The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-15
WITH EASY GRADES.
Great Northern viii Have a
Short, Level Road.
ENGINEER wATson's JOURNEY.
He Tells NJ His Observations I'm . Rids
Along the Koute-The Column
bfa River Bridge.

WI Watson. formerly principal assistant en-.
einser Of the Great Northern railroad. has Just
returned from a Nie On hossebaeE over tns
route Of the Great Northern FROM ssrd Point 70
Eenstehee, . distance Of over 90 miles, ana
speaks In high praise Of the line "a finally 10
Gated. He ssid Of his trip:
left Sand Point on April and was seeorn.
panied BIZ Mr. Becker, tie Chief eng nssf, tDOts
81 tbs war, reaching wenstchee On TIE IN
There 10 q large force Of men 3. TofK a. slonz
tie Line from the crossing Of tos C1iHia Dls RIVER
nstcbse 10 the summit. was not let when vas
over there, but all the BIDS ha1 been iorT
east, ana the contracts are probably ist y Wis
tine Mr Hill says he will have the road paiit
TO the summit Of the Cascades BY November I
a switchpsek will Be used over tbs summit
while the tunnel, which IL LOO isst Long, -
being bored. This work viii probably taxa
The Great northern gets from Ct Paul 70
within twenty-six miles OF the summit o. We
Rockies with s.lo per cent grade. ~ then
reaches the summit with per cent, crosses
without tunnel and comes down with ! ~
Per cent. 20 the waters of tie flatheEd. he
new town Of Kallspeli 10 ia the Fistnssd Talsy
north Of the lake. The road then goes over The
summit bet ween the waters Of the FIashsed Ald
the Kootensi with a 5-I9 per eent. grade ;or Ten
miles on each side. From tie hssdEstsrs OF
the K0otensi down the Ko0tensi canyon, across
70 the Pend a. 0fe!lls and down that river
nearly 70 spokane, distance Of 10 railss, hey
have only go per cent grade ms Is
HGNQerfut pitft HDfEs lDs bDS EDcb- EA4&s -
between mountains all the way. The road then
goes down into spokane with per cent
grade They are Temporarily making II ID yer
cent, but Will maze dscp CIT 70 Iecnee u,
and the material taken out viii b. pat into the
yards at SPOKANE. These yards ~lI DC On ne
south side Of the river, which the road Will
cross twice within mile.
From Spokane west they hare sixteen miles Of
1per cent line TO near Medical lake, and then for
about 10 miles, all the way down Crab creek.
they have descending grade varying 81 about
49, taaf sf to uradr
the foot OF Badger mountain there j. twenty
miles OF pr cent line. The foot Of this grade
is q; the mouth Of the Moses C0ulse, which Is
left " the north Along the Columbia come
very heavy work is encountered, for iSrre Will
be four tFestles 10 feet bigh and from 600 20 lo1
fee; long.
Across the Columbia two lines have been To-
Gated. One crosses On natural rock with steel
cantileref span Of about 400 feet, and another u
shout rs feet, the depth Of water being eighty 70
100 feet. The other line would require oe span Of
e. !eet and two short spans Of about sixty iee-,
eaeh 70 cross the euiire river, which is there
about fifty feet deep Ire former plan would re-
quirs the construction OF great deal Q! tempo
raFy lue. The bridge will Laxe about six months
10 build, 30 the road will cross for time on q
Temporary wooden combination bridge, and the
permanent. bridge Will be built on top OF this.
Up the wera;ehee the road will be practically
Level 10 about icieie postofjce, seventeen miles
northwsst OF Nenatehee. and then has broken
2 per cent grade 10 the summit After leaving
the tunnel on this side there is twenty Six miles
nearly all 6-lo pGr cent, except one Or Two bits
OF per cent velocity grade-tta. IL, where q
train can make up for lost speed going up grade
By increased speed going down.
The maximum grade Of ~ per cent on this
SIDE OF the Cascade summit is the standard
maximum on all the great tTsnscontneutsi
roads. IL was adopted BY the Union Pacific
from one Of the Eastern roads and was taken by
the Northern Pacific from the Union.
Tho Crest Northern viii have g line thirty
miles shorter than the Northern Pacific 70
Spokane and 100 mics shorter 10 Seattle, though
the Northern Pacific could shorten its line that
much. The Northern Pacific, however. has 4
nutnber Of bad grades on its line where they
might have been avoided. 1t is cutting down
those east OF Spokane, near Granite, to 81 per
cent, and could cut down others. The Great
Northern will be able 10 make beat.r time from
81. Paul than the Northern Pacific: in fact. 10
beats the Northern Pacific into Helena by sew
eral hours, though IL has shorter line.
Along the KoOtcnai valley there 10 some
heavy ROCK work The river runs through
great canyon which rises in benches az each
aide, and the road follows thess benches. From
Spokane west IL runs through rolling prairie,
until II strikes Badger mountain. Prom there
northwarc Ia 9 plateau 5000 sest above the Sea,
while the country fails OF rapidly 70 the south
towards snake river, aud seems 70 De filed with
the debris from the Columbia North OF Crab
creek the mountains rise about go feet 20 the
plateau, while on the south bank are small hills
and then STEADY slope southwark.