Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-07-24
RAILROAD MATTERS.

burg, Clarksburg and Weston,
st. Clairsvillc and Northern
and Bellaire and Southwest
ern Roads.
WE see it announced in the Washing
ton and Waynesburg papers that a
meeting of the stockholders OF the W. d
W. Narrow Gauge railroad will hold a
meeting on the seventh day of next
month to vote on the question OF leasing
their road to the Pittsburgh Southern
Company, on condition that the latter
company extend the road South from
Waynesburg.
IT expected that the narrow gauge
railroad from Clarksburg to Weston will
have progressed as far as Jane Lew, one
of the important way points on the
route, early in August, and that it will
be completed and the cars running to
Weston by the beginning OF September.
\ large part OF the road is already in OPP
Grafton, and we understand is meeting
with satisfactory success.
TIE question of gauge, which seems
so seriously to threaten the peace of the
inhabitants of St. Clarsvillc in the mat
ter Of the St. Clairsvile and Northern
Railway, will not be found very seri-
Gus difficulty, we presume. The tax
which was imposed by the recent vote
OF the citizens OF the corporation will
only raise S3O,0OO, which would be a
totally inadequate sum TO construct a
road of the standard gauge, while 1t is
said to be ample to build a narrow
gauge track. The advantages OF narrow
gauge seem to us TO be easily seen. III
such road be constructed it is only a
question of time when it will beck
tended over to BowerStOwn, from which.
point, il we remember correctly, there
is alrcadya 4 narrow gauge road IN opera
ton to the lake. The Southern end of
the road would soon also be extended
into Bellaire, ,-and ST. Clairsyille would
become point on railway reaching
from the Ohio to Lake Erie, and travers-
ing one of the wealthiest portions of the
State. If, on the contrary, broad gauge
be chosen, the town will find itself at
the ends of two different switches,
neither of which can ever amount to
much more than first class stage line.
President MOONEY, OF the B. Il :. W.
railroad, returned on Monday from
New York, where he succeeded in ne.
gotiating bonds to the amount needed to
secure the immediate construction OF
4 4 ~. u
work will, we understand, be pushed on
with renewed vigor, and WOodsiield
will at no very distant day have the adj
vantages of railroad communication with
the outside world. 1t is almost four
wears since the b. d S. W. com
pany organized. Its success was
at the first prOmblematiC, and
it can hardly be said 10 have
become lotherwise until comparatively
recently. Two years ago five miles OF
the road--from Bellaire to Wegee-was
i'm operation. Later, trains ran as far as
Jacobsburg, and at present Just one
hall of the road has semi-daily trips OF
the iron horse. In receipts the road Is
now averaging so day, while It's run
ming expenses are but s.. At every
step OF its progress its earnings have in
creased, and by the time it reaches
Woodsheld they are expected to net
Sll0 per day, or counting 3l2 working
days, So, $40 per year, which amount
will pay the interest on S24O,OOO
of the six per cent. bonds and
leave $4,000 OF surplus. By re-
ference to the statistical report OF the
Secretary OF the State OF Ohio Tor 1877
we find that the gross movable ton
mage almost entirely agricultural, OF the
territory tributary to the first division
of the b. x :. w. road, comprising one
fourth OF Belmont county, four-ti!thS
of Monroe, and One-fOurth Of Noble
county, aggregates annually two han
dred million pounds, or one thousand
tons. IL We take of this amount only
One-hith, or say 10000 tons, and add 10
this the lumber, timber, building
and lime stone (which last item,
by the way, promises TO become
important over this roadl and TO this
add thecoal and miscellaneous merchan-
disc that the people require in exchange
Tor their products, and 10 this again add
the passenger travel, together with
mails and express, We will have some
idea OF the traffic that seems in store for
this road when it is completed. Lime
stone abounds all along the line OF the
road, and it is in demand at the fur
naces on both sides OF the river at Bel
lairc and Wheeling at so cents per ton,
and the railroad company expect 10 load
their coal cars with it on their return
trips. The double traffic in this way
must be exceedingly profitable, Tor
nearly all OF the coal consumed in the
region along the road will be transport
ed on this road, as nearly all used at St.
Clairsville is now carried on the b. Il St.
{. road