5'78
VIRGINIA, August 9, 1833. —

To the Editor of the Aniericai1_Rai1road Journal :
SiR,——Pcrniit me through the inediuni of your
valuable journal, to communicate the project of
an improvement in traiisportation peculiarly
adapted to the kind of road and carriage which
I have suggested, and to the traiisportatioii of

cotton, or tobacco, or ﬂour, or any dry arl:icle,:

in this southern and in the great wcstcrii part
of the country. It is'not_liing new in principle,
for I am told it isan old custom in some parts of
this country for the small planters to roll their
hogsheads of tobacco i.0VI110.1‘li(‘.t. The proposi-
tion is to extend and improve this principle.
You will now comprehend the whole at a glance.

It is simply to construct in a very strong‘
manner, bound with iron, a lﬂ.1‘g‘(.‘ cylinder or
cask, or roller, say ‘7’ to :30 feet. liigli, and sui‘li_
cien tl y long or thick to receive the loiigesl. bales
ofcotton—-—-say 5 to 123 feet; it would then only
be necessary in practice to pack this tumbler
pe_ricc,tly full‘ and tight, securing it so that no
part of the ladiiig could possibly sliift;

It is manifest that a power equal to that of
one horse, on such a smooth and level road of
common earth, as I have suggested, would
draw or roll more than one of these inacliiiies
any 1'eqiiired speed. They would scarcely of-
fer any resistance, attached to a steam c:ii‘i‘i:ige'?
Nay.,.l doubt not the power of one man on a
tread-whe_cl would propel two of them with ease
and rapidity, after being once in motion.‘

Report of (‘lie Evigiizeei‘ in C‘/'L-ie_f' of the I zfurcu
and Owego I€(l'I.'l'I'0(£(l Coinpany.
ENGINEER D.EPARTMEN'I‘, Fe . 20, 1833.
To the President and Diivectoi-s, dsc. :

I Gi«iN'rLI~:i\i1aiv,—=—I have the honor respcctl'ul-
ily to submit the following Report, on the Re-
coniioissance, Preliiniiiary Surveys, I‘iX])€l‘l-
mental LIIICS, and Final Location of your
Road i1‘Ol‘i’i itii.‘n’.i:&1 ti) 0W(:'g0,_\vi[.h Plans and
.Pi'ciiii:s thereof ; together with the present
state of the work upon the road, and the esti-
mated cost and time to coniplcte the saine. .

It will, no doubt, be readily adniittcd by all
who ‘GXELIDIIIG the sub_}ccl7, that this road, (in
addition to the immediate atlvziiitages to be at-
iorded by it to the villages at each end tliereof',

AMERICAN RAILROAD JOURNAL, AND .

country must be taken through the accustom-l
red channel to a southern niarkct.

Lumber. grain, provisions, and otlier pro-
ductions of this section of country, are.takcii
every season from Owcgor to the city ofPliiladel-
pliia, by the Susqueliaiiiia Riveiyand Pennsyl-
Vania and Union Canals: or, passing by the
Union Canal at Middletown, continue down the
Susqiiciiamiia River to tide wate ' at Port Depo-
sit, or Havre. de Grace; and from thence pro-
ceed down the. Cliesapeakc Bay to the city of
Baltimore : or, leaving the Susquehanna River,
at Havrc de Grace, proceed to Turkey Point,
and thence passing up the Elk River to Back
Creelz, and througli the Chesapeake and Dela-
ware Canal to the Delaware River, ascend that
river to Pliiladelpliia: or,'pa'ssing by the mouth
of Back Creek, ascend the Elk ﬁve miles fur-
ther, to Frenclitown ; and from tliencc--. pnss
over the Newcastle and F renchtow-n Railroad
to tlicibelaware River at Newcastle, and ascend
that river to Philadelpliia.

A coiisiderablc amount of the lumber used
by me in the. construction of part Of-tilt‘. Clie-
sapeake and Delaware Canal, was brought
down the Susqncliaiina River, from the neigh-
borhood of Owego. This luniber, even with
the addition of a heavy charge for land trans-
portation across the Delaware peninsula., (ﬁf-
teen iniles,) cost. less money at that time (1824)
than lumber of equal quality brought down the
Deluwa-re R’i'U8’l“. “ » '

It is a circumstance worthy of observation in
relation to the location of this railroad, that its
s~immmCt (a marsh about 8.} miles south 40°35’
P{1St«il‘Olll the village ofltliaca) isialso the sum-
mit which divides the. waters running ’I'I,0‘I‘Z]L€"7‘ly
into the Atlmztiic Ocean, by the way of the Bea-
ver Meadow Brook, the Six Mile Creek, the
Cayuga Lake, the Seneca and Oswego Rivers,
Lake Ontario, and the River St. Lawrence ;
l'roin those which descend .s'autlierly to the same
ocean, througli the Cattatunk and Owego
Creeks, the Susquehanna River, and the Clio-
sapeake Bay.

This sniniiiit swamp is tliree feet below the
level of the railroad at that place, and ‘above the
level of the . A

 

and persons living in the vicinit.y,) is clcsiziiii-id

. torbecome. one of the most important iiiiks in

. the cliainof internal iniproveinent that li:-is yet
been pI'o_]ccte_d.i1i this section of country, to
p connect the cities of New-York, Pliiladclpliia,
and Baltiinore, with the Erie Caiial and Lake
Ontario, and the numerous towns and villages
bordering their shores.‘ , I ’
The village of Ithaca, at the northerl y tcrnii-
nation of this railroad, is situated on‘ the inlet
of the Cayuga Lake, about one mile and a half
south of it; il'Ol11 which place tliere now is, and
. for some years has been, a water coininuiiica-
tron w1th_the Erze C_zmal, at Montezuiiia~—-witli
Lake Evie; at the villages oi Buffalo and Black
iROGli--‘VVltl_l‘Ifa]CG Ontwrzo, at the village of Os-
wego——and with the Ifudson River, at the city
. of Albany. o
Wlien itlieﬂlthaca and Owego Railroad is
completed, tliisconnection will be c.\jteiidcd
southerly to the Susqueliauna River, at the vil-
lage of Owego ; from wliicli place that river is
navigable to the head of tide water at Port De-
posit, for arks and rafts, at the Spring‘ and fall
ireshets, from about four to five weeks each
Sl”.'“‘8' 59f0'I‘e the Erie Canal" can be used from
Utica to Albany. T ’p
From the village of Owego a sliortroiite may
be obtained to the citypof ,l\lcw-Yorlc, by the
_way of the New-York aiidErie Railroad, which
is to -pass through this village. ‘A charter for
this road was obtained. from -the Legislature of
this State last winter; its frieiids coiiﬁdeiitly
expect that it will be commenced and complet-
ed thus iar at an early day. Until that is done,

A have the
Snnimcr lcvcl oftlic
lieiglit. Atlaiitic.
Siisquelianiia River at Owcgo, _ 18.‘)i't. 777i't.
Ohio River at the inouth of the _
lVIuskiugun‘i, - - - 400 555
Lake Erie, - - - - 402 504
Geiicsee River at the Erie Canal, 407 499
S(.‘.ll(".CZI,LllkC, - - - - 547 419
‘Rome suininit, (old Can-.il,) ‘ - 5-17 419
Erie Canal at Utica, - - 55: 413
Erie Canal at Syracuse and Sa-

I lina, - - - - -_ 570 390
Cayuga Lake at Ithaca - - 596 370
Seneca River at the Erie Canal, 596 - 370
Oneida Lake, - -- - 004 362
'OllOI1(i‘dg'!1 Lake, - - - 615 351
Lake Ontario, - - - 734 232
Atlantic Ocean, - - 966 ——

. The waters of the Cattatunk Creek and Bea-
ver Meadow Brook approach within 300 yards
ofcacli other, in this swampy piece of ground,
which for 300 yards in length, and 150 yards
in breadth, varies less than three feet in eleva-
tion. ’ ‘ » I
This swamp is situated in a reniarkablc pass
between two ranges of hills or mountains of
rock, i'roni.400'to 500’feet in height, which
stretch along the valleys of the Six Mile and
Cattatunk Creeks, nearly the whole lcngtli of
the road ; beingmeverthcless, frequently broken
and interrupted by deep ravines, formed by tri-
butaries to the Cattatunk and Six Mile Creeks.
The valley formed by the Beaver 1\Ieadow
Brook and Six Mile Creek, and their ‘Ll‘ll)l1l;il1‘l(‘.S,
between the suininit and Ithaca, varies in
breadtli from about 90 to from 1600 to_1'700
yards, except at the falls about two miles south-
€i1St Ofltlltlctly Where the water rushes through
a chasm in the rock several hundred feet in
length, and from forty to sixty feet in height and

a large portion of the produce of this section of

breadtli. i,'I‘l‘iis valley consists of sidedyiiig
ground and rock, with sinuous and undulating,

surfaces of great acclivity, varying laterally
from 10.to 100 feet in elevation, and is indent-
ed by deep and broad ravines, extending in
most places from the foot of the mountain on
either side, to near the bed of the Beaver Mea.
dow and,Six Mile Creeeks : and taken togeth.
er, present forinidable obstacles to the location
of a railroad at a reasonable cost, with either
moderate slopes or gentle curves. A

'l‘lie valley formed by the Cattatunk Creek
and its ‘tributaties, between the summit and
Owego, is of a idiﬁierent character from that
north of the summit; here the breadth of the
valley iir.creases as you proceed southerly as far
as the village of Candor, at which place it has
a breadth of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet ; from this
village southerly to within about‘ twoiniles of
Owe-go, the valley again decreases to a "breadth
of only 2,000 feet, and then opens into the val-
lays of the Owego Creek and Susquehanna

River.

From the sunnnit to Owego, a narrow slip of
flat, or bottom land, may generally be found
along the sides of the Cattatunk ; it, however,
is not always to be found oxi the same sidehof
that creek. This creek has a tortuous course
as it iiicandcrs through those ﬂats——-sometiincs
washing the foot of the rock on one side of the
valley, and then again (almost immediately)
deﬂecting abruptly across to the foot of‘ the rocks
upon the opposite side. » ,

In addition to the obstacles thus presented to
the location of this part of the road, in the vici.
nity of, or upon any one side of the Cattatunk,
(without destroying its utility, by abrupt curves,
or sacrificing the prospects of the stockholders
by heavyncuttings, and high ernbankments, or
grades of great acclivity,) it-was found that this
portion of the bed of the valley consisted in places
of a succession of shelves, or tables of land, from
ten to twenty and thirty feet above the ﬂat or
bottom land ; these shelves in many placesap.
preach the. creek, and in some instances form
spurs of land ; in other instances steep side-
lying’ hills ; and in many instances, the shelves
or table land upon oppositesides of the Catte-

. tunknearly interlock, or pass by each other at

abrupt turns of that creek, and thus present
very i'ormidable obstacles to straight lines, gen-
tle curves, and grades.’ x

In addition to the preceding obstacles to a
good location at :1 moderate cost, a considera-
ble part of the valley was in a high state of cul-
tivation, covered with numerous buildings,
wliicli it was desi1‘ablc should be saved it'.pr:ic-
ticable.

After having made these reconnoissances, the
small capital of the company to .make this great
e.’t‘l(’I7'Ll of road, over such c section of country,
adinonished me that thcutniost circunispection
and care in the location, as well as in the choice
of materials for the road, were indispcnsably
necessary in order to insure a proﬁtable invest-
ment of the stockholders’ money. ‘

Ilaving stated the preceding facts to the Di-
i'cct.ors, (some ofwlioiii accompanied Inc along
the whole route selected for this railroad,) and
the difficulties connected tlierewith, tl1ey,~im-
liesitatingly concurred with me in opinion, as
to the measures to be taken to obtain a good
location, and thus enable me to make their road
at a moderate cost: to obtain this object, they
approved of the plan I rccoiiinieiided, viz; : not
to make a ﬁnallocation of the road until every
part ot'tl'ie valley had been thoroughly examin-
ed by surveys, and levels of sections run across
it, at short distances apart; togcthcrwith mea-
sureinent.s of all the buildings, and otlierim-
provcn'ie.nts, that iniglit be in the way ofa good
location. A A ‘ i I
I‘ In accordancewitli this plan, a base line was
surveyed and levelled from Ithaca to Owego.
t.lirou,s;li the whole extent of the valleys of the
Six Mile, Beaver Meadow, Cattatuiik, and Owe-
go Creeks ; beginning at an iron bolt placed by
niyself. in the wharf at the Inlet of the Cayuga.
Lake, at the .ordinary level of that lake during
the suinincr months. Lines were then survey-
ed and levelled, across the whole bed of 111.9

Valley, at stations generally about ﬁve liuiidrﬁd n