Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1908-01-09

/ contain all OF the North American
hardwoods. There Is today au Inn
mense numbering interest in some
parts OF this section. When his
road is completed its numbering IN
terests will BE- one OF the greatest
industries east of the Mississippi.
SCENERY SUBLIME.
For scenery there Is nothing east
OF the Rockies that equals Il. Down
through the gorges of the Chuc9y
river the steel rails VIII run, with
greatest of the Alleghenies aud Blue
Ridge towering around. Roam noun
tain. White Top. Mount Rogers, and
the famous Mount Mitchell are all
visible from the present roadbed.
They are not only visible but in easy
access from the stations en- route
Through the Chucky river gorges,
| one gathers a strong impression Of
the Grand Canyons OF the Colorado.
FOR here, unlike most OF the noun
tain country of the Blue Ridge and
Alleghenies, bare, verdureless rocks
tower high on every hand, and to
this is added the charm OF a new
country, for except the hardy noun
taineer. this rugged country has
known little of the hand of man. In
this section Asheyllle and the Sap
phire country will have rival that
bids fair to Guido them in the race
for the favor or the summer tour
ist
Through all these gorges, over all
the mountain passes, the road has
been graded on basis of one-half
or one per cent. In order to main
tain this grade through the gorges
OF the Chucky the road goes As
miles to gain a distance OF 81 miles
as the crow flies. 1t might have
been tunneled, for mountains are no
obstruction to the tireless engineers
or the South & Western, but to tun-
mel meant the displacement of that
one-half OF one per cent. grade, and
that means money.
ONE-HALF OF ONE PER CENT.
To those not familiar with rail
road operation this one-half of one
per cent. may seem a mere within.
But to the railroad operator. to the
} traffic manager and to the transpor-
tatlon man 1t means dollars and
mighty stack Of dollars at that.
1t costs heavily to build such n
road, but such a road, such n coal
road, Is bound to be a money maker.
To the railroad man, 1t is not all
ways question of how many tons
he can haul, but how many tons he
can haul with a given ENERGY. The
value OF this one-half of one per
cent. can better be gathered when
1t is known that in the past four
years the Norfolk e. Western rail-
way has spent 100000 to reduce
It's grades between Bluefleld and
Lynchburg. Formerly it took two
of their largest locomotives to haul
l'SOO tons to the top of the Blue
Ridge, aided by pushers. Since the
grade reduction, these same two en-
gines haul $500 tons and do IT
quicker and safer.
The Norfolk & Western still has
many grades over one per cent. This
road delivers coal to tidewater at
Lambert Point, in solid train lots for
less than 81 per ton. With its low
grade the South & Western will do It
for at least 20 per cent less and still
make more out of the haul than
does the Norfolk & Western.
CONSTANT USE OF EQUIPMENT.
Another factor In coal transporta-
ton that the uniformed overlook
Is the empty haul. That is, the
return Of the cars to the field after
they are empiied On a coal road 9
ability to return its empty eauip-
ment, depends its ability to maintain
It's car supply. The more cheapIy It
can be done, the lower the rate n
road can maintain. The more fire.
quently II can be done the more
money the road can earn. This Is
the principal upon which Is based
demurrage-of which we hear our
shippers complain so much. II n
railroad could always be sure of n
quick release of it's equipment. and
consequent quick reloading. II
could not only do business with n
less equipment but could do It bet
ter and more satisfactorily to its
patrons, and we would have never
heard Of demurrage.
The question now arises, why does
the South & Western stop at Elk
horn and spartanburg? Her bust
ness Is to haul coal to the Great
Lakes and Underwater as we'll as TO
the Tine trade" The bulk of the
business must go to he two places
where ship transportation can be
had. Then why should this great
road stop at two points where Il Will
be practically bottled up or at best
depend on connecting lines. strong
competitors in the same business. TO
deliver her freight to final dcstina-
tion? From Elkhorn the Chesa-
Deake & Ohio Will handle the lake