Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1900-12-27

maintenance charges and operating expenses,
are minimum"
| Again he says:
II have in mind . bridge over a great river in
America which, with its auxliaries was con
structed some wears ago at an expense approx.
ma!lng sio,ooo,ooo. ltbrought anationalrepu.
tatlon to Its engineers. have in mind another
bridge located within five miles of the same
structure which so far as railroad traffic il con-
cerned, performs the same functions but cost
one-tenth OF the amount of money. The con-
| sttUctlon of this latter bridge was q mere in
c!dent IN the career of the engineers who de-
signed and superintendent the work, and it has
brought practically no addition to their fame"
The two quotations tell the story of what ia
demanded of modern civil engigeers and whv
such an enterprise rs doubling the track of
transcontinentall line is financial as we'll as en-
glneerlng problem of tremendous importance
The officials of railway system the bond
holders and the stookholders, desire that road
way shall be constructed for the carriage of the
largest amount of tonnage at the least expense
OF coal, Oil, wear and tear on equipment:
further, a roadway with great capacity for sus-
tanning high rates of speed with a maximum of
safety. practical railway man with love for
mathematics can very easily take an earnings
and expense sheet of the Chicago & Northwest
ern hallway and determine what thia pain
means i'll dollars and cents. For the unmathe-
NAUTICAL mind it may be said that it means the
cheapest and safest kind Of q haul for the lsrg-
est amount of freight, at the highest practical
speed now to be had on any railway system Of
the country, operating over a right of way of
praettcslly the same character.
hallway managers arc long sighted. IL they
are not their careers are much shorter than this
story. They plan new phases of railway con.
struction not only for the use of TODAY Int for
the future. A well managed railway property
should always be in position to operate with
the least expense and at the greatest profit when
times are dull. This has been taken into CON
sideration by but very few managers in the
past. Today they are paying more attention to
,he principle than ever before. A road which
Is double-tracked in prosperous times and un-
der the most favorable conditions IL necessarilv
in position in, dull times to better compete
with struggling rivals give the public the most
convenient service and reap for itself the best
profit consistent with the times.
1t Is another important consideration that
ny Misunderstanding any system doubles its pee
cautions for the protection of human lifo. The
old single line of the North Western is now pro-
tected by the manual block System, the average
distance between the block stations being abou
three and one-half miles. The blocking ar
rangements extend over the transcontinental
adoublo-track, all eastbound traffic confined to
one, and all wcstbound traffic to the other, the
additional safety provided for the public ia go
great that it can hardly be estimated. Another
gain for the communities Though which thia
transcontinental line passes and for the public
|. that, like at Ames, new and modern station
houses with every convenience are being con-
structed. Still another gain is the fact that tho,
Union Paciffce Railroad, the through connection
of the North-Wastern with the Pacific coast, il
rapidly double tracking considerable portion
OF lts line and Strengthening many curves. This
is the day and b ur of the civil engineer in rail.
way construction, and no better illustration Of
his modern methods and marvellous ingenuity
can be found than i'll the transformation Of thia
transcontinental route, known under the title
of the Northwestern line.
Through vestibuled passenger trains carving
tho newly created travel for the Philippines.
China and japan, for Hawaii and Guam speed
from Chicago to San Francisco and Portland
without interruption. The influence of the
Orient and its coming remarkable trade is al
ready felt by this great railway system of tho
west, and the trains already carrying Ansri-
can producta to China. Japan and the Philip
pines. In closing, let it be said that it il no
longer jest that over this transcontinental line
speeds daily freight tram toward the Pacific,
cost known the Hong Kong Special" nor
that another travels the same way known as the
Honolulu Special" Recognizing that for the
next century at least the greatest activity Of
commerce will be in the Orient the great rail-
way system that first conquered what was once
the Louisiana Purchase has entered the lists
and is properly preparing for the enormous,
competition for that commerce soon to ensue.