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Name of Company.

NEW YORK CENTRAL AND HUDSON RIVER.
Amsterdam, Chuctanunda and Northern.
Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh
Geneva and Lyons....

New York Central and Niagara River.
New York and Harlem..
Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua
Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris.
Troy and Greenbush.....

West Shore. . . . . .

New York, Chicago and St. Louis..
NEW YORK CITY AND NORTHERN

West Side and Yonkers..

Miles in State of New York. 748.74

1.50

42.30

14.12

2.81

134.06

98.46

6.04

6.00

426.97

68.07

52.90

1.16

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Name of Company.

Poughkeepsie, Hartford and Boston..
PROSPECT PARK AND CONEY ISLAND (steam)..
New York and Coney Island...

Rochester and Lake Ontario.....

Miles in State of New York.

36.16

5.75

2.41

6.05

ROME, WATERTOWN AND OGDENSBURGH....
Carthage, Watertown and Sackett's Harbor
Clayton and Theresa...

388.51

29.59

15.87

Niagara Falls Branch.

15.74

Oswego and Rome....

28.49

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The following reports are condensations made by the inspector from his field notes. The field notes themselves are filed in the office of the Board, and show in very much greater detail the condition of the structures and road-bed. [R. R. COMRS.]

ADDISON RAILROAD.

The half mile or more of this railroad in the State of New York is operated by the Central Vermont Railroad Company. It extends from Addison Junction, with the New York and Canada railroad, to the center of the channel in Lake Champlain. One train each way only per day constitutes the traffic of the road in this State. The rail is iron, very much worn, secured at ends with iron chairs. The maintenance of superstructure is poor, both in line and surface on the road-bed, which constitutes about one-half the length of road, the other half consisting of a trestle and pile bridge from the west shore to center of channel in lake. A portion of this structure has been repaired and some of the old timber replaced with new. The spans of trestle are about twelve feet from center to center of caps, and the stringers consist of two pieces six by thirteen inches in section, under each rail. The ties have been renewed and are spaced about one foot in the clear. One span was noticed seventeen feet between centers of caps, with two seven by fourteen inches section stringers under each rail. This is too light, leaving little, if any, factor for safety. Near the channel the renewals have not been as thoroughly made, and many of the caps, stringers, ties and guards, are seriously decayed. A few of the bents were in poor condition. One cap was noticed as badly decayed, and the blocking used to retain surface of track was crushed down into the old cap. At another point where the inside piles supporting a bent had become useless, or ice had removed them, one new pile at each end of a sill had been driven, and the bent was a truss from outside to outside pile. This trussed bent was canted sideways, giving inadequate support to the stringers. A number of bents were noticed leaning sideways, and not vertical under stringers.

Subsequent to this inspection, an opportunity was offered your inspector to again make a casual examination of the channel end of the structure, and he found the warped trussed bent had been righted, and further renewals had been made. It is a difficult matter to keep the trestle in the lake in proper position by reason of moving ice. Much of this could be obviated by filling with large stone and forming an embankment.

As now constructed and maintained it is unworkmanlike, and appears to be insufficient. The president of the company has sent the following copy of a letter received by him from the bridge master, to whom the report was referred:

DEAR SIR - Yours of the 8th received, with inclosed report of Thos. W. Spencer, inspector for Board of New York Commissioners, and in reply I will say that I have made examination of the bridge referred to and find the condition of it as follows:

1st. The trestle, about 700 feet in length, from the west shore of the lake west to the hard ground, that was built in place of earth and stone embankment and intended to be filled at some future time, has been nearly all rebuilt, all except some of the pin posts that were good were left in. The ties are spaced only eight inches in the clear, and a guard rail six by eight is locked and bolted to the ties in as good workmanlike manner as we do on any bridge. The bridge proper from the west shore of the lake to the channel, about 500 feet in length, is constructed of pile bents driven into bed of lake. There is one of these bents that is seventeen feet span, as reported, with two seven by fourteen-inch stringers under each rail, and in addition there is outside of these a ten by fourteen-inch stringer under the guard stick that gives additional support, and I have ordered two more sticks of two by fourteen put in, which will make it secure beyond any question. The decayed cap and stringer referred to have been taken out since their inspection was made, and also the bent that was canted. More have been put into place, and there are one or two more bents that are to be renewed this fall, and I consider the bridge in safe condition for the traffic over it. It is a difficult matter to always keep the bents all in their original positions, as the ice moves them more or less every winter, but the plan proposed to obviate this, by filling with large stone, I should not think advisable, as it would be very difficult to drive new bents or guard piles after it had been filled with the stone. We have done considerable work on the whole bridge this season, more than in any one year before, all that we considered necessary (except the general repairs) to make it secure until next spring, and then shall commence and renew nearly all of the old timber, and with this view I have already made schedule of timber for that purpose.

Very respectfully,

RUTLAND, Nov. 18, 1886.

(Signed) L. E. ROYS, B. M.

ADDISON AND NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD.

(Three feet gauge.)

This road remains in much the same condition as when inspected in 1884. About two and one-half miles of steel rail has been laid, which, with the moving of the line of track into

the hillside where embankments have settled away, and the renewing of a few ties, constitutes about all the changes. Mile posts have been put in place and bridges numbered. The surface and line of track has been improved as much as possible with the light iron rail, and the material used as ballast. The ditches along the road-bed are generally in good condition. The hemlock ties six by six inches section-already show wear and age, and a larger tie is now used in the renewals. Where the road is laid with steel it is in much the best condition. The truss bridges over the Canisteo and Tuscarora creeks are in good order, but the trestle at the north end of the Tuscarora Creek bridge was washed away last spring, and is now cribbed up with timber. Probably new and larger piles will be required under the north end of truss. The trestle bridges begin to show age, and the filling or repair of some of them will soon be necessary. The ties on one or two of them should be at once renewed. The rails are laid with alternate suspended joints, some of which were without a full complement of bolts, and a few without bolts in one rail. One or more wooden box culverts were noticed as failing, the covering breaking in. These should be repaired or stone culverts substituted. There are a number of points on the down-hill side of embankments that are quite too narrow and should be widened, or the track thrown into the hillside. The hauling of loaded standard car bodies on narrow gauge trucks makes the widening of banks and a well-maintained surface and line of track the more necessary.

The two depots in New York, at Addison and Freeman, are well and neatly maintained, and the equipment appears to be in good order.

Generally, the property may be said to be in fair condition, but another season will probably develop the necessity of considerable renewals in ties, rail and bridging.

BOSTON AND ALBANY RAILROAD.

At

The last inspection of this railroad was made in October, 1884, and on page 242 of the Commissioners' report for that year may be found the result of that examination. The general outline of the property remains unchanged, but considerable improvements have been made, particularly in the truss bridging and in the rebuilding of masonry. the crossing of Third avenue, Greenbush, an iron foot-bridge has been placed over railroad tracks, and at the highway crossing at Second avenue the trusses have been inclosed to prevent the frightening of horses while crossing over the railroad. Both of these improvements were made in accordance with recommendations of the Railroad Commissioners. At an over-highway crossing between Van Hoesen's and Kinderhook is a plate-girder deck bridge which has a strong tie flooring with guard timbers twelve inches square, well bolted to ties; but it would be advisable to extend the floor system a few more ties at each approach, or widen the embankements to connect more securely with bridge floor.

The bridges between Kinderhook and Chatham, noted in last report as insufficient in the condition of flooring, have all been thoroughly repaired or entirely renewed. Between the same points, an iron highway bridge, with excellent masonry abutments, has been constructed, resulting in the doing away with two grade crossings. The company endeavor to pass all highways either under or over their tracks, urging town authorities to aid them in this respect, and as fast as it can reasonably be done, the work is being accomplished. At an under-street crossing, east of Chatham depot, where was, when last inspected, a wooden truss, the company have constructed heavy masonry abutments and spanned the street with a plate-girder deck bridge.

Between Chatham and the State line of Massachusetts, the Chatham creek is crossed several times. Four of these crossings were at time of last inspection spanned with wooden trusses. Last year these wooden bridges were replaced with heavy iron lattice deck structures and the masonry rebuilt in the most substantial manner. There are now no wooden trusses on the main line of road.

The roadway and fencing are thoroughly and neatly maintained. All old material is removed or burned, and weeds and bush cut from fence to fence. At highway crossings the cattle-guards and fences are kept in good order to prevent trespass of farm-stock, but the sleepers on these cattle-guards are too widely spaced and would probably let a derailed wheel through them; a good strong flooring is suggested for each cattle-guard. Highway warning signs, and warnings of overhead obstructions were all found in place.

Considerable trouble has been experienced in the clay cuttings and on some embankments, between Albany and Kinderhook, by reason of the clay being disposed to slide from the shale rock upon which it rests and dips in the direction of the slope of hillside. This trouble was encountered more than usual last spring. In one instance an embankment slid bodily for a number of feet, and the road-bed has since been restored by filling with engine cinders. The ditches at angles of road-bed were being reopened all along these clay cuttings at time of inspection.

Great care is taken in the maintaining of the superstructure of this road, and its general condition was found, even at the early season in which this inspection was made, to be workmanlike in its line and surface. The work of renewing the too old sleepers was in progress, and is to be thoroughly done during the season. All sharp curves are strongly braced outside of both rails. Point switches are exclusivly used in main tracks, with points located whenever possible in the direction of train movement. All sidings out of main tracks have a stick of timber secured across the rails to prevent cars moving by gravity, or otherwise of themselves, on to main tracks.

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