AR, R&D 10/1/1865 S

Annual Report of the Richmond & Danville RR
as of October 1, 1865,
Superintendent's Report
 
Superintendent's Report
 
Superintendent's Office R. & D. R. R.
Richmond, December 7th, 1865
 
A. S. Buford, Esq.
President pro. tem.
 
Sir,
   I submit the following report of the operations of the road for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 1865. The amount of Earnings from the 1st of October, 1864, to the 31st of March, 1865, and the expenses for the same period, are stated in Confederate Currency. *****
Earnings
From the 1st of October, 1864, to the 31st of March, 1865
Private Transportation
From Passengers $426,908.95
From Freight 961,676.66
From Express Freight 300,041.03
From Telegraph Line 37,234.57 $1,725,861.21
Confederate States Transportation
From Passengers and Mail 1,693,990.82
From Freight 1,096,880.16 2,790,870.98
     Total $4,516,732.19
Operating Expenses
For Conducting Transportation 1,373,564.13
For Repairs, Locomotives and Cars 612,227.28
For Tools and Machinery for Shops 27,185.50
For Locomotives purchased 401,245.30
For Rent of Cars and Engines 203,816.34
For Maintenance of Road and Buildings 596,313.68
For Provisions, Negro Clothing and Supplies 281,887.95
For Telegraph Expenses 28,156.07
For Salaries 29,080.14 3,553,476.39
     Nett Earnings over Operating Expenses $963,255.80
   ***** The ratio of Operating Expenses to Earnings, from the 1st of October to the 31st of March, was 78 per cent. *****
   During the past fiscal year, the Road has suffered loss and damage, to an extent never experienced in the history of Railroads, previous to the period of the late war. From the 1st of October, 1864, to the 1st of April, 1865, the Road was taxed beyond its capacity to transport men and subsistence for the Armies in front of Richmond and Petersburg. Neither labor nor material in sufficient quantities could be procured for the proper repairs of the Road and Machinery.
   On Sunday, the 2nd day of April, 1865, the final evacuation of Richmond was ordered by the Confederate authorities. The Depot, at Richmond, was abandoned on the morning of the 3rd, which, together with the two spans of James River Bridge, next to Richmond, was soon in flames. The Engines and Cars, in running order, were sent off as rapidly as possible in the direction of Danville; the shops at Manchester abandoned, and the last train started for Danville by 11 o'clock, A. M. Previous to the departure of the last train from Manchester, the five spans of the James River Bridge, next to the South shore of the River, were set afire by a party of marines and seamen, under the command of Admiral Raphael Semmes, of the Confederate Navy. Whether by his order, or not, I am not informed.
   The trains all arrived safely at Danville, on the evening of the 4th of April. We continued to run trains as far as Keysville, until Wednesday, the 12th of April, on which day the Bridge over Staunton River was burnt by order of a Confederate officer; from that time until the 24th of April, the trains were run between Danville and Clover, when they were stopped by the advance of the Sixth Corps of the United States army, on Danville. *****

Roadway

   On the delivery of the Road, by the United States authorities, the track was in very bad condition; the continuous wet weather of the previous winter, and the want of material, had prevented any considerable amount of work being done upon it, while the number of trains and amount of tonnage passed over it, was greater than ever before.
   All the available cross-ties and iron contained in the turnouts on the line, had been taken to repair the main track, and the old material taken out of the main track, in the turnouts, and the Road was very unsafe, and, in some places, positively impassable, except at a very low rate of speed. ***** The iron on that portion of the road between the 5th and 27th mile post, viz: 22 miles, was laid during the year 1851, has been in use about fourteen years, and is very much worn and laminated, and is consequently very injurious to the machinery, making it necessary to run the trains at a reduced rate of speed over it. *****
   A large portion of the track, west of Meherrin station, was only partially spiked when laid down; *****

Ditches

   In consequence of the heavy business of the road and limited amount of rolling stock, making it necessary to use all the available motive power to transport passengers and freight, but little ditching had been done on the road during the four years previous. Most of the cuts were filled up level with the rails, and in wretched condition; *****

Bridges

   The bridges over the canal in Richmond, by which the tracks going into the depot were sustained, together with the first section of the James River bridge, (two spans), 280 feet, and the five spans next the South shore, 669 feet, were burnt on the 3d of April last, as previously mentioned. The Iron Bridge, over the Appomattox River, 204 feet in length, was destroyed by the forces under General Ewell on their retreat from Richmond. *****
     Little Roanoke trestle, 160 feet in length, built to replace the bridge over that stream, carried away by a freshet in the Spring of 1864, and destroyed by a force under General Wilson, and afterwards rebuilt, was also destroyed by the Confederate forces. *****

Staunton River Bridge

   This bridge, 613 feet in length, was destroyed by the Confederate authorities about the 12 of April last, after the surrender of General Lee. *****

Buildings, Water Stations, &c.

   As before mentioned, the freight depot at Richmond was destroyed by fire. The depots at Powhatan, Chula, Meherrin, Keysville and Mossingford, had been previously destroyed by fire, and have not yet been rebuilt.*****
   The buildings at Burkeville, which were destroyed in June, 1864, by a force under General Wilson, *****

Locomotive Engines

   On the delivery of the road by the United States military authorities, there were upon the road 19 engines belonging to the Company, purchased previous to 1861; 3 engines purchased of the Confederate Government, 1 rented from the Memphis & Ohio railroad, and 6 from the East Tennessee & Virginia railroad, and 2 from the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad, making 31 in all. *****

Cars

   The stock of cars on the road has been very much diminished by fire, and their being thrown from the track and destroyed during the winter and spring. Some 13 passenger and baggage, and some 4 or 5 freight cars, were destroyed by the accidental burning of the car shed in Manchester in November, 1864. *****

Wood

   The amount of wood consumed on the Road from the 1st day of October, 1864, to the 1st day of April, 1865, was 14,621 cords. ***** Out of the stock of teams and wagons owned by the Company, and employed in hauling wood, seventy-four horses and mules were lost, and twelve wagons were burnt, or destroyed, during the retreat of the Confederate army, and the advance of the United States army.

Transportation

   In consequence of the loss and destruction of the Books and Papers belonging to this Office, during the events which transpired in April last, the various Tables of Tonnage, Passenger, &c., &c., cannot be made out for the last fiscal year.

General Remarks

   As you are aware, I only assumed the duties of this office in the month of March last, and under very extraordinary circumstances. *****
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant
Thomas Dodamead
Superintendent

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