Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1875-07-31
The ". & O. r. K.-The Winchester New

The W. & 0. r. K.-The Winchester New.
says:
mo good reason exists why as large a Goa
business as that which serves as the mainstay Of
the Baltimore and Ohio road should not be OBJ
tanned By the Washington and Ohio. A con.
nected line between Winchester and eithe Cum.
berlsnd or Piedmont can be brought within
sixty. five miles. Add this to the seventy three
hence to Washington and Alexanaris, and sem
bituminious coal is placed within less than one
hundred and forty miles of tidewatar, against
one hundred and seventy nine from Cunber-
land, and two hundred and seven from Pied
mont, to Baltimore, via the B. s. o. road. The
equated distance Is not quite so largely in our
favor, perhaps, but of that we are not quite sure,
IS the more frequent recurrence of
nifty W foot rises going east on the w. s. O. is
offset by the long grades of about the same in.
~clinstion at the North Mountain, Point OF Rocks
and Relay, and the still sleeper incline OF
eighty.six feet to the mile we believe at Parr's
Ridge. The difference may probably be stated
st that between trains OF eighteen loaded cars
carried l38 miles without auxiliary power at any
point, and trains of twenty-one hauled 179 and
A7 miles with helping engines for a distance of
twelve miles.
The advantages of from forty to sixty miles
IN favor OF our route more than covers the in
teryal between Baltimore and Washington. In
other words, Winchester will lie on the shortest
route between Baltimore itself and coal fields.
The magnificent beds OF iron ore lying with.
in sight of our city, directly on the track of the
W.. q y. road, could then be probably worked
up on the spot, and any quantity OF ore sent to
other points, where it is alresdy ia great demand
and will be il. greater on the full revival Of the
iron-trade now well under way. It will be
borne In mind that, since the revulsion of 1873,
not only has the building of the new railroads
been severely checked, but the old ones have
found themselves forced to reduce their yearly
outlay to the lowest possible point. Their pur-
chases of rails and rolling stock-rails especially
have been kept below the just requirements of
their business. Renewals cannot much longer
be delay ed, and they will necessarily be more
extensive for the delay which has already and
has yet to occur: Within two years the produc
ton OF iron IN the United States must receive
an immense impulse. Old deposits will be ram
sacked and new ones sought for. Lake Supe-
perlor ore is now carried seven hundred miles to
Plttsburg and the interior of Ohio and New
York. The anthracite furnaces Of eastern Penn
sylvanla get much OF their supply from distances
of from one to three hundred miles. Cap! alists
concerned in them lately made land purchases
between Charlottesville and Lynchturg. They
have also, it will be recollected, examined, with
satisfactory results, the beds on the North
NJ fountain, nine miles west of Winchester and
the Shenandoah, twelve and a half miles east.
1t has always been our cherished wish that
this important work should remain wholly I'M
der Virginia management. But circumstance
OF many kinds seem to render it impossible To
have 1t completed by any one will be a benefit
to our citizens, and particularly should the new
management have proved itself, rs the Pennsyi-
vanis company certainly has, to be actusted BY
a comparatively just and liberal estimate of the
value of local traffic as the most solid reliance
of q railway, and Of the rights of dwellers along
its line"