Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-09-29
Large Sum Has Been Spent by
Iowa Central During Season
About to Close
ENTIRE COST HALF MILLION
During Almost Three Years Work
MarshaIItown Road Has Expended
an Enormous Sum of Money-Most
Of It Has Been Placed Between Ma
son City and Albia-What Has
Been Accomplished.

The Iowa Central has about COM
ment, and with less than thirty days
work, in doing some retouching to the
Lacey cut, the line between Mason
City and Abba will be in first-class
shape. The Central has expended this
season for road improvement the sum
OF $4,000, but this is only small por-
ton of the entire expenditure during
the three seasons the work of improve
ment has been in progress. 1t is esti-
mated that a half million dollars have
gone into road improvements alone
during that period.
II the Central had tried to pick out
the seasons that were adverse to out
door work, and especially railroad
work, it could not have chosen worse
years than last year and the one pre-
ceding. which have proved the two
wettest seasons Iowa has ever seen.
The bulk of the 100000 has been
placed on the road between Mason City
and Abba, and the incest piece Of work
accomplished has been between this
CITY and Oskaloosa, which is an entire
~ new road. All work Of every de-
scription between Marshaltown and
Oskaloosa has been completed, with the
exception of the repairs to the Lacey
cut, and the company has fifty seven
S,ofl III 81, fo roi NJ
practically as fast as the wheels can
turn. These fifty-seven miles have
have been rebuilt, and instead of sixty
pound steel seventy is in service on the
entire distance with the exception OF
the cut-off between Grinnen and
Searsboro, in which the company has
avoided the famous "Schoolhouse hill"
and its daily doubles for freight trains.
This portion of the line is laid with
eighty-pound steel.
Every large cut between this city
and Oskaloosa has been tiled, thus
avoiding wet places, some of which
have never been known to be dry from
one years end to another. The inn
provements in the roadbed have al
ready demonstrated what can be done
in the way Of speed making by pas
senger trains. The fast night trains.
s and 6, have been known to have made
the fifty-seven miles between this city
and Oskaloosa in 1870, when the regu-
lar schedule time is close to an hour
and fifty-five minutes. Between Mar
shalltown and Grinnell, nearly twenty
eight miles, the night trains have made
the trip in twenty-nine minutes, WITH
out any great effort. Forty-hve MN
utes is about the schedule time be-
tween the two stations
The Seasons Work.
During the season that is about to
be brought to a close several pieces OF
work of considerable magnitude have
been accomplished. One piece recent
~ completed was the dropping of the
track six ceet between Mason City
Junction and Mason City. for dis
lance of about mile. Two bridges
were raised, one four feet and. the.
other two and one half feet. The im-
proyement between Mason City and
the Junction is an especially nice
piece Of work.
Another bit of nice work has been
completed west of Little York Ill.,.
where the track has been raised be-
tween six and eight feet for distance
OF about 5000 feet. BY doing this
work sag is taken out where the road
enters Little York station.
There has just been completed at
Coppock, another piece Of heavy work
the track having been dropped eight
feet for distance of about 1,500 feet
and 900 feet Of trestle filled in. This
latter accomplishment will do away
with that much bridge work, and the
dropping of the track cuts the grade
In entering Coppock yards.
The work of repairing the Lacey cut
is the only thing now to be done. This
cut has been the biggest problem tho
road has had to solve, owing to the
character of the soil. The earth has
been sliding all the time since the
first work was done, and before cold
weather sets in the road department
expects to have the cut in such shape
that there will be no danger from thai
direction.