TENNESSEE MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY. t RICHMOND, VA.: WM. ELLIS JONES, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER. 1888. 5. A A ORGANIZATION OF THE TENNESSEE MIDLAND RAILWAY CO. November 5TH, 1888. DIRECTORS: A. S. BUFORD, Richmond, Va. T. C. LEAKE, Jr., Richmond, Va. R. H. TEMPLE, Richmond, Va. R. L. TRAYLOR, Richmond, Va. B. A. VANSCHAICK, Philadelphia, Pa. W. D. BETHELL, Memphis, Tenn. G. W. MACRAE, Memphis, Tenn. W. S. BRUCE, Memphis, Tenn. J. H. ALLEN, Memphis, Tenn. OFFICERS: Li President, .A. S. Buford. ' Vice-President , .... T. C. Leake, Jr. 0 Chief Engineer , . . . . R. H. Temple. General Manager , .... Ben. Wilson. v Secretary ,.R. L. Traylor. Treasurer ,. P. L. Jones. j Superintendent , . . . . J. P. Meredith. <£L Gen'l Fr't & Pass. Agent, . . . J. T. Garner, j ■ Auditor ,.T. T. Talley. Offices: Richmond, Va., and Memphis, Tenn. Tennessee Midland Railway Company. HISTORY. The construction of a railroad diagonally through the State of Tennessee has been agitated by Tennesseans for over half a century. In 1835 enthusiastic public meetings were held through¬ out the State advocating and otherwise encouraging its construc¬ tion ; in 1836 a special session of the Tennessee Legislature was convened and authorized an expenditure of public funds for surveys to find a practicable route for a central railroad; and between that date and i860 many other attempts were made to accomplish this much desired object. In 1867 extensive surveys and examinations were made for the Tennessee & Pacific Rail¬ road Company and some thirty miles of railroad built east from Nashville to Lebanon; about the same time a charter was obtained for the Memphis & Knoxville Railroad Company, and some thirty miles graded between Bolivar and Henderson, in West Tennessee ; later, a charter was obtained for the Nashville, Jack- son & Memphis Railroad Company, some surveys were made, and considerable rights of way and other property donated to it. In the fall of 1886 the enterprise was again inaugurated by a combination of Virginians and Tennesseans, who obtained a char¬ ter, under the general laws of Tennessee, for the Tennessee Midland Railway Company, with right to construct, equip, main¬ tain and operate a standard gauge railroad lengthwise through the State of Tennessee, and certain legislation was secured en¬ larging the powers of that corporation and to otherwise facilitate the construction of the proposed railroad. Exhaustive examina- 6 Tennessee Midland Railway Co. tions and surveys were made under the direction of the best talent obtainable, which demonstrated that a great through east and west railway, traversing the State of Tennessee for about five hundred miles, developing a territory largely without railway facilities and rich in agricultural, mineral and forest products, and connecting by a direct line Memphis, Nashville and Knox¬ ville, the largest and most important cities in Tennessee, could be built with easy alignment on a maximum grade of one per cent., at an average cost not exceeding seventeen thousand dol¬ lars per mile ; that rights of way would be largely donated, and local aid given the enterprise sufficient to provide rights of way not donated, grounds for stations and terminal facilities, and the necessary equipment. The friends of the enterprise met July, 1887, and, after a care¬ ful review and full discussion of the information obtained, decided that the construction of the Tennessee Midland Railway, as pro¬ posed, was worthy of their support and would be attractive to investors. Acting upon this conclusion, they immediately sub¬ scribed one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars towards its construction. Eighty-five miles, from Memphis to Jackson, was completed and put in operation June 1st, 1888, and has shown satisfactory earning capacity since the opening. Fifty miles, from Jackson to Midland City, on the Tennessee river, is now under construction and will be completed early in 1889. Terminal grounds at Memphis and equipment for the present business have been purchased at a cost of about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Most of the rights of way have been secured and permanent location made on the ninety- five miles from Midland City to Nashville, which it is proposed to put under construction at an early date. Local aid to the extent of about six hundred thousand dollars has been secured between Memphis and Nashville, payable as the railway is com¬ pleted through the respective counties. Preliminary surveys Tennessee Midland Railway Co. 7 have been made between Nashville, Knoxville, and the Virginia State Line, and some rights of way and local aid obtained. It is proposed to make permanent location east from Nashville, secure rights of way and local aid, and put that part of the railway under construction at the earliest practicable date. Herewith will be found the specifications under which the Tennessee Midland Railway is being built; outline of proposed route, brief description of section traversed and railway and water connections made, with map of the line and principal connections, to which attention is respectfully requested. T. C. LEAKE, Jr., Vice-President. Tennessee Midland Railway Company SPECIFICATIONS. 1. Grade not to exceed a maximum of fifty-two and eight- tenths (52.8) feet per mile. 2. Curvature. Minimum radius not less than one thousand (1,000) feet, being equivalent to a five and three-quarter (5^) degree curve. 3. Graduation. Roadbed on embankments fourteen (14) feet in width at grade, with slope of one and a half to one. Width of roadbed in earth cuts eighteen (18) feet at grade, with slope of one to one, except where material will admit of slope of one-half to one. Width of roadbed in rock cuts sixteen (16) feet at grade, with slope of one-quarter to one; all cuts to be properly ditched. 4. Bridges to be of wrought iron, except such parts as may be more conveniently made of steel, all bridges being calculated to sustain a rolling load of thirty-five hundred (3,500) pounds per foot. 5. Trestles to be of heart pine, white, post or chestnut oak, free from all defects calculated to impair the strength or durability of the timber, and of sufficient strength to sustain a rolling load of thirty five hundred (3,500) pounds per foot. 6. Cross-Ties to be of good sound white, post or chestnut oak, eight (8) feet long, seven (7) inches thick, and with a face of not less than seven (7) inches, the two faces to be parallel, edges barked and the ends cut off square. Tennessee Midland Railway Co, 9 7. Cattle-Guards to be constructed at fence crossings of good sound heart pine, white, post or chestnut oak, with stringers, capable of sustaining a rolling load of thirty-five hundred (3,500) pounds per foot, and foundations to be secured from settling. 8. Rails to be of the best quality of Bessemer steel and not less than fifty-six (56) pounds per yard. 9. Fastenings to be double angle plates, not less than twenty-two (22) inches long, Harvey grip or other approved bolts, three and three-quarters by three-quarters (3^ x ^). Spikes five and one-half by nine-sixteenths ( 5 / 4 * 9-16). 10. Track to be laid with supported joints, full spiked, surfaced and filled with best material found immediately adjacent to track. 11. Road-Crossings. Wooden road bridges to be erected at all over-head crossings, of a good and substantial character. And good sound white, post or chestnut oak or pine plank, two inches thick, to be laid at all grade crossings. 12. Road-Crossing Signs to be erected at all grade cross¬ ings of public highways, as required by law. 13. Mile Posts of cedar, white, post or chestnut oak, prop¬ erly painted and bearing the number indicating the proper distance. 14. Signal Posts to be erected at the proper distance from all stations, bridges, road crossings and elsewhere, if required. 15. Sidings at such intervals as may be necessary to accom¬ modate the traffic and give proper facilities for the convenient passing of trains. 16. Turn-Tables or “ Y” tracks where necessary. 17. Switches of steel rail, Wharton or other approved pat¬ tern, with steel frogs to conform to the standard rail pattern, and with switch stands of the most approved pattern. 10 Tennessee Midland Railway Co. 18. Depots. Such depot grounds to be graded as may be necessary to give convenient access to the depots established, and warehouse room for freight, and convenient passenger rooms, with freight and ticket offices, to be erected as may be necessary to accommodate the traffic. 19. Water Stations shall be erected at convenient intervals, not more than twenty five (25) miles apart, with sufficient tank capacity and all necessary pumps, pipes and other appliances to supply them with water. 20. Section Houses shall be erected for the accommodation of the track foremen and their families and laborers, and con¬ venient tool houses, not more than eight miles apart, provision being made for a convenient supply of water at each point. R. H. TEMPLE, Chief Engineer. Tennessee Midland Railway. Outline of Proposed Route, Brief Description of Section Traversed and Railway and Water Connections. The Tennessee Midland Railway as projected from Memphis, via Somerville, Jackson, Lexington, Midland City, Linden, Cen- treville, Oreville, Nashville, Woodbury, Rock Island, Crossville, Emory Gap, Knoxville, Maynardville, and Sneedville in the State of Tennessee, to the Virginia State line, will pass through the counties of Shelby, Fayette, Hardeman, Madison, Hender¬ son, Decatur, Perry, Hickman, Maury, Williamson, Davidson, Rutherford, Cannon, Warren, Van Buren, White, Cumberland, Morgan, Roane, Knox, Union, Grainger, Claiborne, and Hancock, with assessed values for 1888 of over one hundred and forty- six million dollars (these values are estimated to be very low), making a total mileage of about five hundred miles, traversing from southwest to northeast a territory largely without railway facilities, and the finest agricultural, timber, marble, and mineral region in Tennessee, connecting by a direct line Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, the largest and most important cities in the State, and forming part of an important East and West trunk line. MEMPHIS, the county seat of Shelby, and the western termi¬ nus, has a population of about seventy-five thousand, and is one of the most progressive cities in the South. Its new custom¬ house, cotton and grain exchanges, corn and flouring mills, 12 Te?inessee Midland Railway Co. cotton and ice factories, cotton-seed oil mills, machine shops, saw-mills, cooperage and other wood-working establishments, and immense grain elevators, cotton warehouses, and compresses would do credit to any city in the Union. It has a number of important educational institutions, and is noted for being the largest inland cotton market in the world. Its cotton receipts exceeded six hundred and fifty thousand bales last season and this season are estimated at seven hundred thousand bales, which is over one-ninth of the cotton produced in the United States, and it is confidently predicted that, with increased facili¬ ties, its receipts will soon reach one million bales annually. The terminus of ten railroads and of others projected; built upon the Chickasaw Bluffs on the eastern bank of the Mississippi river, at the head of all-the-year navigation, with a bridge, now under construction, which will soon span the river and open the gate¬ way for the grain, meat, cotton, and other products of the rich Northwest and Southwest, Memphis bids fair to be, at no dis¬ tant day, one of the most important manufacturing, commercial, and railroad centres on the Mississippi river. SOMERVILLE, the county seat of Fayette, has a population of about two thousand, and handles, in connection with its com¬ press, some ten thousand bales of cotton annually. JACKSON, the county seat of Madison, and the seat of the United States District Court, and the Supreme Court for West Tennessee, has a population of about ten thousand and is a progressive city, having several large educational institutions, a cotton-seed oil mill, cotton compress, flouring mill, woolen, barrel, and ice factories, and several wood-working establishments, and handles some twenty thousand bales of cotton annually. It is the junction and relay station, and location of the division shops ol both the Illinois Central and Mobile and Ohio railroads, which makes it, with the Tennessee Midland Railway, an important rail- Tennessee Midland Railway Co. 13 road centre, and with such increased facilities should soon double its present population and business. LEXINGTON, the county seat of Henderson, has a popula¬ tion of about eight hundred, is surrounded by a fine agricultural and timbered country, and has a bright future. The distance from Memphis to Midland City, on the Tennessee river, is about one hundred and thirty-five miles, and traverses the rich cotton belt of West Tennessee. This section is very productive and grows all the grains, grasses and fruits, much attention is also given to fruit and stock raising ; timber is abundant, consisting principally of the hard woods. Good potter’s clay and tripoli Are found in Madison county, and large deposits of green sand marl in Henderson county, which is valuable as a fertilizer. Decatur county, bordering on the Tennes¬ see river, is noted for its large deposits of superior brown hematite ore, which, with similar deposits east of the river—limestone, timber forests, and the agricultural products of that section—will hasten the growth of Midland City and soon make it the most important point on the Tennessee river. Already a syndicate of strong capitalists is being formed to lay out a city and build several furnaces, and other manufacturing establishments are seeking locations there. LINDEN, the county seat of Perry, with a population of about four hundred, situated on the Buffalo river, and CENTREVILLE, the county seat of Hickman, with a popu¬ lation of about one thousand, situated on the Duck river, are both surrounded by immense deposits of iron ore and timber forests, and promise to become cities of considerable manu¬ facturing importance. Two large charcoal furnaces and one cotton factory are now located in this vicinity. The distance from Midland City to Oreville is about sixty-five 14 Tennessee Midland Railway Co. miles, and traverses the rich iron ore belt and timber forests of West Tennessee, which is being rapidly developed ; the furnaces already in operation in that section are the most successful in the South ; recent additions have been made to the charcoal furnaces for extracting alcohol and naptha from the wood charred for furnace purposes, which adds a handsome profit to the manufacturers of charcoal iron. The valleys of this section are very fertile, and grow all the grains, grasses and fruits ; the peanut crop is an important industry. NASHVILLE, the capital of Tennessee and county seat of Davidson, has a population of about eighty thousand and, with the exception of New Orleans, is the wealthiest and largest manufacturing and commercial city in the South. Its numerous factories, with capital exceeding ten million dollars, give em¬ ployment to over twelve thousand laborers, consume about fif¬ teen million dollars’ worth of raw material and produce some twenty-five million dollars’ worth of manufactured goods an¬ nually. There is handled here, in connection with nineteen saw mills and twelve planing-mills, over one hundred and forty million feet of timber, a large portion of which is shipped foreign via New Orleans, and turns out about eight hundred thousand barrels of flour and two hundred thousand barrels of meal from its fourteen mills annually. It has four cotton factories, and one woollen mill, employing some sixteen hundred operatives, and two iron furnaces, one coke and one charcoal, with forty ovens, in connection with which there is a w r ood alcohol plant having capacity of one hundred thousand gallons per annum. The receipts of live stock the past year exceeded one hundred and forty-six thousand head and the shipments seventy-nine thou¬ sand. In the wholesale jobbing line it ranks sixth in the United States as a shoe market, its average receipts being over ninety- four thousand cases annually ; and as a hardware market it is Tennessee Midland Railway Co. 15 ahead of both Cincinnati and Louisville. It is pre-eminently an educational centre, having the largest publishing house in the South, and nine or more flourishing Universities and Colleges, with over three thousand students from abroad, and is noted for its magnificent public buildings and handsome residences. Situated on the Cumberland river, surrounded by a fine agri¬ cultural and timbered country, with rich deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone and other minerals, Nashville needs only increased railroad facilities to become a large producer of pig iron and steel, and double its present manufacturing and commercial enterprises. WOODBURY, the county seat of Cannon, has a population of about eight hundred, and is a thriving town. ROCK ISLAND, situated on the Caney Fork river, at the foot of the great falls and crossing of the Tennessee Midland Railway, with its unequalled water power, should become a manufacturing point of great importance. The distance from Oreville, via Nashville, to Rock Island is about one hundred miles, and traverses the rich blue grass belt of Middle Tennessee, which is one of the most productive sections in the United States, noted for its grain, fruit, grass and stock raising. No section has given more attention to breeding fine stock than the blue grass basin of Middle Tennessee. Cotton is also raised to a considerable extent. The timber throughout this section is very fine, the hard woods predominating. Cedar, especially of the largest growth, is found in abundance. CROSSVILLE, the county seat of Cumberland, having a popu¬ lation of about three hundred, situated in the heart of the coal field on the Cumberland Plateau, should become a manufactu¬ ring and trading point of great importance. 16 Tennessee Midland Railway Co. The distance from Rock Island across the Cumberland plateau to Emory Gap, the junction of the Tennessee Midland and Cin¬ cinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railways, is about eighty- five miles, and traverses the rich coal and coal-oil belt of that section. Several seams of superior domestic steam and coking coals underlie this entire territory, which is noted also for its healthfulness and adaptability to fruit growing and stock raising. KNOXVILLE, the county seat of Knox, has a population of over thirty-five thousand, and is one of the most progressive cities in the South. It has several large institutions of learning and many handsome public buildings and private residences. Its population has increased over twenty thousand within the past five years, and its commercial and manufacturing interests have grown in proportion. As a wholesale market Knoxville ranks fifth in the South, following in order New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis and Atlanta. Few cities in the United States can show such wonderful growth, its jobbing trade reaching twenty million dollars, and the products of its cotton and woolen factories, foundries, car- works and other wood-working establishments, exceeding nine million dollars annually. Located on the Tennessee river and surrounded by the rich agricultural, timber and mineral region of East Tennessee, abounding with large deposits of marble, limestone, coal, brown and red hematite, and magnetic ores, Knoxville will continue to grow, and with additional railroad facilities become one of the most important commercial and manufacturing centres of the rapidly developing South. MAYNARDVILLE, the county seat of Union, and SNEEDVILLE, the county seat of Hancock, have each a population of several hundred and are thriving towns. Tennessee Midland Railway Co. 17 The distance up the Valley of East Tennessee from Emory Gap, at the eastern foot of the Cumberland, plateau, via Knoxville, to the Virginia State line, is about one hundred and twenty-five miles, and traverses the rich agricultural, marble, timber, iron ore, limestone, zinc, and other mineral sections of that famous Valley. CONNECTIONS at Memphis with steamers on the Missis¬ sippi river; the Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Memphis Railroad for Kansas City and the Northwest; St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad for Fort Smith, Texarkana, and the Southwest; Little Rock and Memphis Railroad for Little Rock; and the Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad for Vicksburg, New Orleans and the South. At Jackson with the Illinois Central and Mobile and Ohio Railroads for Cairo, St. Louis, Chicago, and the North, Mobile, New Orleans, and the South. At Midland City with steamers on the Tennessee river. At Nashville with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. At Emory Gap with the Cin¬ cinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway for Cincinnati and the North, Chattanooga, Birmingham, New Orleans, Shreve¬ port, the South and Southwest. At Knoxville with the Knoxville Southern Railroad for Atlanta and the South, and the Richmond and Danville System for the Carolinas, Norfolk, and the East; and at the Virginia State Line with the projected Virginia Western Railroad, through Southwest Virginia, to a connection with the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad for Richmond and Newport News; and with the Baltimore and Ohio System at Lex¬ ington, Va., for Pittsburg, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and the East—will give the Tennessee Midland Rail¬ way a large interchange of business and superior through con¬ nections for New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburg, Richmond, Newport News, Norfolk, the Carolinas, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Little Rock, New Orleans, Texas, and intermediate points. 18 Tennessee Midland Railway Co. Starting at Memphis, the western terminus, destined to be in the near future one of the most important commercial, manufac¬ turing, and railroad centres on the Mississippi river, the proposed railway will pass through the rich West Tennessee cotton belt for about one hundred and thirty-five miles, and thence for about sixty-five miles through the finest timber forests and deposits of brown hematite ore in the South, into the rich grain and blue grass belt of Middle Tennessee, one of the finest agricultural and stock-raising regions in the country, near the centre of which is located Nashville, the capital of the State and the second city in wealth, commercial, and manufacturing importance in the South; traversing this belt for a distance of about one hundred miles, thence over the Cumberland plateau a distance of about eighty- five miles into and up the Valley of East Tennessee for about one hundred and twenty five miles, developing a section healthy and productive, with immense deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone, and marble, and touching Knoxville, an important and pro¬ gressive city. The line will be located wholly within the State of Tennessee, passing through twenty-four counties and touching twelve county seats. Reviewing the advantages of the Tennessee Midland Railway as projected, it is safe to say there is no other railway in the South, five hundred miles in length, constructed or projected, touching as many cities and towns of so great present import¬ ance and future promise, making so many valuable railway and water connections, or traversing a section so rich in minerals, timber, and agricultural resources. i