The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1898-09-02

lies spread out before us. II the atmos-
phere be clea~, as it was the day [ ST. o.
up"n the peak, the eye sweeps over an
area of 40 900 square miles. To the north
is Denver, at a distance of 100 miles,
and Gray's and Longs peaks rise out OF
the Great Continental Divide till their
snoW-capped submits pierce the sky.
To the south the ROTOR Mountains OF
New Mexico and the famous Spanish
Peaks; the city of Pueblo so miles dis
taDr, and Cripple Creek, the richest gold
camp of the west, apparently so near
that one is almost tempted to try to cast
stone down amid its mines and cabins
but in reality 20 miles from where we
staLd. To the east stretch away miles
on miles of buffalo plains, on which the
shadows cast by the floating clouds ap.
pear as islands rising up out of motion.
less sea !; and TO the south are the en- ~ =
crested peaks of the SapRre de Christie
range, while the lesser peaks of the Con,
tinental Divide appear as pillows tossing
on an angry ocean.
One strolls about on the summit and is
surprised to find, where he looked for
nothing but granite rock, small areas
here and there covered with velvety moss
and dotted with Alpine flowers of exquis-
tie hue and delicate fragrance. [ found
among other blossoms a charming wild
forget-me-not and tiny white flower,
not wholly unlike the arbutus of New
England. These picked, lying on the
rocks with my feet cooling in a snow
bank. Do hear some one say my long
reach was an advantage to me there
You're wrong, my friend; person OF
less than average stretch might have
done the same, for the blossoms fairly
kissed the snow.
The train stops half an hour at the
summit and then begins the descent. l
was SO charmed by the absolute quiet OF
the place that I concluded to wait for the
Afternoon train and after taking my
luncheon, lay down on a messy bed
and went to sleep, disturbed by no noise
of earth, and not sound to be heard
except the goughing of the breeze. Dur.
ing the time I was on the peak, from II
ia. m. to 30 p. NJ, the thermometer fell
from so to so degrees and [ had the ex-
perience of snow storm, the fourth of
August!
The details regarding the co Instruction
Of the Pixies Peak railway are very inter
estipg, but [ have left short space for
these. In 1884 81 party of Eastern CAPT
talists undertook the building of rail-
way which was intended to reach the
summit by circuitous route 30 miles in
length, with five per cent maximum
gradient; but after eight miles had been
laid out, funds and ambition failed and
the project was abandoned. Five years
later grading was commenced for the
road as now constructed and the golden
spike was driven October 20, 1890. The
distance from base to summit is nine
miles. The average grade ia 16 per cent
The maximum grade is 25 per cent, that
is, in travelling mile gain of 1870 feel
is made in elevation. The sharpes
curves are 16 dc greea, or curve with 8
radius of 359 feet. The road bed is fol
the most part built upon, or cut from the
solid mountain. There are four short
bridges of iron. To prevent the posi-
bility of the sliding of the track by reason
of its enormous weight and the effect o.
varying temperature upon iron and steel
anchors are embedded into the solid rocl
1 OF Se<a rxzES ia
grade. Midway between the rails, which
are laid to standard gauge, is the racl
ladder, upon which all the pushing fore
is applied. This ladder is formed of tw,
rack rails set less than two inches apart
firmly bolted to chairs which are placed
at distance of about two feet from eacl
other, and these chairs in turn are Sc
curely holted 60 the extra long and heav.
ties. The rack rails are laid go as Il
"break joints,n and the teeth are ais
sstaggered, this device giving the tw
/ double wheels of the locomotive practi
calIv an even bearing at all times. Eacl
/ engine is provided with two double stee
/ ceg-wheels which climb upon the rae
ladder In the middle Of the track, an
/ through which tbs power ia applied
i Extending from the sides Of these COG
wheels are four other smooth wheels
q two on either side, which ravolve upo.
the outer rails as ordinary truck wheels
and upon which the powerful steam an
hand brake do their work. Either q
these brakes, working Independently,