The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-07-11
Duck River valley Rail rOad---Rep0rI
of the Chief Engineer.

Col /. o. Myers, President u. Il. Y, IL. Il. Co.:
SIR:-T regret that i'll health prevents
me from attending the Stockholders
meeting, and from submitting an elab~
crate Report of the operations of the En-
gineer Department of your road, from
the commencement of operations until
the end or this first fiscal year. Such a
report l propose to submit as soon as
possible. a
For the present [ would state that ex-
detrimental surveys have been made
over the entire line of the road from
Johnsonviile 20 Fayetteville. Also on
the Buffalo BrGRch; from the main line
to the TOW n of Linden, in Perry county;
and on the IULLdhOnsG Branch, from
Fayetteville to TullahOma.
Extensive surveys for the final loca-
ton of the line between Columbia and
Petersburg have been lately made, and
the line he's been finally located from
Columbia to Lewisburg. Proposals for
the work OF graduation, masonry, and
trestles, were invited by advertisement,
and were received from number OF
contractors. All these proposals were
elaborately discussed by me in report
to the Board of Directors, and tho work
is now ready to be finally let by con-
tract between these points on about
twenty miles of your road. y maxi
iInum curvature of 10 degrees, were
necessary TO be adopted for the sake of
economy of construction OF rOadbed.
By instructions from the Board of Di-
rectors, ] am ready to close contracts
for this work rs soon as the financial
condition will aiiotg the commencement
of construction operations, and the rail-
road can be easily made ready for track
IN six months after the commencement
of work.
A conference with the officers of the
Louisville and Nashville r. r. Compa-
ny gives me the hope soon to be able to
report contract for the right of way
over theig track through the town of
Columbia, and for the construction of
an independent track to the junction
with the roadhed built to Mt. Pleasant.
take this opportunity to state that
the extensive surveys, careful exams
nations and calculations lately made
for the final location of the line between
and Petersburg, have proved, together
with the proposals made by contractors
anxious to do tho work, and we'll
known as reliable contraetors-that my
preliminary estimates submitted be-
fore, and after the experimental sur
veys were made, iCeTe substantially cor
rect, and that a railroad with three foot
gauge can be built in the Duck River
v W
mates originally submitted and pub
lished There is at present no shadow
of a doubt that narrow gauge railroad
can be built for $4,000 or $4,000 per
miles complete, while the history of all
broad gauge roads in the State shows
that they cost from twenty-five to thirty
thousand dollars per mile. In my last
report to the Board of Directors / sug-
gested the following main points as the
policy for future action, which SUCCESS
ten was adopted, viz: list, Final locas
ton of the line of the road to Fayette2
vile. I'd, Letting of all the work to
prepare roadbed for track to the Lincoln
county line,
This policy will certainly secure at no
distant day the balance of subscription
necessary to complete the roadped to
Fayetteville.
l have also suggested the purchase OF
the roadbed from Columbia to Mount
Pleasant. With a completed roadbed
from Mt. Pleasant to Fayetteville, it is
very probable that the company can Sc
cure the rails and necessary equipmentl
to put the road in operation between
these points. Such road, passing
through the heart of the most product
i've portion of Middle Tennessee will, on
account of its remarkable economical
construction, and the proportionally
large amount of traffic, &c a success an
itself and tine final extension of the
road, and the establishment of the Duck
River Valley Railroad, in accordance
with the originalplan ofits. designers and
originators, form a connection with a
road to st. Louis at Tennessee River, to
its terminus at Huntsville or Tullaho-
ma, will then be only a question of
time.
The President, Directors and employ
ees of the ROAD have so far with energy