Previous to the receipt of Mr. Haupt's letter to the treasurer, but
subsequent to the message of the governor, from the foregoing, extracts
have been made, to wit: On the first day of April, 1863, the following
preamble and resolutions were passed by the directors.
"On motion of Mr. Brigham, seconded by Mr. Cheever, the following
resolutions were adopted:--
"_Whereas_, The stockholders of this company at their annual meeting
held September 2, 1862, unanimously acquiesced in the action which the
legislature had taken in regard to the affairs of this company, and
voted to surrender the property of the corporation to the Commonwealth
in the expectation that the railroad and tunnel should be completed in
conformity with the avowed intention of the legislature. It is
"_Resolved_, That this board of directors see no reason to regret the
step which this corporation has taken, but in the kindly interest shown
by His Excellency the governor in this enterprise, and in the able
report of the commissioners appointed to examine the subject, they
perceive every indication that the great work will be prosecuted with
vigor and arrive at an early completion.
"_Resolved_, That having released the property to the Commonwealth, we
recognize the State as having entire and complete control over the same;
our only claim being that the State shall carry out in good faith the
recommendations of the commissioners as contained in their report, and
in the address of the chief magistrate of the Commonwealth.
"_Resolved_, That the clerk be requested to furnish copies of the above
vote to the friends of the road in the Senate and House of
Representatives, to be used if necessary to show the views of the
directors."
On the 29th day of April, 1863, the legislature, passed an Act entitled
"an Act in addition to an Act, providing for the more speedy completion
of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, and Hoosac Tunnel," which is
chapter 214 of the Acts of 1863. By the provisions of this Act, the
commissioners appointed under chapter 156 of the previous year, were
authorized, subject to the advice and approval of the governor and
council, to construct, complete and equip the Troy and Greenfield
Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel, and to make such alterations in the line of
the road as may be deemed necessary to render it suitable and proper for
part of a through line from Troy to Boston. Also such alterations in the
location and dimensions of said tunnel as will render it suitable and
proper for use, in accordance with the spirit and intent of the 224th
chapter of the Acts of 1854.
By the legislation of 1862 and 1863, and the vote of the directors and
of the corporation in the same years, the corporation surrendered to the
State the road and tunnel, and the State took possession of the same
with the express understanding on both sides, that they would proceed in
the construction and completion of both works. The enterprise having
fallen into the hands of the State, and the work having been assumed by
the State government, no further vote of importance appears upon the
records of the directors. Their last meeting was held August 30, 1865,
when Alvah Crocker was chosen President, and Wendell T. Davis, Clerk and
Treasurer.
[B.]
_Principal Acts of the Legislature relating to the Hoosac Tunnel
and Troy and Greenfield Railroad._
[1848--Chapter 307.]
AN ACT to incorporate the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company.
_Be it enacted, &c._
SECT. 1. George Grennell, Roger H. Leavitt, Samuel H. Reed, their
associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name of
the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, with all the powers and
privileges, and subject to all the duties, liabilities, and restrictions
set forth in the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes, and in
that part of the thirty-ninth chapter thereof relating to railroad
corporations, and in all other general laws which have been, or shall be
hereafter passed, relative to railroad corporations.
SECT. 2. Said company are hereby authorized to locate, construct, and
maintain a railroad, with one or more tracks, from some convenient point
on the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad, at or near the termination of
said railroad in Greenfield, through any or all of the following towns,
viz.:--Greenfield, Deerfield, Conway, Shelburne, Buckland, Coleraine,
Charlemont, Hawley, Rowe, and Monroe, in the county of Franklin, and
Savoy, Florida, Adams, Clarksburg, and Williamstown, in the county of
Berkshire, to some point on the line of the state of New York or of
Vermont, convenient to meet, or connect with, any railroad that may be
constructed from any point at or near the city of Troy, on the Hudson
river, in the state of New York.
SECT. 3. The said company may, with their railroad, unite with, and
enter upon, the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad, at or near the
termination thereof, as aforesaid, and may likewise enter upon, cross,
and use, the railroad of the Connecticut River Railroad Company, in and
near the town of Greenfield, (not, however, interfering with the depot
buildings of either of said companies,) on such terms as may be agreed
upon between the corporation hereby created and the aforesaid companies
respectively, or as may be prescribed by law.
SECT. 4. The capital stock of the said company shall consist of not more
than thirty-five thousand shares, the number of which shall, from time
to time, be determined by the directors thereof; and no assessment shall
be laid of a greater amount thereon, in the whole, than one hundred
dollars on each share. And the said company may purchase and hold such
real and personal estate, as may be necessary for the purposes of their
incorporation.
SECT. 5. If the location of said road shall not be filed within two
years, in the manner prescribed by law, or if the said railroad shall
not be constructed within seven years from the passage of this act, then
the same shall be void.
SECT. 6. The legislature may authorize any railroad company to enter,
with their railroad, upon the Troy and Greenfield Railroad, on such
terms as may be agreed upon by said companies, or as may be prescribed
by the provisions of law.
SECT. 7. The legislature may, after the expiration of five years from
the time when such railroad shall be opened for use, from time to time,
alter and reduce the rate of toll, or profits, upon said road; but said
toll shall not be so reduced, without the consent of said company, as to
produce, with said profits, less than ten per cent. per annum, upon the
investments of the said company.
SECT. 8. The said corporation may contract with the owners of any
contiguous railroad leading into or from either of the states of Vermont
or New York, for the use of the whole or any part thereof, or for the
running and operating the two railroads conjointly, or for the leasing
of such contiguous road, or for the letting or hiring of their own road
to the owners of such contiguous road, or of any other road which
composes a part of the railroad line between the cities of Boston and
Troy, of which the railroad hereby authorized shall be a part.
SECT. 9. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall, within one year
after the opening of their road for use, purchase and take an assignment
of the lease and contract of transportation, made and executed between
the Western Railroad Corporation and the Pittsfield and North Adams
Railroad Corporation, on the thirteenth day of January, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and forty-six; and shall have all the advantages,
and assume all the liabilities, accruing under and by virtue of said
lease: provided, that the said Western. Railroad Corporation shall
perform their covenants in said lease, to keep said road, and other
property therewith connected, in repair, until such assignment; and
shall, within six months after the said Troy and Greenfield Railroad
Company shall have filed the location of their road, according to law,
and shall have raised, by subscription, one million of dollars, for the
construction of the same, signify, in writing, their election to make
such assignment: and provided, that, at the time of such assignment,
there shall be secured to said Western Railroad Corporation, by a proper
instrument, a lien or mortgage upon all their rights in said Pittsfield
and North Adams Railroad, as collateral security for the performance of
all the obligations of said corporation, contained in said lease and
contract of transportation: and, provided also, that, after the
completion of the said Troy and Greenfield Railroad, the said Western
Railroad Corporation shall assign and convey, to the said Troy and
Greenfield Railroad Company, the said contract of transportation,
according to the terms of this section, if the said Troy and Greenfield
Railroad Company shall so elect.
SECT. 10. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.
[_May 10, 1848._
[1852.--Chapter 291.]
AN ACT concerning the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company.
_Be it enacted, &c._
SECT. 1. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company and the Southern
Vermont Railroad Company, a corporation established by the laws of
Vermont, are hereby authorized by a vote of the stockholders now, or to
be, passed, to unite themselves in one corporation; and such vote having
been passed, they shall thereupon become one corporation, and all the
franchises, property, powers, and privileges now enjoyed by, and all the
restrictions, liabilities, and obligations imposed upon, said two
corporations, by virtue of their respective charters, shall appertain to
said united corporation in the same manner as if the same had been
contained in or acquired under an original charter. Such corporation, so
formed by such union, shall be called by the name of the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad Company.
SECT. 2. If the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall unite with
said Southern Vermont Railroad Company, then, and in that case, one or
more of the directors of such corporation, formed by such union, shall
be an inhabitant of this Commonwealth, on whom processes against such
corporation may be legally served, and said company shall be held
answerable to answer in the jurisdiction where the service is made and
the process returnable.
SECT. 3. The said company and the stockholders therein, so far as they
are situate in Massachusetts, shall be subject to all the duties and
liabilities of railroad corporations in Massachusetts, and to the
general laws of this Commonwealth in relation to railroad corporations.
[Approved by the Governor, May 20, 1852.
[1854.--Chapter 226.]
AN ACT authorizing a Loan of the State Credit to enable the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad Company to construct the Hoosac Tunnel.
_Be it enacted, &c._
SECT. 1. The treasurer of the Commonwealth is hereby authorized and
instructed to issue scrip, or certificates of debt, in the name and in
behalf of the Commonwealth, and under his signature and the seal of the
Commonwealth, for the sum of two millions of dollars, which may be
expressed in the currency of Great Britain, and may be payable to the
bearer thereof in London, and bearing an interest of five per cent. per
annum, payable semi-annually in London, on the first days of April and
October; or the said scrip may be issued in federal currency, payable in
Boston, as the directors of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company
shall elect when they apply for each and every issue of said scrip, with
warrants for the interest attached thereto, signed by the treasurer;
which scrip or certificates, in the currency of Great Britain, shall be
redeemable in London, and those in the federal currency, at Boston, at
the end of thirty years from the date thereof, and the same shall bear
date on the first day of April or October which shall precede the issue
of each portion of said scrip; and all such scrip shall be countersigned
by the governor of the Commonwealth, and be deemed a pledge of the faith
and credit of the Commonwealth, for the redemption thereof; and the
treasurer of the Commonwealth, under the conditions hereinafter
provided, shall deliver the same to the treasurer of the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad Company for the purpose of enabling the said company
to construct a tunnel and railroad under and through the Hoosac
Mountain, in some place between the "Great Bend" in Deerfield River, in
the town of Florida, at the base of Hoosac Mountain on the east, and the
base of the western side of the mountain, near the east end of the
village of North Adams, on the west.
SECT. 2. Whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the
governor and council, that the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company
shall have obtained subscriptions to their corporate stock, in the sum
of six hundred thousand dollars, and twenty per cent. on each and every
share of said six hundred thousand dollars shall have been actually paid
in, and shall have completed seven miles of their said railroad, in one
or two sections, and one thousand lineal feet of their said tunnel under
the Hoosac, in one or more sections, of size sufficient for one or more
railroad tracks, a portion of said scrip, to the amount of one hundred
thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the treasurer of said company;
and when said company shall have completed, in one or two sections, ten
miles of their said railroad, and two thousand lineal feet of their said
tunnel, in one or more sections, another portion of said scrip, to the
amount of one hundred thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the
treasurer of said company; and when said company shall have completed
fifteen miles of their said railroad, in one or two sections, and three
thousand lineal feet of their said tunnel, in one or more sections,
another portion of said scrip, amounting to one hundred thousand
dollars, shall be delivered to the treasurer of said company; and when
said company shall have completed twenty miles of their said railroad,
in one or two sections, and four thousand lineal feet of their said
tunnel, in one or more sections, another portion of said scrip,
amounting to one hundred thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the
treasurer of said company; and when said company shall have completed
twenty-five miles of their said railroad, in one or two sections, and
five thousand lineal feet of their said tunnel, in one or more sections,
another portion of said scrip, amounting to one hundred thousand
dollars, shall be delivered to the treasurer of said company; and when
said company shall have completed thirty miles of their said railroad,
in one or two sections, and six thousand lineal feet of their said
tunnel, in one or more sections, another portion of said scrip,
amounting to one hundred thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the
treasurer of said company; and when said company shall have completed
thirty-two miles of their said railroad, in one or two sections,
including all their line to be constructed east of the town of Florida,
and seven thousand lineal feet of their said tunnel, in one or more
sections, another portion of said scrip, amounting to one hundred
thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the treasurer of said company;
and for each additional portion or portions of said tunnel, of fifteen
hundred lineal feet, in one or more directions, completed by said
company, another portion of said scrip, amounting to one hundred
thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the treasurer of said company;
subject, however, to this proviso, that the last two hundred thousand
dollars of said scrip shall be reserved until said company, their
successors or their representatives, have opened said railroad for use
through the Hoosac, and laid a continuous railroad from Greenfield to
the line of the state in Williamstown, when the same shall be delivered:
provided, that prior to the second delivery of scrip to the treasurer of
the Troy and Greenfield Railroad corporation, according to the
provisions of this section, evidence shall be furnished, satisfactory to
the governor and council, that a sum, equal to thirty per cent. of the
amount of the scrip then applied for, shall have been actually paid to
the treasurer of said corporation; in cash, by the stockholders thereof,
in addition to the hundred and twenty thousand dollars to be paid prior
to the delivery of any scrip. And that on each application for scrip, in
pursuance of the provisions of this section, and prior to the delivery
thereof, satisfactory evidence shall be furnished to the governor and
council, that a sum, equal to thirty per cent. of the amount of scrip
then applied for, has been actually paid to the treasurer of said
corporation, until six hundred thousand dollars subscribed for have been
paid by the stockholders. And no scrip shall be delivered till
satisfactory evidence of such payment is, from time to time, furnished
to the governor and council.
SECT. 3. Whenever the treasurer of said company shall receive any of
said scrip, he shall, within three months from the receipt of the same,
pay to the commissioners of the sinking fund, by this act hereafter
established, ten per cent. on the amount of scrip so taken, as a sinking
fund; after the whole of said road is open for us, twenty-five thousand
dollars annually, shall be set apart from the income of said road and
paid to said commissioners, and the whole thereof shall be added to said
sinking fund, and shall be managed, invested and appropriated, as is, or
shall be provided by law, in relation thereto.
SECT. 4. The treasurer of the Commonwealth, the auditor of accounts of
the Commonwealth, and the treasurer of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad
Company for the time being, shall be the commissioners of the sinking
fund of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company. The said commissioners
shall have the care and management of all the moneys, funds and
securities at any time belonging to said sinking fund, and shall invest
the same; but the moneys not invested, and all the securities of said
fund, shall be in the custody of the treasurer of said Commonwealth.
SECT. 5. This act shall not take effect until said company, at an annual
meeting, or at a special meeting duly notified for that purpose, shall
have assented to the provisions thereof, and shall have executed to the
Commonwealth a bond, in such form as the attorney-general prescribed on
the issuing of scrip to the Western Railroad Corporation, conditioned,
that the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall comply with the
provisions of this act, and shall faithfully expend the proceeds of said
scrip as herein provided, and shall indemnify and save harmless, the
Commonwealth, from all loss or inconvenience on account of said scrip,
and that said company shall well and truly pay the principal sum of said
scrip, punctually when the same shall become due and payable, or such
part thereof as the sinking fund aforesaid shall be insufficient to pay,
and the interest thereon semi-annually, as the same shall fall due, and
shall also assign to the Commonwealth, by suitable instrument or
instruments, of the same form with that or those prepared by the
attorney-general on the issuing of scrip to the Western Railroad
Corporation, the entire railroad, with its income, and all the franchise
and property to them belonging, the whole thereof to be held by the
Commonwealth as a pledge or mortgage to secure the performance of all
the conditions of said bond: _provided_, _however_, that the
Commonwealth shall not take possession of said pledged or mortgaged
property, or any part thereof, under or by virtue of said mortgage,
unless for some substantial breach of some condition of said bond.
SECT. 6. In addition to the security provided in the preceding section,
the said company shall assign all the interest they now have, or may
hereafter obtained, in the Southern Vermont Railroad Company.
SECT. 7. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company are authorized, and at
any time prior to the execution of said mortgage, and within one year
from the passage of this act, to alter the present location of their
road: provided, that the tunnel shall be located and constructed within
the limits prescribed by the first section of this act.
SECT. 8. The time for completing the Troy and Greenfield Railroad is
hereby extended, for the additional term of six years.
SECT. 9. When the Commonwealth shall have advanced to said company, said
bond or scrip to the amount of five hundred thousand dollars, the
legislature may elect two directors of said company, who shall hold
office for the same time, be elected in the same manner, and receive
compensation to the same amount as the state directors of the Western
Railroad Corporation, but neither of them, while holding such office,
shall serve as a director of any other railroad company. [_Approved by
the Governor, April 5, 1854._
[1855.--Chapter 394.]
AN ACT to authorize certain towns in the Counties of Franklin and
Berkshire to subscribe to the Capital Stock of the Troy and Greenfield
Railroad Company.
_Be it enacted, &c._
SECT. 1. That each of the several towns of Ashfield, Buckland, Conway,
Coleraine, Charlemont, Deerfield, Greenfield, Hawley, Heath, Monroe,
Rowe, and Shelburne, in the county of Franklin, and each of the several
towns of Adams, Florida and Williamstown, in the county of Berkshire,
be, and hereby is, authorized to subscribe for and hold shares in the
capital stock of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, to any amount
of money not exceeding three per centum on the amount of its last
valuation: provided, the inhabitants of such town or towns, at a legal
town meeting duly called for that purpose, shall vote by a two-thirds
vote to subscribe for such shares in accordance with the terms of this
act, to pay for the same out of the town treasury, and to hold the same
as town property, subject to the disposition of the town, for public
purposes, in like manner as any other property which it may possess.
SECT. 2. Said towns are hereby authorized to raise, by loans or taxes,
any sums of money which shall be required to pay the instalments on
their respective subscription to said stock and interest thereon.
SECT. 3. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.
[_Approved by the Governor, May 18, 1855._
[1859.--Chapter 117.]
An Act in addition to, an Act authorizing a loan of the State Credit, to
enable the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company to construct the Hoosac
Tunnel.
_Be it enacted, &c., as follows:_
SECT 1. The terms of the act authorizing a loan of the state credit to
enable the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company to construct the Hoosac
Tunnel, are hereby modified as follows, viz.:
Whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the governor
and council, that the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall have
actually obtained unconditional subscriptions to their corporate stock
in the sum of six hundred thousand dollars, and twenty per cent. on each
and every share of said six hundred thousand dollars shall have been
actually paid in, and shall have completed seven miles of their road, in
one or two sections, and one thousand lineal feet of their said tunnel
under the Hoosac Mountain, in one or more sections, of size sufficient
for one or more railroad tracks, a portion of said scrip, to the amount
of one hundred thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the treasurer of
said company; and whenever said company shall have, excavated, in
addition to the amount of tunnel above provided for, one thousand lineal
feet, in one or more sections, of heading or gallery of fourteen feet
width at the bottom, and six feet in height in the middle, and of
suitable proportion and form, or (if excavated by machinery) circular,
and with a diameter of not less than eight feet, another portion of said
scrip, amounting to fifty thousand dollars, shall be delivered to the
treasurer of said company; and when said company shall have excavated
two thousand feet of their said tunnel, of the size above specified,
another portion of said scrip, amounting to thirty thousand dollars,
shall be delivered as aforesaid; and whenever said company in addition
to said two thousand feet, shall have excavated one thousand lineal feet
of heading, in one or more sections, and of the size above specified,
and shall have graded three miles of road, commencing on the bank of
Green River, at the present location of the crossing of said stream, or
north thereof, and extending towards Shelburne Falls, on the same side
of Green River and Deerfield River as the present location, said three
miles being all situated within four miles of the point of commencement,
another portion of said scrip, amounting to eighty thousand dollars,
shall be delivered as aforesaid; and whenever in addition to the grading
of said three miles as above, said company shall have excavated three
thousand lineal feet of tunnel as above specified, another portion of
said scrip, to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, shall be delivered
as aforesaid; and whenever said company, in addition to the three
thousand feet above specified, shall have excavated, in one or more
sections, one thousand lineal feet of heading, as above specified, and
shall have graded six miles of road in location and otherwise as
aforesaid, said six miles of road being all situate within seven miles
of the point of commencement at Green River, another portion of said
scrip, amounting to eighty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as
aforesaid; and when said company, in addition to the grading of six
miles of road above specified, shall have excavated four thousand feet
of tunnel as above, another portion of said scrip, amounting to twenty
thousand dollars, shall be delivered as aforesaid; and whenever said
company, in addition to the above, shall have excavated, in one or more
sections, one thousand lineal feet of heading as aforesaid, and shall
have graded nine miles of road, in location and otherwise as aforesaid,
between Greenfield and Shelburne Falls, another portion of said scrip,
to the amount of eighty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as
aforesaid; and whenever said company, in addition to the above nine
miles of graded road, shall have excavated five thousand feet of tunnel
as aforesaid, another portion of said scrip, amounting to twenty
thousand dollars, shall be delivered as aforesaid; and whenever said
company shall have excavated, in one or more sections, one thousand
lineal feet of heading as aforesaid, in addition to the five thousand
feet of tunnel above specified, and shall have graded the road between
Greenfield and Shelburne Falls, crossing the Green River upon the
present location, or at a point north thereof, another portion of said
scrip, amounting to eighty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as
aforesaid; and whenever said company, in addition to the grading of the
road between Greenfield and Shelburne Falls as aforesaid, shall have
excavated six thousand feet of tunnel as aforesaid, another portion of
said scrip, amounting to twenty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as
aforesaid; and whenever in addition to the grading and tunnel above
specified, the said company shall have excavated as aforesaid, one
thousand lineal feet of heading, another portion of said scrip, to the
amount of thirty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as aforesaid; and
whenever in addition to the grading above specified, the said company
shall have excavated seven thousand feet of tunnel as aforesaid, another
portion of said scrip, to the amount of twenty thousand dollars, shall
be delivered as aforesaid; and for each additional thousand feet of
heading that shall be excavated of dimensions as aforesaid, another
portion of said scrip, amounting to thirty thousand dollars, shall be
delivered as aforesaid; and for each additional one thousand feet of
tunnel that shall be excavated of dimensions as aforesaid, another
portion of said scrip, amounting to twenty thousand dollars, shall be
delivered as aforesaid; and whenever said company shall have completed
the graduation and superstructure of the road between Greenfield and
Shelburne Falls, on the route herein before specified, and shall have
put the same in running order, another portion of said scrip, to the
amount of forty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as aforesaid; and
whenever said company, in addition to the road between Greenfield and
Shelburne Falls above specified, shall have completed the graduation and
superstructure of two continuous miles of road, commencing at the
western termination of the above road, another portion of said scrip,
amounting to eighty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as aforesaid;
and for the graduation and superstructure of each additional mile of
road, graded and laid continuously through either of the towns of
Buckland, Charlemont, Rowe or Florida, another portion of said scrip,
amounting to twenty thousand dollars, shall be delivered as aforesaid:
_provided_, that when the rails shall have been laid and the road put in
running order, between Greenfield and the east end of the Hoosac Tunnel,
excepting that portion of the road which is to be made from the material
to be furnished by the tunnel itself, another portion of said scrip,
amounting to one hundred thousand dollars, shall be delivered as
aforesaid: and _provided_, _also_, that whenever the aggregate amount of
scrip that shall have been delivered to the treasurer of said company
shall have reached the sum of one million seven hundred thousand
dollars, no further delivery of scrip shall be made until the whole of
the tunnel through the Hoosac Mountain shall have been completed, of
size not less than fourteen feet in width and eighteen feet in height
from the bottom to the top of the excavation, and until the facades of
the said tunnel and such portions as may require arching shall be
finished with good substantial stone or brick masonry, and until the
rails shall have been laid over the whole length of the road, including
the tunnel, and the same constructed in such manner, and the necessary
connections with other roads 80 finished, as will permit the convenient
use of the same in the transportation of passengers and freight between
the cities of Boston and Troy; but when such connections shall have been
made, the tunnel fully completed and the road constructed as herein
before provided, the balance of said scrip, amounting to three hundred
thousand dollars, shall be delivered as aforesaid: and _provided_,
_also_, that until the rails shall have been laid and the road put in
running order between Greenfield and Shelburne Falls, the aggregate
payments under this act shall not exceed one million of dollars: and
_provided_, _also_, that prior to the second delivery of scrip to the
treasurer of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Corporation, according to
the provisions of this section, evidence shall be furnished,
satisfactory to the governor and council, that a sum equal to thirty per
cent. of the amount of the scrip then applied for, shall have been
actually paid to the treasurer of said corporation, (in cash,) by the
stockholders thereof, in addition to the one hundred and twenty thousand
dollars to be paid prior to the delivery of any scrip, and that on each
application for scrip, in pursuance of the provisions of this section,
and prior to the delivery thereof, satisfactory evidence shall be
furnished to the governor and council that a sum equal to thirty per
cent. of the amount of scrip then' applied for, has been actually paid
to the treasurer of said corporation, until the six hundred thousand
dollars subscribed for shall have been paid by the stockholders; and no
scrip shall be delivered until satisfactory evidence of such payment is,
from time to time, furnished to the governor and council; and provided,
also, no scrip shall be delivered to the treasurer of said corporation
until satisfactory evidence shall be furnished to the governor and
council, that said corporation have expended in a reasonable manner, in
excavating and completing said tunnel, and in grading, constructing and
completing the line of road, a sum at least equal to the amount of all
the preceding issues of scrip.
SECT. 2. The preceding section of this act shall not be so constructed
as necessarily to delay the opening of the road between Greenfield and
Shelburne Falls, until after the completion of six thousand feet of
tunnel; but whenever any portion of not less than three miles of said
road shall have been graded between Greenfield and Shelburne Falls, as
herein before provided, a portion of scrip, amounting to fifty thousand
dollars, shall be delivered to the treasurer of the said company; and in
case such payments shall have been previously made upon the road, the
payments upon the completion of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth
thousand feet of tunnel shall be reduced to thirty thousand dollars for
each thousand feet of heading, and twenty thousand dollars for each
thousand feet of tunnel of the required dimensions; but no portion of
said scrip shall be delivered for any portion of said heading or tunnel,
until the corresponding portion of the road shall have been graded as is
herein before provided.
SECT. 3. Whenever the treasurer of said company shall receive any of
said scrip, he shall offer the scrip, 80 received, to the treasurer of
the Commonwealth for sale; and if the treasurer of the Commonwealth
shall so require, being thereunto authorized by law, the treasurer of
said company shall sell and dispose of the same to the treasurer of the
Commonwealth, at the fair market value thereof, to be determined by the
governor and council. If the treasurer of the Commonwealth shall decide
to buy as aforesaid, then the treasurer of the company shall forthwith
pay, to the commissioners of the sinking fund, ten per cent. on the
amount of the scrip so taken, as a sinking fund. If the treasurer of the
Commonwealth shall decide not to buy, as aforesaid, then the treasurer
of the company, within three months after the receipt of any of said
scrip, shall pay to the commissioners of the sinking fund, ten per cent.
on the amount of the scrip so received, as a sinking fund. After the
whole of said road is open for use, twenty-five thousand dollars
annually, shall be set apart from the income of said road, and paid to
said commissioners; and the whole thereof shall be added to said sinking
fund, and shall be managed; invested and appropriated, as is or shall be
provided by law in relation thereto.
SECT. 4. The preceding sections shall be in lieu of and be substituted
for sections two and three of chapter two hundred and twenty-six of the
acts of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, and the
second section of said act is hereby repealed.
SECT. 5. The time for completing the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and
Hoosac Tunnel, is hereby extended until December thirty-first, in the
year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
SECT. 6. Subscriptions, the instalments upon which are payable in cash,
or in the scrip of the towns authorized to subscribe to the stock of the
Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, under the provisions of chapter
three hundred and ninety-four of the acts of the year one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five, shall be considered as unconditional
subscriptions, in compliance with the requirements of this act; and
payment in the bonds of said towns shall be considered as cash.
SECT. 7. This act shall take effect, whenever said company shall file,
in the office of the secretary of state, a certified copy of any vote or
votes accepting the same, which may be passed at any regular meeting of
the stockholders of said company, or at any meeting specially called for
that purpose.
_Approved March 26, 1859._
[1860.--Chapter 202.]
AN ACT in addition to an Act authorizing a loan of the State Credit to
enable the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company to construct the Hoosac
Tunnel.
_Be it enacted, &c., as follows:_
SECT. 1. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall forthwith make
and file in the proper offices a location of their entire road and
tunnel, which location shall be made on that side or sides of the
Deerfield River which will afford the most direct and eligible route
between the village of Shelburne Falls and a suitable terminus in the
town of Deerfield or Greenfield, to be determined by the state engineer
appointed as hereinafter provided.
The grades of any part of the road hereafter to be constructed shall not
exceed forty feet to the mile ascending eastward, and fifty feet to the
mile ascending westward; and the limits of grade and curvature of said
road, included within said location; and not graded, shall be such that
the maximum resistance to the passage of trains, in either direction,
shall not exceed the maximum resistance in the same direction on the
Fitchburg and Vermont and Massachusetts Railroads; and before any
location made by the chief engineer of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad
Company shall be filed, a copy of the alignment and a table of grades,
verified by the oath of said engineer, shall be submitted to a state
engineer appointed as hereinafter provided, who shall certify that the
limits of grade and curvature herein before prescribed have not been
exceeded, and the said table of grades so certified shall be filed with
the location.
SECT. 2. No further deliveries of scrip shall be made to said company
upon the conditions authorized in former acts, but the undelivered
portions of the loan of two millions of dollars authorized by chapter
two hundred and twenty-six of the acts of eighteen hundred and
fifty-four, amounting to one million seven hundred and seventy thousand
dollars, shall be divided and apportioned between the railroad and
tunnel, and for the construction of each, respectively; six hundred and
fifty thousand dollars for the completion of the unfinished portion of
railroad extending from the eastern terminus of said road near
Greenfield to within half a mile of the eastern-end of Hoosac Tunnel,
and one million one hundred and twenty thousand dollars for the
completion of the tunnel, which shall be delivered upon the conditions
and in the manner hereinafter declared, subject however to the
provisions of the third section of chapter one hundred and seventeen of
the acts of eighteen hundred and fifty-nine.
No delivery of any portion of said scrip shall be made until said
company shall, at a special meeting duly authorized for the purpose,
have assented to the provisions of this act, nor until said company
shall have duly made and located their line of road as aforesaid, and
shall have executed to the Commonwealth such further bond and mortgage,
or other assurances of title on their franchise, railroad, or other
property, as the attorney-general shall prescribe, for the further
security of the Commonwealth; and said bond and mortgage, and other
assurances, and all bonds, mortgages, or other assurances heretofore
made to the Commonwealth by said company, shall have priority to and be
preferred before any and all attachments or levies on execution
heretofore or hereafter made.
SECT. 3. The governor and council shall annually appoint a state
engineer for the purpose of examining and determining monthly the amount
and value of the work done, and materials delivered on the railroad and
tunnel of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, who shall receive an
annual salary of one thousand dollars, payable quarterly. The state
engineer shall forthwith fix permanent marks in each end of the Hoosac
Tunnel, marking the progress of the work up to February twenty-fourth,
eighteen hundred and sixty, from which to determine the progress
subsequently made. He shall also determine by suitable notes, marks, or
observations, the amount and value of all grading, bridging, masonry, or
other work done, or iron, or other materials delivered on the road east
of the Hoosac Tunnel prior to December twenty-second, eighteen hundred
and fifty-nine, and fix data from which to determine the value of any
work, or materials delivered subsequent to the date last named. He shall
monthly, immediately after the first day of each month, estimate the
proportion which the work done upon the road, since the preceding
estimate, bears to the whole of the work required to be done in the
graduation, masonry, bridging, and superstructure of said railroad east
of the Hoosac Tunnel, and also the work done in the excavation of said
tunnel, which he shall certify separately to the governor, together with
the amount of state scrip to which the company is entitled under the
provisions of this act. Such monthly estimates shall be based upon a
width of road-bed at grade of fifteen feet, on embankments, seventeen
and a half feet in side-cuts, and twenty feet in thorough-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.
The deliveries of scrip shall 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 unfinished portion of the
road east of the tunnel.
The scrip shall be delivered on the road in the proportion which the
value of the work done and the materials delivered each month bears to
the estimated cost of the whole work and materials required on the
portion of road aforesaid.
No expenditures shall be required merely for the purposes of ornament,
but the work shall be substantially performed, and the rails shall weigh
not less than fifty-six pounds to the lineal yard; for any defective
materials or work, a proportionate amount of scrip shall be withheld.
The governor and council shall have a general supervision of the work,
and for that purpose shall visit and inspect the same at least once in
each year, and as much oftener as they may deem expedient; and they
shall have power to correct abuses, remedy defects, and enforce
requirements, by withholding scrip or imposing new requirements in such
manner as the interest of the Commonwealth shall in their judgment
require.
If the governor, upon the receipt of the monthly estimates and
certificates of the state engineer, shall approve thereof, he shall
transmit the same and his approval thereon to the state treasurer, and
the state treasurer shall thereupon deliver the amount of scrip so
certified for, to the treasurer of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad
Company, or to his order, subject to the provisions hereafter mentioned.
If he shall not approve thereof he shall submit the same to the council,
and their approval transmitted to the state treasurer as aforesaid shall
authorize such delivery.
SECT. 4. The company shall at least thirty days before any interest on
any state scrip delivered to said company becomes payable, transmit the
amount thereof, with costs of exchange, to the treasurer of the state,
and he shall in all cases and at the charge of said company, pay at
maturity all interest and costs of exchange which become payable on said
scrip where the same is payable; and if said interest and exchange and
all interest and costs thereon, or any payments required to be made into
the sinking fund, or interest thereon, or any part thereof, remain
unpaid when said company becomes entitled to the next delivery of state
scrip, then the state treasurer shall deduct the amount so remaining
unpaid, with all costs and interest thereon, from the amount of scrip
then deliverable.
SECT. 5. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company may construct their
railroad across the public highways at grade, in cases where the county
commissioners of the county do not determine such manner of crossing to
be detrimental to the public safety and convenience; but whenever they
do so determine, said company shall construct the same in such manner as
the county commissioners direct.
SECT. 6. The legislature shall immediately after the passage of this
act, elect two directors of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, to
hold their office for one year, or until others are elected by the
legislature; and any city, town or corporation that may subscribe not
less than one hundred thousand dollars, shall have the right to elect
annually one director; and any city that may subscribe not less than
five hundred thousand dollars, shall have the right to elect annually by
their council two directors in said company, which election may be held
at any time after such subscription is made.
SECT. 7. The capital stock of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company
shall consist of twenty-five thousand shares of the par value of one
hundred dollars each, in which shall be included all shares heretofore
issued or subscribed for, conditionally or unconditionally, or payable
in work, an accurate account of which shall be made by the company, and
recorded in the records of the directors. And the residue of said
shares, and all shares which may revert to said company, shall be
hereafter issued only at par value, and for cash, or town or city scrip,
or for the bonds of the company.
SECT. 8. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company is hereby authorized
and required to purchase the entire road, franchise, stock, bonds, and
other property of the Southern Vermont Railroad Company, together with
the income, benefits and reversion of its lease to the Troy and Boston
Railroad Company, and subject to its provisions, for the sum of two
hundred thousand dollars; and for the purpose of enabling them to make
such purchase, and transfer the same to the Commonwealth as additional
security to the Commonwealth for its whole loan, a further issue and
loan of state Scrip in federal currency; of the description specified in
chapter two hundred and twenty-six, of the acts of the year eighteen
hundred and fifty-four, is hereby authorized to be made, to the amount
of two hundred thousand dollars, deliverable as follows, namely:
Whenever all the capital stock of the Southern Vermont Railroad,
excepting not exceeding twenty shares, of one hundred dollars each, and
one hundred thousand dollars of its mortgage bonds, with coupons
attached, the whole amount being one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,
payable in twenty years from the date of issue, with six per cent.
interest, payable semi-annually at the Bank of Commerce, in the city of
New York, and the aforesaid lease of said company to the Troy and Boston
Railroad Company, together with the rent reserved therein of twelve
thousand dollars per annum, payable semi-annually, shall have been
transferred to the treasurer of the Commonwealth, for the future
security of the Commonwealth for its whole loan of credit to the Troy
and Greenfield Railroad Company, in such manner as the attorney-general
shall prescribe, and to the satisfaction of the governor and council,
the state treasurer shall deliver one hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars of said scrip to the treasurer of the Troy and Greenfield
Railroad Company; and when the remaining portion of said bonds, with the
coupons attached, shall be in like manner delivered to the state
treasurer, he shall deliver to the treasurer of the Troy and Greenfield
Railroad Company the balance of said scrip, amounting to seventy-five
thousand dollars: _provided_, that if any holders of said bonds, not
exceeding ten thousand dollars in all, shall refuse to surrender the
same at par, the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall not be
required to purchase the same, but the state treasurer shall withhold an
equal amount of state scrip at par in lieu thereof.
The semi-annual payments of the coupons, with the balance of the income
from the lease of the Southern Vermont Railroad, shall be collected by
or paid to the state treasurer, who shall therefrom pay the interest on
the two hundred thousand dollars of five per cent. scrip herein
authorized to be issued, and shall pay the balance to the commissioners
of the sinking fund of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad loan, to be by
them from time to time invested as is now by law required.
The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company shall, as soon as may be after
the passage of this act, procure from the legislature of the slate of
Vermont the requisite authority for purchasing, holding and mortgaging
to the Commonwealth the franchise, railroad and property of the Southern
Vermont Railroad Company, according to the provisions of this act; and
in case such authority shall not be granted, and any want of security by
reason thereof accrue to the Commonwealth, the governor and council
shall withhold from the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company portions of
scrip constituting the last deliveries to be made on the completion of
the tunnel, to such amount, not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars,
as may be required for further security.
SECT. 9. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are hereby
repealed: _provided_, _however_, that such repeal shall not, and nothing
contained in this act shall, have effect or be construed in anyway to
release or impair any security which the Commonwealth now has or may
hereafter have by force of the bond and mortgage now held by the
Commonwealth on the franchise, railroad and property of the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad Company.
_Approved April 4, 1860._
[1862.--Chapter 156.]
AN ACT providing for the more speedy completion of the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel.
_Be it enacted, &c., as follows:_
SECT. 1. The governor, with the advice of the council, is hereby
authorized and directed to appoint three able, impartial and skilful
commissioners to investigate the subject of finishing the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad, and of tunneling the Hoosac Mountain, whose duty it
shall be to report to the governor and council what, in their judgment,
will be the most economical, practical and advantageous method of
completing said road and tunnel, the estimated cost of fitting the same
for use, the time within which the tunnel can be completed, and what
contracts can be effected, and with what parties, for completing said
tunnel and road, and the probable cost of the same, the probable
pecuniary value of the road and tunnel when completed, the sources and
amount of traffic and income, and all other facts in their opinion
useful to assist the governor and council in determining the best method
of securing a continuous railroad communication between Troy and
Greenfield.
SECT. 2. The Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company is hereby authorized
to surrender to the slate, the property now mortgaged; but the right of
redemption shall not be barred until ten years have elapsed after said
road and tunnel are completed and the same open for use. The said
commissioners shall immediately, in the name of the Commonwealth, take
complete possession under the mortgages to the Commonwealth, given by
the Troy and Greenfield Railroad Company, of all property, rights and
interests intended to be conveyed by said mortgages, or either of them,
and then shall, without unnecessary delay, cause the said railroad to be
completed and put into running order, and supplied with suitable depots,
turn-tables and other usual and necessary appliances for the reception
of freight and passenger cars, from the eastern terminus of the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad to the Hoosac Tunnel.
SECT. 3. Said commissioners shall audit and allow all just claims for
labor, service, materials, land-damages incurred after April sixth,
eighteen hundred and sixty, and before July twelfth, eighteen hundred
and sixty-one, in carrying on the work of constructing the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel, and may procure the release of
all attachments and discharge all liens on said materials. The accounts
thus audited shall be transmitted to the governor, and, if approved by
the governor and council, the governor is hereby directed to draw his
warrant upon the treasurer in favor of the claimants, for the amounts
thus allowed, to an amount not exceeding one hundred and seventy-five
thousand dollars.
SECT. 4. Said commissioners are hereby authorized, with consent of the
governor and council, to use or run that portion of said road east of
the Hoosac Mountain, or lease the same to the "Vermont and
Massachusetts," the "Fitchburg," the "Troy and Boston Railroad Company,"
or either of them, until the completion of the said tunnel.
SECT. 5. Said commissioners shall have authority, with the approval of
the governor and council, to continue the work on the Hoosac Tunnel, and
by contract or otherwise, to expedite the completion of said tunnel.
SECT. 6. All the net earnings and income derived from said railroad,
including the tunnel, shall be held by the Commonwealth in trust: first,
for the payment and reimbursement of the interest on all loans,
advancements and disbursements of the Commonwealth, on account of said
railroad or tunnel: second, for the payment and reimbursement to all
parties having a legal right thereto.
SECT. 7. The governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant on the
treasurer of the Commonwealth, for such sums as may be required from
time to time by the commissioners for the purpose of carrying out the
provisions of this act, and the amount of the same is hereby
appropriated therefore; and the treasurer of the Commonwealth is hereby
authorized to issue scrip, or certificates of debts, in the name and in
behalf of the Commonwealth, to an extent sufficient to secure the
required funds, which scrip shall bear such rate of interest, as is
allowed at the time on state scrip issued for other purposes, and shall
be redeemable at the end of thirty years from the date thereof; and he
shall sell or otherwise use the same at his discretion, to procure the
sum necessary to meet the payments in this act provided: provided, that
all expenditures and advances made under and by virtue of this act,
shall be on account, and form part of the two millions of dollars,
authorized to be loaned in state scrip to the Troy and Greenfield
Railroad Company by chapter two hundred and twenty-six of the acts of
eighteen hundred and fifty-four; and said expenditures and advances,
together with all sums hitherto advanced to said company, excepting the
sums advanced on account of the "Southern Vermont Railroad," shall not
exceed in amount the said two millions of dollars. Such changes may be
made in the location and grades of the road, as may be necessary to
improve the same; and no lease shall be made of the portion of the road
east of the tunnel for a term exceeding six years; nor shall such
portion be constructed without the approval of the governor and council.
SECT. 8. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are hereby
repealed.
SECT. 9. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
_Approved April 28, 1862._
[1863.--Chapter 214.]
AN ACT in addition to "an Act providing for the more speedy completion
of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel."
_Be it enacted, &c., as follows:_
SECT. 1. The commissioners appointed under the one hundred and
fifty-sixth chapter of the acts of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, are
hereby authorized, subject to the advice and approval of the governor
and council, to construct, complete and equip the Troy and Greenfield
Railroad and Hoosac Tunnel; and to make such alterations in the line of
said road as may be deemed necessary to render it suitable and proper
for part of a thorough line from Troy to Boston; also such alterations
in the location and dimensions of said tunnel as will render it suitable
and proper for use, in accordance with the spirit and intent of the two
hundred and twenty-sixth chapter of the acts of eighteen hundred and
fifty-four.
SECT. 2. The governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant on the
treasurer of the Commonwealth for such sums as may be required from time
to time by said commissioners for the purpose of carrying out the
provisions of this act, and the act or acts to which this is in
addition; and there is accordingly hereby appropriated for the purpose
of constructing and completing said tunnel and railroad and equipping
the the same, and paying interest upon such scrip, as has been or may
be issued during the progress of the work, the unexpended balance of
the two millions of dollars authorized by chapter two hundred and
twenty-six of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and
referred to in chapter one hundred and fifty-six of the acts of the year
eighteen hundred and sixty-two. And the treasurer of the Commonwealth is
hereby authorized, upon the warrant of the governor drawn as aforesaid,
to issue scrip or certificates of debt to the amount of said
appropriation, which shall be expressed in such currency and shall bear
such rate of interest as the governor and council may direct, and shall
be redeemable at the end of thirty years from the date thereof: and said
treasurer shall sell or otherwise dispose of the same as he may deem
proper, subject to the approval of the governor and council.
SECT. 3. Said commissioners', and their successors in office, shall be
removable by the governor, with the advice of the council, and in case
of any vacancy occasioned by death; resignation or removal, such vacancy
shall be filled by appointment of the governor, with the advice of the
council; and said commissioners shall, once in three months, and oftener
if required, present to the governor and council an account of all
contracts entered into by them as such commissioners, and of all
payments and charges by them made, by virtue of their commission, with
their vouchers therefore, which vouchers and accounts shall be examined,
and if found correct, and in good faith, shall be allowed by the
governor and council; but no lease of any part of said railroad, nor any
contract amounting to more than ten thousand dollars shall be made by
said commissioners without the of the governor and council.
SECT. 4. Said commissioners in altering the location of the line of said
road shall have the same power as railroad corporations have in making
locations under existing laws, and may take, by purchase or otherwise,
such lands, or easements therein, as may be needed for any purposes
connected with the construction of said tunnel, and all titles or
easements so taken shall vest in the Commonwealth; and all parties
aggrieved by any action of said commissioners, under this section, may
have their damages assessed in the manner provided by law for the
assessment of damages against railroad corporations; and all damages so
assessed shall be paid from the treasury of the Commonwealth to the
party entitled thereto, upon the warrant of the governor, drawn pursuant
to the provisions of this act.
SECT. 5. Said commissioners, subject to the approval of the governor and
council, shall have the power to use a part of the money appropriated by
this act, not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, to extinguish any liens
or claims, or rights of redemption which any person or corporation may
have, in order to perfect the title of the Commonwealth to said railroad
and tunnel.
SECT. 6. The contract executed by the Troy and Boston Railroad Company,
on the eighteenth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, by
the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company on the twentieth day of
said February, and by the Fitchburg Railroad Company on the twenty-third
day of said month, printed on pages eighty-eight to ninety-four,
inclusive, of the report of said commissioners made on the twenty-eighth
day of February, aforesaid, and referred to in the message of the
governor, dated the twelfth day of March, in the year eighteen hundred
and sixty-three, is hereby approved, ratified and confirmed.
SECT. 7. The compensation or said commissioners shall be fixed by the
governor, with the advice of the council; but the compensation of the
chairman of said commissioners shall in no event exceed the sum of five
thousand dollars per annum, nor shall the entire compensation of all of
said commissioners exceed the sum of seven thousand dollars per annum.
_Approved April 29, 1868._
[C.]
_Statement of J. W. Brooks, Esq., Chairman of the Commissioners,
made to the Committee during the session of the Legislature,
1866._
The first Act for loaning the credit of the State to the Troy and
Greenfield Railroad Company, dated April 5, 1854, provides, besides
other conditions, that when seven miles of the road in one or two
sections is completed, and 1,000 feet of the tunnel, in one or more
sections, sufficient for one or more tracks is completed, then $100,000
of scrip shall be delivered to the company.
The size of the tunnel required by this Act is not definitely stated,
nor what proportion of the $100,000 of scrip is loaned on account of the
tunnel.
The Act of April 4, 1860, defines the size the tunnel to be 14 feet wide
and 18 feet high. If this means excavation and not completed tunnel,
then the room required for the ballast and drainage would reduce the
height to about 16 feet above the rails; a size absurdly small enough to
be regarded as certainly not above the minimum intended by the Act. The
same Act provides that $30 per foot shall be allowed on account of
heading, and $20 on account of the enlargement, making $50 per foot for
the completed tunnel; $50,000 of the first advance may therefore be
considered as on account of the first 1,000 feet of completed tunnel,
and the remainder, say $50,000, on account of the road which had been
then completed west of the tunnel.
The second delivery of scrip was on account of the tunnel, and under the
provisions of the' Act of 1859, which provides that $50,000 may be
advanced upon the completion of 1,000 feet of heading. The heading was
done and $49,777.78 delivered October 4, 1859.
The third delivery of scrip was under the provisions of the same Act,
and was on account of grading three miles of road, in detached pieces,
near Greenfield. For this, $50,222.22 was delivered January 3, 1860.
The fourth delivery was under the same Act, and for completing the
second 1,000 feet of tunnel, for which $30,222.22, was delivered March
1, 1860.
An Act changing the terms of the loan was passed April 4, 1860. Section
2 divides the scrip remaining undelivered, as follows: "No further
deliveries of scrip shall be made to said company upon the conditions
authorized in former Acts, but the undelivered portions of the loan of
two millions of dollars authorized by chapter two hundred and twenty-six
of the Acts of eighteen hundred and fifty-four, amounting to one
million seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars, shall be divided and
apportioned between the railroad and tunnel, and for the construction of
each, respectively: 'six hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the
completion of the unfinished portion of railroad extending from the
eastern terminus of said road near Greenfield, to within half a mile of
the eastern end of Hoosac Tunnel."
Section 3 contains the following provisions: "The governor and council
shall annually appoint a state engineer for the purpose of examining and
determining monthly the amount and value of the work done, and materials
delivered on the railroad and tunnel of the Troy and Greenfield Railroad
Company, who shall receive an annual salary of one thousand dollars,
payable quarterly. The state engineer shall forthwith fix permanent
marks in each end of the Hoosac Tunnel, marking the progress of the work
up to February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty, from which to
determine the progress subsequently made. He shall also determine by
suitable notes, marks or observations, the amount and value of all
grading, bridging, masonry, or other work done, or iron, or other
materials delivered on the road east of the Hoosac Tunnel, prior to
December twenty-second, eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, and fix data
from which to determine the value of any work, or materials delivered
subsequent to the date last named. He shall monthly, immediately after
the first day of each month, estimate the proportion which' the work
done upon the road, since the preceding estimate, bears to the whole of
the work required to be done in the graduation, masonry, bridging, and
superstructure of said railroad east of the Hoosac Tunnel; and also the
work done in the excavation of said tunnel, which he shall certify
separately to the governor, together with the amount of state scrip to
which the company is entitled under the provisions of this Act. Such
monthly estimates shall be based upon a width of road-bed at grade of
fifteen feet, on embankments, seventeen and a half feet in side cuts,
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.
"The deliveries of scrip shall 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 unfinished portion of the
road east of the tunnel.
"The Scrip shall be delivered on the road in the proportion which the
value of the work done and the materials delivered each month bears to
the estimated cost of the whole work and materials required on the
portion of road aforesaid.
"No expenditures shall be required merely for the purposes of ornament,
but the work shall be substantially performed, and the rails shall weigh
not less than fifty-six pounds to the lineal yard; for any defective
materials or work, a proportionate amount of scrip shall be withheld.
"The governor and council shall have a general supervision of the work,
and for that purpose shall visit and inspect the same at least once in
each year, and as much oftener as they may deem expedient; and they
shall have power to correct abuses, remedy defects, and enforce
requirements, by withholding scrip or imposing new requirements in such
manner as the interest of the Commonwealth shall in their judgment
require."
Under the provisions of this Act scrip to the amount of $455,034.70 has
been delivered on account of the railroad and $40,131.95 on account of
the tunnel.
State scrip was delivered in sterling up to and including the delivery
of March 7, 1861, and afterwards in dollar bonds. In this statement the
sterling is changed into dollars, to show it all in one currency, and
the pound sterling is reckoned, as by the State treasurer when the
deliveries were made, at $4.44-44/100.
The certificates for amounts due on account of the railroad or tunnel
were for irregular sums, and the scrip delivered was in round amounts;
the fractional difference sometimes in excess and sometimes below the
amount of the certificates is divided between the tunnel and railroad in
proportion to the amount due on account of each.
Stated and divided as above, the scrip which has been delivered on
account of the railroad and tunnel, is as follows:--
=========================================================================
| | On account | On account of|
Date. | On account | of road west| road of east | Total.
| of Tunnel. | of Tunnel.| of Tunnel. |
------------------+------------+-------------+--------------+------------
1858, October, 6, | $50,000 00 | $50,000 00 | - | $100,000 00
1859, October 4, | 49,777 78 | - | - | 49,777 78
1860, January 3, | - | - | $50,222 22 | 50,222 22
1860, March 1, | 80,222 22 | - | - | 80,222 22
1860, October 8, | 15,829 79 | - | 64,170 21 | 80,000 00
1860, Dec. 12, | 5,580 37 | - | 112,197 40 | 117,777 77
1861, January 5, | 2,781 99 | - | 30,601 34 | 38,883 83
1861, February 18,| 2,545 83 | - | 23,281 95 | 25,777 78
1861, March 7, | 2,052 82 | - | 19,724 95 | 21,777 77
1861, May 8, | 5,061 65 | - | 80,438 35 | 85,500 00
1861, June 27, | 2,831 89 | - | 84,668 11 | 37,500 00
1861, July 12, | 3,497 61 | - | 90,002 39 | 93,500 00
+------------+-------------+--------------+------------
|$170,131 95 | $50,000 00 | $505,256 92 | $125,388 87
=========================================================================
The amount of State scrip which according to statutes, had been earned
by the progress made towards constructing the tunnel before the
surrender of the property to the State, may be stated as follows:--
Strictly considered, no portion of the tunnel at the East End was cut to
the required size of 14 feet wide and 18 feet high, much of it was less
than 12 feet wide, and some of it only about 13 feet high. At the
entrance the excavation was so nearly sufficient that only a small
amount more was required to bring it to full size, and had all the rest
been well done, a not very exacting inspector might have passed 25 feet
of this as completed. The remaining 2,964 feet of penetration at this
end could form no ground whatever for a claim as completed work.
At the West Shaft the heading had been driven in both directions 56-1/2
feet.
At the West End the total penetration had been 543 feet. Of this
distance 26 feet had been arched with stone--40 feet is in rock,
standing without support, and 477 feet is temporarily supported with
timbers. Under the assumption that the 40 feet left unsupported is safe
enough to be left permanently 80, then 66 feet was completed at this
end, giving at all points a total penetration of 3,588-1/2 feet, of
which, 91 feet was completed.
It is clear that the payment of $50,000, under the Act of April 5, 1854,
for 1,000 feet of completed tunnel, was not earned.
Under the Act of 1859, scrip to the amount of $50,000 was to be
delivered upon the completion of 1,000 feet of heading, and though the
prior conditions of this Act had not been complied with, this amount may
fairly be considered as having been earned.
The next payment of $30,222.22 for the completion of the second 1,000
feet of tunnel was clearly not earned.
All subsequent payments were made under the Act of April 4, 1860,
providing for the payment of $30 per foot for heading and $20 per foot
for the enlargement.