Arizona silver belt., 1888-11-17
Railroad Constructioa.

Few people have hau any correct idea of the amount of railway con struction which has been in progress Tn the United States during the pres ent year. The impression which wide ly obtained at the commencement of the year that railway extension had been practically suspended, says the Railway Age, and that 1888 would show very little addition of railway track. seems to have continued. al- though the statement published in this journal for the first six months showed that nearly 400G miles of track had then been laid. The fact that the great companies which added thou sands of miles of new road in 1887 practically ceased construction at the end of that year, for ths time being, seemed to warrant the Anpressien that railway building had practically come to standstill. But while few of the principal companies have been doing much new building stlll work has been quietly in progress on hundreds of short lines all over the land, and al- ready new track has been laid this year Tn every one of the fOrtyseyen States and Territories, with the three exceptions of Rhode Island, Utah and Nevada. and almost GOOD miles of main line have been added to the rail way system of the country since the 1st of January last.
 During the first ten months of the year nam line track was lald in A States and Territories on 28O lines, to the aggregate extent of 579O miles. This shows an addition of 243O miles Tn the four months since eur last state ment. Although comparatively little grading Is done in the greater part of thls country after November 1st, still the last two mon .hs of the year are al- ways marked by a very considerable amount of track-laying, and this will be the case this year, especially if the weather continues favorable. Of tht 28O lines here reported upon at least seventy-fve are still in process eff con struction, while some track will bt laid on few other roads. Looking the field over we venture the estimate that from 120O to 2000 miles more e new track will be added to complete the record of the year, making the to tai new railway mileage of 1888 be tween 1000 and 5000 miles, which vii
 fully justify the estimates made by this journal in the early Spring anC confirmed in its July statement. l
 only 1000 miles are built the record
 for 1888 will still exceed that of al
 but four previous years Tn the historl
 of the country, namely, 1887, st, s.
 and 'S1.
 The States which thus far appear t'
 lead in the amount of new construc
 tion are: California, where no les than thirty new lines have been add ed: Kansas. in spite of it's previou astonishing record of construction
 Georgia, Kentucky; Illinois, altbougl already the State of greatest railwa,
 mileage; Washington Territory, Tex as, Colorado, Alabama and South Car olina, all having thus far exceeded
 200 miles each, and the first two hay
 ing each reached nearly 800 mile; Something may perhaps be learne frem the fact that in the great Stat
 of Iowa, where oppressive Legislation
 against the railways has been carrie to the extreme, only five miles C
 track are thus far reported to hay been laid this year, that mileage bein snly for a local belt railway.