Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1873-01-29
MEMPHIS AND KNOXVILLE NARROW GAUGE
ROAD


We had the privilege of examining the
first annual report of'the Nemphisland
Knoxville Narrow Gauge Railroad, of
which Gen. r. p. Neely is President and
Thos Millington, CHEF engineer. The of
flee of the Company is at Bolivar, Tenn.
The President speaks very encouraging
w Of the enterprise and he is fully conf
dent that the Narrow Gauge, will meet all
the requirements of any and all traffic that
the country may afford along the route,
and that the chcapness with which they
can be constructed, the amount Of work
these roads can perform, and their adapta-
bility to our rough sections, will eventual
ly be the roads te develop the resources of
the South.
Mr. NIillingtoH has completed the sur
veys of the line from Memphis by way of
Bolivar to Saltillo on the Tennessee river,
and the estimated cost of this portion, l.
III miles is Sd3J34 per mile, fully equip
ped, with all the requirements of a first
class road, and that the Mountain division
will not exceed S15, 900 per mile. From the
figures given, he estimates that the road
would pay dividend of 10 per cent. when
completed.
The total distance from Memphis to
Knoxville, via Bolivar and Columbia, is
357 miles, GA miles nearer than by the
present route. They also propose to build
branch lines to Nashville and Fayette-
vile.
Mr.. NIillington speaks very highly of
the coal and iron interests along the pro-
posed route, and especially of the resources
of East Tennessee. The greater portion
of the coal consumed at Memphis is
brought by river from Pittsburg and the
lower Ohio. The latter is of an inferior
quality and does not bear handling and
stocking; hence the preference for the
Pennsylvania coal During the present
winter, the citizens of Memphis have felt
the Importance of direct railway COM
munication to the coal fields of East Ten~
nessee. By this line coal can be delivered
in Memphis for 22cents per bushel or about
So cents a barrel. During the past year
prices have hdotuated from - cents to
S1.50 per barrel, and the amount consumed
was $40, 500 barrels.
line, and the road will pass many of the
old furnace sites of Middle Tennessee that
were in operation before the war.
He says: Instead of building railroads
with hauling capacity, and at a cest pro
portionate to the requirements of the Sec
ton of country through which they are
located, we find huge, costly structures,
with a carrying capacity from five to ten
times greater than is required by the bust
ness they have to perform; built at a cost
double or treble WHIST is necessary, which
can not be made to pay, but entail an on
erous and unnecessary tax on the various
industries of the country.
Cheap transportation is the great want
of ,he age, and popular attention has been
fo- some time directed to the Narrow
Gauge for the purpose of supplying this
want. They are no longer an experiment.
as has been satisfactorily demonstrated by
pract zeal experience in the construction
and operation of over enc thousand miles
of Harrow Gauge roads, in this and in
foreign countries, and that they have been
! built cheaper and their capacity is ade.
quate to the traffic of the heaviest burden
| roads
| We earnestly recommend the Narrow
Gauge. enterprise to the people of East
Tennessee as the cheapest and most eco.
monica way of developing our resources
|