Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1905-05-04


OF the Wabash, twenty miles east OF
Cumberland, when the ringing Of
bells and blowing of whistles gave
the warning that in a few minutes
the button would be pressed that
would explode 5000 pounds of giant
powder In the rocky mountain side
directly opposite and close to the
town.
! For three days the people of Paw
Paw had watched men carrying can
after can of powder into the tunnels
dug into the face of rocks. AS the
number of cans disappearing in the
mountain side increased the alarm Of
the people grew, and some in terror
left the town, while those remaining
filed their ears with cotton and wait
ed for-they knew not what
At last, when 325 cans of powder.
8125 pounds, had been emptied in
the arms extending right and left
from the inner ends OF the two 45-foot
tunnels, wires laid and the tunnel
closed, the electric button was press.
ed There was a deep, rumbling re-
port, the whole earth seemed to rock
es though shaken by an earthquake
and tons Of rock plunged forward and
toppled over into the canal and river.
Carloads of Powder in One Blast.
Not a stone had been thrown a hun
dred feet toward the frenzied town,
but 10000 yards Of rock had been
torn from the mountain side and many
precious days saved the contractors
who are building the link" connect
Ing the Western Maryland railroad at
Cherry Run with the West Virginia
Central railroad at Cumberland. and
thus bringing nearer realization
George Gould's dream Of making the
Wabash railroad all ocean to ocean
line.
1t was only the proximity OF this
blast to a town that made it particu-
larly prominent on this railroad con-
struction that is requiring a blast
for almost every foot of the roadbed
ia fact it was a small one in compari.
son to some that have been fired. In
one blast, in Siding Hill mountain,
che charge consisted of 400 cans
Of powder, just two carloads, and
when it was put off rocks weighing
half a ton were hurled through the
air hundreds Of yards, across the Po-
tomac river and striking telegraph
poles along the Baltimore e Ohio rail
road broke them off close to the
ground.
1t is this necessity for almost con-
tinuous blasting that has done much
toward making this sixty-ive mile
strip Of railroad construction the
most expensive of any built in recent
years. with the single exception of
the line over which the Wabash en-.
teTs Pittsburg. The cost of building
the first five miles from Cumberland
averaged $25OO00 a mile and the
average cost for the siXty-fve miles
IS 100000 a mile. In building this
connecting link, the Wabash has had
TO contend with an unusually large
number Of obstacles of a surprising
variety, some placed in the way by
nature, others by man.
TunneIing Through Solid Rock.
Until the advent Of the Wabash II
was supposed there was no feasible
route through the narrow gaps in the
mountains between Cumberland and
Hancock, forty miles, save those fol
lowed by the Chesapeake and Ohio
canal and the Baltimore & Ohio rail
road. 1t was this belief that has kent
life in the old waterway. life sus
tanned by the Baltimore & Ohio Rail
road company to bar out any possible
rival. Some years ago the Hon. Henry
q. Davis, then owner Of the West
Virginia Central railroad, had a route
surveyed through the country follow
ed by the Wabash, but it was given
up as impracticable. AS a result. IT is
not surprising that the construction
OF this road is proving one of the
greatest undertakings Of years, re
quirlng application of almost every
method known in railroad building
and the ingenuity Of contractors. who
have built railroads in almost every
state In the union, has been taxed tC
Abe utmost
Upon forty miles of this line there
are engaged to-day 1929 men, SOC
animals, nine locomotives and nine
steam shovels. For eighteen months
there has been no cessation Of labor
and 1t is hoped that in eight more the
work will be completed.
Obstacles to Be Met
An idea Of the difficulties encoun
tered can be formed from the fact
that this line in forty miles crosses
the Potomac river nine times, the
Chesapeake e Ohio canal seven
times, the Baltimore & Ohio railroad
three times, passes through noun
tain ranges and spurs by five tunnels
varying in length from 700 feet tc
t.4O0 feet, through ridges and hills
by innumerable cuts, many of them
over fifty feet deep through solid rock
and some almost a mile in length, and
that great portion OF the road is
being cut out Of the rocky sides oil
mountain ranges, directly above the
canal. One of the most unusual diff
hculties in railroad construction, ard
get the most troublesome on this line
has been a disposition of the earth
and rock removed in making the road
bed. q difficulty arising from the fac
that the Wabash follows closely the
canal route. While waiting for lega
right to bridge the old waterway i
was necessary to push the construc
Couldn't Stand for always"
A Scotch laborer who hadn't been in