The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-06-23
III eight fcet. The building will cos;
when completed $4,000
Gnod Uorts ana True Work.

When completed, $4,000
Good Work ana True Work.
& There Is nothing shoddy In any part
of the construction of this road, anu
3 tiio representative of The Times Dis
patch who took ride over II from
Ashland to Richmond travelled on
flint car drawn by construction
4 steam engine. and found that the
cighty-pound steel rails admitted OF as
smooth and easy riding. even on flat
car as he experiences OH many or inc
well equipped steam roads now oper-
ating in Virginia; and he II renem-
Eercd. the track has just been laid and
The bailastlng is far from being COM
pleted. At some points on the line
where the track is as straight as an
arrow and the ballasting had been
rearly completed. Engineer Gordon,
who was Mt the throttle let the
'smart' engine out for the edification
of The Tines-Dispatch writer. and it
is h fact that the riding was as smooth
as that experienced on Pullman car
on some of the crack roads.
The rails are what are known as
8o-pound steel-that is, the steel
weighs eighty pounds to the yard.
Very few railroads In the country use
rails heavier than ninety pounds to
che yard and none have cross ties
laid thicker than $500 to the mile. the
Most of them, having less. down to
240V. The Richmond and Chesapeake
Bay has laid a,S16 cross ties to the
mile.
Magnificent Bridges.
The ballasting is being done in first
class manner. the company having
found a magnificent deposit of gravel
on its property five miles from Ash
land. This gravel pit is being worked
by large force of hands, and the
work train is hauling the material out
on the line at a rapid rate to the
ballasting forces, and this work is
being pushed just as rapidly as wealth
er conditions permit In some places
the road runs through deep cuts that
are soggy. and it will require vast
deal of gravel to properly ballast at
these points, but the pit has an in
exhaustible supply. and within a
month these long, deep and soggy
"euts" will be as smooth and as solid
as any other parts Of the line.
The culverts. bridges and arches
that have been erected over the va
rious streams the line crosses are mag
niftcent pieces of workmanship, be-
Ing made of concrete, and in some
cases partly of steel with concrete re-
enforcement and covered with con-
crete. The arch over the Chickahominy
River Is n magnificent structure, and
workmanship, well worth going miles
to see. The North Run arch and the
Cpham Brook arch are also beautiful
specimens of workmanship. All of the
bridges and arches. and in fact all Of
the grading and all of the cuts. are
broad gauge. admitting of q double
track. although only the single track
Will be laid at present, with ample
sidings for passing points for the cars.
The company's right of-way is not
less than hundred feet at any point.
except on the Brook Turnpike, where
thirty feet is the width
Almost Straight.
There Is only one sharp curve on
the line from here to Ashland, and
that is at Brook Hill. The sharp curve
was unavoidable there to prevent run
ming the line through cemetery. The
over curves. and few there are, are
gradual. as well as graceful The most
of the line is straight, and there Is
one stretch of six miles that Is as
straight as an arrow. The trolley cars.
when they get on this siX-mile tan
gent Will be able to make speed that
will make some of the steam lines of
the country ashamed of themselves. 1t
is expected that the cars will make the
trip from Richmond to Ashland in
twenty-five minutes, and the cars at
-mond every hour during the day, and
probably there will be late night
car each way.
Small stations will be established
at convenient places along tho line.
about fifteen in ALL or one to the mile.
These station houses for the present
Will be small shed rooms supplied with
seats for passengers. Later on some of
the intermediate stations will be more
pretentious and will have ticket offices.
The fare between Ashland and Rich
mond Will probably be thirty cents.
and to intermediate points the flat
tWo-cent per mile rate will be adhered
to-
The work of constructing this splen-
ola road to Ashland has been we'll
done and so quietly done that it hard
~ attracted notice except where peo-
pie saw the forces at the actual work.
How Work Was Done.
Several years ago the Virginia Pas
senger and Power Company ran line
from here to Ashland with view some
day of extending their lines to the
college town. but the first real survey
was made by the Richmond and chesa-
peake Bay road. This was commenced
in March. 1895, and carried on to Tap
pahnnnock. In order to get as straight
"a line as possible from Richmond to
Ashland with as little grade as possible
more than the usual time was taken
in making the survey, but'it was com
pleted before the end Of the summer
of 1905. IT, work of construction
was commenced in December following
but owing TO the trouble of getting
right of way at all points large forces
could not be utilized to advantage and
there We're months of delay in the
work. When all these troubles had
been overcome the work was rushed
at every point where it could be done