, 1900-09-15

There are on the new line no slow
orders as there were on the old. There
is scarcely to be found in the United
States a finer piece of track. At first
glance thoSo millions of dollars ap-
pear to have been expended wisely
and well.
Now this is a fact: THE SIXTH
DISTRICT is LONGER THAN 1T
WAS BEFORE. This, taken in o n
junction with the statement just made
that the distance has been reduced,
sounds paradoxical of course. Let us
be specific.
General Manager Dickinson not long
ago inquired of an employe how much
shorter the new line was than the old.
The answer was that it was not a bit
shorter; that on the contrary it was
longer. Freight trains require from
one to three hours more time to make
the run from Rawlins to Laramie than
they required before. The fast fruit
trains from California formerly made
the run in from four and one-half to
five hours. Now they must have from
six to eight hours.
Only Six Minutes.
Passenger trains are lighter and
have %speedier engines but it is an I'M
disputed and an established fact that
to do their very best they CANNOT
BEAT THE OLD TIME BY MORE
THAN SIX MINUTES. 1t is a long,
hard pull. The work is much harder
on the engine crew than it was before.
Firemen are so exhausted upon the
scarcely rest up in time for their next.
The new line is a disappointment.
lust one thing saves it from being
an absolute failure. The saving to the
company in wages is enormous. In the
first place, the crews were formerly
paid for the 1877 miles on a basis of
$50 miles. They are now cut down to
the actual mileage, for nowhere is the
grade more than 43 feet to the mile.
This means a saving of about 81 for
every trip in the pay of engineers. The
saving in the wages of other employees
is in the same proportion.
Again the pusher engines between
Fort Steele and Simpson, between
Medicine Bow and Simpson, between
Rock Creek and Lookout, have all
been done away with. The saving on
this account is a big item in the oper-
ating expenses of the road. But so
hard is the pull on the unaided trains
that there is only one place on the new
line, namely, between Hanna and
Medicine Bow, where trains can at
tain inc maintain any speed.
Longer and Harder.
Now when the improvements be-
tween Laramie and Cheyenne shall
have been completed, the road will be
a trife longer than it is now. The
pushers between Red Buttes and Sher-
man will be eliminated, but freight
trains will have a long steady pull to
the top of the hill and the distance
miles instead of "a. The results in
this district will be similar to those
between Laramie and Rawlins.
Now to another point: If anything
could be saved to the company by run-
ming through from Cheyenne to Raw
Inns, there might still be a chance of
the change being made. There could
be no possible further retrenchment.
The men are now on actual mileage.
Nothing more can be cut out of the
wage schedule no matter how long
the division may be made. And there
IL another thing to be thought Of. An
engine, II put to its utmost power and
final capacity OF long distances will
not do it's work as it will with a rest.
This is especially true Of the new com
pound engines. They are complicated
pieces of machinery and need frequent
small repairs. An engine is a great
deal like a horse. A long, steady pull
IL trying upon 1t and it 500 loses its
hold. 1t will make time better and do |
better work II it has a little down
grade upon which to rest and get up
steam and momentum for the next
quick ascent. There are no such
grades on the new line. It is a heart
breaking climb all the way to the top
of the hill. The engines cannot safe
ly and profltably be run through from
Cheyenne to Rawlins.
Human Side Of It.
Now there is a final thought to be
digested. A railroad management as
as that of the Union Pacific
is supposed to be knows the value of
the quality called morale among its
men. 1t is not absolutely Indifferent to
the welfare Of its employees. II the I'm
lon Pacific Is cold-blooded and thought
less to that degree 1t is different from
every other railroad management in
the country. Once upon a time a little
town on the Northern Pacific was wip-
ed out by fire. It was a division point.
Employees had lived there for many
years and had their homes paid for
and their ties formed. The people of
= neighboring town petitioned the com.