| From the Savannah Morning News |
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| April 27, 1859 |
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| From April 26th, 1859 Macon Telegraph |
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| Central Railroad Station, Savannah
{Central (of Georgia) RR} |
| This is a large establishment,
and destined, in a short time, when all contemplated improvements shall
be completed; to be the finest in the country. The Central Railroad
Depot grounds have an area of thirty-four acres, bi-sected by the street
leading to the little building which is now used as a passenger depot.
The Southern division is occupied by the Engine House and Machine Shops
and the Northern for the reception and delivery of freight. ***** |
| On the Eastern front of this
freight yard is already about one half of a magnificent collection of
buildings for the general business of the Road. It is on the North side
-- a freight house -- which, including the front building, devoted to
offices, is 924 feet long by 90 feet wide. The structure is of brick
covered with mastic in brownstone hue. The front building is of three
stories, 121 feet in depth, and contains numerous spacious offices, in
which the business records of the Road a classified and arranged with
all the method and exactitude of any Department accounts in Washington.
The spacious halls which divide these offices are a marvel of solidity
and beauty, and the walls (a new and fine idea for this character of
building) were in rough plaster, a brownstone square alternating with
the natural color of the mortar and producing a very pleasing effect.
The furniture of the offices was in substantial oak, except where the
Superintendent had tried a very successful experiment with the pine, and
produced a handsomer article of nearly the same hue. The long leafed
pine of the South, selected and made up with care, and handsomely
polished, makes very beautiful furniture. |
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From the hall of the front building the view through the
long freight house of 800 feet depth, is exceedingly imposing; and
here, ranged under appropriate labels attached to the walls, were up
freight for almost every section of the South, from Savannah to New
Orleans. It appears almost incredible that Savannah should receive
goods for New Orleans; but such is the case with many articles in
the dry goods line, where quick transportation is important. |
| As large as is this freight
house, it is quite insufficient for the proper storage, classification
and delivery of the goods, and another of the same length is shortly to
be erected, ranging parallel with it at a short distance, so as to admit
intermediate tracks. |
| The entire freight and
passenger arrangements will be completed with the new Passenger House,
which is to occupy the other side of the freight grounds -- to be built
in the same style with the freight house we have described -- the front
to be connected with an ornamental brick, and iron fence, in the center
of which will be the grand gateway entrance to the freight yard. The
whole will then constitute one great eastern front of magnificent
proportions. The new Passenger House will have a front main building of
90 by 124, three stories in height, and in the rear of this the Train
House, 600 feet long. These structures will thus form three sides of a
hollow square with the spacious cotton yard in the center. |
| Crossing now the bi-secting
street we have alluded to, we enter a nearly equal area occupied by the
Engine House and immense workshops of the company. The circular Engine
House is a locomotive stable for the iron horse, of grand proportions.
It has stalls for thirty-six of them, all radiating to the turn table in
the center and provided with every possible appliance to put the steed
in running order. The roof of the structure and of all the workshops is
of corrugated iron, supported by inch and a half staying -- alight
enough to the eye, but so strongly put together that they raise
locomotives by it, and secure all the shafting to it. |
| To the left of the Engine
House and entered from it, is the long range of workshops, a good deal
over a thousand feet in length, as we should judge. Here are all the
most improved labor saving machines adapted to the manufacture and
repair of rolling stock of every description. The Company is aiming,
with a liberal and enlarged economy to supply all its own wants in the
means of transportations. It is not for so vast a corporation to say,
because we can buy a locomotive for $9,500 and it will cost $10,500 to
build one -- therefore, I will buy and not build. A wiser economy, as
well as a nobler spirit, leads her to look to the prosperity of her city
** the development of mechanical skill around her, so as to have it at
command in emergencies, as well as to train up in her work shops
skillful engineers to guide her trains -- make her repairs and
improvements -- in order that all her labor, demanding skill, mechanics
of her own rearing and men of spirit and known fidelity. This is the
spirit and these the views that control the Central Railroad in its
mechanical department, and we believe they are received and accepted by
all the Railroads in Georgia. |
| In the same spirit, too, the
great stationary engine which noiselessly drives the company's works,
was made in Savannah, by Miller, and is universally conceded to be a
perfect trophy of art. Excepting the clatter of the attachments to the
steam valves, it is perfectly noiseless. The length of this notice
forbids detailed description of the shops. Their entire condition and
all their applications are of the first order, and we venture to say
there is hardly a new idea among the shops of this character which does
not soon find its way here. The Company, we believe, do all their work
in wood, iron, and brass except iron casting. Their forges are extensive
and embraces the only steam forge we have yet seen in Georgia -- equally
susceptible of a blow only sufficient to drive a tack or one of the
power of 20,000 pounds. The whole of this range of shops finds is supply
of water, an outlet for the smoke of furnaces and forages, as well as
water closets for the operatives, in one imposing structure of
monumental shape, and as we judge from 180 to 200 feet in height, which
stands by itself in towering grandeur and perfectly suitable for these
important purposes. The base contains a cistern of many thousand gallons
capacity -- outside and below are the water closets and above rises the
chimney conducting the smoke of the shops which it has received through
subterranean passages. Mr. Burns is Master Machinist of the works, and
Mr. Miller, Master Carpenter. We are indebted to both these highly
intelligent gentlemen for very polite attention. An ingenious
arrangement running parallel with the shops and constituting the
Southern boundary of this enclosure, enables the company to store and
estimate the quality of coal at a glance. It is a long series of arched
vaults, with their capacity inscribed at regular intervals upon the
wall. The coal is dumped into these vaults from the outside, through an
aperture on the top of this arch, and the marks on the wall correctly
indicates the amount of coal at any height of the contents. |
| The Central railroad employs
in these shops now something short of 250 workmen. Their whole operative
force varies from 700 to 1,000, and their monthly labor payments call
for about $30,000. The stock in market is worth about 122 -- nominally a
high premium -- but by the policy of the company each share really
represents a value of $130.14. Its revenue last year was nearly fourteen
hundred thousand dollars, and expenses short of six hundred thousand.
Its revenue this year will be largely increased -- very largely. This
road occupies an extraordinary vantage ground -- serving as the common
outlet to a great net work of railways -- continually increasing and
progressing, and every foot adding new revenue to the main stem. The
history of this vast enterprise, from its timid and feeble beginnings to
its present development of wealth and prosperity, would be one of great
interest -- substantially a history of the rise and progress of railway
adventure in Georgia. From first to last the Central Railroad may be
said to have had the benefit of one controlling and intelligent will,
and its course and progress have ben uniform, consistent and unflagging.
Its position now is a proud illustration alike of the sagacity of its
founders and of the judgment, fidelity, and skill with which its affairs
have been controlled. |
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