Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-09-05
Another ..snIndIinrn RaiIrond.

Having occasion, recently to pass over the
Passumpsic railroad, an old and well estab-
lished line, which runs from White River
Junction northward to Sherbroole, p. O., n
distance of 40 miles, and noticing large guam
titles of hemlock ties piled up by the side of
the road, designed, apparently, for use in the
road-bed We bethought us to call at the SUI
perintendents Office at Lyndonville and find
out, if possible, what was meant by such ''ras-
cality' and swindling" on the part of the
company as, according to Chns N. Davcn-
port the use of hemlock ties involves To
our surprise Mr.. II. E. Folsom, the superin-
tendent, freely stated at the outset that the
Passumpsic road was using about one-half
hemlock ties, the other half being divided in
about equal proportions between cedar and
tamarack. I'm other words, said Mr.. Fol
som, 1--WE use the timber of the country
through which we pass '-hemlock being
found along the whole line of the road and
cedar and tamarack principally at the north
ern end. That cedar is the most durable of
woods for railroad ties-the one fact aside
that it is soft that it allows the rails to soon
cut into it-Mr. Folsom was explicit in say
ing, as are all other practical railroad men.
But for all this the rascally hemlock is used
both on account of its plentifulness and cheap
ness, and because its use is a help to the lum-
bermen or saw-mll men on the line of the
road. On its curves the Passumpsic road uses
hemlock exclusively, because it is firm and
holds the spikes well. In such places, the
life of the timber is about five years, and in
others about seven years. Nor is the Pas
sumpsic road alone among its northern neigh
bors in the use of hemlock ties The Boston,
Concord IL Montreal road uses this timber,
the Northern road, with its heavy business
and important connections, uses more hem
lock in its road-bed than anything else, and
the Grand Trunk, one of the great lines of
the country, uses largely of hemlock OF
course all this proves nothing as to the desir-
ability or economy Of hemlock over other
woods for railroad ties, but it shows that
leading and long-establshed lines, along
which hemlock grows in abundance, find it
good policy to use it, even at the expense of
its frequent replacement.
We asked Mr.. Folsom as to whether the
Passumpsic road used split stone for its cul-
verts, or if he regarded such stone essential
for this purpose. To this he emphatically
said, No." and added that the only thing
requisite in the stone for culverts was that
they should be solid and durable and not liza
BILE to crack or scale off As to the width of
road-bed, Mr.. Folsom said that their inten-
ton was as a rule, to have the embankments
one foot wider at each side than the length of
the ties, but that in point of fact the road
bed in many cases was not wider than the
length of the ties about feet)-the width
varying according to the character and neces-
sites of the ground passed over. On these
points, as well as on numerous others in re-
gard to which we asked Mr.. Folsoms opin-
ion, including especially the use of trestle and
pile bridging, we got not a word of comfort
for the Davenports in their attack on the
new railroad On the contrary, on each point
of the Davenport charges, which we present
ed fairly to Mr.. Folsom's attention, he re-
piled that ''if the management of the new road
had been guilty of nothing worse than that
they could not be justly accused of rascality'
or 'swiudling'"
The late attack on the new railroad has
i"iNH ~ PcilcStly hht tnAt IL uty not De
worth while to introduce any further testi-
mony, but nevertheless, evidence like the
above is important and convincing as coming
from practical and competent man, in a re-
sponsible position, who is well known to the
railroad men of the Connecticut valley, and
held in high esteem by them. The unavoid-
able inference is that the construction work
on the Brattleboro and Whitehall railroad is
such as to make the road compare as favora-
bly, as any new road can compare, at the out
set, with old lines like the Passumpsic, the
Vermont Valley or the Connecticut River,
which have had the benefit of more than a
quarter of a century of business and constant
improvement.