The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-07-13
IN RAILWAY CIRCLES.
Colonel Dodge Says the Rio Grande Western
May Run to the Coast.

Colonel D. C. Dodge, the Rio Grande
Westerns manager, gave San Francisco
Post reporter the following interview
lately:
what about the Rio Grande Western!''
"Well, as you doubtless know, the name
of this road was changed from the Denver
& Rio Grande Western to the Rio Crande
Western on June 20, at which time new
organization was effected. The charter of
! the old company did not suffer the construc-
| ton to extend beyond the limits of Utah,
or what is known as the state line, being
! the boundary line between Colorado and
Utah, and hence we have never been able
| to get into Colorado or any other state or
territory; therefore we have had only a
local line running from the state line into
Ogden. The charter of the new company
permits construction in the states of Color
ado and California and in the territories of
Utah and Nevada. The reorganization
does not affect the directory or manage
ment General Palmer and Colonel d. G.
Dodge, the original spirits of the enter
prise, still retaining control
CLEARING THE DECKS.
is the gauge not being changed to stand
ard! asked the reporter.
"Oh, yes" was the reply. sit is one
half accomplished already; besides which
there have been Seventy-hve miles of new
road laid, shortening the line considerably,
strengthening many curves and placing all
the tracks above high water mark. We
have one of the finest and most substantial
road-bedS in the west
"Then YOU expect in some way to have a
transcontinental IineEn
I'VE hope to have. The Midland, as you
know, is built broad gauge from Denver to
New Castle, station on the Grand river,
in Colorado, some forty miles this side of
Leadville. The stockholders of the Mid
land and of the D. & Il. G. proper are
principally Englishmen, and in one or two
instances the composition of the directory
is identical in each road. The obiectin
changing our road to broad gauge was to
have the gauge correspond to that of the
Midland, and the latter will be constructed
the eighty miles from down the river to
close up the gap, and thus give US Il mag
nificent road from Denver TO Ogden. This
eighty miles will be built by either one of
the three lines, or all jointly. 1t has not
yet been decided as to which company will
take the lead in this new enterprise. You
may add that the broad gauge of the Rio
Grande Western will be built to Ogden by
December of the present year"
LOOKING WE WARD.
what, then, will be your plans forex
tension to the coast?"
~ can't say at present. Surveys have
been made from Salt Lake to the Califor
MIA line running south of the Central Pa |
citic on an average of about 200 miles, |
through mostly mining towns of Utah and |
Nevada. The engineers reports have all |
been most favorable. They say that the |
road will run through paying country |
outside of the first 100 miles west of Salt |
Lake. AS soon as a decision is reached |
about this part of the programme, the road |
can be constructed within twelve months.
1t will be practically impossible to shorten
up the distance from Salt Lake to San
Francisco so far as the Central Pacific is
The engineers tells us that ours
will be the better line of the two in the
matter of grades, and of course you recog-
nize what this means.''