'^^':^\ "•■^^^. .A' .^^ 5>i T^ :> Vr. ■^ m. Kn^.7ri>!:&:m'-^- .■.«f Kur^f r^ri A> i'%^ "^vK>- m % :^^t:..'>' ORGANIZATION OP THE INDIANA AND ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILWAY COMPAMy WITH THE REPORT OF THE ENGINEER, A. B CONDIT, Esq. INDIANAPOLIS: PRINTED BY ELLIS & SPANN 1853. ORGANIZATION INDIANA AND ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILWAY COmWl WITH THE I REPORT OF THE ENGINEER, s A. B. CONDIT, Esq. INDIANAPOLIS: PRINTED BY ELLIS & SPANN. 1853. Gv)'ioL^^ ORGANIZATION. At a meeting of tke friends of the proposed Indiana and Illinois Central Raihvay, leading from Indianapolis to Springfield, Illinois, for the purpose of organizing a company, Gov. Wright was elected President, and Henry G. Todd, Secretary. On motion of Judge Roacli, a committee was appointed to prepare articles of association. The following gentlemen were appointed, viz: Messrs. H. Lane, A. L. Roache, J. W. L. Matlock, C. C. Nave, and Wm. Sheats. "While the committee were engaged on the duties assigned them, the meet- ing was addressed in some pertinent remarks by Dr. Ellis and Messrs. Coffin, Puett, and Sheets. The articles of association as presented hy the committee, and amended and adopted by the meeting, read as follows : St.^te of Indiana, to-vvit : Be it known that the undersigned whose respective places of residence are set out in the margin, for the purpose of organizing a Company for the construction, owning, and maintaining a contemplated raihvay hereinafter named : in pursuance of an act of the Legislature of the State of Indiana, entitled " An act to provide for the incorporation of Railroad Companies," approved May 11th, 1852, do hereby each for himself subscribe for the num- ber of shares of the capital stock of said contemplated railway Company, set opposite our respective names ; such subscriptions to be payable to said Com- pany at such times, and in such sums as the Board of Directors of said Company when elected, and their successors in office may from time to time order, direct, and require. But assessments upon the capital stock of such company shall not be made, nor be payable oftener than once in sixty days, nor more than ten per cent, upon the amount subscribed at any one assess- ment ; and we do hereby subscrilie and agree to the following articles of association, to-vvit: Article 1st. The name and style of the corporation shall be the "Indiana and Illinois Central Railway Company." Art. 2d. The capital stock of the company shall be two millions of dol- lars, to consist of forty thousand shares of fifty dollars each. Art. 3d. The eastern terminus of said road shall be at the city of Indian- apolis, in the State of Indiana, thence as nearly in a western direction as may be found practicable and convenient, by way, or within half a mile of the towns of Danville, Rockville, and Montezuma, in the State of Indiana, and Decatur in the Slate of Illinois, in a direction leading to the city of Spring- field in the said State of Illinois. But that said road shall not diverge from a straight line in order to secure conditional stock, and passing through the following counties in the State of Indiana, viz: Marion, Hendricks, Putnam, Parke, and Vermillion. Art. 4th. The length of said road in the State of Indiana, as near as may be, is estimated to be seventy-five miles, and the total length to the city of Springfield is estimated to be one hundred and eighty-six miles. Art. 5th. The number of Directors to manage the affairs of said Com- pany shall be seven ; and vve hereby declare that the following aie the names of the Directors elected by us from our own number to constitute the first Board of Directors of said Company, to-wit : E. W. H. Ellis and William Sheets, of the county of Marion ; Henry G. Todd and Edmund Clarke, of the county of Hendricks ; Higgins Lane, of the county of Putnam ; E. M. Benson and A. L. Roache, of the county of Parke. In witness whereof, we have hereunto severally set our names as parties to the above articles of association, and subscribe to the capital stock of said Com- pany, this 30th day of December, 1852. The following resolutions were then adopted : Resolved, That books be opened in each county along the line by the several IDirectors, and that each member of the Company be requested to use exertion ifor the increase of stock in their respective counties. Resolved, That the Board be instructed to allow 8 per cent, on all stock sub- scriptions prepaid in full, and 7 per cent, on all other stock payments — to be paid in stock at the completion of the road. Messrs. Puett and Roache were appointed a committee to visit the city of Springfield and solicit the co-operation of the citizens of Illinois, and make such preliminary arrangements as may be thought best for the advancement of the enterprise. On motion, it was agreed that a meeting of the Stockholders and Directors be appointed to take place at Indianapolis, on Tuesday, the 15th of February next, at two o'clock, in the Supreme Court room. On motion, the meeting adjourned. JOS. A. WRIGHT, PresH. H. G. Todd, Sec. E. W. H. ELLIS, of Marion county, WILLIAM SHEETS, o/ Marion county, HENRY G. TODD, of Hendricks county, EDMUND CLARKE, of Hendricks county, HIGGINS LANE, of Putnam coimty, E. M. BENSON, of Parke county, A. L. ROACHE, of Parke county. Directors of I. & I. Central Railway Company. Jndianapoms, January 17, 1853. ENGINEER'S REPORT TO IHE BOARD OF DIUECTOKS OF THE INDIANA AND ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILWAY COMPANY. My instructions were to make an examination and survey for a railroad from Indianapolis to Springfield, connecting the capitals of the two States by an air line. I made the survey of the Illinois portion in September last. On arriving at Decatur, Illinois, with my party, I found the road from Springfield to that place, 36-^ miles was in the hands of the "Naples and Decatur Company," the State having sold its interest in the " Northern Cross Railroad" to that company, binding them to complete the road in a certain length of time, and obligating them to expend 100,000 dollars on the work previous to the first of February, 1853. The first seven miles of this road from Springfield east, was graded ready for the superstructure, including the masonry for crossing Sangamon river by the State. From Decatur to Springfield, the Sangamon river runs nearly due west, appropriating to itself the locality of our air line and forcing us to look up some other route. On the south side the route is impracticable, being a very broken country with two extensive tributaries of the Sangamon to be crossed, and the main Sangamon east of the capital. On the north we have only the North Fork of the Sangamon to cross east of Decatur, and from thence the route of the "Naples and Decatur Railroad" is over a level prairie country to Springfield, crossing the main Sangamon seven miles east of the city on the State grade and masonry. Decatur itself is 3.5 miles north of our air line : from thence east we diverge south of east crossing " North Fork of the San- gamon," two miles east of Decatur, and reaching our due east line to Indianapolis 8.5 miles from Decatur. From the Sangamon to the Wabash, 80 miles, the road for directness of alignment, easy grades and cheapness of construction cannot probably be surpassed. We cross the intermediate streams Kaskaskia, Embar- rass and Brouiilett's creek, with a grade of 26 feet to the mile, and embankments 12 feet high ; with this exception the grades vary from level to 15 feet per mile, and cuts and fills from to 5 feet in depth. 70 miles of this distance is a perfect air line due east and west. In getting a crossing of the Wabash we are highly favored by nature. The Little Raccoon a .stream about 5 miles in length, coming: in from the west in our course with a valley that lets us down to the valley of the Wabash with an easy grade and light work. On the east side of the Wabash there are no bluffs. We pass into a second bottom prairie that lies above high water. On this second bottom, on the east bank of the river at our crossing, is situated the town of Montezuma, "the Wabash and Erie Canal" running along the west side between it and the river. At Leather- wood creek, 3 miles from the Wabash, Ave leave the prairie bottom and commence gently making the ascent of the table lands, and attain the summit at Rockville the county seat of Parke county, Indiana, 8.5 miles distant from the Wabash. From Rockville to the county line east, William's creek, and Little and Big Raccoon crossing our line at right angles, make considerable broken coun- try, and will be the most expensive part of the whole line ; from thence to Eel river in Putnam county, the country is quite favora- ble, gently undulating and level with occasional small branches ; from Eel river to Danville the county seat of Hendricks county, the country is of a similar character. From Danville to Indian- apolis, 20 miles, the upland table of the coixntry is very level : the main expense will be in the bridging and embankment of the several stream^s, the three White Licks, Abner's creek, two Eagle creeks and White river at Indianapolis. The following are dis- tances to different points from Decatur : Sangamon river, ...... 2. miles. Sangamon timber, east side, ----- 8.8 " Little Kaskaskia, ------ 14.20 *' Lake Fork of Kaskaskia, 26.75 " Main Kaskaskia, ------ 31.80 " Chicao-o branch of Central Illinois Railroad, - - 36.40 " Scattering Fork of Embarrass river, - - - 39.80 " Main Embarrass, ------- 41.60 miles. New Albany, 42.60 " Bushy Fork of Embarrass, - ... - 52.80 " Brouillett's creek, 65.80 " State line, - 76.20 " Wabash river and Monte/Axma, - - - - 84.20 " Rockville, -------- 92.70 " Bainbridge, 115.40 " Danville, 130.60 " Indianapolis, from Central Depot to Union Depot, 150.10 " Total distance from Springfield to Indianapolis, - 186.60 " Grades. As to grades on the Indiana portion, I have adopted a maximum grade of 40 feet per mile. By increasing the cost about 100,000 dollars the grades can all be reduced to a maximum of 26 feet. I recommend to the company to incur the additional expense : it will be the cheapest in the end. They Avill not only save it in the wear of track and machinery, but they will be enabled to make time, which will be of the first importance to this road. All the roads west of Indianapolis and south of yours, have grades of 40 feet : they are compelled by the broken character of the country to adopt them, and often continuous grades of this character for 3 miles and over at a time. On these roads 26 miles to the hour will probably be the highest speed they can attain. With our road an air line, three-fourths of the distance nearly level and none over 26 feet per mile, we can calculate on our express trains making 35 miles an hour, enabling us to put our passengers in St. Louis ahead of any other route. West of the Wabash the maximum grades are 26 feet per mile. Cost of the road from Decatur to Indianapolis, 150 miles. Graduation, masonry and bridging, - - - 8498,897 Iron, chairs and spikes, ballasting, oak ties, and lay- ing track, - 1,110,000 Engineering, right of way, and officers' salaries, - 40,000 Turn-outs, machine shops, depots and water stations, 80,000 Machinery, rolling stock and equipments, - - 155,000 81,883,897 Total cost per mile, - - ^ . ^ ^ $12,553 44 Cost per mile of graduation, masonry and bridging, $3,325 ^ These estimates are made with reference to the present increased prices of iron and labor. Should there be a falling off in prices the cost will be considerably diminished from the above figures. The remarkable cheapness of this road may appear somewhat surprising, and when it is known too, that other roads crossing the same country are estimated to cost much more. The Terre Haute and Alton, and the Terre Haute and St. Louis roads are estimated at 18,000 and 20,000 dollars per mile. I account for the difference in this way : the same streams that we cross where there are no bluffs or hilly country, they cross low down nearer their outlets, where they make large depressions in the surface of the country, causing heavy grades and expensive work. The largest portion of our road (the 84 miles west of the Wabash) being of this cheap c]jaracter, makes the aggregate low. Character of the Country. From Decatur, east, the first eight miles we pass through tim- ber land, and from thence to the Wabash it is a prairie country, and the timber is confined to the margin of the stream before mentioned, and varying from one to two miles in width. We were otten within one or two miles of circular isolated groves, some of them not containing more than an acre, and others two or three miles in diameter ; we did not happen to pass through any of these. The country is thickly settled on these streams in the tim- ber, the farms extending out into the prairie generally about two miles on each side ; beyond this, the prairie is in a state of nature. The country is gently undulating, a rich, deep, alluvial prairie soil, and very productive, as the products of the country gave evidence. There are no swamp or poor, unproductive lands the whole length of the line. On the Wabash the timber lands are about five miles in width ; on the east side we pass through three miles of prairie ; we here leave the last of the prairie, and the country loses its peculiar prairie nature and characteristics. From the State line to Indianapolis, through the counties of Vermillion, Parke, Putnam, Hendricks and Marion, the country is rich, pro- ductive uplands and bottoms, and thickly settled. As to the capa- bilities of the country to furnish a local business for the road, it may be well to make some reference. Besides the ordinary com- merce of carrying off the agricultural products of the country^and transporting merchandise, the transportation of lumber, wood and rails from the heavy timbered country of Indiana to the prairies of Illinois will be an important item of business. To settle these prairies, these articles must be brought from Indiana, and that by said road. At present, the only method is the tedious transporta- tion by teams. In going to Decatur, I met as many as fifteen teams together at a time, going to Parke county, Indiana, for lumber for building purposes, a distance of ninety miles. The road also passes tlivough the iron and coal region of Parke and Vermillion counties. The transportation of coal from these beds to those portions of Illinois destitute of fuel must eventually furnish to the road an extensive traffic. The beds of iron ore are extensive and produce a superior quality of iron. In making my examination, I had occasion to examine the geological features and character of this bed ; it is about thirty miles in length, extending up and down on both sides of the Wabash, and about eight miles in width. Our road makes a cut through this bed on Leather- wood, three miles east of the Wabash, a good locality for a fur- nace, with coal in the immediate proximity. I visited the only furnace in operation in Vermillion county, and learned from the proprietor, Hugh Stewart, that they manufactured about 1,800 tons annually. This was formerly sent to Cincinnati, but is now consumed at Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Lafayette, in the man- ufacture of hollow ware, railroad chairs, and car wheels. With railroad facilities for carrying oft' the iron, the number of furnaces would be increased, adding largely to the business of the road. Its connections and relative position lo other and connecting roads. The cities of the seaboard, Boston, JS'ew York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore, each projected railroads west^for the trade of the great Mississippi valley and the Middle and Western States, and have now continuous lines connecting through — Bos- ton and New York by way of the "Buffalo and Albany R. R." to Buffalo, Dunkirk and Cleveland— New York alone by "New York and Erie R. R." to Dunkirk and Cleveland. Philadelphia, Wash- ington and Baltimore have their roads completed to the Ohio at Pittsburgh and Wheeling, making four great trunk roads direct 2 10 east and west througli the States of New York and Pennsylvania. Across the State of Ohio, we also have four great east and west trunk roads. The "Lake shore road," a continuation of the Boston and IST. Y. roads to Cleveland, and from thence direct to Gallon on the west side of the State. The "Ohio and Pennsylvania R. R.," direct from Pittsburgh, by way of Wooster and Mansfield, to Gal- ion. This and the Lake shore unite here and form a n-reat east o and west trunk road direct to Indianapolis, called the Indianapolis and Bellefontaine R. R. From Pittsburgh to Steubenville, on the Ohio, and direct to Newark and Columbus, is the "Steubenville and Indiana R. R.," •and also from Wheeling direct to Columbus is the " Central Ohio R. R." They two unite and form a direct trunk road from Colum- bus to Indianapolis, through Springfield and Dayton, and the Cen- tral Indiana R. R. So we have four direct trunk east and Avest roads through New York and Pennsylvania ; four through the State of Ohio, and two across Eastern Indiana, converging and coming together at Indianapolis. From Indianapolis west there is no railroad. The centre of the State of Illinois and its capital is yet to be reached by railroad, and also the Mississippi and Mis- souri rivers. From their capital west, they have their system of railroads constructed and constructing, converging and uniting at that point, similar to the capital of Indiana. The Alton and Springfield R. R., 72 miles in length, is finished, making, with 20 miles of river navigation, a direct steam connec- tion with St. Louis, 92 miles. From Springfield to Naples, on the Illinois river, 52 miles, the road is finished, and mostly graded from Naples to Quincy, on the Mississippi ; from thence to Palmyra, Mo., this road connects with the great "Hannibal and St. Joseph R. R.," for which a laraje amount of government lands are donated. The stock is taken to build a road direct from Naples to Hannibal, 40 miles, across Pike county. From Springfield they are building a road to Chicago, through Bloomington. The object of your road is to connect these two great systems of railroads east of Indian- apolis and west of Springfield, by a direct line from one capital to the other. By reference to the map, it will be seen that Wheeling, Colum- bus, Indianapolis, and Springfield are on the same parallel of lati- tude, and Hannibal and St. Joseph nearly so, and that this must eventually be the great trunk railroad through the centre of the 11 States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and that yours is the only link wanting to complete the chain from the Atlantic to the Mis- souri, 1,350 miles, and that every portion of this great central thoroughfare is either finished or being rapidly constructed, except our 150 miles. From Indianapolis there is no railroad leading west. The only road leading in a Avesterly direction is the Indian- apolis and Terre Haute, going southwest in the direction of St. Louis, departing from our line, so that at our crossing of the Wa- bash, 66 miles west, it is 24 miles south. This is not a rival road to yours; it was built to accommodate another section of country, and another line of travel. At Indianapolis we connect with roads south and southeast, direct to Louisville, Madison and Cincinnati, and north and northwest to Peru and Lafayette, on the Wabash, and Alichigan city, on Lake Michigan. Between the termini of our road we cross and connect with several important north and south roads. First at Bainbridge, in Putnam county, we cross the "New Albany and Salem Railroad," extending from New Albany on the Ohio to Michigan City. In Parke county we cross the "Evans- ville and Illinois R. R.," extending from Evansville on the Ohio to Crawfordsville and Lafayette. In Vermillion county we cross the " Wabash Valley R. R.," extending from Toledo on Lake Erie the whole length of the Wasbash and Erie Canal from Toledo to Evans- ville, and near the State line we cross the "Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis R. R." on its proposed continuation to Paris, 111. 36.4 miles east of Decatur we cross the "Chicago Branch of the Illinois Central R. R.," giving us a direct connection with the moutli of the Ohio at Carlo, and north with Chicago. At Decatur, the county seat of Macon county, we connect with the "Naples and Decatur R. R., ' giving us a direct connection Avith Springfield and also with the " Illinois Central R. R.," giving a direct connection with Lasalle on the Illinois river, and Galena, on the Mississippi. A road like this, connecting with the important cities of Illinois by long and direct lines, Chicago, Galena, Lasalle, Springfield, Quincy, Alton, and Cairo, west to St. Louis and St. Joseph, in Mo., north with Michigan city, Detroit and Toledo, south with Louisville and Cincinnati, with its important through connections — these with its remarkable directness, easy grades, and cheap con- struction, recommend it to the confidence of its projectors and friends. However much it may interest community at large, it is the inhabitants, towns and villages along the immediate locality of the road, that are more especially interested in the work. It 12 passes through a section of country now destitute of railroad com- munication, more particularly the towns and villages. The line in its course takes in five important towns of from 600 to 800 in- habitants ; three of them county seats. Two of them, Danville, in Hendricks county, and Rockville, in Parke county, are without any railroad connection. Decatur, the county seat of Macon county, Illinois, is more fortunate, having two railroad connections ; Bainbridge, in Putnam connty, though not a county seat, is a thriving, business place, with a railroad passing through it north and south. Montezuma is quite an important commercial town, finely located on the Wabash river and canal ; it also has no rail- road connections. The census statistics show an ao^ffi-eofate of wealth in the five counties of Indiana, not inferior, for the same distance, to any other portion of the State. The four counties of Hendricks, Put- nam, Parke and Vexmillion, pay one fifteenth of the taxes of the State. Forty-five miles of the western end next to Springfield passes through the oldest and best settled portion of the State. The Sangamon co\intry being about the first portion of the State settled, and it being interior, it is entirely dependent on railroads for its commerce. Owing to the peculiar locality of the towns, they all being on ihe same line, the route will not be varied from its course by conditional stock, as is too often the case in this coun- try, neither Avill the difference in the conformation of the country call for a divergency in the alignment : and in closing my report, I particularly recommend a straight line and low grades. Most of the works in this State, undertaken at an early day, in the incipiency of railroad enterprise, were often under the neces- sity of diverging the line for conditional stock, or to obtain a cheaper locality for construction at the expense of distance, align- ment and grades. In a road of this character and importance, it would be poor economy to increase the curvature, distance and grades to save present expenditure, and thereby ultimately depre- ciate the value of the road. This is a matter of the greatest im- portance, and should not be departed from for any minor conside- rations. Yon ai-e building a road that is to be forever part of the great thoroughfare east and west, through the centre of the great and growing States of the West, and it is important that it should be the straightest and shortest communication that can ever possi- bly be made. Not only in justice to itself should it be thus, but the relation it bears to other roads requires it. This constitutes 13 an important section of the great trunk road from the Atlantic to the Missouri, and eventually to be continued to the Pacific. East of the Ohio river the nature of the country is such that the road is compelled to diverge from a straight line ; but even then in spite of the ruggedness of nature, by science, skill, money, energy, and perseverance, surprising results have been attained, and the distance is now traveled from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in eighteen hours. The four great States of the West, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, present a far different feature, with a surface peculiarly adapted to railroad construction, thereby enabling the projectors of this great enterprise to attain the happiest results in securing long straight lines on each division of the work. The distance from Indianapolis to the Mississippi is 275 miles. To St. Louis by Avay of our road and Springfield, 278 miles ; by way of pro- posed Terre Haute and St. Louis R. R., 242 miles ; by Terre Haute and Alton, 266 miles ; by our line to State line, thence by Lake Erie, Wabash, and St. Louis R. R., to Paris, 111., and by Terre Haute, and Alton R. R. to St. Louis, 255 miles, being eleven miles nearer to Alton and St. Louis than b}' Terre Haute, and thence by Terre Haute and Alton R. R., Paris being distant from this 88 miles by one route, and 99 by the other. As our railroad friends may wish to correspond and send documents to the leading- railroad men and friends of the enterprise along the line in Illinois, I will give some of their names and post office addresses. Hon. Mr. Prather, E. O. Smith, James Shoaf, Decatur. Samuel Lester, Adonis; Gruell Jones, Hermitage P. 0. Samuel Yarnell, James H. Bagley, Wm. Watson, Upper Embarrass P. 0. Enoch Howell, Bushy Fork P. 0. Mr. Bayhes and Dr. Malone, Bloom- field. Messrs. Prather and Watson are State representatives. My thanks are due to many of these gentlemen for their kindness and at- tention in furnishing us information, pi'ovisions, &c. AMZI B. CONDIT, Chief Engineer I. <& I. C. R. R. Indianapolis, Dec. 31, 1852. HE 1533 Rftf- :.i- 'i' VA ►i-:'^ K>i-;' tS'^' "^rryi^ ; w t< r?" 'viK**'f ■ V > ^1 ^'^i LV > 1* ..«