Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1902-05-29
SOME RAILROAD
| BUILDING
A Million Dollars and Half Are Being Spent
in Dona Ana County for
That Purpose.
SOUTHERN PACIFIC CUTOFF
II is Less Than Fourteen Miles Long But II Costs
S750000 and Gives Employment TO Eight Hun
dred Men for Six Months-The Terminal Of
the FL Paso and Southwestern.

Although the Ell Paso and Southwest
ern Railway has been completed from
u, .,in" 70 it's Arizona terminals, there
is still considerable active railroad
building going on in southwestern New
Mexico. In addition to the Lordsburg
and Hachita railway, 10 miles of men
and teams are stretched out between
Strauss in Dona Ana county and Ell
| Paso building the terminals of two
great railway systems, one the South
ern Pacific cutoff, and the other the
Ell Paso and Southwestern railway. AL
though the length of line each is con-
structing is but comparatively few
miles, yet the work is of so heavy a ma
| ture that it will take to fall to complete
| it. Fifteen hundred men are at present
employed on this work and nearly 1000
teams are kept busy ten hours each
day on the two roads paralelling each
other. Over 1,5OO, 900 is being spent on
this work to build 13 miles into Ell Paso
and engineering problems of extreme
difficulty are being solved. The Ell Paso
and Southwestern railway will have
grade of one per cent into Ell Paso,
while the Southern Pacific cutoff will
have a grade of 6 per cent, that means
| for the former a rise of 52.S feet for
each mile and for the Southern Pacific
a rise of 31.7 for the same distance. To
the Southern Pacific the simple lessen
| ing of grade means the saving of thou
sands of dollars each month in greater
and cheaper freight carrying capacity
and faster passenger service and justi-
fes the expenditure of $7J0,OO0. A sim
liar saving would accrue to the Santa
F'e system were it to reduce its grade
over Glorieta mountain by building it's
main line via Santa Fe. In the econo-
my of railroads today there is certain
allowance in dollars and cents for every
foot saved in grade rise and every foot
saved in distance. Even q million dol
| lars spent in reducing a bad grade is
economy in the end.
| The cutoff on the Southern Pacific in
New Mexico, when completed, Will
iabohsfi the double headers out Of El
| Paso and does away with three helper
engines and crews now maintained for
that purpose 1t will save half mile
minute in the passenger time between
Ell Paso and Strauss. It gives six
months employment to 800 men ana
distributes among them $4,000 each
month in wages. The plan of this cut
off was prepared by the late c. p. Hun
tington as early as 1895. Work on it
| ! 1n rt
November. and more than $75O,000 will
be expended on the work. The old
maximum grade was 52S feet per mile.
the new grade is 31.7 feet per mile. The
present greatest curves are 10 per cent.
Five per cent is the greatest on the new
grade. The new track will cross the
Rio Grande on a steel bridge IS feet
higher in the air than does the old
track. All the new culverts are OF
iron and stone. The greatest fill Is 1000
feet long and 70 feet high. 1t contains
76, 900 cubic yards of EARTH The work Is
SIS per cent completed. The old track Is
1873 miles long, the new track Is 1000
feet longer. Each day work train
makes the rounds Of the different camps
bringing new men. fresh beef, feed.
flour. barley, and five big tank cars
filled with water, their capacity being
81 900 gallons. The water is pumped into
tanks of 5000 gallons capacity built
lalongside of the track. They occur at
Iconvenient distances from each camp.
The men are paid from $3.50 to s1.75 per
day for common labor; 81 for dumping
and filling and $3.50 per day piacK-
smithing work. They are charged from
| 60 70 eA 5n nor week for board.