Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1923-07-05
ENGINEERS READY FOR LOST
PROVINCE TRAIL

Engineers seeking a railroad route
over the Blue Ridge into the Lost
Provinces and out to Tennessee will
start work the first of next week.
Three parties, IL men in each, all
under the direction of Frank T.Miller
chief engineer, now being as
sembled and the first camps are be-
ing located. Trucks belonging to the
commission were in Greensboro yes
terday. Most of the supplies, in
struments and camping equipment
have already been assembled and the
trucks will carry them to the noun
tains this week.
The first party is already made up
and will start actual work Monday.
The other two parties are being as
sembled and should be in the noun
tains before the first Of August.
Preliminary camps will probably
be located near Virgil in Watauga
county, near Obids on the Ashe-
Wilkes line and near Thurmond on
the Surry-Alleghany line. These will
be changed as the investigation
proceeds, the camps to be picked up
and moved wherever the engineers
find most convenient to work.
Each party will have a chief of
party, transit and level men, draughts
men, rodmen, aXemen, truckmen and
a cook, Engineering headquarters for
the entire work will be maintained
in Greensboro where the chief en-
gineer, Mr.. Miller, resides, and tenn
porary officers of the executive COM
mittee are in Wilkesboro.
The special commission created by
the last general assembly for the
Appalachian and Western North
Carolina railroad, Beneham Cameron,
chairman, has specifically announced
that it wants the engineers to find
the best route from the point of view
of the whole state. The engineers,
therefore, are going into the noun
tains with the idea of looking over
the entire field to find if it is pos
sible to get from the piedmont plat
eau to the top of the Blue Ridge.
They will investigate every possible
route before making any report to
the commission.
AS starter the commission has
suggested that the engineers work
Between Wilkesboro and Ashe county
striking Jefferson, if possible; be-
tween Elkin towards Allegheny,
striking Sparta, if possible, and be-
tween Wilkesboro and Watauga,
striking Boone, if possible. These pos
sibilities, however, are by no means
all; the field. is unlimited for in
vestigation and all possible routes
will be worked out to see what they
will reveal. Probably six months
will be required.
In all that stretch Of country along
which the railroad in North Carolina
run up to the mountains, roughly
the country represented by Mount
Airy, Wilkesboro, Taylorsville, Lenoir
and other cities, the job will be to
find route up to. the top of the Blue
Ridge. In many. places this distance
is only about six miles by air line,
but it is probable that 20 to 25 miles
of wandering will be required to get
to the top. Once there the engineers
think the job will be fairly easy to
strike along the top and on over to
tap the Tennessee railroads some
where roughly between Johnson City
and Bristol.
The general assembly thought well
enough of the proposed railroad to
make possible provision for $1O,OOO,-
600 and to appropriate $4,000 for
investigation. Col. Cameron heads
both the commission and the execu-
tive committee with T. C. Bowie and
W. c. Heath, of Monroe, also on the
executiv committee. - Greensboro
News.