Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-03-29
Avoids Bridges md Grading as Much
as Observation-Disclosures Wear No
Shoes Telegraph Limo
Strung on Trees.

I 1H5 TdTTUdU OF AMI1UQuIT WIS UHB OF ITIt
enterprises | wanted very much to see, and
to learn from it something of the con-
struction and operating methods of one Of
the state railroads.
The railroad runs, at present, from
Puerto Berrio. on the Magdalena river.
thirty-fve miles west to a little pueblo
called Carocoli. Construction is under way
on an extension and in the course of time
the road will reach MediIlin, the capital of
the state of Antioquia and the second city
in Colombia.
As must be the case in a new country
and one as mountainous as this one, the
railroad is neither straight nor level, but
winds around through the mountains,
avoiding bridges and excessive grading as
much as possible.
The chief engineer is an American and
one in whom the government has every
confidence. and he is building them a rail-
road that will answer their needs for many
years to come, and that without bankrupt
ing them either. as everything is completed
cally.
at home. where long tangents and easy
grades are the rule. a trip over the Anti
oquia railroad is quite a different article.
l expected to leave Puerto Berrio on Tues
day., and at $50 a. m. on that day the en-
gineer woke me up by blowing his whistle
for ten or fifteen minutes. At 6 a. m. he
at 6:21 he blew a few minutes more, and
at $50 Re and the conductor carried on
quite a conversation by means of the
We got away at 6:S5, and our train was
made up of three box cars and a small pas
Senger coach.
In the passenger coach, on the rear of
the train were the first class passengers,
!. E., those who pay the top price, 81 cents
per mile. In the adjoining box car were
the second class passengers. baggage, sad
dies and a little live stock, two pigs, three
dogs and a game rooster. stripped for a
fight with some ~up-country bird.
They have a steam brake on the engine.
but only hand brakes on the balance of the
train, and on every car was perched a
ha rnfnnfa1 -, IL . fsDs fo~o oil
straw hat and ruana. and the Inevitable
cheroot smoldering away under his nose.
The engines burn wood. and on top Of
the woodpile on the tender were two otro
poems. to carry and pile wood, as they do
on the steamboats,. The locomotives are
Baldwins. first-class types of engines for
the service here, and, of course, have sane
domes; but the engineers for some reason
prefer to open the whistle to the sandbox,
and the track is sanded by two poems on
the pilot: dipping the damp sand out of
kegs with tortumas (gourds), and spilling
1t along the rails as they 60.
For some distance out of Puerto Berrio
the line runs through the Magdalena bot
tom. and the woods are about as thick and
tropical as you can imagine. immense creep
The line was fairly straight and level
here and we took the low joints at a
pretty lively rate.
The telegraph line is, for the most part,
strung on the trees. and SO close to the
track that at times it flops against the
H.oih, aAu 81 IL" tioI oisShS Sooio hoh5
his coat on it.
But after a little while we left the fiat
land and commenced to climb the hill and
take the curves, and the engineer got down
to hard work. He called for sand and you
could see the poems in front scoopinG 1t
out of the kegs and sowing it over the
right Of way. The fireman was feeding
the machine wood in allopathic doses, and
the passengers were holding to the seats
to keep from knocking the roof off with
their heads.
1t seemed to me that the engineer ran
his machine Just like I have seen some Of
the people ride mules. His train would
jump on, whistle four or five times, pull
her wide open, take all the slack out of
the train in one jerk, shut off, do it all
over again, and go tearing away up the
track, the engine throwing fire and chunks
of wood out of her stack as big as your
hat. When he turned the hill he would
barefooted brakeman had put his big toe
against the catch and swung on his brake.
he would whistle. off again and take the
time we were doing the turn and reverse
around 20 to 26 degree curves with a noun
tain hanging over you on the left and a
the engineer is the queen bee" in the
little towns. and he never fails to put
on a few" when approaching one. No
matter what the hill is. he calls off brakes.
works steam and comes pounding and reel
ing and bouncing into a town of eight pole
huts as If 1t were New York city. Just as
lC ISdCItS lHe uldlu III lie SLulS Oll
shrieks wildly for brakes and practically
throws her back on her launches. And
so on to the end of the run. where 1t is
really a satisfaction to leave the train
and climb on to a steady old mule. who. if
not much for style or haste, will not at
any rate bounce you around SO that neith-
er your breakfast nor your supper has any
priority of position in your interior.
To really enjoy your first ride on this
road l believe a person should do several
things. First, take three or four very stiff
drinks, double his accident insurance. COM
nit a prayer. a very short one, to memory,
and take an even bet that he will be wound
ed or missing at the end of the passage.
This road has been in. operation for sew
eral years and there has never been but
one serious accident; that one happening to
a heavy excursion train, and due to the
track being covered for some distance with
thousands of graSshOpperS, and the brakes,
having no friction on the rails, refusing to
hold the train.
The work under the present engineer ia
on lighter grades. better roadbed. better
bridges, etc, and the road, when finished,
VIII be of immense benefit to Antioquia.
The road is being built by the state of
Antioquia, by Antioquian labor and under
the direction of an American chief engineer,
Mr.. F. F. Whittiken.
From Carocoli all of the freight brought
by the railroad is loaded onto mules and
oxen and taken the remaining e%ighty-five
miles to Medillin.
Each arriero. or mule driver. has charge
of seven or eight animals, and it keeps him
pretty we'll occupied to keep the packs in
place, the mules on the trail and at the
Saline time to avoid missing any of the
scores of "estanquillos," or chichi joints,
along the road.
All along this road are scattered little
pole and mud houses, and at best every
second one has a jar of chichi. a bottle of
asuardiente and bunch of plantains where
the thirsty traveller can refresh himself
and jolly the dark-eyed barmaid for any
price, from i cent to 4 or . cents. The
places are e~stanquillos and pay a very small
state license for doing a very large bust
ness at a very small profit.
The road to Medillin is one of the best l
have ever ridden over in Colombia, and
especially the last twenty-five miles into
Medillin. which is up a beautiful valley. is
excellent, and. if your mule is headed to-
ward home, can be covered in good time.
The cargo mules and oxen only go about
twelve miles a day. and whenever the driver
considers he has had enough he picks out a
narrow place in the road and unloads his
animals and makes camp. his awning over
the freight covering the entire way, and
in and out among the resting oxen and
pnake a path around him. The next morn
Ing when the driver reloads and moves on
he leaves his tent poles and pegs standing
and consequently the whole road is brist-
ling with these old relics.
There are plenty of little posahdos. or
hotels. scattered along where one can refine
himself with fruit and vegetables and re-
fresh his mule with sugar cane. etc. 1t is
the custom here when a mule is playing
out" to stop at any of the "estanuuilios"
and have your animal served with a basin
of chichi, or guarapo fermented sugar
water). and 1 am convinced that the brutes
simulate the tired feeling to secure their
favorite tipple. Whether 1t stimulates them