Litchfield enquirer., 1868-08-27
THE CHARACTER OF THE UNION ". PACIFIC RAILROAD.

While every person who has followed the progress of that wonderful undertaking, the Union Pacific Railroad has marvelled at the unparalleled rapidity with which it has been constructed, some have felt skep- tical as the character of the work which was being done with such apparently head long speed. Was it possible to build seven hundred miles of railroad in two years, and do it we'll? Could a railroad from New York to Chicago be we'll built in two years time? And if not here, where all the ap pliances needed were at hand, or could be obtained at day's notice, then how much less in region beyond settlement, beyond civilization, and where laborers, supplies, tools, and all else, except the land upon which the road was built, must be transported hundreds of miles before reaching the spot where they were wanted In short, the question, ''ls the road we'll built?''has been the one for whose satisfac- tory solution many have waited before in vesting their means in the Company's SC. curities, which are libt tral in their provi- sions, and safe beyond peradventure, if an affirmative answer to this question can be fully established.
 Upon this point we must take the testi- mony of personal witnesses, who have been upon the ground and examined the work. Fortunately, an opportunity has just been afforded and improved for a full inspection of the road and it's bebngings. by a party of gentlemen who reIresent the reading and thinking people. Thirty gentlemen, representing as many bf the leading jour- nals of the eastern cites, have Just return ed from trip which included over seven hundred miles of the Union Pacific Rall- road. They had sr recial train at theil disposal, to stop when they wished, torun fast or slow as they might desire, and which gave them far letter opportunity to see both the good parts of the road, and the bad ones-if any exist-than the ordi- nary traveller by regular trains. These witnesses are men of judgment and dlscrln nation, and their personal characters, as we'll as the names of the journals which they represented, are guarantee that they write only what theii convictions dictate Let us see what some of these gentlemen say of the character of the Union Pacific Railroad:
 Hon. Charles A. Dana, of the New Yorl Sun, late Assistant Secretary of War, says
 "A party of thirty gentlemen have just returned from an excursion t( the present terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad at the Rocky Mountains. Thei unanimous opinion is that the road is con structed ill the most thorough and solit manner, and that 1t is superior in firmnes smoothness, and capacity for rapid run ming, to any other new road which the, have ever seen. This is true of the part of the track which were laid only the da, before the excursion train passed eye them, as we'll as those at the eastern end o the line which have been in use for som' two years. The work is well done, both a respects the judgment with which it is lai' out, and the thoro11ghness of it's construc tion; and there is 10 part of it which coul' ous e al and mistaken. ;poes' sa better @ than The editor of the Boston Trauelze, say. Tt IS built Tn the best aud most sul stantlal manner possible, and will compar favorably with any other road in the tn ted States. For new road, I do not It member ever having travelled on its supe rlor. The road is we'll ballasted and exceptin seasons of extreme drought must be comparatively free from dust x
 Few of the old roads of the coun try are so easy to ride over as this ne, one"
 The editor of the Philadelphia Bullet says:
 ''So far from imperfect and superficia workmanship being put upon the road everything indicates determination tha the work now done shall be as durable a human ingenuity and enterprise can mak 1t: The workshops, engine houses an, other structures at Omaha, Cheyenne North Platte and Laramie, are all hand some stone and brick edifces, that vii last without repair or reconstruction fo generations; while the road itself is as sol idly and substantially built as any railroa in America. x In short. the closes scrutiny has failed to detect any signs o hasty or imperfect construction"
 The editor of the N. Y. Express says: ''Firm, solid, substantial, we have nov as fine track as can be found on almos any road in the country, while the travel ing accommodations are full of ease an, comfort x k A visit to the wilds o the Rocky Mountains will convince tn traveller that the Pacific Railroad is neith CT myth nor a Brummagen affair, gottel up for purely speculative purposes. ,
 The editor of the Boston Transcript says
 The Union Pacific is first class road fine graded, thoroughly tied, we'll irone, and ballasted, and substantially bridged.
 The editor of the Baltimore Anaerico says of the road:
 ''It is we'll and substantially built ant ballasted, and rides more easily than two thirds of the roads east of the Mississip pi."
 And again he speaks in the following un qualified commemdation:
 ssI must reserve for another occasion some remarks upon the character of the road, its financial basis, present business and future prospects But it is proper tt say just here that the rumors that have been put afoat at the East that the Com pany is party of spectators, putting dow1 a rude and poorly constructed road, tha will be useless, or nearly so, when com pleted, is falsehood that could only have been deliberately concocted and put in cir culation for reasons which would not bea1 examination. The road is good one, wei and solidly laid, with heavy rail, and twen ty-six hundred cross ties to the mile, over which the cars travel with remarkable smoothness, and the equipments, station houses and workshops of which all show that it is being built for use and not spec ulation.''
 The editor of the New Haven PaAodium says of the most extensive and difficult bridge upon the route.
 s.It is constructed with admirable skill and is capable of bearing weight forty times greater than will ever be placed up- on it. x A careful examination o1 this magnificent structure convinced every member of the party that the marvellous speed with which the road has been built,