The Portland daily press., 1880-03-23
OUR RAILROADS.
A New Freight House and Offices
for the Rochester.
GRAND TRUNK CONTRACT Elk
PIRES.
The Reason for the Boston Yarn About
the Grand Trunk.

The Portland & Rochester Railroad have
two contracts with the Grand Trunk. The
hrst contract affords them a transfer station
at the Grand Trunk passenger station in this
city, the latter is contract for the delivery of
freight over the Grand Trunk track to parties
on Commercial street and for offices in the
Grand Trunk building at the head of Atlantic
wharf. The latter contract will expire April
list, and the Portland & Rochester, while it
will continue the first contract for the Com
mercial street traffic, yesterday commenced the
erection of large addition to its freight depot
at the foot of Elm street, which will be used
to accommodate the growing business of the
corporation, and also for the company's offices.
The local trains will run to and from the Pre-
BILE street station The friendly relations be-
tween the two roads will be continued.
The occasion of this change is owing, in a
great measure, to the space required by the
Grand Trunk for the great influx of business
caused by its new Western connection. The
article in the Boston Globe in reference to the
removal of the Portland offices of the Grand
Trunk to that city, appears all the more alb
surd after learning the facts in this case. We
are given to understand that Manager Hickson
OF the Grand Trunk station, states that Montreal
and Portland must be the two ports of ter
minis for his railroad, and Portland must be
the eastern terminus. He is understood to
say that, with the facilities the Grand Trunk
now possesses, she can provide Boston with al
the freight that city can handle from the
West, via the Grand Trunk, by means of the
Vermont Central, and that it is perfectly alb
err t@,> for %I,o+
road that possesses such seaport and wharf
facilities as the Grand Trunk in Portland, is
going to the expense of the additional 112
miles railroading to Boston simply to ship her
goods to Europe from that port Whatever
Boston requires of the Grand Trunk will 90 to
her via the Vermont Central. The Boston &
Maine tried to secure this Portland traffic
some time ago it is said, but Mr.. Hickscn
never gave pound of freight. The fact is that
railroads are built to make money like any
other business. If it will pay the Boston &
Maine and Eastern roads to bring freight to
Portland, rather than to carry it to Boston
they will bring it here. If vice versa they
will take it to Boston. The story in the Globe
is thought to be spur to the Lowell road to
build that elevator which, it is reported, the
Grand Trunk said they should require for
their Boston business.
1t is an old story that the Grand Trunk
wants to get to Boston over its own road, and
the arrangements laid out by newspaper men
was the consolidation of the Boston g Lowell,
Lowell & Nashua, Nashua & Rochester Port
land s. Rochester and Grand Trunk If the
distance between Montreal and Boston, via
Is oh cl,,
than between Montreal and Boston via the
Grand Trunk and Portland, then it stands to
reason that it wouldn't pay to bring goods to
Boston by a roundabout road and the YER
mont Central would continue to look after all
Boston freight shipped by its line.
To give some idea of what can be accom-
plished by the small force in the employ of the
Grand Trunk at this port it is sufficient to say
that within the past fortnight three steamers
have been unloaded. and three received car
goes per week. 1t would not be difficult, if
the road should so desire, to make arrange
ments to load and unload daily steamer. At
the date of writing so great has been the
amount of traffic over the road that not only
have three lines of steamships the past winter
been accommodated-the Dominion, Beaver
and Clyde-but a large number Of extra
steamers and sailing vessels have been charter
ed. Two large ones arrived yesterday, the
Bothal and Foscola, and third, as has al
ready been stated in the PRESS, is daily ex-
pected daily to load for Glasgow. The lumber
is already in position for an extension of the
Shed-room of the Grand Trunk which surely
does not indicate proposed reduction in it's
business.