The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-08-16

Baehman valley Railroad.

Bachman Valley Railroad
Mrssas. EpIroRs .-permit me throuehthe
columns Of your paper to call the attention Of
the citizens of Westminster and our county
generally to matter Of great importance to
them, and which, in q measure, has escaped
their notice. Il is the construction Of the
Bachman Valley Railroad from its present
terminus, % miles distant To connect with
the Western Maryland Railroad, at or near
Westminster A brief history of this work
may not prove entirely uninterestiug to the
numerous readers Of your paper, and at the
same time have the effect Of showing TO some
extent the importance of this road TO the com.
mercial, manufacturing and farming interests
Of our town and county.
! The Bachman ALLEY Railroad proper com.
mences ct the Pennsylvania State line road
north from that point connecting with the
| Hanover Branch Railroad six miles east from
the town Of Hanover, Pa, having been built
under charter from the State Of Pennsylya.
MIA. The act Of incorporation for the Mary
land portion was approved April 9TH, 1870,
and was for the purpose Of constructing
Railroad from the point before mentioned on
the Pennsylvania line TO the Ore Banks of the
/ Chestnut Hill Iron Ore Company, to be com
pleted within ten years after the date OF the
charter, and after its completion to the Ore
| Banks TO be extended TO and intersect the
Western Maryland Railroad, at or near West
minister.
The Capital Stock authorized by the Char
ter is $250.000. The road was put under
contract December 9Th, 1871, from the Penn
| sylvania State line to Ebb Vale, its present
terminus, distance of FIVE miles, and was
opened for business in December, 1872; since
/ hat TINA hav s ham Naa4.larlv
1t is laid with I rails Of the weight of so lbs.
per yard, fish plate joints, and 2640 ties per
mile, The maximum grade is 30 feet per
mile, and the curves are all Of long radii,-
Jos. 5. Git, Esq, was the engineer. The
total cost of lie road including all expendi-
lures .Jr sury -, hit of way, side tracks,
engine horse, turntable, freight and passenger
stations was $Sl, 1862, or $l6,Sl2 per mile.
| The road is now being operated by the Han
over Branch Railroad under q contract for
two years, the Hanover Branch furnishing the
locomotives, cars, train hands, &C., at so cts.
per mile, per train run. An arrangement
with the Pennsylvania and Northern Central
Railroads is also in operation by which draw
back of 10 per cent. is paid to the Bachman
Valley Railroad Company, on all freight
brought to the above roads by the Bachman
Valley Railroad, such arrangement to continue
for 10 years. At the crossing of the Railroad
and the Manchester turnpike a new town
called Melrose has sprung up and is growing
rapidly. Anthracite coal, large size, Is deliv.
cred at this point at 50. 10 per ton.
The freight earnings of the miles of road
are from $500 to 81 900 per month, this rev.
enue being chiefly from the transportation of
Iron Ore.
The present officers Of the company are G.
j. Nourse, President; d. +. Steiger, Secre-
tary and Treasurer 9. l.. johnson, Superin-
tendent Directors, Cornelius Wentz, Eph.
rain Tracey, G. j. Nourse, G. j. Nourse, Jr.
and B. +. Steiger. All these gentlemen being
connected with the Iron Manufacturing inter.
ests in Pennsylvania, with the exception of
Messrs. Wentz and Tracey, who are citizens
of Carroll county.
The intention now, is to extend the road to
connect with the Western Maryland Railroad
at or near Westminster, and it rests with our
people to say by their actions whether they
will have the connection made in our town,
or whether by their Indifference they will let
it be made mile or so to the east Such a
policy would seem to be suicidal in the ex.
IRENE, when the Importance of such a con.
neetion in our town is considered. The dis
lance by the present route to York, Pa via
Western Maryland Railroad and Northern
miles, the distance by the Bachman Valley Rail.
road and Hanover Branch will be 40 miles to
York and Go miles to Harrisburg, which will be
reducedupon completion ofthe direct line from
Hanover to York, to 81, and so miles this di.
rect line, thereiseyery reason to believe will be
constructed within year. The saving, there
fore, to our citizens in frelghts on coal alone
would be, at cents per ton per mile, Sl.40
per ton, or sixth ofthe present cost, which
in the aggregate, would be at present con.
sumption from 9 to thousand dollars per
year, and the price of lumber would be re-
duced So per 1000 feet The effect would
therefore be to increase the consumption of
these articles, for "when the price of an arti.
Gle in the market of consumption is reduced by
the facilities in transportation the demand for
it Is increased; LIST. By enabling former con.
sumers to use it more freely; and 2dly. By
placing it within the reach of other classes Of
consumers who were before compelled to alb
stain from it by its DEAFNESS. The increase
in consumption from this cause is generally
in larger ratio than the diminuton Of price.
The number OF consumers able and willing to
pay one dollar for any proposed article is
much more than twice the number who are
able and willing to pay two dollars for the
same article. The saving effected by consu.
mers, who, before the reduction, purchased at
the higher price, would now be appropriated
to the purchase OF other articles OF use or en-.
joyment, and thus other branches of industry
are benefited
II Is an undisputed fact that our county is
extremely rlch IN deposits of iron ore. Now
the development OF this ore in great measure
depends upon the construction of this road,
as Its route lays along the great iron ridges
that traverse our county in a northeasterly
direction; thousands of tons of this ore lie
useless and undisturbed on account of the
slow and costly transportation by wagons
The building of this road connecting us,
the mineral centre of Maryland, with the iron
manufacturing centre of Pennsylvania, cheap.
ening transportation by saving in distance
OF 90 miles over our present Railroad route,
must have such an effect upon the prosperity
OF our town and county, that will astonish the
most sanguine. Even now along the line
OF the road already built $4,000 per month is
distributed in wages at the ore banks, which,
when the road is extended to this place, will
increase to double that amount or nearly
Si0o,Ooo per year for wages alone all Of
which sooner or later finds its way into our
stores and banks. And again, Sl0O, 600 of the
$4,000 that the extension Of the road will
cost, will be expended in our county and town.
The cheap and substantial manner in which
the upper portion OF the road has been built
Is sufficient guarantee that the funds will be
Judiciously managed in the construction of the
extension, and that the road will pay in the
future. 1t will be said that short lines of Rail-
roads do not pay. Such is not always the
case, as the Hanover Branch is only Id miles
In length and pays a semi-annual dividend
upon its stock of per cent. or 10 per cent. a
year. A great deal Of the future operations
OF road depends upon its first cost Com
parison OF the cost of the Western MARYLAND
Railroad with the completed line of the bach
man Valley Railroad will 20 far towards an
swering the question why Railroads sometimes
do not pay. The Western MARYLAND so far
has cost, without its equipment, about SAC, 0Oc
per mile; the Baohman Valley has cost on the
hive miles now built $4,000 per mile. The
traiitc IN iron ore over the Baohman Valley
Railroad will be as constant and unohangine
as the flow of coal over the main stem of the
baltimore and Ohio Railroad, It will therefore
have trade not dependent upon the seasons
OF the year, but one from which there will be
never failing revenue
The owners Of lands through which the line
OF this road passes can well afford to give the
right OF way through their farms and lots a.
the increased vnlue of fha,r lat,da .r;il ao.ty,,