The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-20
8 CoIorndn Roah.

The Colorado, Wyoming and Great
Northern doesn't seem to be composed of
the ordinary material, says the Denver
News. Its early history is as surprising
as 1t is satisfactory. Through the energy
OF Denver men, the bonds for building the
road have been placed and it is confident
~ expected that before the close of the
present year the entire line of 200 miles
VIII De IN operation While many persons
IN Colorado were dolefully shaking their
neadS and bowling calamity, a. few in
donnnltable men, fired by faith in the
wonderful resources of the state, ham,
nered steadily away and it is now an
nounced that bonds to the amount of
$5,OOO,OOO have been placed and work will
be prosecuted with all possible diligence
on the proposed line.
The Little Book Cliff road, leading
northWard from Grand Junction to Car
penter, "a coal station twelve miles dis
rant, formed the nucleus upon which the
colorado, Wyoming and Great Northern
was founded. The Book Cliff road has
peen IN operation four years. The line
showed a profit of about 10 per cent. on
the capital StOck-a showing that many
d dnore pretentious railway company
would haYe been glad to duplicate. Up
wards of $50 tons of biturninous coal was
mined and sold daily last year, and the
total earnings reached $4,000. The success
o. the little narrow gauge road at the
Grand Junction outlet went a, long ways
toward enhSting the favorable attention
OF capitalists, and when the proposition
was IN shape to be presented the cause
was already half won.
MIR. Saltiel stated last evening that all
financial arrangements have been COM
pleted and survey corps are now in the
Held whose reports wild provide for full
eSclrgates upon the standaTd-gauge line.
w ork OF construction will begin at sew
eral points along the line a5s the same
time.
As piece of rapid work in raising a
large sum of money the transaction is
one of the most remarkable ever known
IN the state. The road will open up a.
new country tributary to Denver
Twelve miles of the line are in operation
and the entire system is bonded at S15, 900
a mile. At Grand Junction the road will
connect with the Denver & Rio Grande
and Rio Grande Western, and at the
northern terminus the road will connect
with the main line of the Union Pacific
The country Through which the route is
surveyed is noted for its fruit and grain
and abounds In coal beds, deposits of lead,
gold, silver and copper, marble,
ochre and different varieties Of iron
ore are found along the line, and
the timber resources are the finest in the
state and have scarcely been encroaCh I'd
upon by the hand of man. The railway
company already owns its coal supply,
having several veins well developed with
nearly two miles of underground CALLER
les 1t is claimed the mines can produce
The company also controls coke ovens
which have been operated at their full
capacity for months past.
The road traverses the valleys of the
White and Yampa rivers and viii pass
through regions whose fertility has at
tracted settlers of the most desirable
class. Lumber. stone and asphalt pro-
duction only 4 await the laying of rails to
afford highly profitable traffic. The
road will furnish the farmers of the
White river valley an outlet for their
crops: Heretofore the OILY means OF
reaching a market was by wagon, for q
distance of seventy-tive to one hundred
miles. 1t is proposed to establish the
terminus of the first division at Douglass
creek and White river. The second diYis-
ion will tap all the country north from
Rangely to Green river, including the VAL
ley of the Yampa and It's tributaries. Valu-
able mineral deposits and the fine forests
on both sides of Green river. The
scenery is said to be unsurpassed in the
state for beauty and grandeur The road
is essentially a mountain road. 1t will
pass through beautiful valleys, down great
gorges whose SUBMITS tower hundreds
of feet overhead. and through long
stretches of plentifully watered region
that cannot fail to attract the thirstiest
class of farmers when the advantages of
market are presented Experts who
have made the journey estimate that the
gross earnings of the road, at the present
population, will aggregate over S950,000 a
year. Mountain railroads usually pass
through stretches of country that are
barren and unproductive and OF no finan-
cial benefit to the road. 1t is claimed that
the Great Northern will not be required
to encounter this obstacle to any extent
being peculiarly fortunate in the produc-
tiveE ess of the regions it will traverse.
The projectors of the enterprise are fully
awake to the Importance of the work they
have in hand and their success in the
past gives promise that the Colorado,
Wyoming e Great Northern road has
come to stay as an important factor in
the development of the state.