, 1873-01-17
RAILROAD NEWS.
Snow on the Union Pacific
= -~r~~--~~ Railroad.
The New System of Snow Pro-
tection,. and What Has
Led to 1t. =,

lection, and What Has
| Led to It. =, i: ..
| o11AHA, Jan. II, 1873.
10 tie Editor et TIE Chicago Tribune:
Sm: In the sumnar OF 1871 the vritor spent
| several weeks on the Union Pacific Road,
stopping day or two, and in fow instances,
several days, at the moro interesting localities.
| On the mountain division, the most striking
among the improvements then in progress ro-
| lated to system by which it was expected that
| the numerous snow-sheds erected during the
construction Of the road would be almost
wholly dispensed with Tho management al
ready appreciated the snow problem, and were
dealing with it vigorously, and in such maunar as
the observations OF the pioneers for many
ycara, aud their own experience since the OPEN
ing Of tho road, suggested as the most adequate.
In March, 1869, during the construction OF this
portion of. the road, and before its equipment
| WAS adequate even to known emergencies, the
| line was blockaded for twenty-eight days and
| tho sheds and fences erected during the season
following we're fully expected to preclude the
possibility Of any aouous blockade in the FUTURE
| THE SYSTEM FIRST ADOPTED.
| The result, during the winter Of 18G9-'70, was
entirely satisfactory, the only delay occ,eioned
by the SNOW being ono OF twelve hours. Mean
while, the general course Of the enow-stoEms
| and wind-cuzrents continued to be noted, and
| all tended to verify tho rulo that ''winter in
earnest" was not to be looked for before Februa-
/ ~ OF March; also, that winter winds aud storms
cameinvariably from one general direction. These
| conclusions were, however, rudely disproved
by the great storm-or, rather, series Of storms
oftha winter OF 1871-'72 It exceeded in severity
ali storms previously known; it came two or
threo months earlier, and its direction was e1-.
actly opposite to that which had already OBJ
tanned, and egainst storms from which adequate
protection had, it WAS supposed, been provided
The conclusion had been arrived ut tint snoB-
fences were superior to sheds, aud during the
working season OF 1871 forty miles Of fence had
been put up. Arrangements had also bcon
made aud work was in progress, looking to the
substitution of fences for sheds along the entire
division, except at the two summit stations. In
place OF the sheds, cuts were to bc oxcayated,
and those already existing wore to be enlarged
to width Of about sixty feet; and these were
to be planked, on tho storm-side, with system
Of parallel lines OF fence that should form 1.
perfect barrier against the snow. On
several Of these cuts, excavation Was in progress
at the dato OF our visit; and q single specimen
will serve to illustrate tho difficulty and cost Of
the work. On June 16, 1871, work began on =
cut 800 feet in length, and on Sept. II it WAS
enlarged from it's original width Of 20 feet to
. uniform width of IS feet, and to an average
depth Of Ia feet. During the month Of August,
2,000 car loads had been taken out and OF this
more than one-half had been blasted from the
rocky side Of the cut. There wore employed On
this work twenty men, and the expense amount
cd to 900 per month. It was by work such
as thiB-slow, difficult, and costly-that It
WAS hoped to dispense with snow-sheds at all tho
cuts except thoseat the two great su1nuits Of
range over which the road passed.
LAST WINTERS BLOCKADE.
The Assistant Superintendent Of the road, a
man thoroughly qualified by energy, endur-
ance, and knowledge Of the physical
cbaraeteristica Of the road, for the emergency
which lay before him, had started, Dec. 10,
1871, on stated tour OF inspection. He en-
countered the great storm at Hillsda1e, but sue-
deeded in pushing through to Laramie, opening
the road to that place. Before single train,
however, could run over this portion OF the
road, .te storm was renewed with unexampled
derconess, and finally became continuous from
Cheyenne to Rawiius, 200 miles. It thus kept
VA 0Al+AA Aot3s 0A4-
ing this whole period, night and dry, us we'll as
IN a still later severe storm, tl,ere was nm incas-
..rt mh,tt,a ~ tto a;ant." " ali s1ono tha 1;na
o 11u1 Ds't,o - wv e4a'1a Aa "1one .ne 1no .,
Here we're d11fts, thirty 1eef deep packing 1uu
the heaviest cuts, as fast as the largest force
that could work dug aud plovcd it ont: there.
tba anovv covo-ai ia 1o,v. hod nv -n;1.s n
s.,:a ~H,;.,. ~. ,.tN.s1'.-:.,. - ~. ...-,
son" "ase' WINCH nao 10 oe CUT uanss elsely WIKI
trenches eight feet apart, so that tho snow
plows could remove it block by
block. The Dackine Of the snow vas ita most
a-+roord;n.,v fe,trro T. hi r,a;thar ham
1rozcn into an icy mass, nor become mixed With
aand, as stories in vogue represented. It had
fallen, not in "aakcs," but in crystals, minute
like atoms and these. cold and drv. sunk into
r,.as 1i1-a +hat ~ tha snns+ ~1,;.a Iva - 49,
= masS nhe eiA1 VI .ne 1iness ""to sano on TUG
beach. BLOCKS OF 1t "ere taken to Laramie and
weighed by Dr. Lothian, and it was found that
this dry snow was two-thirds the weight Of