LYNCHBURG & DURHAM

Letter of a Philadelphia Correspondent

DESCRIBING ITS FINE EQUIPMENT

And the Country Through which it Runs - The Towns and Stations on the Route and their Various Business Interests, Etc.

The Philadelphia News of January 6 publishes a two column letter from a special correspondent in regard to the Lynchburg and Durham railroad and the country through which it runs, from which we take the following extracts:

This railroad has 115 miles of road between the two cities from which it is named. Its equipment consists of 265 freight cars, six passenger coaches, six locomotives and two express and mail cars. The stations, about six miles apart all have neat new buildings, appropriately painted. The workshops at Lynchburg consist of a round house for eight engines, a well equipped brick machines shop with all the modern appliances, car sheds and large storehouse for supplies. It has abundant water tanks, all operated by gravity. The side tracks at convenient points will accommodate seven hundred and fifty cars. The telegraph service is operated by the Western Union Telegraph company. It has unquestionably the best new track in the South, and the rails are of heavy steel (fifty-six pounds to the yard), laid on the best quality of white oak ties, thereby insuring easy, swift and safe traveling with heavy cars.

The Lynchburg depot is now at the station called Durmid [see note at end of article] within a few blocks of the center of the city, with direct communication by rail with the Union depot. Surveys have been made for a line which can be built to give the Lynchburg and Durham its northern terminus at the Union depot. This, when accomplished, will give the road an immense volume of traffic.

VOLUME OF TRAFFIC
It is not three months since the railroad was completed to Durham, yet such is the volume of freight and passenger traffic that the road is paying all operating expenses out of its earnings and is entirely free from debt. The passenger traffic is exceedingly heavy for a Southern railroad and is sure to grow as the accommodation increases. The prospect for the coming year is excellent.

STATIONS ALONG THE LINE
The success of a railroad, especially a new line like the Lynchburg and Durham, is in direct measure with the success of the towns through which it runs. This railroad has started up the older towns along its line, and has opened up such opportunities for money making, that new communities are springing up every few miles. This is natural enough, since all that was needed to enable the country through which it runs to become prosperous was an opportunity to transport its natural wealth of timber, tobacco, agricultural products and minerals to the market at cheap rates. A few of these cities and town may be named.

Lynchburg, the northern terminus of the road is well known. One of the oldest and richest cities in Virginia, it has long been the center of prosperous tobacco industries. Manufacturing plants of all kinds are now being introduced; the city is extending on every side, and it is confidently predicted that in a few years more the census will show from 35,000 to 40,000 inhabitants.

Rustburg, the county seat of Campbell county, is a prosperous town of about 500 inhabitants.

Gladys is a new settlement which has several large lumber mills.

Hickson has three large lumber mills.

Simpson is a new settlement which has a large saw and planing mill. A sash, door and blind factory is also being erected.

Naruna is a small settlement dependent upon a number of saw mills.

Brookneal is a town of 300 inhabitants, made historical by proximity to the birthplace and grave of Patrick Henry. There is now before the National Senate a bill introduced by Senator Daniel, of this State, to appropriate $10,000 for the erection at the grave of a suitable monument to the memory of this Revolutionary statesman. Brookneal is now becoming prominent as a tobacco market, two large warehouses having lately been erected. It is located on the Staunton river and has an excellent water power.

Clarkton is the station at which the railroad has a connection by steamer with the magnificent farms on the Staunton river bottom. Some of the finest farming lands in the world are on this river. The show place of Virginia owned by Mr. Charles Bruce, is located near Clarkton. Mr. Bruce's house, built of stone and marble from the design of an Italian villa on Lake Como, stands upon an eminence overlooking the river and is surrounded by acres of beautiful gardens and shrubbery.

Nathalie and Crystal Hill are shipping points for hickory lumber, which is sent in large quantities to Connecticut.

Lenig [sic] is named after a prominent Philadelphian. It has recently developed very rapidly and land commands good prices.

Houston, named after the treasurer of the construction company which built the railroad, was formerly called Halifax Court House, it being the county seat of Halifax county. This town has always been the hub of Virginia Democracy. It has large saw mills, a furniture factory, tobacco warehouses, two new hotels, and the capital stock of a new cotton factory has been subscribed.

South Boston, a town of 2500 inhabitants, is the seat of a rapidly growing tobacco industry. It has many tobacco warehouses and factories for the sale and manufacture of the bright tobacco which grows so plentifully in this region. This is undoubtedly one of the best towns in Southern Virginia. At this point the Lynchburg and Durham Railroad crosses the Richmond and Danville.

Denniston Junction, where the Lynchburg and Durham Railroad crosses the Atlantic and Danville, will some day be developed into a manufacturing center. It has excellent opportunities in the way of cheap raw materials and transportation facilities.

Roxboro, an important town, is located at the headwaters of the Tar river and Neuse river. It is now developing an extensive tobacco industry, having several large warehouses and store houses. Loch Lilly, a beautiful artificial lake in the mountains a few miles away from the railroad, is to be developed into a summer resort at an early day, and there are hopes that it will rival Asheville, as the country hereabouts is high and the scenery picturesque.

Wardsville has one of the largest cotton-rope factories in the South. During 1890 it shipped 250,000 pounds of rope. The capacity of the factory will be doubled this year.

Durham, the North Carolina terminus of the railroad, is the most important tobacco city in the world. Blackwell's Durham tobacco and Duke's Cigarettes are known all over the world. The population is 8,000 and it has numerous and varied industries. It is rapidly growing in size and has a most brilliant future.

CONCLUSION
The Lynchburg and Durham Railroad is equipped with all modern appliances for safety and comfort. It is of standard gauge, and the rails are joined with the most recently patented iron bars and laid on white oak ties. All the bridges are of iron and the trestles are of the best workmanship. It is ballasted with rock, gravel and dirt ballast over the entire line, and the track is so well and firmly laid that a speed of fifty miles an hour has been attained on a continuous run of forty miles, while one train once made a running time from Lynchburg to Durham (115 miles) in three hours and four minutes.

The president of the Lynchburg and Durham is Major P.J. Otey of Lynchburg, formerly cashier of the Lynchburg National Bank, who is one of the ablest railroad financiers in the United States. Mr. W.N. Mitchell, the general superintendent, has charge of the traffic and operating departments. He has been in railroad work for twelve years, and has made a success of his present work. The auditor is C.C. Dun, Jr., of Philadelphia.

The chief engineer of the railroad, in charge of the road department, is Major J.W. Goodwin, formerly engineer of maintenance of way of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio railroad, when General William Mahone was president of that road, and before it was acquired by the Norfolk and Western railroad system.

(Note: It is likely that the station to which the author intended to refer was the 12th St. Station, which was at the Lynchburg terminus of the L&D. Although the 1891 Baist map depicts a Durmid Station serving both the Lynchburg & Durham and the Virginia Midland railroads, it is not "within a few blocks of the center of the city" as is 12th St. Station)