The sun., 1903-12-06
THE RAILROAD TO QUITO.
Trains Now Running From the Pacifc to
Beyond the Western Andes.

Just thirty years after the first link OF
the railroad between Guayaquil, the leading
port. and Quito, the capital of Ecuador, was
built, the track has at last crossed the sum
nit pass OF the Andes, at height OF 1O,7oO
feet above the sea, and descended to tho
lofty plain on which Quito stands to the
little town Of G,iamote, 10000 feet above
sea level.
Nlne-tenths OF the work has been done,
though the end OF the finished track, now
advancing northward Ia still 100 miles
from Quito. The remainder Of the work
will involve few difficulties.
One of the engineers, F. W. Bennett, has
supplied to the latest Bulletin of the Amer
can Geographical Society profile of the
completed road as it rises gradually from
the coastal plain and steeply up the Andes
slope, to fall little as 1t reaches the sum
init pass and drops to the plateau.
As an engineering feat the construction
of the road to the interior plateau has been
one Of the most remarkable In railroad
building. The line sirmounts one Of the
most inaccessible mountain regions Of the
world. which hitherto has been traversed
only by few difficult and perilous mule
paths. --....-....... .-...-.. ........... ..-
Up the mountains the road Is an almost
endless chain of bridges. tunnels and aston
ishing grades. Some roads In our country
expend hundreds of thousands Of dollars
rather than encounter a steep grade and
sometimes extend their lines for several
miles TO save even moderate grade.
But some Of the grades on the Guayaquil-
Quito road are 81, per cent. This very heavy
Ia An IN q n
the mountain division, thirty-eight miles
in length. The remainder OF the road has
no grade exceeding per cent.
Years ago the great enterprise. was
brought to sudden standstill at Chimbo,
at the foot of the mountains, ffty-six miles
from Duran. the starting point, which ia
across the Guayas River from Guayaquil,
and is connected with that port by ferry.
Difficulties, both physical and financial,
led to the abandonment Of the work. and
for thirteen years nothing more was &C.
complished.
II WAS not till the Government of Gen.
Alfaro, in 1898, gave contract to COM
pany of American and British capitalists
known as the Ecuador Development Com
pany, that work on the most difficult and
has carried the road up on the plateau
and is to complete the line to Quito, the total
cost from Chimbo to Quito being over
$50 1000 900, not ing rolling stock.
III was found TO be impOsSlb BILE to build the
road up the mountains from Chimbo along
the route previously selected, because it
extended over the tops of landslides, and
when deep cuttings were made for the road
large areas of the surface began TO move:
80 this route was abandoned and the build
ers turned into the deep gorges of the
Chimb0 and Chan-Chan rivers. constructing
long ret staining walls where they were needed
along the sides Of the ravines, using the
narrow bottom lands and crossing and re-
crossing the streams to avoid cliffs and
heavy cuttings.
Thus in making the road up the mount aims.
the Chan-Chan River Is crossed twenty.
six times and there are forty-three steel
bridges on this part OF the line. Ravines
near the village Of Alusai, being $40 feet
high. The contracts for bridge work were
let in this country and have helped to swell
the prosperity OF our bridge builders in
recent years.
The difficulties were increased by the
sparsity of timber, for there is none in the
interior excepting the planted eucalyptus.
All the ties are Of California redwood. and,
all the timber. excepting for temporary
purposes, was brought from California
and Oregon.
The Quito plateau, now brought into
close touch with the Pacific Coast, is region
of great natural resources and has climate
that can be compared to nothing but per-
petual spring. 1t has hitherto been largely
cut OF from commercial intercourse with
the western part Of the republic because
most commodities could not be carried on
the mule paths.