| A straight line substituted for one 2°, one 4° and one 6° curve. | ||||||||
| One | 2° | curve | substituted | for | one | 4° | curve. | |
| Four | 4° | " | " | " | four | 6° | " | |
| One | 3° | " | " | " | one | 6° | " | |
| Three | 3° | " | " | " | three | 6° | " | |
| Five | 5° 30' | " | " | " | five | 6° | " | |
| One | 3° 30' | " | " | " | two | 6° | " | |
| One | 4° and two 2° | curve | substituted | for | three | 6° | curve, | saving 45° and 60 feet. |
| One | 5° 40' | curve | substituted | for | one | 7° | curve. | |
| One | 6° | " | " | " | one | 7° | " | |
| Three | 7° | " | " | " | three | 8° | " | |
| One | 5° | " | " | " | two | 5° | and one 6° curve. | |
| Two | 3° | " | " | " | two | 6° | curve, | saving 30° and 40 feet. |
The same plan for improving the line above the falls will be pursued, so that when completed, the road combining the alignment with the gradients will, in the judgment of the engineer, be "superior for doing economically a heavy traffic, to any railroad in New England which runs east and west."
At Green River there will be substituted for Mr. Haupt's bridge of 700 feet built on a curved line one of 470 feet, to be constructed on a straight line. The remainder of the ravine to be made a solid embankment. All the bridges on the line are to be "Howe's Truss," and equal in strength and durability to any in New England.
The trestle-work has been removed, and the ravines where it was placed are being filled with substantial masonry and solid embankments.
On the first day of November Mr. Farren had about fifty men employed; on the first day of December, two hundred and seventy-five, and on the 14th of December, when one of the Committee visited the line, he had over three hundred.
About one-third of the masonry for Green River bridge has been built, and the stone is quarried for the other bridges. Nearly one thousand yards of culvert masonry and three hundred yards of bank wall have been constructed, and from forty to fifty thousand yards of earth removed.
The timber for Green River bridge is sawed and will be framed in January. The material for all the bridges below Shelburne Falls has been contracted for, to be delivered early in the spring. Twenty thousand ties have been purchased, together with posts and boards for fences. The work at the rock-cut near Shelburne Falls will be commenced in the month of January.
On the line below Shelburne Falls, there will remain in the road, the following sharp curves, to wit: In the track as laid and not disturbed, four of six degrees, and in the remainder of the line, six of six degrees, three of seven, and two of eight. One of the eight degree curves, is through a long heavy cut, and cannot be reduced without great expense. The other is near the Deerfield River crossing, where all trains will be required to run slow. It cannot be avoided without a tunnel or a curve over the entire bridge. The three seven degree curves occur in heavy rock-cuttings, and these are all the sharp curves that are contained in a space of thirteen miles.
Above Shelburne Falls the alignment and grades are more favorable. From the tunnel to the Deerfield River crossing, below Shelburne Falls, a distance of twenty-two miles, there is but one ascending grade going east; its location is about two miles west of the falls; it is one-half mile in length, and is thirty-five feet to the mile. Within the same space going east, there are the following descending grades, to wit: One of forty-five feet per mile for 2,000 feet, one of forty feet for 6,000 feet, one of twenty-eight feet for 2,500 feet, and one, near the village of Shelburne Falls, of fifty feet per mile for 5,300 feet. The remaining grades are from five to twenty feet per mile.
The sharp curves remaining after the proposed improvements will be as follows, to wit: Near the depot grounds at Shelburne, and running through the village, there is necessarily one eight degree curve, and on the seventeen miles between the falls and the tunnel, there occur thirteen six degree curves. A slight change in laying the track will increase the radius of these curves to 1,000 feet. This in some cases can be done.