Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1881 — THE CONTINENTAL RAILWAY. [ARTICLE]

THE CONTINENTAL RAILWAY.

This enterprise la uno In which our citixeos have a vital interest. It was inaugurated come years ago, but finally dropped, sines which time but little notice of its operations has emne before the public. But ths company lias teen industriously at work Its the meanthus, and It would appear from frequent repot ta by the leading papers of thseouDtry, that the promises held out in the inception aud organisation of this company are about to bo mater.aliaod. The following we take from tho New York TYmes, which paper to near the base nt operations and has recently Investigated tho movements aud designs of the organisation : "Various reports have been recently published throughout the country con cerning tbe construction of an entirely new and direct Hue of railroad from New York to Chicago by an Independent and newly-organised corporation. White these reports have not be«n without foundation in fact, they have been incomplete In detail and misleading In statement.. A visit to the.offlce of the Continents! Railway Company, situated at No. 5 Cort laud t street, yesterday. resulted in the procuring of the firstauthenticstutement of facta which has yet been made. •‘‘The Continental Railway Company is a corporation existing under spacial charters granted by the legislatures of New Jersey. Pennsylvania, Illluola and lowa, and under general ehartere from tbe slates of Ohio and Indiana, granting authority to build a continuous line of railway’ from the Hudson River, opposite New York, to tho Missouri River, opposite Omaha, with extensions connecting Chicago and Bt. Louis with the East. This liue has been surveyed tho entire length, aud several millions of dollars have been spent in the actual work of grading. Arrangements have already been made to put Hi,ooo mon at work aa soon aa the weather will permit in the spring. It is stated by tho officers of tbo company that ample funds are ar their command to construct the road and equip it ia the moat eomplete mauner. There is te bo a double track the entire distance of the heaviest s I rails of English manufacture. Tide route, between New York City and Chicago, according to the surveyora, doee not vary fiftern miles in the entire distance from a straight geographical line. Tiie distance between these two paints is 781 miles, or 128 miles shorter thau tbe shortest route now in operation. By the Pennsylvania Railroad nnd its connections the distance to Chicago is 9)4 miles; by the New York Central and Lake Bhore, 980 miles; by the New York Central and Great Western of Canada, 961 miles. Besides being the most direct route to the Wret, tbe elevations will be teas than those of any other road, not exceeding forty feet to the mile at any point. At the Delaware River tbe elevation will be 180 feet above tbe level of tbe sea; at tbe Allegheny River, 1,100 feet; at Akron, 0.. 1,350 feet; at Fort Wayne, lud., 700 feet, and at Chicago, 630 feet- The survey strikes thg Delaware River at Belvidiere. and the Allegheny at Muhoning. Pa. Tho Pennsylvania state line is crossed at Newcastle, and thsuee the projected rnad runs to Akron, Nsw Loudon. Tldiu, Fort Wayne, Ind", Rensselaer and Chicago. The most difficult engineering obstacle to be met with on th« line Is the crossing of the Delaware River, where a pier bridge is to be constructed 500 feet high. ‘ It is estimated that the road will be completed and in o|>eration two years fn.in next spring. A large staff of engineers will be dl-tributvd along the line of the route early in the spring to complete their labors. They will be followed by construction parlies, who in turn will be followed by trains with iron-and supplies. Tbe entir. work will thus be pushed forward with the utmost expedition; It thus appears probable that the public will soon be provided with u system of die ip transixirtation by the conn ruction of a irew aa<l continuous line of railway in a irect line from New York io Chi caa*h with low xradea and ligiii curves built in the uiost Hul'Mtatitiu! iuei>i < with abundant appuilegato «■>> «i><l cilitiea, operated in 'lk .-r commerce and aa ti e beiiai ti people requires ” '