History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

a cleiir giiin to the public. The proseiit mimiier of psissengers from Now York tu Piiiibniy, as iiscertaiiied by a reference 1o the books of the pru- priotors of the staf^i'-liiies ami other sources, is l(i,riU(). The prirc of juis- eage now paiil, siiul which It is not proposed to diniinisli, is one duHur. The number of piisHcnt^ei"s from the intermeilijite townj, we estim:i.tc lOOll more, f<n- which tliere is now pjiiil from fifty to seventy-five cents ; e?,ti- miiting the fare at the average price of sixty-two Jiml a lialf cents, ilir amount is SH25, — making the amount of revenue to l>o (h-rivi-il fmui passengers, Sl(i,i>2'). These e^stimates are based upon tlie fads ;is they now exist; but wlien wo take into consi«hM'ation the iniiea>ed atnount of trans(Kirtation and travel to be created by tlie increased facilities fur conimnnii-ation, it may safely be assumed that tin- in(orn<' from all sources of revenue will be greatly increased. For instaTice, we have stated that the present annual number of passengers fnun I)aid'ury to New York is lii,iiiH.i. This includes very few from the towns east of Itan- hury, and n()ne from the southern portions of Litchfudd <_'oiuity and the eastern jiart of the counties of Dutchess and Putnam, in the State of New York. Itut the proposed road wouM undoulitedly draw to itselt -(// the travel from the entire regit)n, which, it is not uniejisoiuilde to ^np■ peso, would increiLse the number of passengers to liO.iMHI, — tlius yicldini; from pjLssengers alone an income of S20,(hXi per annum. A rapid fxteti- sion of business ahuig the whole line of the road, and throughout The ]ioi tiou of country within the sphere of its influence, may also be confi- dently anticipated. In the instance of heavy articles also the increiL^ed amount of transjiortation will, in our Judgment, far exeeeil tlie estimate here made. We refer especially to the articles of coal and plaster, the former of which is now used in the interior ti) a very limited extent, but would, upon the opening of the proposed roa<l, be extensively substi- tuted f(U- Wood. In relation to the annual expenditures, the experience of other roads enables us to i)resent an estiLiuite upon whieh we may safely rely. The annual expense of repaii-s may be i)ut at SJ'>ii(i. The cijstuf transporting freight to the amount with which this road will r.iui- meiice will not exceed thirty-five cents per ton. One trip and i>iie ictiirn- trip jier day will be sufficient to accommodate all the jjassengej-s with ■which the roarl will open, which, at S7.on per trip, for :ii:j days, makes for the year $H;!r.. The salaries of the othcei-s in the employ of tlie com- pany may be set down at S^idOU per annum, the exjiense fur drivers and keeping hurses,* fur freight-wagons, i-tc. cxilusivi- uf passeturer-ciirs. $;i5(Ki, making in the aggregate, lor all exii.iiscs uf the cuiiipany, $V.i,mo. •■'We present the following recapitulation : Income from freight §.'12,(HiO Income from tiaiispuilntiun of p;issengers 2M,nilti Sf.')2.()(i(i Deduct annual expenses of repaii-s, etc i:i.(;'.lO Net annual profit *;ssi.;i()5 Thus yieliling a dividend of nearly ten per cut. tu the stockholders.' "Ot'tlu^ route through to Albany the comuiittee further say : ■"Tliei-i' is, however, another ami more enlarged view which we take of this subject. The road, aiconling tu tlie original design of its pro- jectors, ends at Danbury. and the company, by their charter, are author- ized to construct it to that place only. Hut in the courseof their in. piiries, the under>iigned have become convinced that this road is in the liin' «f the very nearest practiciible route fnr a railinnj between the cities of AVir York awl AllKmy.umi that by extending it northward through the valley of the Housatonic to West Stockbridg.-,— a distance of sixty-eight miles only,— and intersecting at that place the railri)ad from Albany to West Sturk- bridge, already commenc-d, the great objei.t, su h.ng desire.l, of ejecting au open wintrr-cuuimunication between the cummercial and pulitical capitals of tlie Empire State will be ai^complished. With a view tu this object, Mr. Twining, the engineer by whom our road wsis surveyed, has examined the country between the northern termination of the Fairfiehl County Railroad and the prui)used point of intersection with the Albany and West Stockbridge Railway. The result of his examination will be found in his report. " ' Actual surveys have demonstrated that a raihoad betwrrn the tu-. <:itieB must, fur a portion of the distance, pass through the valley of the HousaUuiic. And it has never be.-u prop. .sed, nor is it indeed posMbb-, to enti-r the valley with such road at any point farther north than at or near Caniuin Falls, forty-four miles north of Danbury. It is immaterial, however, at what point any other practicable route enters that valley, becanee it being true tliat it must be bnmght thus far east proves that * It was designed to run the road by liorse-puwor. in regard to distance nn other route ever can possess any materia! ad- vantage over the present. "'That the business of this purliun ut cuiintry wlii'h llie (■\lriidiMl road wuuld intiusect will afl^Lud an ample reiuuucratiun to the stuckhohi- ers there can be no re;u<onal)le iloubt. Of its value as a channel of inter- course between New York and Alliany rm estimate has been or can bo made. \\'luii ue look at the imuH lis.- iiuiiibei"s daily jiassing between the two ( ities, and retlect that this uuniliei-, great as it now is, is daily augmenting by the increase vf population and wealth thruugbuut the coiintiy and by the opening of new lines of i-oniniuniralion tu ;iii indit- irdte extent at the noi'th and west, we are admonished that its value lannut be c'alcuiated, and that all attempts to make an estimate must fail.' " Thrrc an.' some figures in tlir rrport ut Mr. 'J'wiu- iuL-^'s surviy t'roin Danlmry to tiiK'-watfr whirh arc ot full as niueli interest to us of tn-ilay as they were to those who watehed the l)ro,oTess of the sehenie. It must he borne hi mind that this was not a steam-rail- way, but really a horse-railway. In tliat ilay loco- motives were in l)ut litth' use in this eonntry. and nothing, eomparatively, was known of tbem in \rw Eughind. My. Twiniui^V estimate for the oradino- of the road was $78(i9 a luik', or $20;i,;iS*) for the entire distanei'. "In his estimate for the superstnuture — that is, the traek — is an item, ' Horse-])atli.' wliieli was to cost $]-2'', a mile. The horse-path was to !..■ of plank. The followiu^^ is his estimate for tiie ajipointments of the HKul: Si\ iiiiiiiiL^es Jul piisseiigcrs S4.'>iMl FiftiH-n wa^iins tnr Imnleiis o,25(l Thirty lioi-si'S :!,iHlll Harness OOO TwM ilfiiiits. with carriiigc-hdiisi-s ami stiililes S,)H)lt iiTM> hiill-wav station, witli dittii 2.7511 T..tal S24,lllO '• It will 111- licou by the above tlint jiiissoiiger-cars I'oiilil tjicii be bmiu'lit tor $7oO ;i])icc(', tiiul tVi'ight- cars wi-fciii the iiitirki't at #M;")(I t'at-li. " Jt was projioscd to make two trips tulay caeli way. The ears were to be drawn by horses, two to etieh ear. The time re(|uire(l to intike the trip was estiintited to lie three hours. As to how the I'reight-wtijioiis were, to run, or how many to a train, w:is not ileterniined on, as the roa<l was but then in its inception, and before matters prouresseil to tiiiy dei;ree locomotives came into use. "While these estimates were being maile the 'through-line' was worked :it. Mr. Twining ami the origimitors of the road were firnily convinced that the line wonld pay and thtit it was a necessity. There was no rail-route between New York and Albany, tirnl in the winter, when navigation Wiis closed in the river, there was no eonnuunication between the two cities except by stage. The Danlmry people >oiight lo stir up enthusiasm at points along the projioseil route. " In December, IS.'Jo, a public meeting w;is lielil in Kent, the next town above New Millbrd. It wtis a hirge meeting. Delegates were present from all towns along the proposed line from Danlmry to West f^toek- bridge. A projtosed charier (granted the tidlowing year) had been draltcd, giving to the eomptiny i-h;ir- 208 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. tered the right to construct a road to Bridgeport, or to the New York State line in the town of Ridgefield, or to Danl)ury. The Kent meeting determined on the route to Danhurv, and appointed Aaron Seeley, Peter Pierce, and Jay Sliears a eonimittee to employ an engineer and have a survey made and an estimate of cost prepared. "In March following the committee secured the services of E. H. Brodhead, an experienced civil en- gineer, to make the survey. He entered ujion his dutie-s as soon as jjossible, and was accompanied along the course hy 5Ir. Seeley, of the committee. " Twenty-one days were employed in this work. Not only the line proposed, but several diverging routes, at tlie suggestion of citizens living off' the line, were looked after. The line was carried, also, south of'Danbury to the New York State line in Ridgefield, at the place of E. Bouton, a distance of about eleven miles from here. The line in Danbury began at the Main Street Bridge across Still River, and Mr. Brod- head's survey ran it through Beaver Brook District, thence along the line of the Still River to its conflu- ence with the Ousatonic (Housatonie) at New Mil- ford. From there it followed pretty much the line now occupied by the Housatonie road to West Stock- bridge, where wa.s met the railway known iis the Bos- ton and Albany.