80

It affords me much pleasure, gentlemen, to
be assured that your Honorable Board appre-
ciate the savings thus made by me; and to
know that you have done me the kindness, as
well as the justice, to award me your unani-
mous approbation.

 

Prelianinary Surveys and Ea:perimentril Lines,
preparatory to the final location of the In-
clined Planes at the Ithaca 1:li'll.

One of the most formidable obstacles that has
presented itself in the location of this railroad,
is the great elevation of the ground at the sum-
mit between Ithaca and Owcgo, over which the
railroad had to be taken ; and the iiiifavorzible
situation of the land and rocks between that
summit and the Ithaca flats.

This summit, as before mentioned, lies 
miles south-easterly from the village of Itliaca,
and is 596 feet above the level of the Cayuga
Lake at its summer height. ’

The Ithaca Hat is about one mile in bi'eadtl'i
between the Inlet bridge and the foot of the hill
bounding it to the south ; the greatest elevation
that could be obtained (at a moderate cost) for
the road at the foot of that hill, by building it
upon embankment from the Inlet to that place,
did not exceed 12 feet above the level of the
lake; which being taken from the elevation of
the swamp-at the smninit, (596 feet,) left an
elevation of 584 feet between the Ithaca flats
and the summit swamp, to be overcome in a
distance of 7% miles, by locoin otive or stationa-
ry power; and amounts to an average rise _of
78 feet per mile for this whole distance ; which
is a greater ascent than has yet been overcoine
by locomotive engines, constructed upon the
most improved plan.

The valley of the Beaver Meadow and Six
Mile Creeks was, upon examination, found to
present insurmountable obstacles to the attain-
ment of this grade, for thisipartpof the road,
within the means of the company’s funds ; it,
thercfbre, became iicedful to resort to stationa-
ry power to overcome so much of this eleva-
tion as could not be gattainecl, by applying to
the ground between the inclined plane and the
summit, an uniform or undulating grade, with-
in the maacunum ascent fixed upon for the
whole of the road, (except the inclined plane,)
viz.:  of a foot rise to 100 feet of base, or
9-I-753- Ibo‘ per mile. .

. e:‘“t~*"7  line was run from the sum-

. 1 ' ieriy, on a‘.°'rade descend-iiigliitnig/'o7vnly,

at .;iie~ rate of -15,, of a foot base, to 100- feet of

perpenidicularlrise, or 267% feet per mile, as far
as it could be done with any prospect of suc-

cess ; this line and grade ‘was found to be «ine-.

ligible.

Numerous other lines and grades along both
sides of the valley of the Six Mile Creek, as
well as along the_ Cattatunk, were also exam-
ined; from all of which it was found to be im-

practicable, at a reasonable cost, to obtain a

good location upon a level line, or upon one of

nn2'fo_rm descent, either from the summit, any
considerable distance southerly towards Owe-
go, or northerly to the head of the inclined
plane at Ithaca;_ and that an nmlulritiTn,,r,r line
'b2rp.ist, of neclelzsszty, be adopted for a considc-ra-
epart of t e Whole route ' it was tlierefore
deemed most expedient to adopt an ’ll1L£l'lll(Ll’I:77,g,‘
ling ‘of gentle gmdc, (the vnammuvn grade to be
217,5, feet per mile, or T4,, of a foot rise to 100
feet o_fbase,) in all cases where it would insure
a saving to thepcompany. _
A good location for the road, over a conside-
gable portion of‘ the ‘section of country lying
etween the summit swamp and the Ithaca hill,
couldvhave ‘been obtained upon the east side of
the 'SlX Mile Creek, by encountering heavy
cuttings and embankinents near the mills upon
that stream, and by applying to it an inclined
plane and ‘stationary power to overcome about
110 feet of elevation »ne_ar tlie-junction of the
Beaver llleiidow Brook with the Six Mile Creek,
 five miles .sout_h-easterly from Itliaca.,)
Inga ition to the inclined planes that must of
necessity have been made in the neighborhood

MERICAN RAILROD J0

 

 

‘(five miles from Ithaca) and the Ithaca flats, as
could not be overcome by grading the road to
its meaciTnimn ascent.

The great cost of making a road upon this

side of tlietvalley of the Six Mile Creek, togetli-
er with the liability of increased inconvenience
and damage, both to the inercliaiit and to the
company, from accidents and detention at an
inclined plane such a distance (five miles) from
' the nearest market or village; when compared
with a route that could be obtained at a less cost
upon the west side of the valley, witliout being
compelled to resort to stationary power at any
place, except at the Ithaca hill; where all the
stationary power required for the whole road
could be located at one place, and that, too,
within less than half a mile of the village of
Ithaca, and only about one mile from the navi-
gable waters of the Cayuga Lake, gave advan-
tages for the line on the west side of the valley
of the Six Mile Creek, which could not be ob-
tained for any line on the east side or in the bed
of the valley of that creek: the west side of the
valley of the Six Mile Creek was, tlierefore,
selected as the most eligible for the location of
the road.
— After having,by means of the preliniinary
surveys before mentioned, found that the west
side of the valley of the Six Mile Creek was the
most eligible for the location of the railroad,
further examinations of the ground upon that
side of the valley were tliereupoii made, and the
most eligible line and grade for the road, be-
tween the summit swamp and the head of the
proposed inclined plane at Ithaca, was found to
be between the elevations of 450 and 600 feet
above the level of Cayuga Lake.

The most eligible route for 6-} miles of the
road north of the summit, (and extending to the
table land, near the top of the Ithaca hill, and
within one mile of the Ithaca 1lats,) being thus
brought to within such narrow limits, the next
point to be attended to was the definitive loca-
tion of this part of the route, and of the inclined
plane to connect it with the road to be located
upon the Ithaca flats.

The elevation of the summit swamp being,
as before stated, 596 feet above the level of the
Cayuga Lake, and the.max2'mum grade for the
road being fixed at 21 -‘--3,, feet descent per mile ;

it follows, of course, flint. if the ground would

liave admitted of the application of this maxi.
mum grade for the whole distance of 6-}, miles,
from the summit northerly to the head of the
inclined plane, near Ithaca; that then,t.lie above
elevation would have been thereby reduced
137,'~’,?-,,- feet, and left the head of the plaiieonly
/-1587"’,-‘~’,-,— feet above the level of the Cayuga Lake;
if from this, the height of embankment (12 feet.)
made for the road bed at the foot of the inclined
plane be taken, there would have still been left
an elevation of 446T7,,% feet to be overcome by
stationary powei‘, which is 64,-?-,, less than that
of the line adopted.

But the ground between the head of the plane
and the summit, along the line traced by this
grade, was, upon examination, found to be in-
el«ig«1Ii’1le for a good location, and it of course
was rejected. Various other experimental lines
and grades were applied .to the ground lying
between the summit and thejhead of the inclin-
ed planes, of which the one hei-e.inaf'terdescribed.
being found the most eligible route, both as to
line and to grade, that this section of the coun-
try would afford, it was adopted.

[To be conl4lnue(l.]

We have already informed our readers, says
the Petersburg Intelligencer, of September 2d,

place and Blakely, on the Roanoke. The air
rangements for carryingtlie main Southern mail
and passengers are now in full operation. As
this road has become a very iinpertant link in
the chain of communication between the North
and the South, we have obtained from a friend,

statement of the advantages :
“The mail and passengers are now trans-

of Ithaca, to overcome so much of the remain-
ing ‘elevation between the foot of that plane

burg and Fayctteville, in 36 hours.-distance.

of the completion of the Railroad between this -

for the inforinatiion of travellers, the following I

RAL, AND _

 

219 iniles—-from this town to Baltimore, by the
way of Norfolk, by steaniboats, in 28 hours;
by the way ofWashington, in 32 hours; from
Baltimore to Philadelphia, in 9 hours ; making
the whole time taken in travelling from Fayette:
ville, N .C.,[through Petersburg to Philadelphia,
but 73 hours-—and such is the arrangernentflof
the line, that the passengers are not disturbed
of their rest but one night. The road from
Blakely to Fayetteville is known to be one of
the. best in the Southern States, and the horses
and coaclics first rate. We are not aware that
any route of communication from the South to
the North presents as many comforts and con-
venience to the traveller as the above.”

l3iiooKLvN AND JAMAICA RAILROAD Comm-
NY.—-At a late meeting of the Directors of this
Company, the following gentlemen, viz., John
A. King and Nathan Shelton, of this village,
Charles Holt and Samuel Smith, of Brooklyn,
and Abner Chichester, of New-York, in con.
junction with Mr. Douglass, the Engineer,
were appointed a Committee to determine up.
on and locate the route of the Railroad, and to
make the preliminary‘arrangements for carrying
into operation the plans of the Company. The
committee are to enter upon their duties next
week, and no doubt will soon make such ar-
rangeinents as will justify the immediate con-
struction of the proposed road.—-——[Long Island
F armer.] '

RAii.1i0Ans AND LOCOMOTIVE ENeiniis——-It’a-
pid and Easy Mode of Travellz'ng.—-—We are in.
debted to an esteemed friend for the following
communication. The writer is a gentleman of
much experience and observation upon the
subject under consideration, having visited
Europe for the purpose of becoming familiar
V\fltl1’tl1e Railroads, and other works of internal
iiilprovement, in use and in progress there,
and, since his return, successfully engaged in
thila constructionof Locomotive Engines.

He need not fear of extending his communi-
cation upon the subject beyond our limits, or
desire for publication, nor of being too minute
in his detail, for he will please recollect that
the object of this Journal is to give such infor-
mation as will nuke the subject better under-
stoocl—by the great mass of this community—-
and in no way can this object be so we1lattain-
ed as by giving minute descriptions, with ‘en.
gravings pf every part and mode of construc-
tion of Railroads and Railroad machinery. We,
tliercfore, nioke him, and others Similarly an-
gaged, who will furnish us with descriptions
‘and drawings of whole or parts of machines
now in use, or of 2'mprovements uponlthem, or
of new ‘invenz-ions for rails or inacliinery,‘whi_cli
may tend to this object, a place in the Journal,
and the engravings who made at our expense.

N icw-Yonx, September 9, 1833.

DEAR Sm,—-Agreeably to your requestl
herewith send you a few extracts from me-
moranda taken during a late visit which I
made to several of the most important rail-
roads in the country, with a View of exami-
ning the different locomotive steam engines,
in order to a.scei:ta.in their practical effects on
the several roads, and to collect and compare
such facts connected with the subject as
=night fall under my observation. Hoping
;he few general extrac,ts which Ihave made
may interest some portion of your readers,
I am, very respectfully, yours,

E. L. MILLER.

The first road I visited was the Mohawk
and Hudson, extending from Albany to Sche-
nectady, _a. distance of 16 miles. Of thi
distance thc,i,r lo_coniot._ii/e eiigines work 13

ported, by aid of the Railroad, between Peters-u

miles.