Report of the Committee Appointed to Examine French's Experimental Railway [Cover Title].
by [RAILROADS]. Virginia Legislature
Richmond: The Legislature, 1851. . 8vo, plain wrappers, front printed; covers detaached and not conjugate; gutter shows evidence of previous pamphlet binding Three holdings in OCLC.Document No. LXV. A very laudatory document extolling the Committee's findings having examined James French's railway bed which was thought to hold the answer climbing hitherto insurmountable inclines.The experimental railway was approved and in February 1854 the Alexandria an Washington Railroad Company was incorporated in Virginia. In March of that year authorization was given for the company to purchase any of the works of the Alexandria Canal Company and of the Washington and Alexandria Turnpike Company. The construction was to be on French's plan, which was supposed to possess sufficient merit to revolutionize methods of overcoming grades.In actuality the railway failed to operate satisfactorily and limped along with many modifications until early in the Civil War when French and his partners left to join the Confederacy. (Inventory #: 3035)