The Newtown bee., 1888-09-07
The Derby Extension.

and the canal on the Shelton bank. It was Shelton's first train, the assurance of it's early union with the outside world by rail. Saturday, the BEE man made a tour of inspection over the line, starting from Botsford with Mir c. E. Taylor, the energetic member of the firm of Taylor X Gridley, contractors. This firm took the contract for about five and three quarter miles of the whole B to be built, nearly half of the whole work and the toughest part of it. Their work lay on each end of the line, with Mir Taylor in charge at Botsford and MT Gridley at Shelton. The Shelton end was finished, last week, but MrTaylor's task was more arduous, lying through the worst rock cuts and allowing but three months'time for what should have been required of six. However, this firm have been with MT Clark of Clark & O'Brien, the chief contractors, for II years. MT Clark broke them into railroad work on the Northern Pacific and they have but re- gently finished contracts on the New York acqueduct. MT Taylor, moreover, has handled the pick and shovel himself and, nothing daunted, attacked his rock cuts with vigor. He has had 300 men at work, mostly Greeks, for he prefers them to the Italians employed by most of the contractors, since they are heater and better workmen. He laid off 150 men Saturday, his work is so nearly done and has now but about 100 left. Conductor IT. J. Bartley ran the first train on the Botsford end of the line some weeks ago, for it was no great task to grade across the swamp east of Botsford, through which the railroad runs in northeaster- ly direction. The north arm of the | by which connection is made with the Hous- atomic line has been cut through, strik- ing the Housatonic below the depot and opening gravel bank that will be used in ballasting the extension. To tell the truth, it is not generally believed that the Derby extension is always to end at extended to the Hudson. The line is now virtually graded from Botsford to Shell ton and the contractors are attacking the hard spots that remain to block the pro- gress of the iron horse. East of Bots foad, the rails had been laid, Saturday, for over mile. The culvert over the second crossing of the Half Way river was not completed and, in spots, the road needed filling up to grade. At the old Sherman Botsford saw mill, the perma- nent trestle of yellow pine, 225 feet long and B feet high, had been partly placed in position and, just east of this, the line is to be temporarily carried around an unfinished rock cut. MT Taylor thinks that he could have finished this in time. if he had not been ordered out of it two weeks ago. A temporary hemlock tres ready in place over the next valley and will be filled in solid after the cars are once running. The rock cut near Nil Charles Botsford's blacksmith shop was being attacked from both ends, for the men were working on bet that they would have it done by September 9 These rock cuts are of the most difficult
 kind of railroad building and MT Taylol says that they have given him all tha
 he wants of Connecticut railroads. Int | trestle was i'll position across the valley north of Mir M. J. Mallett's former home
 about 325 feet long and 20 feet high ant the cut east, half rock and half earth
 was approaching completion. Contract
 or Sullivan's section will be ready by tn
 trestle remained to be thrown over tn stream near MT Sherman Botsford's pres
 ent saw mill and, back of Mir John H
 Hawkins's home, short piece of worl
 remains unfinished. Whitlock's broo
 was not filled in, nor the work don
 where the line crosses the highway nea
 MT W. s. Bradley's. MT Hawkins say
 good word for Mir Sullivan's industr
 ous application to business, his temper ate habits and his general success ill at
 complaining his contract. On Curran
 section, the insignificant rock cuts le1
 will be long out of the way before th track layers arrive. The huge trestl r near Mir Samuel Stevens's, 60 feet higl l was just building. The yellow pine lun
 Der for this is brought to Shelton. loci
 ed through the canal into the river aboN : the dam, then pulled up to Round Hi r brook by small tug, when teams tai l A. L. C. &f~ <Df4 s of Mir Stevens's a small culvert was ju : approaching completion. Mulhail's sec r ion still presents considerable untinishe v work. The fills over Boys Half w. e fast. South of Boys Half Way rive
 the work is eating into the west bank
 the railroad and the highway is beir r carved into the hill further back. o
 posite R. s. Hinman's, Mr F. D. Slev
 was at work on a side hill rock cut,
 W each side of which were short stretch
 to be filled in by the rock blasted ol Below this, side cut of earth was al ], being finished, while, at the south end r. Mulhalrs division, several gangs we E filling into the deep valley of Round H ' brook. Down in the valley, Mir Fra Thompson had 40 or 50 men at work D ,s pairing the temporary trestle of No
 Scotia spruce on which the track is to
 carried over it. He put up the trestle Ir nearly three quarters of mile by whi B. the line crosses the Housatonic and oI nal at Shelton. MT Flannigan's secti
 begins here and his men were at work be the huge cliffs south of Round Hill bro he breaking them up with dynamite and
 ing them one side with steam ho