Whereas, satisfactory evidence has been afforded to the board of
directors of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company that H. Haupt has,
by an instrument of writing, duly executed, formally relinquished, for
himself, his heirs, executors and administrators, all pecuniary interest
in any profits that may be realized in the construction of the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel, and that the use of his name in
connection with the firm is merely nominal, to avoid the inconvenience
and embarrassment resulting from a change of title:
_Voted_, That in the opinion of this board, no impediment exists to
prevent the said H. Haupt from performing the duties of chief engineer
of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, and that he be, and hereby
is, appointed to said office.
1859, December 26. _Voted_, That the treasurer be, and hereby is,
directed to hand over to H. Haupt & Co., as soon as received by him, the
bonds of the Commonwealth, hereafter to be issued in aid of the road or
tunnel, taking their receipt therefore.
In 1859, application was made to the legislature to reduce the size of
the tunnel in order to facilitate its completion, and by chapter 117, of
the Acts of that year, it was provided that the tunnel might be
constructed of the height of eighteen feet, and fourteen feet wide, and
the payments were changed so as to depend upon the construction of the
railroad, the excavation of the tunnel, and also of the heading, which
was to be driven of the width of fourteen feet at the bottom, and the
height of six feet in the middle, with a proviso that no more than
seventeen hundred thousand dollars (in addition to the six hundred
thousand dollars of scrip,) of stock subscriptions, and the anticipated
scrip from the towns before, mentioned, all of which was to be
considered as unconditional subscriptions, should be paid until the
whole of the tunnel through the Hoosac Mountain shall have been
completed, and the payments by the State were not to commence until
twenty per cent. of the stock subscription should "have been actually
paid in." The provisions of this Act, in regard to advances by the State
for progress actually made in excavating the tunnel and constructing the
road, were substituted for those of the Act of 1854, the second section
of which was repealed. By chapter 184 of the Acts of 1860, the city of
Boston was authorized, with the consent of the legal voters, to
subscribe five hundred thousand dollars to the capital stock of the Troy
and Greenfield Railroad; but the consent was not given.
The legislation of 1859 did not meet the exigencies of the corporation,
and application for assistance was again made. To relieve still further
the difficulties of the company, the Act of 1860, chapter 202, was
passed, in which it was provided that the undelivered portion of the
loan of two million of dollars, authorized by chapter 226 of the Acts of
1854, amounting to one million seven hundred and seventy thousand
dollars, should be apportioned between the railroad and tunnel, and for
the construction of each respectively, and six hundred and fifty
thousand dollars was set apart for the completion of the unfinished
portion of the railroad, extending from its eastern terminus, near
Greenfield, to within half a mile of the eastern end of the Hoosac
Tunnel, and one million one hundred and twenty thousand dollars to the
completion of the tunnel. The Act provided for the execution to the
Commonwealth of such further bond and mortgage as the attorney-general
should prescribe, and that such bond and mortgage, as well as all bonds,
mortgages or other assurances heretofore made to the Commonwealth by
said company, should have priority and be preferred before any and all
attachments or levies on execution heretofore or hereafter made. The Act
further provided that payments hereafter to be made for work done upon
the road and tunnel, should be so made upon estimates of a State
engineer, whose appointment and duties were prescribed in the Act. Such
estimates were to be based upon a "width of road-bed, at grade, of
fifteen feet on embankments, seventeen and a half feet in side cots, and
twenty feet in through cuts; in the heading of the tunnel, upon
dimensions fourteen feet wide and six feet high in the middle, and in
the finished excavation of the tunnel, of fourteen feet wide and
eighteen feet high in the middle." And the deliveries of scrip were to
be at the rate of fifty dollars for each lineal foot of tunnel, divided
between heading and full-sized tunnel, in the proportion of thirty
dollars for each lineal foot of heading, and twenty dollars per lineal
foot for the remaining excavation, and of six hundred and fifty thousand
dollars for the whole of the graduation, masonry, bridging and
superstructure of the road east of the tunnel. The weight of the rails
was fixed at not less than fifty-six pounds to the lineal yard; the
capital stock of the corporation at two millions and a half dollars,
including all shares before issued.
By the eighth section of the Act the corporation was authorized to
purchase the entire road franchise, stock, bonds, and other property or
the Southern Vermont Railroad Company, together with its lease to the
Troy and Boston Railroad Company, and subject to its provisions, for the
sum of two hundred thousand dollars. This Act repealed all prior
legislation inconsistent with its provisions, with a saving of the
security which the Commonwealth had, by virtue of its mortgage on the
franchise, railroad and property of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad
Company, and was approved April 4, 1860.
1860, July 3. A committee was appointed to execute the mortgage to the
Commonwealth required by chapter 202, of the Acts of 1860.
1861, July 30. The directors voted that Mr. Haupt be a committee to
appear before the council in reference to the withholding the scrip now
due the road; and January 16, 1862, it was voted that Mr. Haupt be
authorized to act as the agent and representative of the company in any
relation that the company may be brought before the present legislature
or any committee thereof.
Previous to the vote of July, 1861, suspicion was excited that Messrs.
H. Haupt & Co. were not performing their work in a manner conformable to
the requirements of the statute, and it was deemed imprudent to make any
further advance of scrip under the Act of 1859, until the work was
examined and the condition of the corporation better understood. An
inquiry was instituted, a new State engineer appointed, and an
investigation of the proceedings of the contractors and corporation was
had. The facts disclosed in the examination induced the governor and
council to withhold the issue of any more scrip, under the last
mentioned law, and the legislature by chapter 156 of the Acts of 1862,
passed April 28, assumed the duty of completing the road and tunnel.