The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1878-08-08
Pennsylvania and Erie Railway.


Much inquiry has recently been
made i'm regard to the Pennsylvania
and Erie Coal and Railway Company's
road, partly for the purpose of getting
at the facts, and, we regret to say,
partly for the purpose of finding fault
because the road has not already been
built. Amongst those who are COM
menting unfavorably upon the efforts
now being made to secure the COM
pletion of the road, there are proba-
bly, not many who have fully consid-
cred the amount of money required to
carry out such project; the num-
ber of men who must necessarily be
interested i'm some shape or other be-
fore such an amount can be raised, and
the great diversity of views that must
be talked over, explained and recon-
ciled before these men will consent to
act. According to the Railroad Man.
uel, edited by Edward Vernon, the
first action taken towards building the
Philadelphia and Erie Railroad was in
1887. Surveys were made, but. moth.
ing further accomplished for long
time; and, as many Of our readers
will remember, the road was not COM
pleted until 1854, a space of some 27 or
2s years. 1t is true, number of
years have elapsed since the first move
was made toward getting a road from
our Elk-county coal fields direct to the
northern markets, and it is without
doubt among the possibilities that it
may be some time yet before it is built.
but the friends of the road ought not
to feel discouraged because they do not
see the ties being laid. The road would
probably be in operation to-day had
not depression in all kinds of business
intervened to prevent parties from in
vesting, and Notwithstanding the un-
favorable times, much has been accom-
plished. Numerous Geological and
other scientific examinations and re-
ports have been made showing the
quantity and quality of the coal and
other mineral deposits along the line
of the proposed road; and. for the pur-
pose of bringing these matters in
more practical way before those
who profess less faith in Geological
reports than in practical results,
tons upon tons of the coal have been
mined and sent free of cost to various
parties to be actually used and proved
for making gas and steam. We who
live here in the mids, of the coal and
see it used every day, know just what
its qualities are, but when we talk to
person who is entirely stranger to
this section of the country, it is not an
easy matter to convince him that we
know anything about it unless we ac-
tually produce the results we claim.
We intent to publish (perhaps next
week) some extracts from these re-
ports, and will, at the present time,
merely say that they all represent the
coal as being most excellent in quality
and almost inexhaustible in quantity.
Besides having accomplished this
much towards letting capitalists know
that we have quality of coal for
which there is now, an must continue
to be, an active demand, and this de-
mand will insure the prosperity of the
road. Much has been done, and
a large amount of money has been ex-
pended, in making the preliminary
surveys. A numberof lines have been
run from points in Mexican county,
following different routes south to the
coal fields. The results have been
fully compared, and the company now
has reasonably accurate information
as to the length and cost of construct
ing upon each route. Two of these
routes passing through st. Mary's were
quite direct, and, in some respects,
very favorable, and the disposition to
build through that place was so strong
that large amount of money was ex-
pended in thoroughly examining the
country along these routes. 1t was as
certained that the line would cross sew
eral SUBMITS, or ridges, making it
necessary to adopt heavy grades-some-
times in favor of, and sometimes
against the trade-and that natural OBJ
stacles would be encountered which
would render the construction of line
through st. Mary's more expensive
than longer route along the ClariOn
river. The st. Mary's route was,
therefore, reluctantly aban doned, and
examinations were begun along the
East and West Clarion, resulting in
adopting, as the most favorable route,
the line through Wilcox. The sur
veys show that the main line, in order
to accommodate the anticipated busi-
ness, will be 1014 miles in length, of
which 263 miles are already built from
CarrolltOn to Gilesville, leaving 74a
miles to build, which the estimates
show can be built for about $40, 600 per
mile, or at q total cost of 81, ,495, 600.
That part Of the line from Wilcox to
Ridgway, distance OfI4 miles, would
be parallel with the Philadelphia and
Erie railroad, occupying, probably,
the opposite side of the river. The ar
rangement has been made with the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company
whereby the Pennsylvania and Erie
Coal and Railway Company acquire