The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-03-24

probably be practically ali Of Colorado
manufacture.
"Tt Is the expectation o. the manage
u.ent Of the Clark road that trains VIII
he run into salt Lake City by the end
Of This scar. III is likely the effort viii
he made 10 complete the line from Den
var 10 salt Lake as soon after that date
as possible. After grading is finished,
trackIaying viii be pushed from both
calt Lake and Denver The projected
tunnel nea. James peak viii occupy q
long gghile 10 complete. probably more
han p year. but in the meantime It IS
likely a track VIII be laid for tempo
rary use over the pass a track over
the summit Of Hagerman pass is still
maintained by The Colorado MiuiSud.
though the tunnel has been in use fos
several years.
Former Undertakings.
This is not the first time the project
has been taken up. The Denver Post
tells - follows OF the cost Of the I'M
dertaldng and the previous attempts
to carry il through,
"The physical part Of the new system
will c-sL probably $l6000,000. An aver
4 age cost Of $3e00 per mile would bring
the total 10 over $l5,OUG,000 An add
tiOnal Si000000 must be spent for the
tunnel through the mountains. Ter
minals at Denver and Salt Lake City
must also be included which may swell
( the cost several hundred thousand dol
lars additional
I'm the construction, 207 500 tons of
rails. I00G000 ties. 500 tons of spikes,
20c tons Of fish plates, 100 tons Of nuts
and bolts and 500 tons Of other railroad
iron will be used. About l25 iQcom0-
tives. c,5C0 box cars and 100 passenger
cars viii be necessary
eThe total cost of the road. equipped
and i'm running order. viii probably
apnroach $40. 00G .00b The net earnings
/ Of Colorado roads average considerably
] over S., 500 per mile On mileage Of 90
miles. at an outside cost of $4,000 per
mile. including equipment and all, the
road viii pay over per cent on the
| investment.
/ sThe line has been surveyed TO Hot
/ sulphur Springs The divide viii be
tunneled north of James park and
/ there win be gradual ascent to this.
/ The road viii continue west TO Meeker
and then take a northwesterly course
/ toward Lis. in RoUtt county. Then II
win run down one Of the banks of the
/ Yampa and Bear rivers into Utah and
then northwest to Salt Lake.
Project Is Agitated.
"When Donald Fletcher was presi-
/ dent of the Denver chamber of com
uerce the question of building a rail-
road directly west to salt Lake City
uuon the line traversed by General Bella
/ NJ. Hughes in 1865 was agitated in the
chamber and in the press. 1t was
known that such a line would shorten
the. transcontiaental railway mileage
/ nearly 200 miles. It was Known that
the lire could be run upon easier grades
ItEan existing lines. 1t was known that
it would traverse the most extensive
and varied coal deposits in the state
both bituminOuS and anthracite. II
was known that the Yampa valley was
bread and fertile and capable of sus-
tanning a large population Of farmers
and fruit-grOWers. IL was known thai
tin. mountains contained great veins OF
gold, copper and iron and the valleys
os the streams rich placers, and yet tht
bugbear of q tWO-mile tunnel fright
cred capital into the choice of longer
and less favorable routes Thinking
men knew that eventually 1t would be
done. and that when done the Denver
line would attract the bulk of Califor
mia travel and transportation; no Other
line could successfully compete with it
War Stopped the Road
This road would have been built il
1895 but for the blowing up Of the Aain'
and the Spanish war, which STOPPED
! negotiations.
Austin P. German. Joseph n 3ax
ter and Walter H. Trask of this city
placed the matter. in the early part o
, 1897. in New York with friends on Val
street.
"A. j. Middleton, a New York capt.
/ clist, presented it to an English syndi
cate. controlling capital in Liverpool
London and Manchester to the exten
of $4,000, 0OJ
"A. p. VintOn, a corporation lawye
/ of New York. in November, 1897, passe
fsvorably on the proposition as MI
Trask was able TO furnish "a cOmplet
survey of the line proposed, and bu
for the war the deal would undoubt
edlv have been then placed Messrs
E ! G0rham and Baxter went to New YOr
and personally pushed the propOsitiO
! with the New York people, but the
! decided to let it pass"