Bellevue gazette. [volume] (Bellevue City, N.T. [i.e. Neb.]) 1856-1858, 1858-03-25

plain rails can be laid without grading.
TIE sup 1rslructure can progress. at the
rate Of one lnlie per day, or faster if cir.
cumstances Justify the additional expense,
a light rail road, over which rains can
pass with facility, and even at a high rate
of speed, would thus reach Fort Laramie
in less han three years. and become the
initiative or p%reliminary step toward the
building Of a railroad of a. more PONDER
Gus class, either for the transportation Of
Pacific commerce, or as adapted to the in
creased business Of the line when devel-
oped by settlements.
The class or medium Of the prelimin-
airy or light railroad would be governed
by circumstances. But under the present
contingency of the Mormon war, and the
absolute necessity Of SOM rapid aud eff
feclive means of military transportation
to be Immediately applied, | would advise
the preliminary use OF as light a rail as
40 pounds per yard. The natural gra-
dieiri of Inc HATE Valley, Of s fcc;ip per
mile, does not require weighty tread of
locomotives ITO procure adhesion !" and
as very light engines can thus he made
of use, q heavy rail is not required.
The rail of 40 pounds per yard is east
err laid than that Of go pounds, the class
now in general use for light roads. Two
men can readily handle and place the
lighter rail and adjust chairs at joints,
while in cold weather the laying of heav-
Ter rails is q more ponderous and tedious
operation. One third of the t%ransporta-
ton is saved by the use of the lighter
rail. If laid in the winter upon Ice,
snow, or frozen earth, when the SUPER
sir lcture settles out of line and level dd-
ring spring thaws it can be brought TO
surface again by shimming and chucking
for the passage of locomotives, and by
the use Of the weighty lever bars used in
repairs; while to place a heavier rail in
running order after it is bent over uneven
surface, it is often necessary 10 take up
the road that the bars may be s~traighten-
ed by a machine Tie light rail, there
fore, is preferable 10 the weighiy one, be-
cause it is cheaper; because, with the
same cost of transportation, a third more
length of rail can he furnished aud laid
i'll a shorter space Of time because, when
out of surface, it is easier brought TO- line
and level and because, when IN opera
ton, it will, from the nature of the route,
permit the performance of all ihata heavi-
er rail would admit of doing. Such rails
can be procured in quantity at various
points along the western nayigable rivers,
and can be deposited by water transpor-
tation, without breaking bulk, al, the
mouth of the Platte. Working parties
being kept in advance of the line Of Su-
pers,ructure, dressing the surface, making
the necessary small water drains aud pre-
pairing the, cottonwood cross-ties for ser
vice, during the summer season the road
could progress very rapidly. Even IN
winter, 10y the use Of houses upon wheel,
and ,urn-outs, the road could progress.
Thirty miles beyond Fort Laramie, the
broken and undulatlng surfaces of the
Black Hills are encountered, precluding
the use of the preliminary iron road with
econo Y, unless by the laying of a weigh.
ly rail, and the application of the high
grade locomotive. 1t is not advisable tc
attempt the expense of transporting heavy
railsto this part Of the road, 10 be work.
ed at high cost and eventually renewed
even if the nation could wait for 1t, wher
,here are more applicable means of solv.
ing the question. -Nethersis III expedi
V ent to postpone the development Of the
route by rail, until a graded road couIc
! pass through this broken section by re
duclion of surface. i propose, therefore
that on the eohmencenlent Of the ligh
! iron road at the Missouri river, steam
saw-mils and ~pile-drvers shall be trans
d ported by wagon frantic the entrance o
n the Black Hills, and a simple, pillng road
4 elevated above the surface of line earth
: as circumstances require, shall > 'persed'
l wagon and precede steam transportation
i this road to consist of sawed woodel
i rails, and be worked by draught animal
for the transportation of mails, passen
gers, military supplies, and troops. Thri
:, the great timbered regions of the uppe
q Wahsatch Mountains this road could pro
gress very rapidly.
h Along the whole line all subsequer
4 works of construction could be carried o
with economy and dispatch, from tn
cheap and effective transportation afford
e ed. There is hardlS a large public wor
IS in the United States attempted or bul
e without the use of the wooden rail. l.
northern Maine and Wisconsin raftin,
y waters and 'log-driving'' streams ar
o united, and sections of country %offerin
great natural obstacles TO their extensio
t are thrown open by wooden railroad,
to when the iron road is inapplicable or to
expensive. When constructed, iron rail
and locomotives could be carried upon tn
le one named, at very low cost, to the fla
A. plains of Humboldt river, $50 miles i
a length, and extending to The eastern SCI