Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-11-21
WORK NEAR CRESTON
Something About the Burlington's
New Line in Western Iowa.
1T WILL MAKE AN IDEAL RAILROAD
Enormous improvements Being Made
Over the Old Line Between Murray
and Creston-New Track Will All
Be Ready for Use Next Year.

When the stretch of track between
Murray and Alton, on the line of the
Burlington railway, is put into SER
vice, that company's roadbed from
Burlington to Creston will compare
very favorably with the roadbed of any
western company. Nothing impresses
this fact upon the mind better than
trip over the route that will be TAX
en- by the new track. Although the
work is not finished, and will not be
until next year, splendid idea of
what it will be can be thus gained,
and can be gained in no other way.
A representative of the Courier
spent day on this new work." COW
ering the fourteen miles between At
ton and Murray on foot and visiting
the various points of interest. The
first nine miles of new track east of
erosion, or from Creston to Alton,
was opened for use at noon Sunday,
Nov. 10, but from Alton to Murray the
trains still run over the old track.
At Twelve Mile.
Between Creston and Alton is one
of the biggest pieces of engineering
work on the west end" of the Bur
lngton line in Iowa. This is at
Twelve Mile Creek, located about
three miles west of Alton. One of
the biggest fills in Iowa is to be
found here. 1t is over 500 feet wide
at the bottom and nearly forty feet
in width at the top. This former dis
lance will be increased to some ex-
tent, when the work now in progress
is finished, for graders are now at
III, Il
it may cause as little trouble as pos
sible. The dirt is being taken with
eXcavating machines from a huge
borrowing pit" on the north side of
the track
Borrowing Pits.
These borrowing pits" are to be
found at intervals all along the route
of the new work, and are indicative
of the kind of work done now by the
engineers employed by railroads. In
stead of hauling dirt long distances
and filling with it, land is bought
along the side of the right-of-way and
dirt thus secured is used to complete
the fills, thus shortening the haul
The dirt is loaded by the excavating
machines into patent dump wagons
and hauled in them to the required
place on the fills. Volumes of dirt
almost inconceivable to the mind of
one not acquainted with railroad work
are used. For instance, at Twelve
Mile Creek the fill contains enough
dirt to have built road bed over ten
miles of track fifteen or twenty years
ago, when railroads were built on
top of the country, over or around
hills and through valleys. Now the
plan is through hills and over valleys
The Bridge.
Twelve Mile creek is spanned by a
massive steel bridge, the steel for
which is furnished by the Lassig
branch of the American Bridge Co.,
as is that for all the bridges on the
line between Creston and Murray.
This bridge was but recently COM
pleted by the bridge gang of which
Alonzo Nellans, Of this city, is fore,
man. Mr.. Nellans is one of the old
est and best bridge foremen on the
Burlington or any other road, and the
fact that bridge is put up under his
supervision is a guarantee of its sta
bility and trustworthiness.
The Twelve Mile bridge is built on
the tower plan. The Orders have
their ends set on the piers, which are
of concrete. There is no span. The
| bridge, is of course, double tracked,
although but one track Is being used
there now, owing to the fact that the
| fill and some of the work east of the
bridge are as yet incomplete. The
east end of the double track between
Creston and Murray is at Twelve
Mile creek.
! Cuts and Fills.
| Between Creston and Alton there
are numerous cuts and fills, necessi-
tated by the straight route taken by
the road. To the observer it seems
that in surveying the new line, the
engineers paid no attention to hills,
but simply surveyed a straight line
from one station to the next, regard
less of the lay of the land, then that
the road was built by men who had
as their prime object the designation
of the land along the route to the
greatest possible degree. The result
has been or will soon be, roadbed
and road the equal of which is hard
! ly to be found in Iowa, or indeed in
the entire west.
| This was not all that was neces-
sary to bring about this result, how
ever. For years the energy and in
tellect of engineers, their assistants,
division and bridge superintendent,
roadmasters and foremen have been
coupled with the manual labor of
thousands of day laborers, and mil
lions of dollars have been expended
to improve the roadbed and bring it
to the state of excellence it will soon
attain. There is yet work enough to
occupy a years time, and not until a
year after the track is opened will it
become settled and reach such con-
dition that it will not require con-
slant watching. The greater part of
the work is finished, however, and it
is now only a question of a few
months until the old track will be
abandoned and the steel, ties and bal.
last removed from the old roadbed
and in few years more the chance
observer will be unable to tell that a
railroad track was ever located there
At Alton.
The new line enters Alton on the
south of the old line and about ten
| feet below it's level. Considerable
| -