€&e ILitJtarp of ti>e entoetgitp of U3ort& Carolina Collection of jBottf) Carolimana t>5 ca [ Epecutive Doc. 9. ] REPORT OF THE JDIR.EC T II S NORTH CAROLINA RAIL ROAD COMPANY. RALEIOH : Thos. J. Lcmay, Printer to the State. 1850, House Commons, December 20, 1850J [Ordered to be sent to the Senate with a proposition to print.] Senate, December 21, 1850. [Ordered to be printed,] c REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA RAIL ROAD. To the Honorable The General Assembly of North Carolina:. In pursuance of tVie provisions of an act of the last Gen- eral Assembly, entitled " an act to "incorporate the North Carolina Rail Road Company," books of subscription for the capital stock of said company were opened, at the places de- signated, and by the commissioners therein appointed, and stock to the amount of one million of dollars was subscrib- ed, and five per cent, on each share paid in by individuals, all as required by said act. The stockholders thereafter, in the month of July last, met in the town of Salisbury, and duly organized the company, proceeded to the transaction of business, and appointed their directors. The directors forthwith proceeded to the discharge of the duties assigned them, elected their President, and appointed their chief Engineer. Under the efficient and energetic direction of this latter officer, Major Walter Gwynn, by the last of August and du- ring September, four corps of Engineers were in the field, engaged in active operations; since which time, about nine hundred miles of line have been surveyed and tested by the compass and level. The general direction of the route for the road as survey- ed (which includes the various alternate lines run between 0% the same points) rims from Goldsboro' and Waynesboro' by or near to Raleigh, Hillsboro', Graham, Greensboro', Lex- ington, Salisbury and Concord, to Charlotte. Although, on most of the lines surveyed, a road might be made, yet, by running one or more alternate lines between the same points, we have been enabled to test and compare these lines, and sdect the best, as to cost and diminished grade. As this is essentially THE NORTH CAROLINA RAIL ROAD— THE GREAT ARTERY along which health and prosperity will pulsate through the centre of the body politic, carrying the same blessings to the extremities, wherever it may be extended, the directors have spared no pains, but have exercised their best judgment to select such a route for the road as will meet the high expectations of the public, and the great interests of the State. They have been the more deeply impressed witli the high obligation imposed upon them, from the fact that the repre- sentatives of the people, reposing in them a generous confi- dence, have assigned to them the important and solemn duty. The examinations already made, prove beyond question, that a route will be secured, excellent for quick travel and cheap transportation; the curves will be exceedingly easy, and the maximum grade not exceeding fifty feet to the mile, and this high grade will be encountered only for short dis- tances and at few points: the greater portion of the road will pass over a level surface, or grades so gently undulating as to cause but little inconvenience, or be scarcely perceptible — and the directors hope, at an early day, to be prepared to let out contracts along the whole line of the road. The directors had hoped that they would have been pre- pared to lay before your honorable body, during its present session, estimates of the cost of the work, founded upon the most critical examinations and calculations, and upon which the most implicit reliance might be placed. However deeply it is to be regretted, they ore unable to do so : the late period at which the survey was commenced, the great extent of the whole line to be surveyed, and the num- ber of alternate lines it was deemed proper should be run, have prevented it: the assistant engineers have been so con- stantly in the field, actively engaged, that they have not had sufficient time to do office business and bring up their work, so that the chief engineer might have the data upon which reliable estimates might be made. Nor is this failure to have the estimates attributable in the least to any delinquency on the part of any of the engineers in the employment of the board. The long connection of the chief engineer with important -works of improvement in this State, has afforded him an op- portunity of establishing a reputation for energy, ability and fidelity, that requires commendation from no quarter; and it is due to the principal, assistant engineers and the corps under their command to say, that it may well be questioned whe- ther a greater amount of service was ever performed, by the same number of corps, in the same length of time. But while the chief engineer has been unable to make out estimates upon which he would be willing to hazard his pro- fessional reputation, he has assured the board that he has al- ready before him, sufficient data to justify him in declaring that the road can be constructed in the most substantial man- ner, with heavy T iron, Depots, Water Stations, &c, within the capital stock of the company. He, at the same time, was unwilling to declare that, in his opinion, the capital stock would be sufficient to fully equip the rond with engines, passenger and freight cars, machine shops, &c. : on the contrary, he was inclined to the opinion that it would not be quite sufficient to do it ; but that any addi- tional sum which might be required, could be easily raised by the means provided by the charter by increasing the cap- ital stock, or contracting a loan for the small amount that might be found necessary for the full equipment of the road — . a loan that might be deemed very inconsiderable to a great work like this, just starting into existence, substantially built and thoroughly equipped. And who can doubt this latter opinion? when it is recol- lected that for a large portion of the State through which this road will pnss, and for hundreds of miles beyond its western terminus, not one boat floats, not one plank, McAd- amized or turnpike road points agriculture toils market; (save some short road through the yorge of some mountain,) the piimeval forests, as yet, are undisturbed by the whistle of the steam engine, or the thunders of the train ; and yet this is a region for natural advantages and excellent popula- tion, that will compare with any on the face of the Globe. The passage of the act under which this company is or- ganized, was the dawning of hope to North Carolina; the securing its charter, was the rising sun of that hope; the completion of the road wi'l be the meridian glory of that hope, pregnant with results that none living can divine. J. M. MORE HE AD, President of the Norlh Carolina Mail Road. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/reportofdirectorOOnort UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00042071701 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION • • ■ ■ ■■ ' ■ ■ i