The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-02
TROLLEY IMPROVEMENT.
REBUILDING OF WooDMoN1 LINE NEARING COMPLETION.
A Stretch of Read of Model ConstruC- tion-Double Track All the Way Dangerous Curves Eliminated and Grades Reduced to a aMinimum-Head- on Collisions Impossible Cost of New Road SIS, ,OOO--A Picturefque Ride.


 on Collisions Impossible Cost of New
 Road SIS, ,OOO-.A Picturesque Ride.
 A fine piece of trolley road improve ment by the Fair Haven & Westville Railroad company is now quickly near ing completion. It is the rebuilding and double tracking of the entire Woodniont branch, the straightening of the line, the erection of bridges and the cutting down of grades so that the maximum grade will be but two per cent, all of which will result in the es- tablishment of 8 stretch of railroad of model construction.
 When the railroad company obtained control of the Woodmont line it was found out in short order that it was impossible to give satisfactory service on the single track which was con- tinuation of sharp curves and deep grades, cars often being compelled to wait ten to fifteen minutes on switches. The management decided almost at once that practically a new layout must be adopted as soon as the necessary material and rights of way could be purchased.
 No lime was lost in arranging these matters. With the new layout tedious waits and any possibility of head-on collisions are completely eliminated; cars can be kept on time and any headway or service maintained that the patronage warrants. The line crosses but two or three highways the route being almost entirely over the private right of way of the company and will be completely fenced in by fifty-four inch Page wire fence from one end to the other. -.; s
 Work at the present time has been in progress about two months and forces aggregating nearly 400 men steadily engaged. Every effort is being made to complete the line before Memorial day and with fair amount of good weather this will be done.
 The branch is four miles long and runs from the rear of Cox's Surf house at Savin Rock to Merwin's Point, The improvement will cost in the neighbor- hood of $75,000 as no expense has been spared in the construction of proper lUlH tilC pkluSOS VI IOl cavating any ground found unsuitable and in replacing the same with ball. last. :'5 I
 *, The changes begin immediately at the rear of Cox''s, where the double tracks of the West Haven line termin- ate. The present single track trestle which runs on bad curve from Savin avenue to WaverIy Grove will be abandoned and replaced by solid em- bankfnent across the meadow twenty five feet wide on top which fills in the east branch of Cove river, the west branch of which is spanned, thirty feet in the clear, by a new substantial bridge. The foundation for this was ob- tained by driving piles to solid footing after which they were cut off below the water by the use of coffer dams. The mud around the tops of the piles was then excavated for depth of eighteen inches and the space filled with a foot of gravel, while upon the projecting ends a monolithic mass of concrete was constructed. A plank framework was also built, which, after the concrete had set, was removed. Upon this substantial foundation a cement rubble and East Haven cut stone masonry were laid and upon the latter stone bridge seats were placed the heavy ''I' beams upon which the ties were placed to lay the rails.
 The amount of filling for the stretch across this meadow was 15.0O0 cubic yards, which was purchased from the Dawson property some half mile be- low, the bank, however, proving so hard that 1t was found necessary to resort to dynamite for loosenirg the dirt In the construction of the bridge over Cove river one channel of it has been obliter- ated and the improvement made of sending a good full, fresh and flushing stream through the westerly outlet into the Sound.
 Opposite Waverly Grove the tracks run immediately on the shore and in order to protect the embankment from the sea wash a heavy wall 250 feet long has been built, cars running at this point within ten feet of the water.
 The very bad reverse curves in this section os the old road have been re- placed by an absolutely straight piece of track, a half mile in length. The curves opposite the Connecticut build- ing and Colonial Inn, in fact, as far down as. the Aines property, have all been increased in radius to minimum of over thousand feet
 At the west end of the double track through the Aimes property from whence cars have taken a most devious and somewhat dangerous route down the highway and across the trestle at Oyster river the curves have been taken out by the building one of large radius through the Northrup property which ends in piece of tangent nearly a mile in length. as far westerly as Chapel street in !Woodmont.
 In the Northrup property one of the conditions upon which the owner sold the right of way was that a. cattle pass be built to allow his stock to go beneath the tracks instead of crossing them al grade. This caused the building of an expensive masonry and steel bridge Westerly from the Northrup property tc Anderson avenue a heavy embankment and bridge of similar architecture as that at Cox's meadow have replaced the former curved trestle. Westerly from Anderson avenue the tracks have been moved to the north some hundred feet running along the edge of the meadow and requiring the cutting down of con. sidera hle heavy timber The material