THE PHILADELPHIA & ERIE RAILROAD.
This railroad runs along the northwestern margin of the main Alle gheny coal-field, from Lock Haven to Warren. At several points this line cuts into the main coal-field, which extends unbroken to the south and southwest; but to the northeast the coal exists only in patches, as we have described. At a few points along the line of this road the lower coals, as described in the Barclay and Blossburg coal-fields, exist in con siderable bodies; but generally the field is much broken, and only the bed B exists in workable quantities. Coal is mined at the Eagleston and Tangascoolock mines, a short distance above Lock Haven; at or near Came ron Station, Renova, Ridgeway, Johnsonburg, and at other points along the line. A New York company are operating near Cameron, and a Boston company are building a road 11 miles long to connect their mines with the Philadelphia & Erie. Besides these, many small operations are under way, and considerable coal has been mined and shipped along the road west ward to the oil regions, where large quantities of coal are required to supply the engines employed in boring and pumping. Coal has been sold during 1864 in the oil regions at one dollar per bushel, or $30 per ton; but we believe the average price of coal by the car has been about $10 per ton.
A few years ago, a great portion of the region through which this road passes was simply a wilderness. But now, from Lock Haven to Correy, towns and cities are growing up as if by magic. Lumbering establishments dot the road through all this wild region, and immense piles of sawed lumber crowd the trains or are stacked along the line. The quantity of timber seems immense; but, at the rate at which it is disappearing, those immense forests will not darken the soil or harbor the game much longer. Coal-mines are opened and the minerals developed rapidly, while salt-wells and oil-wells not only exist in Venango, but from Lake Erie to Warren, and even farther east.
The grades and distances of this line from east to west are more favor able than those of any other line connecting the Eastern and Western waters.
The distance from Philadelphia to Lake Erie, via Lancaster, Harris burg, and Sunbury, is 447 miles; while the distance from New York to the Lakes is 508 miles by the Erie and 535 by the Central road. The distance, however, from New York to Buffalo or Dunkirk is considerably less. The elevation overcome by the Philadelphia & Erie is 2006 feet,
and the ascent is gradual. The elevation overcome by the Pennsylvania Central in crossing the Alleghenies is 2161 feet, and the ascent is more irregular. The Baltimore & Ohio overcomes an elevation of 2620 feet, and contends with sharp curves and successive descending and ascending grades.
The item of elevation, and consequent heavy grades, in crossing the Alleghanies, or connecting the Eastern and Western waters, is an important one. Grades of 100 feet to the mile are difficult to overcome, and the expenses of transportation are increased in proportion to the increase of the grades. For a heavy traffic, the Philadelphia & Erie is the most favorable line yet built. But it simply taps the Lakes. True, they supply a vast trade, which is constantly on the increase, and will eventually tax to the utmost all the roads leading from them to the East. Yet, when we consider the productive area of the Mississippi Valley, the region from which and to which the greatest streams of trade must eventually flow, and where men and cities will be thickest, we cannot shut our eyes to the natural advantages possessed by Virginia, or conceal the fact that a little enterprise and capital might give to that State the chief trade of the West. Had the Virginians a tithe of the energy and vigor manifested by the people of Pennsylvania and New York, the magnificent roads at Hampton would ere this have been crowded with shipping from all parts of the world, engaged in peaceful traffic, their cities and villages would now be flourishing and prosperous, instead of lying in smoking ruins, and the fields and mountains of their State would be productive of wealth, instead of being clothed in weeds and "old field pines" and still almost unknown to the miner and the manufacturer. But we shall refer to this again in a more appropriate place, and will continue our description of the coal-field.
It will be noticed on the accompanying miniature map that we have been skirting the great coal-field, and simply describing the outlying patches which cluster along its northeastern margin. We will now present a concise account of the entire field, having given the foregoing chiefly for the purpose of connecting the anthracite with the bituminous coal-fields.