| Annual Report of the Memphis & Ohio RR |
| as of October 1, 1861, |
| Superintendent's Report |
| |
| Memphis & Ohio Railroad Co. |
| Memphis, Tenn., October 1st, 1861 |
| |
| {Several pages are
missing in the National Archives copy. The report available starts with
page 28} |
| |
|
Big Hatchie Bridge -- I found in very good condition,
(having been repaired and strengthened during the past year), with
the exception of the platform upon which the draw is run, when
necessary to be opened, which requires to be renewed. |
| The other bridges upon the
Road all appear to be in very good order but as no stone could be
procured on the line of the Road to build abutments the bridge
foundations are all built of wood. When the Memphis, Louisville &
Clarksville Road is finished, by the completion of the bridge over the
Tennessee River, access will be had to a supply of stone by which the
present wooden abutments can be replaced as it may be required. |
|
Depot Buildings |
|
As you are aware, the building in the Navy Yard, at
Memphis, formerly occupied as offices for the General Superintendent
ad Transportation Departments, was destroyed by fire in June last.
Temporary offices have been fitted up over the building occupied as
a Freight Depot, they are however inconvenient and ill suited for
the comfortable transaction of business. |
|
The Freight Depot, at Memphis, is entirely inadequate to
accommodate the increasing business of the Road, and some change
will shortly be rendered necessary. A Freight Depot is very badly
wanted at McKenzie, the intersection of the Nashville & Northwestern
Road with this Road, and a larger and better building will be
required to accommodate the freight business of Paris. |
|
Several of the depots on the line of the Road required
slight repairs, and most of the cotton platforms will require to be
rebuilt before another crop of cotton can be transported. |
|
Machinery |
|
Locomotives -- The total number of Locomotives owned by
the Company is thirteen (13). On taking charge of the Road I found
but eight (8) out of the whole number in running order, all the
others requiring extensive repairs, all the others requiring
extensive repairs. One of them has since been gotten ready to run,
making at the present time nine (9) in running order, which is not
sufficient for the demands made for military transportation and the
regular business of the Road; more particularly when the fact is
taken into consideration that those in use have been so constantly
employed that there has been no opportunity to perform many needful
repairs, consequently they all require more or less repairs. |
|
Cars |
|
The stock of Freight cars is entirely inadequate to the
business of the Road, and most of those in use are in bad order and
require extensive repairs. The use of the cars for the
transportation of troops, as is well known, has proved very
destructive to our cars, in common with those of all Roads over
which large numbers of troops have been transported. |
|
Contracts have been made for some thirty-three additional
Freight Cars, but in consequence of the demand for labor for the
manufacture of ordnance and military work, and the difficulty of
procuring the necessary materials, I fear it will be some time
before the cars can be procured. |
|
In consequence of a number of our cars being in use on
other Road, I have not been able to ascertain the exact number of
Freight Cars upon the Road, but find in a report made by my
predecessor to the Board of Directors, in March last, there were
then fifty Box Cars and seventy-two Platform Cars, making one
hundred twenty-two Freight Cars in all. Several have since been
broken up by accidents on other Roads, and some have also been
rendered useless upon our own Road. |
|
The stock of Passenger Cars consist of nine in good
order, one requiring new axles, and two requiring extensive repairs,
making twelve in all. |
|
There are but two Baggage and Mail Cars. We require at
least three new ones as soon as they can be built. |
|
Shops |
|
The shops of the Company are not of sufficient capacity
to do the necessary repairs for the rapidly increasing business, but
by some temporary additions, may be made to answer until the
Company's means will admit of their building new ones on the land
already purchased for that purpose. |
|
General Remarks |
|
On taking charge of the Road, I found the Transportation
Department in a great deal of confusion, in consequence of several
important subordinate officers having left the service of the
Company, and the derangement of the records and papers occasioned by
the destruction of the offices by fire, and the fact of a
considerable interval having elapsed between the time my predecessor
resigned the office and that of my assuming the duties. |
|
I hope, however, to get the Department properly
systematised and everything arranged in such a manner as to conduct
the business of the Road with as much regularity and economy as the
exigencies incidental to a state of war will admit, as is well known
the demand for military transportation frequently interrupts the
regular transportation of the Road altogether. |
|
The value of your Road to the Government, in a military
point of view, since the commencement of the war, cannot be
estimated. It is one of the most important military routes in the
Confederate States, and while its present interests must, in common
with all similar enterprises, as well as individual interests,
suffer to some extent, the Stockholders will have the satisfaction
of knowing that it has contributed larely to benefit the cause of
Southern independence. |
|
As the policy of the Government is to discourage the
transportation of cotton and tobacco to the seaports we shall not
realize anything at present by the carriage of this year's crop of
cotton and tobacco; but on the restoration of peace, which must take
place as soon as the people of the North are convinced that their
determination to pursue and subjugate the South cannot be
accomplished, your Road will prove its value in a commercial point
of view, and will, no doubt, yield a profitable interest on the
amount invested in its construction. |
|
All of which is respectfully submitted. |
|
Thos. Dodamead, General Superintendent |