Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1901-10-18
The C. W. Railway.

Last week the G. w. Railway placed
on record IN Rockingham and this
county mortgage upon its line from
Elkton to North River Gap, for about
81 400, GOO. This is the usual course
in building railroads, and has no indie
pendent significance. The road will
be bonded at $35. 900 per mile. and if
continued to the coal field of West
Virginia, as seems now most probable.
will. when it reaches there, be worth
not less than $50. 900 per mile. 1t is
estimated that the road can b, built
to the Gauley river or Elk river fields
atan average price per mile of SS5, 600
or $4,000 0OO-it being about 100 miles
from the present terminus to the West
| Virginia bituminous coal fields.
The standard of the road built this
summer is very high-eyerything be-
Ing flrst class, and if work progresses,
we learn this will be the standard main
tanned. From the top of Shenandoah
to Monterey two lines have been sur
veyed, one extending down into Pen
dleton Co.. W. Va, the other past
Doe Hill and down by Mcdowell,
thence up Crab run across Sample
Divide to Monterey. The one through
Pendleton is longer by some twelve
miles, but the one by Mcdowell is
more difficult of construction and
more costly.
The grades maintained have been
not IN excess of 66 feet coming east,
and about ITO feet going west. Only
ABOUT five miles of west bound grade
have reached ITO feet. 1t is believed
that to make the line truly effective
three tunnels should be built. none of
which would exceed one-half mile in
length, and thus will the Appalachian
chain OF mountains be crossed more
cheapiy than by any other railroad in
existence. No other road will reach
coal so quickly and none will have
better coal on its line. No other road
crossing these mountains ever pene-
trated such forests, and as timber is
worth far more today than when any
one OF the other trunk lines was built.
this alone is great item in favor of
this line. The iron and coal are much
closer to each other than on any other
road. In Pocahontas county. that great
iron mountain known as Browns
mountain, is on this immediate line,
then comes mass of limestone, then
the coal, all are within twenty miles of
each other. There is every reason to
believe that manganese will be found
in large and paying quantities in
Highland, and possibly much iron.
Iron even there would be very close to
coal. There is now hope that the tun-
mel work will all begin this winter, so
that it will be well on by spring, then
the other work can be pushed rapidly.
Unless the company should find diff
Guilty in obtaining rights of way this
work, if begun, could be completed
into Pocahontas county within eigh-
teen months.
No road of course will build until
the rights of way are settled, and there
is vastly more work in this branch of
railroad building than IS usually sup
posed. Should the present line be
completed it will in many respects be
superior to any line now crossing the
Alleghanies, as we'll as in it's possibili-
ties, and none other will have SO much
undeveloped country to draw from. Its
terminals at Gloucester Point, if thew
be as we have heard, will develop the
finest harbor On the Atlantic coast.
unless it be New Haven, finer than
Hampton Roads or Norfolk, and our
authority for this statement as tc deep
water and harbOr is the United States
coast survey. We cannot congratulate
Staunton on the construction of this
road, because she will lose much trade
she now enjoys, but some of it might
be held by an electric line to Mt. So
lon, and we should look into this at
our earliest possible opportunity.