Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-03-20
Utah May Have Another Rail-
road Line
NEW MEXICO NORTH
No Change in the Rate SituatiOn--
superintendent MallOy is
in low.

The state of Utah is to have another
railroad; the people of New Mexico are
to have a much needed route to the
north, and the great Sante Fe is to
have another most convenient outlet to
points in Colorado and Utah, says the
Salt Lake Herald. These are the three
most interesting facts in connection with
the building of a road from Columbus,
New Mexico, to Salt Lake City. Articles
of incorporation of such a road, to be
known as the Columbus & Northern. have
been filed in Santa Fe, N. NJ, and the
incorporators are all, with but one eXcep-
ton, residents of that territory. At the
head of the enterprise are A. O. Bailey,
A.. j. Clark, j. B. Byron, w. r. Merrill,
H. O.. Wolcott and Albert II. Ransom,
the latter of Ohio. According to the
articles of Incorporation, the road has
for its starting point Columbus, in Grant
county 1t is to traverse the counties or
Socorro, Valencia, Bernalillo, San Juan
and Rio Arriba, and, leaving the territory
at a point near the Rio San Juan river,
in the last named county, is to continue
on through Colorado and Utah to this
city. From the meager details of the en-
prise at the disposal of The Herald it is
impossible to state definitely what route
has been chosen by the North
ern after the Colorado line is cached,
nor is it possible to state what power is
behind the project, though it is asserted
that some mammoth railway system is
really at it's head. At any rate, he un-
dertaking is one of gigantic proportions,
and to build the line will require an enor-
nous outlay of capital.
Columbus is a town in the extreme
south end of the territory, in fact, Is
a few miles from the line dividing
New Mexico and Texas. All the coun-
ties named form the western boundary
of the territory, with the exception OF
Rio Arriba, which is more to the center,
so that the line could, from Columbus,
go almost due north until Bernalillo is
reached. Following, from here, the
Atlantic and Pacific divide, the route
could touch upon the Acarilla Apache
Indian reservation and leave the terri
tory by crossing the Denver d RIO
Grande into Pagosa Springs, Archuleta
county, Colo. A glance at the map
will show that the whole of western
New Mexico is practically without rail
road connections for he north or
south. The Atlantic & Pacific runs
diagonally across the district IN the
north md, while the Southern PACING
, and A. & N. M, does practically the
same in the south, but for a line running
north and south, through the richest
part of the whole territory, the COUNTRY IS
in want. The route of the Columbus d
Northern would necessarily cross or form
connections with both of the roads named
and would bring the Santa Fe and the
Denver & Rio Grande together. Iaklns
into consideration the fact that IL is al
most impossible to penetrate eastern
Utah for any distance, makes 1t appear
that the real intention of the new road
is to connect with the Denver q Rlo
Grande or Rio Grande Western, or both,
in order to get into Utah. In fact, 1t IS
not improbable that these companies are
parties to the new enterprise. l.,
Further particulars of the proposed
road will be awaited with the keenest
interest.