Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-06-27
AN 1NPoRrANr RAILROAD.

! The Chesapeake and western Eh'ei Pi '''
and What it Means to Virginia and west
Virginia.
Special to- the Register. 49,.
Baltimore. Nd. June 26.-The Manu-
facurers Record Of this week will say;
The Chesapeake & Western Railroad
which the Manufacturers Record has
already mentioned assumes great i'm
rortance in view of the fact that its
president is Mr.. J. W. Reinhart late
president of the AtchisOn, Topeka a
santa Fe road. one Of the greatest sys-
tens in the world The coming into the
South of q man Of such prominence IN
the railroad world as Mr.. Renhart is
but another indication of the concentra-
ton Of the great business and financial
powers of the country in Southern de-
veIoDment work. This road is being
built by the Old Dominion Construction
Company. Of which AIr. Z. c. Machen IS
president. Forty-f0ur miles have been
graded and ties are now being put
down. Eighty-pound steel rails are be-
ing purchased and the shipment from
the Carnegie works for enough to lay
siXty-five miles of track has COM
meuced. Two new heavy standard en-
eines. out of first contracts for equip
ment. are now due. and will be put on
track work as soon as received. Five
miles of track, from Harrisburg to Day
ton. will be in operation by July /. This
viii be the first new road ever built
which was laid with S0-pOund steel rails
at the start. The work of grading and
general construction will be of the most
substantial character. with equipment
of latest type. indicating that the Che
sapeake & Western Is preparing for the
heaviest traffic that can be handled by
any road. TWenty-SeVen miles Of line,
for which the rails Will begin to arrive
this week, will carry the road across
Rockingham county, from Elkton Ton
Shenandoah division. Norfolk & West
ern road, through Harrisburg, on the
Baltimore & Ohio road. TO Bridgewater
This cuts across the Valley of Virginia
and opens up one Of the finest agricult-
ural regions in America, and one which
for general agricultural productions
alone could make profitable such rail-
road, but in striking westward towards
West Virginia this road is pointing to-
wards the very heart of the timber and
coal district of that State by the most
direct and shortest line Obtainable. IL
is possible for this line to be extended
into rhesecCal and timbertields and open
up a region of almost infinite freight
creating possibilities As stated in the
last issue OF the Manufacturers Record,
the construction of the forty-four miles
now under contract was brought about
by the attention attracted through the
action of Rockingham county in decid-
ing TO contribute $4,000 towards Sc
curing such a line, and at the same timo
to- give all possible help in the way Of
aiding and securing rights of way ana
other facilities needed in railroad con-
sTuctiOn The result Of this was 10
bring the matter to the attention Of Mr..
Reinhart and his associates. and to
cause them 70 make a thorough investi-
cation of the possibilities Of such a road.
The people of those sections of Virginia.
and West Virginia which would he
reached by the extension of this road
westward and eastward possibly have it
i'm their power 10 secure this by the
same spirit of cooperation. The build
ing Of these extensions and the benefits
which viii flow from such developments
as would naturally follow the opening
mp of this territory would naturally
prove of inestimable value to both
States.
That Mr.. Reinhart. with his strong
financial connections and mis- tremen-
dous personal power, in carrying out his
operations. should have turned his at
t5nJion to the South as the most invit-
ing field for railroad work, is a matter
Of congratulation as another indication
of how the great fuanciers and develop
ers who created the mighty Western
empire are now concentrating their
work upon the South.