Tappan Wentworth - Report of the Hoosac Tunnel and Troy and Greenfield Railroad, by the Joint Standing Committee of 1866

Mr. Farren began work under his contract June 7, 1866, and early in December the brick-work at the top of the arch had entered the mountain. The masonry was commenced about, twenty-five feet west of the point first selected, so that the open masonry will in fact be 200 feet long. About thirty feet of invert is left uncovered the present season, under an apprehension that the bricks on hand will only supply what will be wanted in the drift, in order to prosecute the work with dispatch. The invert has been properly protected, and its preservation may be expected.

At the beginning, the invert and the sides to the spring of the arch was laid with five courses of brick, and the arch with six. The masonry has been strengthened to meet the effect of the soft ground and increased pressure to eight bricks thick all round. Where rocks are found, it will be reduced at the bottom, and perhaps at the top.

The excavation of the drift is in progress and is carried on with two galleries. The lower one is of timber, and is at the bottom three feet below the grade of the road. This gallery is ten feet wide and ten feet high.

The upper gallery, also of timber, is ten feet wide and four feet high, and the space between the galleries is about ten feet. As the arch is driven in, the top of the invert is 41/2 feet below the grade of the road, and 18 inches below the timber of the lower gallery. The top timbers of the upper gallery constitute the top timbers of the tunnel during the excavation. They are supported above the masonry and the arch is turned under them.

Side drains, six feet high and four feet wide, are excavated ahead of the galleries, to assist the drainage of the ground through which the galleries and tunnel are driven. The water from these drains is let into the tunnel through its sides, and runs out with the general drainage upon the invert below the road-bed. Holes are left in the invert at proper intervals to facilitate this drainage.

The side drains are hereafter to be filled with stone, which will constitute a blind drain, and also afford a proper support to the masonry.

The work at this point is of difficult prosecution, but the performance of the contract may be confidently expected.

The Brickyard.

Twenty-four thousand bricks can be moulded daily. The drying yard is 300 feet long and 120 feet wide. The kiln shed is 300 feet long and 50 feet wide, and of capacity to burn all the bricks that can be moulded. There are six brick machines, four of which are in use. They are driven by an engine, and used alternately, two each day. The making of bricks at the yard commenced June 26 and closed October 24, 1860. About 1,700,000 bricks were made, of which 80 per cent. are sufficiently hard for use in the tunnel, which is estimated to be sufficient to complete the 374 feet of tunnel now under contract.

The clay for the bricks is found near the yard, and hitherto a sufficiency of sand has been found in the vicinity; but it is less abundant than the clay.

In addition to the property enumerated under the preceding heads, the State has at North Adams, a freight house, cashier's office, engineer's office, stable and two coal sheds, and opposite the West End on the Pittsfield and North Adams Railroad, an additional freight house. There are also two instrumental station houses on the east and west summits respectively, all of which are occupied by the State for the purposes of the enterprise. There is also one seven-horse engine and three small compressors. Tho State has also four mule teams, three of four, and one of two animals, making fourteen in all. There were also used on the work in the early part of the year, twelve or fourteen horses, employed in hauling clay, sand, wood, &c. Six of these have been sold to Mr. Farren, and the remainder are to be disposed of. To this enumeration should be added five horses and three or more carriages kept at the stable at North Adams for the transportation of the engineers, superintendent, master mechanic, &c., from point to point along the line of operations wherever their presence and services might be needed.

for the expense of keeping five horses, and the repairs; which is about five dollars per week in all. The charge for keeping horses at the stable in North Adams, is five dollars per week for feed; and the cost for the use of one horse and wagon from North Adams to the East End, is four dollars. These horses were also used to transport the commissioners and the committee visiting the tunnel, when required for that purpose.

It is proposed to change the course of, the road as it emerges from the tunnel, and two lines have been surveyed, which, diverging near the approach cut, unite again about midway from thence to the village. The difference in length is about thirty feet. The northerly line is the least expensive to construct, and best favors the landholders on the route. It has the recommendation of the engineer, and the approval of the consulting engineer, and will probably be selected. There are reasons for an early location of this portion of the road which call for a prompt action in this behalf on the part of the commissioners, which will undoubtedly be taken.

The following table shows the expense of the tunnel and the land and works connected therewith under the administration of the commissioners, as found November 1, 1866:—

The following table shows the cost of the works under the classification of outside and inside expenditures, as given by the consulting engineer.

The exact correctness of any classification of the expenditures is not very important, inasmuch as the sum total is chargeable to the construction of the tunnel; but the Committee do not see the propriety of charging the engineering and superintendence exclusively to the outside expenditure. They have seen a classification which gave,—

General Summary of the Force Employed on the Tunnel,

The interest awakened by the magnitude of the undertaking to tunnel the Hoosac Mountain, and the anxiety manifested for its early completion, prompted the commissioners to the discovery of means to accelerate the progress of the work. Their attention was naturally directed to the operation of drilling, and with a view of improving upon the machine drill used at Mont Cenis; scientific mechanics have been employed to devise and construct a drill that should attain that end.

As a first step Gouch's patent of the hollow piston-rod, was purchased for New England, for the sum of five hundred dollars. After which, a Mr. Gardner was employed to construct a drill; but his efforts failed of success after an expenditure of thirteen hundred dollars. A Mr. Butler was engaged to devise a machine, but in the course of studying the subject, his health failed and his services were lost.