Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1875-04-01
Z III 1I1 NE'9-
Railroad Meeting.

uf CadiZ and vicinity al the Cour
House on last Saturday evening, tC
hear the report of the Narrow Gauge
! Committee, Messrs. Clark, JamisOr
and Boyles, and to discuss the suhjec
of Railroad projects in general. Each
member of the Committee made briet
report to the meeting of what they haC
seen and heard on their visit to the
northern part of the State. Among
other items, the Committee reported in
substonce,. the following:
They had travelled over the Paines
vile & Youngstown Narrow Gauge
Railroad, which is 65 miles in length.
The train they travelled on was mix
ed freight ard passenger train, which
make an average of about Is miles ar
hour. The officers of the road gave the
Committee every opportunity of ex'
amining the details ofthe construction
and working of the Road, gave them
access to the books of the Company
and furnished them all the Information
they asked for. The conclusions OF The
committee are that in matter of cost
the Narrow Gauge Road would com
pare with the ordinary Road about a.
follows: Cost of grading road-bed 81
per cent; cost of rail-ir0n and ties, 7C
per cent, cost of locomotives, passen-
ger cars and freight cars, not more than
80 per cent. The rolling stock on the
Narrow Gauge is all made lighter, by
more than one-half, than that of the
ordinary Railroad. And it is argued
by those favorable to the Narrow Gauge
theory that the light locomotives and
cars will prove comparatively more
serviceable, and more durable than
the bulksome rolling stock Of the ordi-
nary Roads. The Committee describe
the passenger car in which the travel
ed, as the finest and most comfortable
car they had ever seen on any road.
The cars are shorter than those on 9TH
er Roads, narrower, of course, much
lighter, but substantial, comfortable,
and, on this Road, finished in elegant
style.
The Committee learned that the
Painesville & Youngstown Narrow
Gauge Road, which is Is miles in
length, was built, and is owned by
twenty-five men, majority of whom
are residents of the two cities. 1t is
'local' Road, so far as ordinary freight
and passenger traffic is concerned, and
carries large quantities of coalfrom the
Mahoning valley to the Lake. Coal is
worth at Youngstown $3.50 or IA cents
a bushel. The coal vein in the MahO-
ming valley is only 81 feet thick, and is
very deep in the ground. The Com
mittee are of the opinion from what
they learned about the demand for
coal at the Lake, for use on steam YES
sells, for shipment to the northern part
of the State, and to Canada, that If a
Road were constructed into the coal
fields of Harrison county it would open
up vast mining interest here, for the
reason that our coal is of d superior
quality, the veins nearly twice as thick
as those of Mahoning valley, and that
our coal lies near the surface and is ca
silly mined.
In regard to Railroad construction,
the Committee learned that COmpa-
nv called the Ohio and Teledo Railroad
Company, with E. R. Eckley as Presi-
dent, is now organized, and has given
out the contract for building a Narrow
Gauge Road from Youngstown, ex-
lending through the counties of Maho-
ming, Columbiana, Stark and Carroll,
to Cannonsburgh, in the latter county.
1t is understood that this Road is to
be built during the coming summer.
Another Narrow Gauge Road is also
proposed, but how far its organization
is completed the Committee were not
able to report. 1t is the road which
Mr.. Waddle represented at Cadiz few
weeks ago, and is called the Paines-
vile, Canton & Bridgeport Road. 1t is
to connect with the Ohio & Toledo
Road at Connonsburgh, and is the
Road thet is proposed to run directly
through Cadiz.