Connecticut western news., 1892-02-25
LETTERS FROM TEE PEOPLE.
BOOST THE FREIGHT
Over spaulding's Summit.


 Editor of Neaos:
 notice in your late issue reference to the Conn Western Railroad in which you allude to it's many fruitless efforts to maintain it's existence, and it's fail ure to become an important trunk line for through freight; also the doubts you express of its ever being made available as "Great Through Freight Route'' on account of the difficulties and ex- pense of scaling Spaulding's summit.
 While admit that grade like that approaching Spanlding's summit is an expensive and inconvenient barrier in operating railroad, aud when possible should be avoided, yet I do not see why the Conn Western road cannot succeed as through freight line as well as other trunk lines that have equally as bad summits and high grades to overcome. will mention the Boston & Albany rail- road as great through freight line with . summit exceeding in grade (going east from Pittsfeld) any point on the Conn Western railroad approaching Spaulding's summit from the west. I ana we'll aw are that the Conn Western railroad has not established itself as 8 great through freight line as was expect ed bv its early advocates. could state reasons, unknown to the public, wherein it has failed to secure the advantages which it's position Is entitled to and consequently has failed to become g great through freight line. note you say, i've are confident it will never pay to attempt. to run Great Through Freight Route over Spaulding's sum- nit" I have before me the railroad commissioners report for 1S8S-89 in which find the total gross earnings of the Hartford & Conn Western road were $358, 238. 33 and the total operating ex- penses were $255. 935 35 and included in the sum of operating expenses are rents of other roads, rents of offices, insurance on stations etc, salar- ies and labor amounting to $40, 300. % which sum would not necessarily be largely increased if the volume of bus mess was largely increased and the earn ings largely augmented.
 Bpaulding's summit has not prevented the Conn Western road from becoming 6 great through freight line. What it has needed land what i. apparently has now acquired) is connection with g through trunk line that had control of 8 large amount of freight that would be best served by moving it over this line. The Central New England & Western railroad has made such a connection possible, but it did not own the Read. ing railroad and could not control its business. Now as the Reading road has coutrol, think it will manage to use the Conn Western railroad to ad- vantage. It is full roads that pay best. even at less price per ton or fare. An excursion train from Hartford to Rhine beck with eight cars filled with passen- gers will net more money at one dollar fare for round trip than will local train with the ordinary fare of five dol lars for round trip. Give us through freights with full loads of 45O tons, and q spare locomotive stationed at Canaan with plenty of trains to keep it busy and it will boost them over Spaulding's summit at an expense for extra locomo- tive of less than two cents per ton, and the Conn Western railroad, with it's present new connections, will succeed without the aid of the Italian system of compressing air to aid it.
 E. T. BUTLER, Norfolk, Feb. 18th, 1892.
 Our Reply.
 From the foregoing letter we gladly learn that Mir. E. T. Butler. who justly bears the title of ''Father of the Con- necticut Western Railroad, "has not lost faith in his child. For years prior to the building of the Connecticut Vest ern road, MT. Butler had advocated the building of railroad from Hartford to Millerton or vicinity, but few, if any, supposed it was possible for locomo- tive to climb Norfolk hills. nevertheless Mir. Butler thoroughly believed in the feasibility of such 8 line and he contin- ued to agitate the project, in season and out of season, until his neighbors began to think that he had railroad on the brain. But subsequent events proved thought him to be. After it became known abroad that MT. Butler had ''railroad on the brain" and that fact coming to the ears of Mir. Geo. H. Brown tat that time the principal owner of the road running from Fishkill Land- ing to Millerton, which was then called the Duchess and Columbia road), MT. Brown went in search of Mir. Butler, because Mir. Brown wanted an eastern connection or outlet for his road. We cannot spend time to review the first meeting of Messrs Butler and Brown, at MT Bntler's home in Norfolk, hnt it is matter of history, and 1t is recorded on the files of the CONNECTICUT WEST ERIN NEWS, but we will state that aaid meeting resulted in the building of the Connecticut Western road, inasmuch as Messrs Butler and Brown both had s'railroad on the brain" and they soon interested Wm H. Barnum in their project, and the trio pushed the project to completion.
 Another historical event which is re- corded on the files of the CONNECTICUT