[Illustration: LOCATION OVER THE BLUE RIDGE.--WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
RAILROAD.]
The interesting piece of railroad location illustrated in this issue is on
the mountain section of the Western North Carolina Railroad. This section
crosses the Blue Ridge Mountains 18 miles east of Asheville, at a point
known as Swannanoa Gap, 2,660 feet above tide water. The part of the road
shown on the accompanying cut is 10 miles in length and has an elevation of
1,190 feet; to overcome the actual distance by the old State pike was
somewhat over 3 miles. The maximum curvature as first located was 10°, but
for economy of time as well as money this was exceeded in a few instances
as the work progressed, but is now being by degrees reduced. The maximum
grades on tangents are 116 feet per mile; on curves the grade is equated
one-tenth to a degree. The masonry is of the most substantial kind, granite
viaducts and arch culverts. The numbers and lengths of tunnels as indicated
by letters on cut are as follows:
Ft. in all of these.
A. Point Tunnel. 216 ft. long.[1]
B. Jarrett's " 125 " "
C. Lick Log " 562 " "
D. McElroy " 89 " "
E. High Ridge " 415 " "
F. Burgin " 202 " "
G. Swannanoa " 1,800 " "
[Footnote 1: For the sake of economy of space, our cut omits the Point and
Swannanoa tunnels (the latter is the summit tunnel), but covers all of the
location which is of interest to engineers, the remainder at the Swannanoa
end being almost "on tangent" to and through the summit.]
The work was done by the State of North Carolina with convict labor, under
the direction of Mr. Jas. A. Wilson, as president and chief engineer, but
was sold by the State to the Richmond & Danville system.--_Railroad
Gazette_.
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