| Annual Report of the Richmond &
Danville RR |
| as of October 1, 1865, |
| Superintendent's Report |
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| Superintendent's Report |
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| Superintendent's Office R. & D. R. R. |
| Richmond, December 7th, 1865 |
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A. S. Buford, Esq.
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President pro. tem.
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Sir,
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I submit the following report of the operations of the road
for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 1865. The amount of Earnings
from the 1st of October, 1864, to the 31st of March, 1865, and the
expenses for the same period, are stated in Confederate Currency. *****
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| Earnings |
| From the 1st of
October, 1864, to the 31st of March, 1865 |
| Private Transportation |
| From Passengers |
$426,908.95 |
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| From Freight |
961,676.66 |
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| From Express Freight |
300,041.03 |
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| From Telegraph Line |
37,234.57 |
$1,725,861.21 |
| Confederate States
Transportation |
| From Passengers and Mail |
1,693,990.82 |
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| From Freight |
1,096,880.16 |
2,790,870.98 |
| Total |
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$4,516,732.19 |
| Operating Expenses |
| For Conducting Transportation |
1,373,564.13 |
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| For Repairs, Locomotives and Cars |
612,227.28 |
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| For Tools and Machinery for Shops |
27,185.50 |
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| For Locomotives purchased |
401,245.30 |
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| For Rent of Cars and Engines |
203,816.34 |
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| For Maintenance of Road and Buildings |
596,313.68 |
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| For Provisions, Negro Clothing and Supplies |
281,887.95 |
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| For Telegraph Expenses |
28,156.07 |
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| For Salaries |
29,080.14 |
3,553,476.39 |
| Nett Earnings over
Operating Expenses |
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$963,255.80 |
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***** The ratio of Operating Expenses to Earnings, from
the 1st of October to the 31st of March, was 78 per cent. *****
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During the past fiscal year, the Road has suffered loss
and damage, to an extent never experienced in the history of
Railroads, previous to the period of the late war. From the 1st of
October, 1864, to the 1st of April, 1865, the Road was taxed beyond
its capacity to transport men and subsistence for the Armies in front
of Richmond and Petersburg. Neither labor nor material in sufficient
quantities could be procured for the proper repairs of the Road and
Machinery.
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On Sunday, the 2nd day of April, 1865, the final
evacuation of Richmond was ordered by the Confederate authorities. The
Depot, at Richmond, was abandoned on the morning of the 3rd, which,
together with the two spans of James River Bridge, next to Richmond,
was soon in flames. The Engines and Cars, in running order, were sent
off as rapidly as possible in the direction of Danville; the shops at
Manchester abandoned, and the last train started for Danville by 11
o'clock, A. M. Previous to the departure of the last train from
Manchester, the five spans of the James River Bridge, next to the
South shore of the River, were set afire by a party of marines and
seamen, under the command of Admiral Raphael Semmes, of the
Confederate Navy. Whether by his order, or not, I am not informed.
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The trains all arrived safely at Danville, on the evening
of the 4th of April. We continued to run trains as far as Keysville,
until Wednesday, the 12th of April, on which day the Bridge over
Staunton River was burnt by order of a Confederate officer; from that
time until the 24th of April, the trains were run between Danville and
Clover, when they were stopped by the advance of the Sixth Corps of
the United States army, on Danville. *****
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Roadway
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On the delivery of the Road, by the United States
authorities, the track was in very bad condition; the continuous wet
weather of the previous winter, and the want of material, had
prevented any considerable amount of work being done upon it, while
the number of trains and amount of tonnage passed over it, was greater
than ever before.
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All the available cross-ties and iron contained in the
turnouts on the line, had been taken to repair the main track, and the
old material taken out of the main track, in the turnouts, and the
Road was very unsafe, and, in some places, positively impassable,
except at a very low rate of speed. ***** The iron on that portion of
the road between the 5th and 27th mile post, viz: 22 miles, was laid
during the year 1851, has been in use about fourteen years, and is
very much worn and laminated, and is consequently very injurious to
the machinery, making it necessary to run the trains at a reduced rate
of speed over it. *****
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A large portion of the track, west of Meherrin station,
was only partially spiked when laid down; *****
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Ditches
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In consequence of the heavy business of the road and
limited amount of rolling stock, making it necessary to use all the
available motive power to transport passengers and freight, but little
ditching had been done on the road during the four years previous.
Most of the cuts were filled up level with the rails, and in wretched
condition; *****
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Bridges
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The bridges over the canal in Richmond, by which the
tracks going into the depot were sustained, together with the first
section of the James River bridge, (two spans), 280 feet, and the five
spans next the South shore, 669 feet, were burnt on the 3d of April
last, as previously mentioned. The Iron Bridge, over the Appomattox
River, 204 feet in length, was destroyed by the forces under General
Ewell on their retreat from Richmond. *****
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Little Roanoke trestle, 160 feet in length,
built to replace the bridge over that stream, carried away by a
freshet in the Spring of 1864, and destroyed by a force under General
Wilson, and afterwards rebuilt, was also destroyed by the Confederate
forces. *****
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Staunton River Bridge
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This bridge, 613 feet in length, was destroyed by the
Confederate authorities about the 12 of April last, after the
surrender of General Lee. *****
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Buildings, Water Stations, &c.
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As before mentioned, the freight depot at Richmond was
destroyed by fire. The depots at Powhatan, Chula, Meherrin, Keysville
and Mossingford, had been previously destroyed by fire, and have not
yet been rebuilt.*****
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The buildings at Burkeville, which were destroyed in
June, 1864, by a force under General Wilson, *****
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Locomotive Engines
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On the delivery of the road by the United States military
authorities, there were upon the road 19 engines belonging to the
Company, purchased previous to 1861; 3 engines purchased of the
Confederate Government, 1 rented from the Memphis & Ohio railroad,
and 6 from the East Tennessee & Virginia railroad, and 2 from the
Nashville & Chattanooga railroad, making 31 in all. *****
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Cars
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The stock of cars on the road has been very much
diminished by fire, and their being thrown from the track and
destroyed during the winter and spring. Some 13 passenger and baggage,
and some 4 or 5 freight cars, were destroyed by the accidental burning
of the car shed in Manchester in November, 1864. *****
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Wood
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The amount of wood consumed on the Road from the 1st day
of October, 1864, to the 1st day of April, 1865, was 14,621 cords.
***** Out of the stock of teams and wagons owned by the Company, and
employed in hauling wood, seventy-four horses and mules were lost, and
twelve wagons were burnt, or destroyed, during the retreat of the
Confederate army, and the advance of the United States army.
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Transportation
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In consequence of the loss and destruction of the Books
and Papers belonging to this Office, during the events which
transpired in April last, the various Tables of Tonnage, Passenger,
&c., &c., cannot be made out for the last fiscal year.
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General Remarks
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As you are aware, I only assumed the duties of this
office in the month of March last, and under very extraordinary
circumstances. *****
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Very respectfully,
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Your obedient servant
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Thomas Dodamead
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Superintendent
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