1880 History of Blair County - Johnstown, PA

10 HISTORY OF ALTOONA AND BLAIR COUNTY.$472,162.50^. This work iuoludcd 337,220 culjic yards of commonexcavation; 212,034 of slate or detached rock; 506,932 of hard panor indurated clay ;210,724 of solid rock; 14,857 solid rock in tunnel,at $1.47 per yard; 967,060 cubic yards of embankment carried over100 feet ; 37,327 perches of slope wall, of 25 cubic feet; 13,342 i)erchesvertical slope wall in drains, the viaducts, culverts and brid,i>'es included.Plane No. 6 contained 28,368 perches of masonry. P'or thefirst track there were delivered 50,911 stone l)locks, which cost $27,-072.15; 508,901 feet lineal of 6x8, and 2,842 feet 12x12 inch timber,which cost $17,184.50. The amount done' under the contracts for"laying" railway amounted to $135,776.26..All of the iron rails were imported from Great Britain, by A. &G. Ralston, Philadelphia, and also part of the chairs, spikes andwedges for the first track. The t(jtal cost of British iron at Philadelphia,imported for the first track, was $118,888.36. The aggregatecost of all work done, and materials furnished under contract, for thefirst track comi)lete, Avas $430,716.59i For the second track, therewere imported 16,976 bars of edge rails, each 18 feet long, whichweighed 1,803 tons and 1,400 pounds gross, and cost, at Philadelphia,$43.51 per ton. The aggregate cost of all work done and materialsfurnished, under contract, for the second track, was $3()3,937.05i.The aggregate cost of the ten stationary engines, houses, sheds,dwellings, water pipes, ropes, etc., was $151,923.30^ The total costof the Portage railroad was $1,634,357.69.office expenses, engineering, or the extra allowance tothe Legislature after the work was completed.Four locomotive engineswere used on the "longlevel."But this does not includecontractors l)vFifty thousand tons of freight and twenty thousand jjassengerspassed over the road during the season of 1835.15(IAT TAKEN OVER THE ALLE(iHENY AIOI'NTAINS.In his History of Cam))ria County, pul)lished nearly half a centuryago, Mr. Shernuin Day refers to the first l)oat taken over theAllegheny mountains, in October, 1834, on the Portage railroad.He says: "Jesse Chrisman, from the Lackawanna, a tributary of thenorth branch of the Suscpudianna, loaded his boat, 'Hit or Miss,' withhis wife, children, l)edsand family accommodations, with j)igeons andotlu'r live stock, and started for Illinois. At Hollidaysl)urg, wherehe expected to sell liis boat, it was suggested by John Doughertv, ofthe Reliance Transportation line, that the whole concern could besafely hoisted over the mountain, and set afioat ay-ain in the canal.