The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-12-06
A BABY RAILROAD.
c,,p.sinE. .Iuso the cteuds on ti.e Fir.,
sarrow-Ssu Baisrsad in Ameriea.

snrro,y-ss sauEe Bafsread In Amerte..-
From Cucharss the main line of the
Kio Grande road strikes directly for the
mountains and crosses the sangre de
Christie range. As wessgob bounding over
the plains toward thepsss-the Spanish
Peaks-two giant twin-mountains stand
out in all their majesty to our left
Both Of them lia their heads above tim
Der line, the one being 1920 feet, aud
the other IL, $50 feet high. at the Mexi-
can town of Ls Veta We commence the
no grade. From this point q heavier
engine, built expressly for mountain
climbing, taxes our trxin. Iu the next
fourteen miles we must mount up en-
cur trail" Of steel 2.4eO feet, and then
sweep down the Otheraiae Of the mount
ain into the Rio Cry VALLEY. Atojo
the trcnaenAsRs e. ~ coi a la.-l.s >.
From here the gradsrs sleeper and our
speed slower and more cautions. First
We mount up the steep side OF Vets
Mountain, the towering summi' Of which
we have to lean out of our ca: window
to see. Higher and higher climbs the
train, sleeper and sleeper gpws tue
grade, until there is rise of 2li feet 10
the mile. Our brave little engine,
WITH sIEEws OF STEEL AND BRE4TH or
FIRE,
And voice OF thunder, Puffs and pills ss
il IN an sgony. Now we begin to climb
the Mule Shoe Bend. We are ol one
end of it. Look yonder across the nsr-
row deep valley to our left. Do ycl see
that road looking like little rockysheli
running up the rocky mountain ide {?
That is he other end of the ''shoe' 1t
Is hundreds OF feet above US, bu our
train will be up there half an hour lence
What shoe, over mile long on each
side, and one end 500 feet above the
other And what must the mule have
been? Slowly up and up we go, dOdg-
ing the precipices, aud swinging round
the mountain curves, in the STEADY pull,
until we reach the toe of our great shoe.
Here we swing round from the Vets to
the Dump Mountain, on the shArpest
curve known in railroad building.
Still up and up we climb on the tre-
mendous grade, as if it were
IN 4 BALLOON INSTEAD OF A RAILROAD
TRAIN.
At last the dizzy height OF Inspiration
Point is resched. Chow magnificent %
shouts a fellow Traveller. How lovely !"
says another. ''How fgightiul % whis-
pers third, and no wonder. This Is the
Dump OF Dump Mountain, the "Cspe
Horn" OF the pass. Wa are swinging
round the brow OF TIE promontOGy, and
from our car-window we can look over
the verge of the precipice into the abyas
below, and Oft upon tcene magnificent
beyond description The valley up
which we started, The Veta Mouatain,
along whj.h, hundreds OF ieet helow uz.
we can trace our track, the spsnish
peaks looking more majestic than ever
from this lofty standpoint, and the vast
plain, on the bOeom of which nesiles lit
tie Veta all together form
ONE OF THE GRANDEsT PANoRAMAs
This earth affords. "This must be the
summit ?' No, We are not ct the
highest point yet. Stillwe must go on
and on, winding upward through the
defiles, among the rocks, and past places
rather trying to delicate nerves Bat
among the scores of twists and turns we
feel a sense of perfect ssfety Tne -Ioad-
bed is solid, the system Of brakes so per-
feet, and the train so well managed, we
do not think OF danger. This is a
crooked" but not 'perverse genera
tion" of railroads. At last, well up
among the clouds, the echo of the engine
whistle reverberating among the noun
tain peaks announces that We are st the
summit, 9,339 feet above the sea. This
is point more than loco feet higher
than has been reached by any other rail
road ON the continent, point 5000 ieet
higher than the summit OF old Mount
Washington, the loitiest mountain IN all
New England The company have just
reason to be proud of such marvellous
achievement in railroad engineering. And
now we are in for
4 FIFTEEN MILE SLIDE DOWN HILL,
With double brakes grssping the wheels,
and the train men watching with extra
ordinary care, we glide safely and
and smoothly down the western slope.
'Let the engine take bresth,
1t mas nothing 10 do,
For the law that swings world
VIII whirl tn traia through.
Streams OF FIRE from the wheel
Like flashes from fougtsips
And the dizzy train reefs.
Asit sweeps down the mountains.'
From Garland, at the foot OF the
mountain, long level pull OF thirty
miles over part of the great San Luis
Park, brought us TO new railroad town
on the bank of the Rio Grande. bearing
the musical name of Alamoso. Thia i
one Of the baby towns OF the baby
railroad" 1t is only six months old
and yet has near thousand inbabitart
Like Jonah's gourd, it sprang up in :
night. Thia town is the nearest rail
rosa station to that new and rich f
Dorado, the San Juan gold and silver
mining region. Hence the Denver snt
Rio Grande Road controls the trade auc
travel TO these mines.
Population of Some Big Cities
The population of the great cities o
..or e.f ,>.-....-.:.I :