The New York and Erie rail-road company was incorporated in April 1832, with a capital of ten million dollars. It was the original design that the road should extend from the city of New York, or some point in itsvicinity, and continue through the southern counties, through Owego, in the county of Tioga, to the shore of lake Erie, at some point between Cattaraugus creek and the Pennsylvania line. It is to be commenced within four years from the date of the act of incorporation, one fourth to be completed within ten years, one half within fifteen years, and the whole to be completed within twenty years, under penalty of forfeiture of the charter.
The New York and Albany rail-road company was incorporated in April, 1832, with a capital of three millions. It is to be completed within ten years; commencing at New York city, opposite the termination of the Fourth avenue,and ending on the Hudson, opposite Albany.[75] ‘The proposed route of this road,’ says the Boston Advertiser, ‘passes through the county of Berkshire, in this state, from West Stockbridge to the northern boundary of the state of Connecticut, following the valley of the Housatonic river from Stockbridge to Sharon, in Connecticut. It will thus afford an additional inducement for the extension of the Boston and Worcester rail-road from Worcester to Springfield, and thence to the western boundary of the state. This latter rail-road will meet the New York and Albany road at Stockbridge or West Stockbridge, and will thus come in contact with a continued line of rail-roads, interrupted only by the Hudson river, extending northwardly to Saratoga, westwardly to Utica, and southwardly to the city of New York. It will thus afford the means of direct and rapid intercourse between Boston and the towns in Berkshire county, along the fertile valley of the Housatonic, and with the rich marble quarries and beds of iron ore in that region, as well as with the vast country which will be opened to this mercantile market, beyond the limits of the state. The distance by the rail-road from West Stockbridge to Albany will be about forty miles, of which distance over sixteen miles will be a perfect level. From West Stockbridge to Utica, the distance by the rail-road will be onehundred and thirty-seven miles, over a country a great part of which is level. From Albany to Schenectady, and thence to Saratoga, the rail-road is already finished. From Schenectady to Utica, the road is yet to be made; but the company for building it is formed, with an adequate capital. About seven times the requisite amount of stock was subscribed. The required amount has been apportioned by commissioners among the subscribers, and the subscription money for the surplus shares has been returned.’
The Camden and Amboy rail-road commences at Camden, on the Delaware, opposite to Philadelphia, and passing through Burlington, Bordentown, Highstown, and Spotswood, over South river, terminates at Amboy. It is sixty-one miles in length, passing through a very level country. Being designed for steam locomotives, it is to be constructed in the most improved and substantial manner, though at present wooden rails are laid over a great portion of the line, in order that the embankments may be consolidated before laying the permanent track. A double track of rails is to be laid ultimately through the whole distance. Between Bordentown and Amboy, there is a cut varying in depth to sixty feet, extending nearly two miles. In the vicinity of Bordentown, there are stone culverts and viaducts. It has been calculated that five hundred thousand dollars per annum will be received for the conveyance of light freight and passengers. As the Delaware is frequently closed with ice during part of the winter, and the Philadelphia trade is consequently diverted to New York, it is supposed that vessels destined to Philadelphia, may put into Raritan bay, which is open at all seasons, and the cargoes be conveyed at once upon the rail-road to the place of their destination. To secure this object, large lots on the Raritan and the Delaware have been purchased by the company for the convenience of ships and steamboats.
The Patterson and Hudson river rail-road extends from Patterson, on the Passaic, to Jersey city and the Hudson river, opposite New York, fourteen miles. After the expiration of fifty years, the state of New Jersey has a right to take this road at an appraised value. The Elizabethtown and Somerville rail-road company was incorporated in 1830, with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars, with the liberty of increasing it to four hundred thousand. The West-Jersey rail-road is to extend from the Delaware river, in the county of Gloucester, or from some point on the Camden and Amboy rail-road, to the township of Penn’s Neck, on the same river, in the county of Salem. This company was incorporated at the same session with the above, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, and liberty to increase it to two million. The New Jersey rail-road is to extend from New Brunswick, through Rahway, Woodbridge, Elizabethtown and Newark, to Hudson river. It was incorporated in 1832, with a capital of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. A charter was also granted to a company to construct a rail-road connecting the Morris canal with the Patterson and Hudson river rail-road.
The Mauch Chunk rail-road was the first rail-road constructed in Pennsylvania. It was commenced and finished in the first five months of 1827. It extends from the coal mines near Mauch Chunk, along the side of the mountain, down an inclined plain of various declivities, to the Lehigh river. The mines are nine hundred and thirty-six feet above the point where the boats receive the coal, of which from three hundred to threehundred and fifty tons are delivered daily. From the river to the mines, the road is nine miles in length; and its branches at the ends and sidelings, four and a half miles more. The Mount Carbon rail-road company was incorporated in the spring of 1829, and the rail-road was commenced in the succeeding October. At the termination, the road is elevated upon thirty-one piers of masonry erected upon the landings. The Schuylkill Valley rail-road commences at Port Carbon, and terminates at Tuscarora, being ten miles in length. It is intersected by fifteen lateral rail-roads, whose combined distances amount to about thirteen miles. The Schuylkill rail-road consists of a double track, is thirteen miles in length, and cost seven thousand dollars a mile. Mill Creek rail-road commences at Port Carbon, and extends up Mill creek four miles; it has but a single track. The West Branch rail-road commences at Schuylkill haven, and terminates at the foot of the Broad mountain. It is fifteen miles in length, with five miles of lateral roads that intersect it; only the main stem has a double track. The Pinegrove rail-road extends from the mines to the Swatara feeder, a distance of five miles. The Little Schuylkill rail-road commences at Port Clinton, and extends up the stream to the mines at Tamaqua, a distance of about twenty-three miles. The Lackawaxen rail-road commences at the termination of the Lackawaxen and Delaware and Hudson canal, and connects that canal with the coal bed in Carbondale. It is sixteen miles in length, and overcomes an elevation of eight hundred feet. The road consists of a single track of wooden rails, capped with iron.
The Alleghany Portage rail-road is intended to connect the eastern and western sections of the Pennsylvania canal, and complete the direct line of communication between Philadelphia and Pittsburg. The route adopted commences at Frankstown, crosses the Alleghany mountains at Blair’s gap summit, and descends in the valleys of Laurel run and the Little Conemaugh, to Johnstown, a distance of thirty-eight and a half miles. A tunnel of one thousand feet is projected at one of the bends of the Conemaugh, which will be crossed by two bridges. This road is to be constructed by the state of Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia and Columbia rail-road is intended to connect the Delaware navigation at Philadelphia with that of the Susquehanna at Columbia, passing through the counties of Delaware, Chester, and Lancaster. It is about eighty-three miles in length, and it is proposed to continue it fourteen miles further, across the Susquehanna, by the Columbia bridge, to the borough of York. About seventy other rail-roads have been projected in Pennsylvania, and companies for constructing several of them have been incorporated.
The Newcastle and Frenchtown rail-road extends from Newcastle, on the Delaware, to the Elk river, near Frenchtown, in Maryland; it is nearly parallel to the Chesapeak and Delaware canal, and is in direct competition with it. This road consists of a single track, with the requisite number of turn-outs, and is about sixteen and a half miles in length—only eight hundred and fifty-three yards longer than a perfectly straight line drawn between its two extremities. It consists of six curve and six straight lines. The curve lines vary in length from one thousand, nine hundred and thirty-nine to eight thousand, two hundred and ninety-six feet. The radii of the three smaller curves are of ten thousand, five hundred and sixty feet each; the radius of the largest, twenty thousand feet. The aggregatelength of the curves is five miles and one sixth; that of the straight lines eleven miles and three tenths. The graduation of the road departs from a perfect level, by ascents and descents varying from ten feet six inches to sixteen feet four inches a mile; at one place, for about four thousand feet the slope is at the rate of twenty-nine feet to the mile. The whole amount of excavation is about five hundred thousand cubic yards of earth, exclusive of the side drains. The amount of embankment is four hundred and twenty thousand cubic yards. The road crosses four viaducts and twenty-nine culverts, all constructed of substantial stone masonry. The width is twenty-six feet, exclusive of the side drains. It was completed in 1832. Cost, including land, wharf, depots, and locomotive engines, four hundred thousand dollars.
The Wilmington and Downington rail-road was incorporated by the legislature of Delaware, in 1831, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, with liberty to increase it to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for the purpose of constructing a rail-road from Wilmington to the boundary line of the state, in the direction of Downington, in Pennsylvania.
The Baltimore and Susquehannah rail-road was commenced in 1830, and is to extend from Baltimore to York, in Pennsylvania, a distance of seventy-six miles. The company has the right of constructing a lateral rail-road, commencing at the main stem, within ten miles of Baltimore, through Westminster, to the head waters of Monocacy river.