Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 12: Land Use
Laden Trail
1917 Report of Fox & Peck Engineers

LAND USE Laden Trail Report of Fox and Peck Engineers 1917

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TAGS: The Road, Laden Trail Road, Fox & Peck Engineers, Pine Mountain Road, Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Shell Gap, surveying, Harlan County KY, road construction, engineering, expense reports

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CONTENTS: Laden Trail Report of Fox and Peck Engineers 1917

Page 1 [road_prospect_1917_foox_peck_001]

REPORT OF FOX & PECK ENGINEERS, ON THE PINE
MOUNTAIN ROAD, HARLAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY.

We were engaged in September 1917 by Judge John Ward of Harlen, Ky. with the approval of Miss Ethel DeLong, now Mrs. Luigi Zande, to locate a wagon road from a point near the Pine Mountain Settlement School crossing Pine Mountain to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, at $7.50 per day and expenses for one of us and our usual charges for assistants to make the survey. Our customary charge for such work is $15.00 per day and expenses, but knowing personally, the good work this school is doing, and the hard work the teachers had raising the money to construct the road, we made the reduction in our price, and we wish to state that all the time we were working on the road, that owing to the scarcity of labor, we were compelled to neglect and in some cases lose work that was much more profitable to us.

As the top of Pine Mountain at Shell Gap, the lowest point we could find, is 1350 feet above the railroad and only 750 feet above the School and also that (the South) side is very rough and much broken, we commenced work on the South side of the Mountain. Starting from Shell Gap we ran four trial lines on a grade of 7 1/2 percent but were compelled to abandon them on account of the high cost of construction; we then went to a Gap, about 3/4 of a mile West of Shell Gap and attempted a line from that point but found the mountain more broken than at the first place. We then returned to Shell Gap and started our sixth line which we succeeded in getting through at an average of, approximately, 7 per cent with no adverse grades and about four miles long. We then ran a line down

…down on the North side of the Mountain to a point on the County road, about one half mile west of the school. This line is two and one-half miles, making the total length of the road 6 1/2 miles. In making this survey, we used only chain and level, as we wanted only the distance and grade, and in our opinion this was the most economical way of doing the work. We ran 16 miles, but at 13 1/2 miles was… 

Page 1a [road_prospect_1917_foox_peck_002]

…down on the North side of the Mountain to a point on the County road, about one-half mile west of the school. This line is two and one half miles, making the total length of the road 6 1/2 miles. In making this survey, we used only chain and level, as we wanted only the distance and grade, and in our opinion, this was the most economical way of doing the work. We ran 16 miles, but at 13 1/2 miles was… 

Page 2 [road_prospect_1917_foox_peck_003]

…through very thick bush and we were not able to get sufficient labor, our progress was necessarily slow. We took cross-sections of this line and an approximate estimate of cost of construction, which was submitted at that time, and not knowing that the state was to have anything to do with the road, we estimated the cost of Engineering and Inspections at $2500.00. When we were engaged to make this survey, it was understood that we should also superintend the construction of the road. We did not intend to do any more surveying except to put in stakes for the cuts and fills, as our line followed the contours of the mountain and we did not think it necessary to run in the curves with an instrument as there were so many of them and they were so short. In November, 1917, after the work had been done, we received a letter from Mr. Wiley, the Road Commissioner of Kentucky, saying that he was sending us “Bulletin No. 9” which is a book of “Instructions to Engineers Making Road Surveys”. In March of the following year we sent men to make the survey. They ran a transit line over our location and made map of same showing the angles, branch crossing, etc., but did not run the curves in on the ground, because the Department’s Bulletin No. 9 directed that the final center line be located after the plans were drawn. Our survey was not accepted by the Road Commissioner, who wrote us that the curves would have to be run in on the ground.

We sent our men back in June, 1917, and ran in the curves, referenced points at every five or six hundred feet and took cross-sections at every station and intermediate points when necessary. As about five miles of the line was through very thick brush it required a good deal of brush cutting, not only on the location, but in referencing the hubs, and taking cross-sections. This survey was completed in July. We made map, profile and estimate of this line for a twenty-foot road bed. Just before completing the…

Page 2a [road_prospect_1917_foox_peck_004]

…estimate, on August 3rd, 1918, we received a letter from Mrs. Zande saying that Mr. Wiley had agreed to narrow the road materially. Following our Book of Instructions, this would require another cross-section of the road and an estimate of the same. We wrote Mrs. Zande to this effect.

FOX & PECK, ENGINEERS
By (signed) H.E. Fox
Big Stone Gap, Va.
March 31st, 1919.

Page 3 [road_prospect_1917_foox_peck_005]

Expenses for March, April and May 1918.

March 16 – March 17	One auto fare to Station One train fare to Harlan, Ky Lodging & Breakfast Middlesboro Fare Harlan to Dillion (sic, Dillon) Fare Dillion to B.S.G. Supper & Auto 3 1/2 days board @ $1.00 per day Dinner & Supper at Harlan	.25 3.45 1.50   .30 3.75   .75 3.25 1.00________	$14.25
April 11th – April 14th	H.E.F. Expense to Dillion Board 1 day To Pineville Supper & Lodging To Big Stone Gap auto	5.50 1.00 1.55 1.50 2,25   .25________	$12.05
April 21st	H.E.F. Train fare to Dillion & Hotel Board To Harlan Hotel at Harlan Ticket to B.S.G. auto	5.50 .75 .30 2.00 3.44   .25________
	3 men Pineville to Dillion 1 fare Dillion to Pineville 2 fare Dillion to B.S.G 2 Auto		12.24 3.90 1.30 7.50  .50_________
	81 days board at $1.00 @ day Total Expenses			51.74  81.00_______ 132.74
	Transitman 21 days @ $5.00 Local men 28 1/2 days @ 3.00 Men 72 1/2 days @2.00 Office  81 days @ 5.00 H. E. Fox 5 days @ 7.50			105.00 85.50 143.00 90.00 37.50______ 593.74

Page 4 [road_prospect_1917_foox_peck_006]

Expenses for June, July, and August 1918.

June 2d – June 3d	H.E. Fox	Auto to station Fare to Pineville 2 meals at Pineville Fare to Frankfort 3 meals at Frankfort Fare to B.S.G. Breakfast Auto	.25 2.19 1.50 4.75 2.00 6.93   .50   .25____	18.37
June 9th – July 12th		4 auto to station 4 fares to Dillion (sic, Dillon) 2 at Hotel Pineville 1 fare Pineville to Dillion 1 fare Dillion to Pineville H.E. Fox Dillion to B.S.G. Supper & auto Fox & two men Auto Station 3 fares to Dillion Hotel Pineville 1 fare Dillion to BGS Supper & auto H.E. Fox fare to Harlan Hotel Self & 3 men to Dillion 3 fares to Harlan 4 fares to B.S.G. 4 suppers 4 autos	1.00 15.00   3.00   1.30   1.49   3.86     .75     .75 11.58   4.50   3.86     .75     .30   2.50   1.20     .90 15.44   2.00   1.00____	71.18___
		Board at Chad Lewis Board at Pine Mt. School Board at Henry Creech Total Expense “ “ H.E. Fox 27 days @ $7.50 “ “ Transmitman 30 days @ 5.00 “ “ Assistants 55 days @ 3.00 “ “ Assistants 105 days @ 2.00 “ “ Office 52 days @ 5.00			89.55 148.65   17.75   10.50___ 266.45 150.00 165.00 210.00 260.00___ 1253.95

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GALLERY: Laden Trail Report of Fox and Peck Engineers 1917

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SEE
DANCING IN THE CABBAGE PATCH: Laden Trail or The Road [BLOG]
LADEN TRAIL or THE ROAD – Prospectus and history and other links.
LADEN TRAIL or THE ROAD CORRESPONDENCE Part I – 1916–1919
LADEN TRAIL or THE ROAD CORRESPONDENCE Part II – 1920-1921
LADEN TRAIL or THE ROAD Photo Gallery

See Also:

CELIA CATHCART 1916 Road Correspondence
CELIA CATHCART 1917 Road Correspondence [in process]
CELIA CATHCART 1918 Road Correspondence
CELIA CATHCART 1919 Road Correspondence I
CELIA CATHCART 1919 Road Correspondence II
CELIA CATHCART 1920 Road Correspondence I
CELIA CATHCART 1920 Road Correspondence II

Published 2018-06-29 hw

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