AMERICAN
RAILROAD JOURNAL
September
14, 1833
Report
of the Engineer in Chief of the Ithaca and Owego Railroad Company.
ENGINEER DEPARTMENT, Feb. 26, 1833.
To the President and Directors, &c.:
GENTLEMEN,-I
have the honor respectfully to submit the following Report, on the
Reconnoissance (sic), Preliminary Surveys, Experimental Lines, and Final
Location of your Road from Ithaca to Owego, with Plans and Profiles thereof;
together with the present state of the work upon the road, and the estimated
cost and time to complete the same.
It will, no
doubt, be readily admitted by all who examine the subject, that this road, (in
addition to the immediate advantages to be afforded by it to the villages at
each end thereof, and persons living in the vicinity,) is destined to become
one of the most important links in the chain of internal improvement that has
yet been projected in this section of country, to connect the cities of
New-York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, with the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario,
and the numerous towns and villages bordering their shores.
The village
of Ithaca, at the northerly termination of this railroad, is situated on the
inlet of the Cayuga Lake, about one mile and a half south of it; from which
place there now is, and for some years has been, a water communication with the
Erie Canal, at MontezumaÑwith Lake Erie, at the
villages of Buffalo and Black RockÑwith Lake Ontario, at the
village of OswegoÑand with the Hudson River, at the city
of Albany.
When the
Ithaca and Owego Railroad is completed, this connection will be extended
southerly to the Susquehanna River, at the village of Owego; from which place
that river is navigable to the head of tide water at Port Deposit, for arks and
rafts, at the spring and fall freshets, from about four to five weeks each
spring before the Erie Canal can be used from Utica to
Albany.
From the
village of Owego a short route may be obtained to the city of New-York, by the
way of the New-York and Erie Railroad, which is to pass through this village. A
charter for this road was obtained from the Legislature of this State last
winter; its friends confidently expect that it will be commenced and completed
thus far at an early day. Until that is done, a large portion of the produce of
this section of country must be taken through the accustomed channel to a
southern market.
Lumber,
grain, provisions, and other productions of this section of country, are taken
every season from Owego to the city of Philadelphia, by the Susquehanna River,
and Pennsylvania and Union Canals: or, passing by the Union Canal at
Middletown, continue down the Susquehanna River to tide water at Port Deposit,
or Havre de Grace; and from thence proceed down the Chesapeake Bay to the city
of Baltimore: or, leaving the Susquehanna River, at Havre de Grace, proceed to
Turkey Point, and thence passing up the Elk River to Back Creek, and through
the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the Delaware River, ascend that river to
Philadelphia: or, passing by the mouth of Back Creek, ascend the Elk five miles
further, to Frenchtown; and from thence pass over the Newcastle and Frenchtown
Railroad to the Delaware River at Newcastle, and ascend that river to Philadelphia.
A
considerable amount of the lumber used by me in the construction of part of the
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, was brought down the Susquehanna River, from the
neighborhood of Owego. This lumber, even with the addition of a heavy charge
for land transportation across the Delaware peninsula, (fifteen miles,) cost
less money at that time (1824) than lumber of equal quality brought down the
Delaware River.
It is a
circumstance worthy of observation in relation to the location of this
railroad, that its summit (a marsh about 8½ miles south 400 35' east
from the village of Ithaca) is also the summit which divides the waters running
northerly into the Atlantic Ocean, by the way of the Beaver Meadow Brook, the
Six Mile Creek, the Cayuga Lake, the Seneca and Oswego Rivers, Lake Ontario,
and the River St. Lawrence; from those which descend southerly to the same
ocean, through the Cattatunk and Owego Creeks, the Susquehanna River, and the
Chesapeake Bay.
This summit
swamp is three feet below the level of the railroad at that place, and above
the level of the
|
Summer |
Above the |
Susquehanna River at Owego, |
189 ft. |
777ft. |
Ohio River at_ the mouth of the |
400 |
566 |
Lake Erie, - - - |
402 |
564 |
Genesee River at the Erie Canal, |
467 |
499 |
Seneca Lake, - - - |
547 |
419 |
Rome, summit, (old Canal,) - |
547 |
419 |
Erie Canal at Utica, - - |
553 |
413 |
Erie Canal at Syracuse and Sa‑ |
576 |
390 |
Cayuga Lake at Ithaca - - |
596 |
370 |
Seneca River at the Erie Canal, |
596 |
370 |
Oneida Lake, - - - |
604 |
362 |
Onondaga Lake, - - |
615 |
351 |
Lake Ontario, - - - |
734 |
232 |
Atlantic Ocean, - - |
966 |
---- |
The waters of
the Cattatunk Creek and Beaver Meadow Brook approach within 300 yards of each
other, in this swampy piece of ground, which for 300 yards in length, and 150
yards in breadth, varies less than three feet in elevation.
This swamp is
situated in a remarkable pass between two ranges of hills or mountains of rock,
from 400 to 500 feet in height, which stretch along the valleys of the Six Mile
and Cattatunk Creeks, nearly the whole length of the road; being, nevertheless,
frequently broken and interrupted by deep ravines, formed by tributaries to the
Cattatunk and Six Mile Creeks. The valley formed by the Beaver Meadow Brook and
Six Mile Creek, and their tributaries, between the summit and Ithaca, varies in
breadth from about 90 to from 1600 to 1700 yards, except at the falls about two
miles southeast of Ithaca, where the water rushes through a chasm in the rock
several hundred feet in length, and from forty to sixty feet in height and
breadth. This valley consists of side-lying ground and rock, with sinuous and
undulating surfaces of great acclivity, varying laterally from 10 to 100 feet
in elevation, and is indented 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 Meadow and Six Mile Creeks: and taken together, present formidable
obstacles to the location of a railroad at a reasonable cost, with either
moderate slopes or gentle curves.
The valley formed by the Cattatunk Creek
and its tributaties (sic), between the summit and Owego, is of a different
character from that north of the summit; here the breadth of the valley
increases 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 two miles of Owego, the valley again decreases to a breadth of
only 2,000 feet, and then opens into the valleys of the Owego Creek and
Susquehanna River.
From the summit 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 on the same side of that creek. This creek has a tortuous
course as it meanders through those flatsÑsometimes 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 vicinity of, or upon
any one side of the Cattatunk, (without destroying its utility, by
abrupt curves, or sacrificing the prospects of the stockholders by heavy
cuttings, and high embankments, 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 places approach 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 opposite sides of the
Cattatunk nearly interlock, or pass by each other at abrupt turns of that
creek, and thus present very formidable obstacles to straight lines, gentle
curves, and grades.
In addition to the preceding obstacles to
a good location at a moderate cost, a considerable part of the valley was in a
high state of cultivation, covered with numerous buildings, which it was
desirable should be saved if practicable.
After having made these reconnoissances
(sic), the small capital of the company to make this great extent of road,
over such a section of country, admonished me that the utmost circumspection and care in
the location, as well as in the choice of materials for the road, were
indispensably necessary in order to insure a profitable investment of the
stockholders' money.
Having stated the preceding facts to the
Directors, (some of whom accompanied me along the whole route selected for this
railroad,) and the difficulties connected therewith, they unhesitatingly
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 recommended, viz.: not to make a final
location of the road until every part of the valley had been thoroughly
examined by surveys, and levels of sections run across it, at short distances
apart; together with measurements of all the buildings, and other improvements,
that might be in the way of a good location.
In accordance with this plan, a base line
was surveyed and leveled (sic) from Ithaca to Owego, through the whole extent
of the valleys of the Six Mile, Beaver Meadow, Cattatunk, and Owego Creeks;
beginning at an iron bolt placed by myself in the wharf at the Inlet of the
Cayuga Lake, at the ordinary level of that lake during the summer months. Lines
were then surveyed and leveled (sic), across the whole bed of the valley, at stations
generally about five hundred feet apart on this base line, and at right angles thereto;
and in cases where it was judged needful for the purpose of obtaining a better
location for the road, these surveys were farther extended to the foot of each
hill.
In addition to the surveys and levels of these cross lines,
every road, building, creek, and other object worthy of note, (and which, if
practicable, were to be avoided in the final location of the road,) were
measured, and the whole of the information thus obtained was laid down upon
maps on a large scale; and all the elevations that had been taken of stations
upon the base and cross lines, and of such other points as presented obstacles
to the attainment of the best location, were written in figures at their proper
places upon the same map.
Upon this map experimental lines and curves were projected
with great facility during the winter season, and with as much certainty as
could have been acquired by many surveys, levels, and examinations, made in the
field: and in the spring these experimental lines and curves, from the summit
of the road southerly to the Susquehanna River, (the lines and curves north of
the summit having been previously laid out, and that part of the road put under
contract,) being transited and leveled (sic), fully tested the great advantage
of the preliminary surveys and maps.
Although a good location for part of the road was thus
obtained, yet in consideration of the small capital to be expended it was
considered good economy to expend some time in making further examinations, in
order to save expense where it was practicable to be done, in crossing and
re-crossing the Cattatunk Creek, passing around spurs of hills, and ascending
or descending from the shelves or table land found upon both sides of that
creek.
The point of land projecting from the west hill, from the
county line, 11 miles south-easterly from Ithaca, extends so far easterly as to
leave only a valley 200 yards in width between it and the east hill, for the
passage of the waters of the Cattatunk. As this point of land (the top of which
is level for a considerable distance) lays directly across the track selected
as the most eligible for the ground lying to the north and to the south of that
place; and the table land upon its top was found so high above the low ground
on each side of it, as to have required too great an expenditure of money in
deep cutting and heavy embankments, to be adopted, it was therefore avoided by
passing in the valley around the foot of that spur, with a curve of 7,000 feet
radius, the valley not admitting of a longer curve.
The bend in the line at this place made it necessary to
encounter deep cutting and heavy embankments through a low point of the east
hill, near Mr. Lane's tavern, which projected into the swamp, north of the
county line: or to apply one or more reverse curves to avoid it, in doing
which, the line was again thrown upon upland requiring deep cutting and heavy
embankments to the north of that place.
Various lines were run to avoid the deep cutting at Lane's hill, and after a careful examination of all of them, and of the infirm ground in the swamp north of that hill, it was found, that to make the best road, it would be the best economy to encounter that deep cut; the straight line crossing that hill has, therefore, been adopted.
This cut consists principally of gravel, and is 2,300 feet in
length, with an average height of 14 feet, the greatest height being 21 feet.
By the aid of an economical plan of constructing dry walls to
save the excavation of large slopes on the sides of the deep cut, the cost of
this cut, including the great length of embankment to be made with this
excavation at each end of the hill, will not much exceed the same length of
road grade north of the summit.
Important savings to the company were also made by these
re-examinations, aided by the maps before spoken of, by reducing the curves at
the eastern and western spurs of hills near the village of Candor, the most
northerly of which passed around the eastern point of the hill, at
Booth's mill pond, near the junction of the northern and western branches of
the Cattatunk Creek. This curve was reduced to 7,000 feet radius, to avoid
crossing and re-crossing the northerly branch of that creek; but it became
necessary, by such removal of the line, to cross the more rapid Shanandagan
Creek near its junction with the Cattatunk, about one mile north of the mill
pond.
To have
avoided the crossing of the Cattatunk Creek, at Booth's mill pond; by passing
around the foot of the high land at that place, and crossing the creek at the
village of Candor, would have required too small a curve to be safe for cars
passing that place under high velocities; in addition to which, a small curve
at this place would have made it necessary to make another small curve at the
village of Candor, attended with more cost in excavation and embankment, or in
removing buildings, than the re-crossing of the creek at that village. A due
regard to economy, and safety, recommended the adoption of the line that
crossed the Cattatunk at the head of Booth's mill pond, upon a curve having a
radius of 7,000 feet, and re-crossing that creek at Candor.
The next
crossing and re-crossing places for the road over the Cattatunk, are at
Chidsey's mill pond, eight miles north of Owego, which lies in crescent form,
at the foot of a steep side-ling hill of the same form, upon the east side of
the Cattatunk, which is composed of hard pan, clay, and quick-sand, well known
to be very expensive to excavate, and bad materials for road. To have
constructed the road along the east side of this pond, to avoid crossing and
re-crossing it near this place, would not only have required a small curve
along the pond, but another small return curve would have been necessary to get
the road upon favorable ground for its continuance southerly. Such line would
have been very expensive, even if no regard were had to the injury to be done
to Mr. Chidsey, by passing through his mill yard, and thus damaging his
property.
After
crossing to the west side of the Cattatunk Creek at the head of Chidsey's mill
pond, it was found impracticable to continue upon that side of the creek, with
due regard to cost and to curves, on account of the ledges of rock, deep
cuttings and heavy embankments, that must have been encountered at Robinson's
mill pond, and Williams' hill.
These were
avoided, by crossing to the east side of the Cattatunk below Chidsey's mill,
re-crossing it to the west at Anderson's Island and Williams' hill, and again
re-crossing the Cattatunk Creek, for the last time at Mr. Woodbridge's lane and
bridge. The road embankment will, nevertheless, be slightly washed by this
creek at three places to the south of this bridge.
The crossing
at Anderson's Island, and re-crossing at Mr. Woodbridge's, were made necessary
by the easterly course of the creek, from that island to a steep and crescent
form of the east hill, composed of clay and quick-sand, or hard pan; and by the
westerly course of the creek, on and near Mr. Woodbridge's land, until it again
washes the foot of a steep west hill; along which it runs nearly to its
junction with a rapid flood brook, from a valley of the westerly range of
hills.
The line of
road generally crosses the Cattatunk Creek with considerable obliquity, and
some extra expense must be incurred, to pass the streams under the road, as
nearly at right angles as practicable. It, however, crosses the Owego Creek,
(about two miles from the village of Owego,) nearly at right angles.
This is
considered the most difficult stream upon the line to pass in safety, and will
require a heavy expenditure of money, as may be seen by the accompanying
estimate of masonry, &c. The Cattatunk Creek, from Candor to Owego, being
in times of freshets navigable for arks, the viaducts to be built across that
stream must, of course, be elevated to such a height as to admit of their
passing under them.
The road bridges, built across that creek by the inhabitants
of the country, are from 9 to 12 feet above the level of low water, at those
places. Several of them have been built for many years, and all of them have
been found sufficiently elevated to admit of the passage of arks descending
that stream.
When the prices of lumber and fuel, in the valley of the
Cattatunk, are so much increased as to make it the interest of the inhabitants
to clear off the hills, or mountains, bounding the valley of that creek; the
rain and melted snow descending from those mountains without being
checked in their passage by any vegetable growth, may be expected to increase
the height of the floods in that creek; and of course to give that water an
uninterrupted passage under the railroad, the height and length of the viaducts
to be built across the creeks, must be increased beyond what might now be
considered ample dimensions for them.
These increased dimensions for the viaducts, (of which there
must be in number 8 small and 8 large ones, and together amount to from 960 to
1030 feet in length,) will considerably increase this item of expense in the
construction of the roadÑnot probably chargeable to grading.
The great abundance of building stone to be found in the
neighborhood of the Cattatunk and Owego Creeks, will enable me, with good
economy, to substitute abutments and piers of solid masonry, for wooden
trussels (sic), in building the viaducts across those creeks.
The superstructure of wood to be laid upon those abutments
and piers, if made after the model exhibited, and recommended to your Honorable
Board, will, it is believed, be sufficiently firm to admit the spaces between
them to be increased to forty feet.
When these superstructures of wood decay, instead of
replacing them with wood, they may be substituted by arches of solid masonry,
by buiding (sic) an additional pier between each of those now to be erected.
From these reconnoissances (sic), surveys, and examinations, it became manifest that the maps before mentioned (which comprised the elevations and improvements of the whole district of country deemed at all eligible for the location of your railroad) had enabled me, at a very small cost, to select for this road the most gentle grades, (the maximum rise being reduced to 2113/100 feet per mile,) curves of the greatest radii, (being from 7,000 to 100,000 feet, except at the villages at the northerly and southerly terminations of the road,) straight lines of the greatest length, and a route the most eligible and least costly that the country would afford; and that, too, with more certainty of being the best, and at much less cost than it could have been done without these preliminary surveys and maps.
I now have the satisfaction of assuring your Honorable Board,
that the whole road is located, (except about one mile at the village of Owego,
which has been omitted at the request of some of the Directors,) and that it is
my firm and honest conviction, that by the above mentioned mode of proceeding
in making the preliminary surveys and maps, I have obtained the most eligible
routes, grades and curves
the most gentle, with straight lines connecting them of the greatest length
that the country would afford;
and that the cost of constructing the road (taking into consideration the
natural obstacles to be overcome) will be found unusually small, and much
less than could have been reasonably
anticipated, by any person having only the slightest claim to experience in
works of this kind; and further, that the plan and location which has been
adopted, will save to the stockholders in the construction of their road, a sum
of money amounting to at least one third of the whole cost of grading it; and that the amount of work
to be done upon it is so reduced, as also to save one year in the time required
for its construction, when compared with the best location that could have been
obtained without the aid
of those preliminary surveys and maps.
It
affords me much pleasure, gentlemen, to be assured that your Honorable Board
appreciate 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 unanimous approbation.
Preliminary Surveys and
Experimental Lines,
preparatory to the final location of the Inclined
Planes at the Ithaca Hill.
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 summit between
Ithaca and Owego, over which the railroad had to be taken; and the unfavorable
situation of the land and rocks between that summit and the Ithaca flats.
This
summit, as before mentioned, lies 8½ miles south-easterly from the
village of Ithaca, and is 596 feet above the level of the Cayuga Lake at its
summer height.
The
Ithaca flat is about one mile in breadth 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 summit, (596 feet,) left an elevation of 584 feet between the
Ithaca flats and the summit swamp, to be overcome in a distance of 7½
miles, by locomotive or stationary 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 overcome 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 attainment of this grade, for this part
of the road, within the means of the company's funds; it, therefore, became
needful to resort to stationary power to overcome so much of this elevation as
could not be attained, by applying to the ground between the inclined plane and
the summit, an uniform or undulating grade, within the maximum ascent
fixed upon for the whole of the road, (except the inclined
plane,) ?????? of a foot
rise to 100 feet of base, or 2? ??/100 feet per
mile.
An
experimental line was run from the summit northerly, on a grade descending uniformly,
at the rate of 5/10 of a
foot base, to 100 feet of perpendicular rise, or 26 4/10
feet per mile, as far as it could be done with any prospect of success; this
line and grade was found to be ineligible.
Numerous
other lines and grades along both sides of the valley of the Six Mile Creek, as
well as along the Cattatunk, were also examined; from all of which it was found
to be impracticable, at a reasonable cost, to obtain a good location upon a level
line, or upon one of uniform descent, either
from the summit, any considerable distance southerly towards Owego, or
northerly to the head of the inclined plane at Ithaca; and that an undulating
line must, of necessity, be adopted for a
considerable part of the whole route; it was, therefore, deemed most expedient
to adopt an undulating line of gentle grade, (the
maximum grade to be 21 12/100
feet per mile, or 4/10 of a foot rise to 100 feet of
base,) in all cases where it would insure a saving to the company.
A
good location for the road, over a considerable portion of the section of
country lying between the summit swamp and the Ithaca hill, could have been
obtained upon the east side of the Six Mile
Creek, by encountering heavy cuttings and embankments near the mills upon that
stream, and by applying to it an inclined plane and stationary power to
overcome about 110 feet of elevation near the junction of the Beaver Meadow
Brook with the Six Mile Creek, (about five miles south-easterly from Ithaca,)
in addition to the inclined planes that must of necessity have been made in the
neighborhood of Ithaca, to overcome so much of the remaining elevation between
the foot of that plane (five
miles from Ithaca) and the Ithaca flats, as could not be overcome by grading
the road to its maximum ascent.
The great cost of making a road upon this side of the valley of the Six Mile Creek, together with the liability
of increased inconvenience and damage, both to the merchant 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 the valley, without 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 he 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 navigable waters of the Cayuga Lake, gave advantages for the line on
the west side of
the valley of the Six Mile Creek, which could not be obtained 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, therefore,
selected as the most eligible
for the location of the road.
After having, by means of the preliminary 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 thereupon made, and the most
eligible line and grade for the
road, between 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 6½ 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 flats,) being thus brought to within
such narrow limits, the next point to be attended to was the definitive
location 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 maximum grade for the road being fixed at 2112/100
feet descent per mile; it follows, of course, that if the ground would have
admitted of the application of this maximum grade for the whole distance of
6½ miles, from the summit northerly to the head of the inclined plane,
near Ithaca; that then the above elevation would have been thereby reduced 137 23/100
feet, and left the head of the plane only 458 72/100 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 446 72/100
feet to be overcome by stationary power, which is 64 28/100
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 ineligible
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 the head of the inclined
planes, of which the one hereinafter described, being found the most
eligible route, both as
to line and to grade,
that this section of the
country would afford, it was adopted.
[To be continued.]
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Editor: D G Rossiter