The record-union., 1897-04-02
HEAVY RAILROAD TRAFFIC.
Expected by the Southern Pacific Com
pany This Year.
Heavy Steel Bridges Built WORK
Laid Out for the SaCra-
mento Shops.

Referring to the recent bulldlnS oI
several new iron bridges by the South-
ern Pacific Company, the san FRAN
cisco Call" of yesterday says:
California within the past year ac-
ouired the distinction of having Wlthln
it's borders a number of bridges ouilt
from the heaviest specifications ever
used in the United States, ana thls
means in the world.
They were put UP at various points on
the Southern Pacific Company's llnes' III
pursuance of the policy of each year
replacing a certain number OF "ooueii
bridges with the best modern mild steel
structures.
This course is taken not only Win REL
erence to this State, but along all l's
lines Between Los Angeles anu NE"
Orleans, a distance of 2,OOS miles, there
are to-day but three wooden spans
though there are on the Southern Pa
cific Railroad, between the points
named, not less than 200 bridges.
Other big plans of improvement nave
also been carried out during the past
year in the matter of equipment, both
as to locomotives and cars.
No less than six modern and expensive
steel bridges were constructed during
1896. The material for these is what IS
known as mild steel in contradlstinctlon
TO tool steel. Mild steel has the greater
ductile property, and will bend rather
than break under great weight. All OF
these structures are designed to carry
locomotives weighing 260 tons each, FOL
lowed by a train weighing two tons to
the linear foot.
All the work of putting up the Struc-
lures was done by the men employed IN
the maintenance of way department
under the supervision of w. G.. Curtis,
engineer of that department. The ma
terial was shaped on specifications fur
nished by the Southern Pacific Com
pany.
One of the new bridges crosses Cache
Creek on the west side line near Wood
land This is a span of 160 feet
Two of them bridge the Truckee River
one at the first crossing and another
at the fourth crossing. Each OF these Is
a single span of POS feet.
Prosser Creek, between Truckee ana
Reno. is crossed with a viaduct 200 feet
in length. consisting of four spans.
One of the most picturesque structures
may be seen in Niles Canyon, about four
miles from Niles, stretched across Ala
media Greek. 1t is composed of two
spans, one 200 feet long and the other
100 feet.
The longest of the entire number may
be viewed near Mcconnell Station, on
the road between Stockton and Sacra-
1nento. 1t crosses the Costumes River,
consists of eight spans of fifty feet each,
and rests on iron cylinder piers. In the
latter particular this bridge differs
from all the others, which rests on cut
granite piers.
The estimated cost of bridges of this
character is about $50 a foot. AS the
aggregate number of feet in the struc-
lures specified is 1,416, it will be seen
that an expenditure of nearly S12OOOO
was involved in their construction.
Between Los Angeles and Indio, sew
enty miles of track were relaid with
seventy-five-pound steel rails, in place
of fifty-pound and sixty-pound rails,
and this section of the line was also
thoroughly ballasted. The cost of this
work was in the neighborhood of $780,
900.
In the company's shops at Sacra-
mento the working force is now at high
tide. the payroll for March showing
more than 1000 names upon it. The
men are busy, as General Manager
Kruttschnitt puts it, repairing every
thing on wheels in expectation of a
heavy wheat crop to be moved the COM
ing season. Among other things some
100 boXcars that have suffered in
wrecks at various times and places are
being rebuilt.
The most important addition to the
equipment will be twenty very large
new locomotives, with 20x20 cylinders,
each locomotive with tender weighing
112 tons and having 63-inch driving
wheels. They will be used for both pas
senger and freight business, and will be
distributed over the entire system of the
Southern Pacific Company. Ten of
these have practically been delivered.
and the entire number will be ready for
service by July. These cost an average
of about $4,000 each.
General Manager Kruttschnitt states
that this activity is displayed in anti
cipation of a very heavy freight move
ment during the coming fall, as the re-