. Harper's New York and Erie rail-road guide book : containing a description of the scenery, rivers, towns, villages, and most important works on the road ; with one hundred and thirty-six engravings by Lossing and Barritt, from original sketches made expressly for this work by William Macleod . and on the left swelling into the great bulk of the Shaiv-angunk Mountain, that heaves skvward its shaven sides. 52 GUIDE-BOOK OF THE This mountain is of an extraordinary character. Thereis not one inch of its eastern side and its summit that isnot of the highest fertility and cultivation, and more so
. Harper's New York and Erie rail-road guide book : containing a description of the scenery, rivers, towns, villages, and most important works on the road ; with one hundred and thirty-six engravings by Lossing and Barritt, from original sketches made expressly for this work by William Macleod . and on the left swelling into the great bulk of the Shaiv-angunk Mountain, that heaves skvward its shaven sides. 52 GUIDE-BOOK OF THE This mountain is of an extraordinary character. Thereis not one inch of its eastern side and its summit that isnot of the highest fertility and cultivation, and more so asyou ascend from the valley, while its western face (soonto be revealed to us) is a mass of rock and forest, much ofit unfit for cultivation, and remaining in a state of primi-tive wildness. A short distance from this interesting viewwe arrive at Otisville (from New York 75^ miles, from Dunkirk384i miles). This is a small village, named after its firstsettler, Isaac Otis, Esq., now a merchant in New has two hotels, and the dwellings on the hill above the ^==^31 ■; .;i -**■■;>. station make a pretty show from the west. It is an im-portant station, having an engine house, &c. ; and then,again, it is the furthest verge of the milk region. Themilk-trains start from this point, and, of course, that factgives additional consequence to the place. We thereforetake a last look at the cans, that have been constantly inour sight thus far. We here find ourselves confronted bythe great Shawangunk ridge, to pass which was for along time considered the great obstacle to the progress ofthe road. A tunnel was first proposed, and was so rec-ommended by a board of engineers, to be 2700 feet inlength, with grades of 40 feet to the mile for the curves, NEW YORK AND ERIE RAIL-ROAD. 53 and 80 feet for the straight sections. This plan wasdeemed the best means to overcome the height of themountains, so much greater on the western side, downwhich it was necessary to pass to the valley
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Keywords: ., bookauthormacleodw, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1851
