The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1867-07-18
: RICHMOND WAYNE. Co., IND.

street fronting the track are thirty 81 :
buildings The depot and warehouses
are overlooking with stores Of all kihls.
Il a1Within twenty miles of the end OF
| the track few Of the party rode on the
COW catcher. It seemed marvellous to
drive on at twenty. miles an hour over
rails that had only been down for ten
days. But the perfection with which the
work is done allows it, and makes it safe
It was exhilerating in the extreme, thus
under the flags which streamed on either
side, to rush over these prairies SO late
| ly bound with links of iron to the en-
pire OF the East. 10 sgAa $ soss
Three hundred and twenty five miles
out, construction train of eight cars
stood on side track. It was loaded
with iron, ties, spikes and chains, in ex-
actly such proportions as were needed.
Itlooked the very embodiment of sy stem
and was one key to the rapidity with
! which the work progresses. A little
farther on stood similar train, and next
we stopped in rear Of the one where the
tracklayers resided. Seventy six hours
swift riding had brought us to this goal
The hills of Colorado were in plain sight
San Francisco was nearer than Boston.
"The road had been a constant won
der from the start. It's depots, its car
shops, its equipment, its remarkable
| smoothness, its high rate of speed, its
long bridges, and its we'll ordered eating
houses, bad attracted constant attention
to it as a railroad alone.
Every stea trod revealed new won
ders. The great achievement grew mp
ward toward its real proportions with
every throb of the engine. But all we
saw was commonplace and natural beside
the scene that awaited us where the
track was laid. If the rest had excited
amazement, this new wonder took all the
attributes of magic. Fictions of the
East must he rewritten to match the re-
alities Of this West.
HOW THE ROAD Is BUILT.
"The plain fact will reveal the magni-
tude of the work. There is really little
known by the people of the character Of
the enterprise Most think that COM
pany of capitalists are hastily putting
down rude track, over which cars can
be moved with care, for the purpose of
securing lands and money from the Gov
ernment. The fact is that one OF the
most complete roads of which the coun-
try can boast, with equipments that sur
pass many. is, being laid with speed
that fails to impress the nation, simply
because it is not believed. But let the
| facts tell their plain yc. wonderful story.
&c &c emerald. s. and ID. C.. Easement, Of
Ohio, grade the road, lay the track, and
! put up the telegraph. The graders go
first There are 1000 of them. Their
advance is near the Beach Hills, and
| their work is done to Julesburgh
"Of tie-getters and wood-choppers
there are 1900 Their axes are re-
sounding in the Black Hills, over Lara
| mie Plains, and in the passes Of the
Rocky Mountains. They have 100, 900
ties in these hills awaiting safeguards
! for trains to haul them. Then follow
the tie layer carefully performing their
share of the work.
Now go back twenty miles on the
road and look at the immense construct
ion trains loaded with ties and rails, and
all things needed for the work. 1t is like
the grand reserve of an army. Six miles
| back are other trains Of like character.
These are the second line. Next, near
the terminus. and following it hour 10y
hour, are the boarding cars and a con-
strIetion train which answer to the actu-
al battle line. The one is the camp; the
other is the ammunition used in the
fight The boarding cars arc each
eighty feet long. Some are fitted with
herths two are dining halls; one is a
kitchen, store room and Office.
The boarding cars go in advance
| They are pushed to the extremity Of the
track; a construction train then runs up,
| unloads its material and Starts back 10
| bring another from the second line The
boarding train is then run back till it has
cleared the unloadcd materal.
"Thc trucks, each drawn by two
horses, ply between the track lay ers and
their supplies. One of these tracks
takes or load of rails, about forty,
with the proper proportion of spikes
and chairs, making q load. when the
hores are started off on a full gallop for
the track layers. On each side of these
trucks are rollers to facilitate running
off the iron.
"The rails within reach, parties of
five men stand on either side. One in
the rear throws rail upon the rollers,
three in advance seize it. and run out
with it to the proper distance. The
chairs have, meanwhile, been set under
the last rails placed. The two men in
the rear, with a single swing, force the
end of the rail into the chair, and the
chief of the squad calls out Down. in
a tone that equals the . Forward to an
army. Every thirty seconds there came
that brave Down. Down. on either
side the track. They were the pendulrm
beats of mighty era; they marked the
time of the march and its regulation