Falk-
ner, whose recent, unlooked-for achieve
ment gives an earnest that at no distant day
the long looked for road to Mississippi City
and Ship Island viii be an accomplished
fact. When it once reaches Mississippi
City an arrangement can undoubtedly be
made with the New Orleans and Mobile
Railroad 10 lay down an extra rail so as to
carry the narrow gauge cars right into the
city OF New Orleans, and the Northern ex-
tension of the road pushed forward from
Middleton to some available point on the
Ohio river:
From Capt. T. S. Hardee, State Engineer
and one of the Board of Railway Commits
sioners, who examined the work, we have
gathered the following items of informa-
tons.
The road has gauge or width between
the rails of three feet. This is two feet less
than the gauges on the other roads already
established in the State, and consequently
all the engines, cars and rolling stock are
proportionately smaller and lighter. The
iron rail which has been used is similar in
pattern to that in use by the wider gauges
hut weighs only 80 pounds to the yard and
has the iron plate at all the joints common
ly known as the fish bar. The road is sup
piled with the following rolling Stock viz:
two locomotives, one passenger COACH eight
box cars and twenty-eight fiat cars.
The passenger coach is very neatly up
holstered and is arranged with double seats
on one side and single seats on the opposite.
and is calculated to transport passengers
with as much comfort as any one can desire.
On the day of the excursion, the train
passed over the road at the rate of twenty
miles per hour and with scarcely jar or a
Jolt, and the road was considered by all to
be a grand success.