Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1883 — RAILWAY BUILDING. [ARTICLE]

RAILWAY BUILDING.

Nearly 11,000 Miles of - New Main Track ' Built During 1882. The Railway Age gives an interesting account ot the railway construction in the United States during the year 1882. The following is the Age'* summary of new track actually laid from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1, length of main line only, indicated by distance between termini, being considered, and no account being made of new sidings or additional side-track: No. No. States. Line-'. Miles. States. Lines. Miles. Alabama 2 39 Missouri.... 12 a*>B Ar zona 2 192 Montana.... 2 309 Arkansas .... 7 529 Nebraska... 6 210 California ... 7 2->5 Nevada 1 4i Colorado 12 600 N. Hampsh'e 1 17 Connecticut. 1 N. Jersey... 6 85 Dakota. 16 480 N. Mexico... 3 21 Delaware .... 0 ON. York 22 732 Florida 6 204 N. Carolina. 10 154 Georgia 6 30s Ohio 17 554 Idaho.. ...... 8 301 Oregon ..... 3 198 Dlinois 16 , 385 Pennsylv’a.. 31 464 Indian Ter.. 1 67 Rhode Isl’d. 0 0 Indiana 9 528 S. Carolina. 3 67 lowa 24 9 3 Tennessee.. 8 133 Kansas 8 217 Texas 19 817 Kentucky.... 3 86 Utah .'. 2 175 Louisiana.... 4 52 Vermont.... 1 8 Maine 3 28 Virginia 10 228 Maryland.... 2 41 Wash. T.... 0 o Massaoh’sette2 6 West Va.... 8 20 Michigan ....13 223 Wisconsin.. 16 397 Minnesota...l3 411 Wyoming... 1 - 25 Mississippi... 3 87 -rTotals in 41 States and Ter 316 10,821 Where, as in several cases, the same line has been built in two or more States, it is counted but as one line in the grand total, so that the footing unde! the column “No of lines”—3l6—is less by twenty-two than the actual sum of the number of lines taken separately by States and Territories. Thus it appears that track-laying has been in progress during the year in forty-four of the States and Territories, upon 316 different railways, with the result of adding no less than 10,821 miles to our railway system, and it is not unlikely that this may he increased to 11,000 miles by the final returns. These figures place 1882 far ahead of any other year in respect to railway building, the inhitherto the year of most extraordinary construction, being about 1,500 miles, or more than 16 pfer cent. For the purpose of comparison, there is given below the figures of yearly mileage found in “Poor’s Manual,” assuming them to be approximately correct, and adding our figures for 1882: * Miles Total Miles Total Year. built, mileage. Year. built mileage. 1873 4,107 70,273 1878 2,687 81,776 1874 » .2,105 72, 8) 1879 4,721 X6,'97 1875 1,712 74,096 1880 7,174 93,671 1876 2,712 7G,8< 1 8 1881 9,386 104,813 1877 2,231 79,1 89 1882 10,821 115,634 The amount of capital which has been invested in railways in the last year is almost incredible. Allowing #25,000 per mile as a fair average for the cost of a road equipped and in operation, the 10,800 miles of which we have recorded have cost #270,000,000, to which is to be added the vast and unknown sum expended in preparing road-beds on which track is notiyet laid.