Annual proceedings of the Western No. Ca. Railroad Company: with reports of officers for ..

              ^C-ANNUAL
REPORT
OP THE
Western I C. Railroad Company,
EMBRACING THE
REPORTS OF THE OFFICERS,
For the Fiscal Ye>.« "Ending September 30, 1884;
TOGETHER WITH THE
' PROCEEDINGS OF THE STOCKHOLDERS, AT THEIR ANNUAL
MEETING, HELD IN SALISBURY, DECEMBER 9th, 1884.
RALEIGH, N. C.
:
DZZELL & GATLING, STEAM PBINTER3 AND BINDERS.
1884.
ANNUAL REPORT
>j-'h\jMr^
OF THE
T '1
Th§ UUiVcrsityt)! ^n•u v^.
Western N. C, Railroad Company,
KMBBACING THE
REPORTS OF THE OFFICERS,
For the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 1884;
TOGETHER WITH THE
PROCEEDINGS OF THE STOCKHOLDERS, AT THEIR ANNUAL
xMEETING, HELD IN SALISBURY, DECEMBER Oth, 1884.
RALEIGH, N. C.
:
UZZELL & GATLING, STEAM PKINTER8 AND BINDERS.
1884.
PROCEEDINGS,
Salisbury, N. C, November 26, 1884.
The annual meeting of the Stock-holders of the Western North
Carolina Railroad Company was held at the office of the Com-pany
at Salisbury at 12 o'clock M.
On motion, S. H. Wiley was called to the chair. Geo. P.
Erwin, Secretary of the Company, by request, acted as Secretary
of the meeting.
The Chair appointed Geo. P. Erwin, the Secretary, a com-mittee
on proxies.
The committee on proxies reported that there was not sufficient
stock represented, either by proxies or in person, to constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.
It being ascertained* that there was no quorum j)resent, upon
motion, the meeting adjourned to meet again at the office of the
Company, Tuesday, December 9, 1884.
SALiSBrRY, N. C, December 9, 1884.
The Stock-holders of the Western North Carolina Pailroad
Company met at the office of the Company on Tuesday, Decem-ber
9, 1884, at 12 M., pursuant to adjournment.
The meeting was called to order by A. B. Andrews, President
of the Company, and, on his motion, Hon. D. Schenck was called
to the chair, and Geo. P. Erwin, Secretary of the Company,
acted as Secretary of the meeting.
The chairman appointed as a committee on proxies Frank
Coxe and S. H. Wiley.
The committee appointed to ascertain whether a quorum was
present, respectfully reported that they had performed the duty
assigned them, and found five stock-holders present in person.
president's report.
representiug forty shares of stock, and one stock-holder present
representing 31,683 shares of stock by proxy.
Total present in person and by proxies 31,723 shares. The
number of shares necessary to form a quorum being 20,001
shares, the chairman ainiounced that a majority of the stock-holders
was present and that this meeting was legally organized
and ready for business.
The President submitted his report for the past fiscal year,
which, on motion, was receiv^ed, ap|)roved and ordered printed.
It was moved and seconded that the meeting proceed to an
election of a Board of nine Directors for the ensuing year.
The chairman appointed Messrs. J. E. Ranken and S. H.
Wiley as tellers.
After a ballot was had the tellers reported the following gen-tlemen
unanimously elected Directors of the Company for the
ensuing year: A. B. Andrews, Frank Coxe, D. Scheuck, S. H.
Wiley, J. E. Ranken, W. E. Anderson, A. S. Bnford, G. S.
Scott, C. S. Price.
The chairman announced that the gentlemen named in the
report of the tellers having received the unanimous vote of all
stock represented either in person or by proxy, were dnlv elected
Directors of the Western North Carolina Railroad Company for
the ensuing year.
The stock-holders' meeting then adjourned sine die.
Geo. p. Erwin, D. SCHENCK,
Secretary. Chairman.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT.
SAI.ISBURY, N. C, Xovember 25th, 1884.
To the Stock-holders of the Western North Carolina Railroad
Company
:
Gentlemen:—It is with j^reat satisfaction that the President
and Board of Directors of the Western North Carolina Railroad
Company beg leave to lay before the stock-holders the record of
the result accomplished during the past fiscal year, including as
it does the entire fulfillment of the contract obligation with the
State and the cancellation of the lieu upon the property held
as security for that obligation.
The construction of the Western North Carolina Railroad was
originally undertaken by the State of North Carolina in order to
secure to its people a channel through which they should exchange
their commodities with the Western States, as well as to open up
the hardly accessible mountain region within its limits. The
work was carried on at great cost by the State, but failing to
secure completion in its hands, was transferred to the present
ownership), under very stringent conditions for the prosecution
of the enterpi'ise. These conditions have been faithfully car-ried
out, first, by the completion of the line to Paint Rock, in
February, 1882, thereby making connection to the westward,
and finally this year, by the completion of the line to the Ten-nessee
river at the mouth of Nantahala river and the fulfillment
of the financial obligation to the State, pending which the title
of the property had been held in escrow. This last condition,
involving the payment of $600,000, May 1st, 1884, and the
deposit of $30,000 of North Carolina State bonds, was punctu-ally
fulfilled and the title to the property redeemed, and now for
the first time in its history is the railroad of the company an
accomplished fact, and the company itself freed from the bur-
president's report.
dens oppressing it. The mileage constructed during the past
year is sixty-six miles, making a total mileage now 0[)erated of
274, comprising the main line from Salisbury to Paint Rock, 190
miles, and the line from Asheville to the Nantahala river, 84
miles. The territory opened up by the new line is very fertile
and productive, exceedingly healthy and <^apab]e of sustaining
a large population. Attention has been recently drawn to this
section and it bids fair to be rapidly settled up, and to supply a
remunerative and increasing traffic. During the year, by arrange-ment
with the bondholders, the First Mortgage Bonds of the
company, issued at the rate of ^15,000 per mile, have been can-celled
and replaced by a new issue at the rate of $12,500 per
mile of First Consolidated Mortgage Bonds, of which a reserve
of $850,000 is retained by the Trustees to secure the bonds of
same amount issued by the State and constituting a first lien on
the property. There will also be issued Second Mortgage Bonds
at the rate of $15,000 per mile upon the increased mileage,
making a total of $4,110,000.
The revenues of the company have shown a gratifying increase,
although it has not received as large a traffic from its western
connections as was exj)ected. This traffic we hope to obtain in
the future.
The increasing popularity of the mountain district, both as a
summer and winter resort for the sea-coast. Southern and North-ern
people, insures an increasing traffic, limited only by the facili-ties
and accommodations for residence. These accommodations
are rapidly multiplying and a steady growth from this source
can be anticipated. Measures are being taken to promote immi-gration
on the line of your road which we hope will be fruitful
in the near future.
The condition of the property has been largely benefited dur-ing
the past year by improvement of the road-way, as well as by
the laying of 78 miles of new steel rail on the main line. Sev-eral
parts of the line heretofore causing much labor and expense
have been put in permanent condition and the entire property is
sufficient for the requirement of the present traffic, and its facili-ties
will be enlarged to meet the demands of the future.
6 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD.
During the year there has been put in the track, ajjart from
new construction, 6,984 tons of steel rail, 69,524 cross-ties, 546
lineal feet trestles filled, and the trestles, bridges and road-bed
have received the necessary repairs.
The earnings of the company during the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1884, which eml)ra('e the operation of 206 miles
only:
From passengers |!145,227 02
From freight 263,329 21
From mail 19,751 35
From express 5^076 76
From miscellaneous 1,685 00
Total $435,069 34
The operating expenses were:
For conducting transportation $ 75,805 17
For motive power 76,846 44
For maintenance of way 94,680 40
For general expenses 26,794 06
For maintenance of cars 19,359 75
Total. $293,485 82
Net earnings '.....$141,583 52
Being an increase over the preceding year of gross
earnings " $ 89,775 72
An increase in operating expenses 68,536 76
Showing increase of net earnings 21,238 96
The accompanying report of the Superintendent and state-ment
of Auditor are referred to for more explicit details of the
year's operations.
The company has kept a force of 75 men at work up the Nan-tahala
river in the direction of Murphy, and they have graded
and have ready for the rails about 8 miles of track. The dis-
president's report.
tance from the end of tlie grading to Murphy is 32 miles; about
four miles of this is heavy work, as will be seen by reference to
the profile and report furnished by the Chief Engineer, Major
James W. Wilson.
The thanks of the Board are due to the officers and employees
of the company for their efficient and faithful effi)rts in achiev-ing
the gratifying results of the year.
Respectfully submitted by order of the Board of Directors.
A. B. ANDREWS,
President
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
Western North Carolina Railroad Company,
Office of Superintendent,
Salisbury, N. C, November 1st, 1884.
Col. a. B. Andrews, President, Raleigh, N. C. :
Sir:—In offering my report of the earnings and expenses of
the Western North Carolina Railroad for the fiscal year ending
September 30th, 1884, I will say that, as heretofore the Super-intendent
has not submitted a detailed, formal, annual statement,
any reference to data contained in previous reports will necessa-rily
be omitted. It is sufficient to state that at the close of the
last fiscal year the road-bed, bridges, trestles, depot-buildings,
water-supplies, machinery, general equipment, &c., were in a
fair condition. Since the close of the last vear, in addition to the
line from Salisbury to Paint Rock, a distance of 189.8 miles, and
from Asheville to Pigeon river of 18 miles, the recently completed
distance of 66.2 miles from Pigeon river to Nantahala gives
a total of 274 miles of road now in operation ; but under the press-ure
of the contract to complete the road to Nantahala river within
a given time, the construction and operating expenses have been
closely interwoven, and no separate charges made for trans-portation
as against construction. If this had been done it
would have credited operating expenses with much that has been
done in the transportation of iron, cross-ties, lumber and other
material requisite for the completion of the road. Therefore,
in describing the earnings and expenses for the fiscal year, I
will refer you more particularly to the reports of the Auditor,
which show, separately, earnings from all sources, and also the
compiled statements of expenses under the various headings,
including road-bed, cross-ties, lumber accounts, new cars, engines,
repairs and shop work, fuel, depot grounds and buildings, and
superintexdent's report. 9
other items, together with charges against construction, but not
including free transportation of iron, cross-ties, supplies for con-victs,
and material.
I will not mention the various items which operating expenses
might have been credited with, but will submit the attached
reports of the Auditor and confine my report more especially to
the additions made to the security and safety of the road-way,
machinery, &c., and also»t« the improvements which, in my opin-ion,
are desirable.
TRACK. •
M
The Statement that the road-way was in "a fair condition
at the close of the last fiscal year, should be qualified by the
statement that the road between Salisbury and Third creek, a
distance of 13 miles, and from Statesville to Glen Alpine, a dis-tance
of 59 miles, was laid with 45-1 bs. rail, some of which was
worn and not sufficient in weight to carry our traffic. During
the past spring and summer we have laid from Salisbury to
Third creek with 60-lbs. steel, and from Statesville to within
one mile of Glen Alpine with 56-lbs. steel; this, with the 12
miles of 56-lbs. fish-bar iron between Third creek and States-ville,
frives a continuous connection of new steel and iron rail
from Salisbury to within one mile of Glen Alpine. From there
to Old Fort, a distance of 28 miles, the road is laid with a chair-rail,
which it would be advisable to relay with steel rail when
the finances of the company permit. From Old Fort to the
west portal of Swannanoa Tunnel, a distance of 12 miles, which
includes the mountain division, the road is laid with 60-lbs. steel
rail, 7 miles of which was laid this year. From Swannanoa
Tunnel to Paint Rock, a distance of 67 miles, the road is laid
with 50-1 bs. fish-bar iron.
MAINTENAXX'E OF ROAD-WAY.
Having laid during the year 78 miles of steel rail where it
was most needed, with the best angle plate connections, patched
10 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD.
the chair-rail between Gleu Alpine and Old Fort, distributed
and put under the track" 69,524 white and post-oak crQSS-ties, at an
average cost of 25 cents each, given the track a general surface,
ditched or drained most of the worst and wet cuts, widened many
of the narrow embankments, and in order to reduce the curva-ture
and straighten the line, made several changes between Ashe-ville
and Paint Rock, which show perceptible advantages in the
reduction of operating expenses, and having made permanent
betterments by filling up 546 lineal feet of trestle between Alex-ander's
and Warm Springs, I may safely state that our track and
road-bed are in good condition.
SIDINGS.
At Salisbury we have laid 1,200 feet of new side-track and put
in three new Lorentz switches and frogs. The Asheville sidings
have been increased 3,600 feet, with five new Lorentz switches
and frogs. At Barnard's 900 feet new side-track, with two new
switches and frogs, have been put in; 600 feet of new side-tra(!k
have been graded and laid at Terrell's siding, making a total of
6,300 feet of new side-track.
TUNNELS.
The tunnels are all in good condition. During the year there
was a slide at Swannauoa tunnel, which caused a slight delay to
trains, but that was at once remedied and future trouble pre-vented
by putting in new timbers. I [)r()pose to make addi-tional
renewals of timber during the winter and spring.
TURN-TABLES AND CROSSINGS.
A new turn-table has been put in at Old Fort, and 3,388 lin-eal
feet of trestles have been built, 500 feet washouts have been
repaired, 1,280 feet of bridging repaired, 3 over-head bridges
built and all the other crossings received more or less repairs and
are in good order.
superintendent's report. 11
BRIDGES AND TRESTLES.
The truss bridges across the French Broad river at Asheville
and Ivy have received substantial repairs in the way of renewed
chords and braces, and strengthening and doubling all the main
rods. With this recent work these two bridges, which are
our most important crossings, are in good repair. The Howe
truss-bridge over Catawba river is now undergoing repairs, and
with the present work completed, will be in perfect order. It is
advisable to replace the present structures with clear-span bridges
over the following streams:. Flat, Newfound, Walnut, Laurel
and Spring creeks. At Buffalo creek, west of Statesville, the
masonry is completed for a clear-span bridge of 120 feet. The
trestle at Marshall can soon be abandoned by the completion of
the rock wall, and the line changed as contemplated.
DEPOT BUILDINGS.
Tlie depot buildings are in good repair. At Third creek the
Agent's office has been ceiled apd new platform built, Statesville
has a new platform 100 by 150 feet, Catawba has new platform
10 by 100 feet. A new and larger depot at Newton is desirable,
but the platform has been rencAved 10 by 100 feet. At Hickory
the depot has been recently re-covered with shingle roof, and
100 by 100 feet of new platform built. Asheville has a new
depot 50 by 160 feet, built of brick and covered with tin. Alex-ander's
has new platform 25 by 50 feet. Marshall has new
depot 25 by 40 feet. Warm Springs has new transfer shed and
platform, both of which should be increased in order to facilitate
dispatch of western business.
SECTION HOUSES.
There are 27 sections on main line, 18 of which have houses
for Section Masters. Nine more are needed and should be built.
12 WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA RAILROAD.
WATER STATIONS.
At Salisbury a new well has been dug, and two new water
supply tanks with capacity of 9,800 gallons each, and an engine-house,
have been built, with boiler and ejector; a new water-tank
has been built at Old Fort with 1,500 feet of two-inch sup-ply
pipe, and a new tank built at Ramsey's Branch, five miles
west of Asheville. A tank should be built at Third creek, and
this will make our water supply sufficient to do a business of
twice the volume we are now moving.
MACHINE SHOPS,
In stating the condition of the shops, machinery, equipment,
&c., you will find below a list of engines and cars belonging
to the company, and also a statement of the motive power and
cars, which, in my opinion, should be procured in order to enable
us to properly foster our business and obtain such proportion of
other business as our ro:id is geographically entitled to, and
which it is able to do.
MOTIVE POWER.
We have ten Cook & Danforth locomotives, 17x24- inch
cylinders, that have been in service about two and a half years;
and two Baldwin locomotives, 16x24-inch cylinders—one has
been in service six years, the other two and a half years; three
Pittsburgh engines, 15x22-inch cylinders, that have been in ser-vice
ten years ; one Breze and Kneeland, 14x22-inch cylinders,
that has been running twenty-three years. Except three of
of the Cook & Danforth engines, the locomotives are in good
condition. We are now renting two engines from the Richmond
and Danville Railroad Company, and one from the Charlotte,
Columbia and Augusta Railroad Company. If we could j)ur-chase
six new locomotives it would better enable us to overhaul
the three Cook & Danforth engines, and to stop the rental now
paid to other roads, thereby reducing expenses and adding mate-
SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT. 13
rially to the capacity of the road, which is greatly needed. In
the past year we have adopted and ap|)lied the Eanies vacuum
bralce to eight of the freight engiues.
CAR EQUIPMENT.
We have 5 first-class coaches, 5 combination cars, 3 mail and
express cars, 17 box cars, 11 stock cars, 71 coal cars, 25 flat cars,
9 cabooses and 4 construction or shanty cars. To do our present
business and reduce the foreign mileage, which is charged against
us monthly, it will be necessary to have at least 100 new box,
50 stock, 50 coal and 25 flat cars. This I consider a moderate
requisition when we consider the monthly payments of foreign
mileage.
MACHINERY.
One, if not the most important, disadvantage under which we
are working is the lack of shop room and machinery, having to
use a part of the Round House for machinery, wood-work and
paint-shop, leaving only three stalls for engine space, and ren-dering
it almost impossible to finish a job of painting on account
of the dust from other work.
.
If our shop space could be increased by building a wood and
paint-shop, and the following new machinery purchased, we could
do the entire repair work of the road and reduce the cost of manu-factured
material to one-half of the present cost, less the differ-ence
in freight:
One double driving-wheel lathe, with quartering attachments;
One double end axle lathe;
^ One 16-inch shaping machine, with centre attachments and
chuck;
One hydraulic wheel press;
• One car-wheel borer and one crank pin lathe.
EMPLOYEES.
Before concluding, it is my pleasure to mention the unprece-dented
interest that has been shown by the untiring zeal of the
14 WESTERN XOETH CAROLINA RAILROAD.
employees of this company, and I will add that the apparent
future prosperity depends, in the greatest measure, upon their
personal loyalty and steady attachment for the advancement of
the company's interest in the various working departments.
In submitting this report, I have, to a considerable extent,
omitted details, because your full knowledge of the subjects
embraced therein supplies the deficiencies.
I am, with great respect, yours very truly,
V. E. McBEE,
Superintendent.
AUDITOR S REPORT. 15
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STATEMENT B.
Western North Carolina Railroad,
Salisbury, N. C, October 1, 1884.
PROFIT AND LOSS.
Balance to credit of this account, Sept. 30th, 1883 $ 202,045 59
Nfet earnings for year ending Sept. 30th, 1884
Amount' credited during year, viz.
:
Balance of Stage Line account
$ 343,629 11
307 82
$343,936 93
STATEMENT C.
Earnings and Expenses for year ending September 30, 1884.
»
AUDITOR S REPORT. 17
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18 auditor's report.
STATEMENT E.
SUMMARY OF PASSENGER BUSINESS FOR THE YEAR ENDING
SEPTEMBER 30, 1884.
Class.
AUDITOR S REPORT. 19
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STATEMENT I.
statement of Expenses for year ending September 30, 1884.
AUDITOR S REPORT. 21
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STATEMENT M.
Special Tonnage Statement for the year ending September 30, 1884.
Articles.
Merchandise
Leaf Tobacco
Manufactured Tobacco.
Flonr
Grain
Dried Fruit.
Roots and Herbs
Lumber
Cotton
Coal
Total.
POUNPS.
88,204,500
4,333,170
192,163
1,548,302
1,922,542
3,569,028
1,523,164
33,908,374
1,615,465
54,877,900
191,694,608
Tons.
44,102.25
2,166.59
96.08
774.15
961.27
1,784.51
761.58
16,954.19
807.73
27,438.95
95,847.30
Coal for Company's Use.
Pounds.
23,916,000
Tons.
11,958.00