The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-09-29

| peka being. accessible over the Kansa!
| Pacific road.
| H. c. Lord, the Hon Ginnery Twitehel
| ana Henry Reyes were presidents of the
company between the time of beginning
! construction at Topeka and the time the
| line was complete to the Kansas west
| the present time were Henry Strong, who
| served one year; Thomas Nickerson. who
| who served from 1880 to 1881: William B
| Strong, who served from 1881 to 1889, and
Allen n Marvel, who was chosen to sue
Those who have had immediate charge
with equivalent authority. have been;
THOMAS j. Peter, C F. Morse, William
wheeler, A. E. Touzalin. c. W Smith, J.
r Goddard and Albert A. Robinson. To
b the last St named nam gentleman bel9ngs the
companys lines not acquired by purchase.
He was the first engineer employed by
Mr. Peter, and from the first mile to the
last he has been the engineer in author
ity. Probably no engineer in the coun-
In the Santa Fe system there are 1928
miles of traek-nearly all single track
a mileage more than. equal to one-third
the distance around the earth. The first
twenty-eight miles of this track was con-
therefore, has come into existence within
twenty-three years. 1t really came into
The extreme ternini of the system are
a. Sn1eago st; I 6o Sa!yesdqn' ia Paso
mini transferred eastward in the United
States would fall, Approximately. at Bos-
ton, Jacksonville, Fla; Little Rock, Ark. /;
Corpus Christi, Tex; Panhandle, Tex !:
Omaha, Neb.; Chicago. III, and Cleve-
Europe, they would fall. approximately,
at ST Petersburg. Dunabeerg, Vienna,
burg and Dantzig.
The approximate number of miles from
named is as follows: St Louis 275. Gal
weston 140Q, FL Paso 500 Guaymas 2,10O,
yer 1920. Superior 700. Various traffic
contracts give the company access to
ed by it's own tracks. as in the case of
San Francisco. Salt Lake, and the con-
nection between st; Louis and Chicago.
The mileage of the system is. substan-
TALLY, equal to half that of Great Brit
ain and Ireland. half that of France. two
STA. twice that of Mexico, and one-six-
teenth that of the United States. The
the Various l states and territori esp in
which il is LOCATED ga very nearly as fol
102. Texas 1,1SS. Nebraska 8, Colorado no.
Arizona $50, California ATS. Iowa 20. Kan
leo $50 sonora (old Mexico 262
The greater part of the system lies in
agriculture in all it's forms is the chief
Industry The mountain lines, are in
work of construction heavy
almost any in the world. What may be
La Junta 4.061 feet Denver 5,i7O feet. the
Great Divide Colorado 11,53o feet. Ration
tunnel 1922 feet, Las Vegas 6. 1893 feet, Clo-
rietta 1892 feet, Albuquerque 4,949 feet,
Continental Divide [AArizonal 1921 feet,
the Needles All feet. Moiave 2,737 feet, Los
Angeles 279 feet, San Diego u feet, Ell
Paso 3,717 feet. and Galveston 10 feet.
There has been much costly and unusu-
al engineering work in the system. The
Mexico We're reached by remarkably diff
ficult work The longest tunnel, that on
Mexico state line, is 2.011 feet long. There
are five notable bridges. One crosses the
Others cross the Mississippi river at Fort
Madison, Ia, the Missouri river at Sib-
Needles This latter is cantilever bridge
$50 feet long. These bridges cost nearly
one million dollars each.
One of the chief difficulties encountered
by the company in building through New
Mexico was the physical popularity of
the country: Mr. Robinson left nothing
undone to discover what must be guarded
against in the work of construction. For
example, the oldest inhabitants were con-
suited at great length as to what ought
to be expected as to rain and water
courses. But after the line was construct
ed the water made light of all that had
ever been said about it historically. It
it failed to appear where it was most ex-
pected. Mile after mile of track was lift
ed from its place in the canons and hung
in graceful festoons on the trees and hill
sides. Suddenly, on occasion, shallow
valley in which water never seemed to
have been heard of before would contain
a roaring torrent, which would run madly
at the intruding railroad and reduce it to
valley the river with all the capricious-
ness of the wind, ran first on one side
time leaving the track to sink or swim as
its superintendent might manage. 1t
as 1884, to see Superintendent George L.
Sands, with his men, wading and swim
fort to make both ends meet" Iron
bridges, longer spans, higher locations,
fixed things SO that water may be defed.
Parts of the system were built with IN
rate Of a mile a day was often achieved
The track across the Great Divide winds
and climbs and crosses and recrosses it
The traffic of the company has been
managed largely by the he same ne man
The freight department was managed,
until about three years ago by MI ).
chief of the trunk line associations in |
New York. Mr.. Goddard's chief assist |
ant for many years was Mr.. J: S. Leeds. |
Of San Francisco. The traffic |
he 81 nassenger ira rec of the system He |
began with the company when both the |
freight and passenger business was |
sufficient to keep one man busy |
large part of the settlement of the vast /
territory of the, system and in that way
man in the development of the country.
Most of the lines of the system preceded |
settlement, not to say civilization, pass
ng through new country too remote for |
settlement without railway |
The people of New Mex
co, Mexico and Arizona were nearly all
Spanish Americans, except the Indians, |
and the railway was constructed under
conditions very peculiar, to say the least.
The native citizens We're torn with con-
1ictinss sentiments, fear and admiration
striving for the mastery. The whole sit
nation was so novel that one of the early
directors of the company predicted that
he lines in New Mexico and Arizona
would never pay operating expenses.
What may be termed the grand divis-