The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-30
PROMISE AND FuLFiLLMENT.

on the 10Th Of April, 1908. Senator w.
A. Clark wired The Herald an an
noUucemeut that he had taken over
that portion Of the Oregon Short Line
railroad lying south of Salt. Lake. and
would begin Immediately the compile
ton Of the San PEDRO, Los Angeles &.
salt Lake road. He added that he
hoped 70 have the line in condition for
active operation within two years.
Beginning tomorrow, May 1. the
Clark road viii run trains between Los
Angeles and Salt Lake, 50 that Senator
Clark came within exactly twelve DAVIS
OF realizing the hope expressed in his
message TO The Herald in 1903. II Is
entirely within bounds to say that no
work OF similar Importance and maEnf-
tude has ever been completed SO nearly
WITHIN the time limit set by its pro-
1ector and this, too, in spite OF the fact
that the work of construction has been
carried forward under circumstances. of
peculiar difficulty.
With the possible exception of the
first overland railroad. no line has had
to traverse a region so utterly lacking
In supplies. either of water. food or
material as the new road faced in its
construction across the desert from
Caliente to Daggett- With the excep-
ton of the water at Moapa and Las
Vegas, there was scarcely a point
where the engineer corps and contrac-
tors could rely upon a base of suppIv.
Food for the men and feed for the
teams had to be brought in from both
ends Of the line at enormous expense.
and handled with difficulty into the
construction camps The tOrrid heat of
the summer made physical exeFtion
next to impossible under the best con-
ditions possible, and yet the work was
expedited continuously and with re-
markabIe results.
In the old days, it was customary for
financial reasons to construct the
transcontinentaI roads more with a
view to cheapness of first cost and con-
venience than with an idea of low op-
Grating and maintenance cost, with the
result that mileage and grades were
multiplied, running time was unneces-
sarily long and the cost of operating
was high The Clark road has reversed
all transcontinental precedents. in that
II has been built from the first on the
most modern lines. With the exception
of one short grade in the California
desert, its maximum grade is s. per
cent, or about thirty-two feet to the
mile, and its curves are per cent or
less, except through the canyon below
Caliente- The layman can scarcely
realize the significance Of these easv
grades and light curves. but to the rail-
road world, they mean everything be
cause they permit the transportation
of maximum trainloads at a minimum
OF cost, they insure the operation of
trains at high speed with small fuel
consumption, and they make luxury of
travel The roadbed is wide, the rails
heavy. gravel ballast is on or being put
on as rapidly as possible where it re-
mains 70 be laid, so that in the final
event there will be no long line in this
country or abroad Of finer construc-
ton. The equipment is likewise of the
highest modern standard, and the new
road begins operation under conditions
which have attracted the attention of
railroad men all over the country
Another factor to the advantage of
the line is the use of oil as fuel from
Las Vegas into Los Angeles. giving
perfect freedom from smoke and Gin
ders and furnishing an ideal fuel with
large economy in cost
While no attempt is made in the in
itial operations to establish fast
schedule until the roadbed has settled
and become solid enough to permit high
speeds, the running time between Los
Angeles and Salt Lake has al
ready been cut down and the dis
tance between the cities reduced
by half BY the time the tourist travel
TO California sets I'm next fall, the run
ming schedule VIII have been lowered
still more and the through time from
Chicago viii be down to as low a notch
as safety viii permit.
The value to Salt Lake and its terri
tory Of this new service has already
been discussed extensively in The Her
aid; and the result on the development
of the intermOuntain region, particu-
larry Utah and Nevada, can only be
dimly foreshadowed. 1t has brought
new life to the mining camps south
and west of salt Lake; it is pouring
new capital and energy into every one
of them. and its mission has only be-
gun. 1t has opened an avenue whereby
the tremendous wealth of the desert
mines can reach the shelters. way by
which the supplies miners and pros
peCtors need can reach them from con-
venient bases, and it has infused into
the one great area OF obscure territory
in this country a spirit Of hope and
courage that means unlimited develop
ment and production for the richest
mineral region on the continent.
Hitherto salt Lake has been a way
station on one route, and a side-trip
point on another; tomorrow it becomes
the most important point on a cOntin- |
nous through trip from Chicago to Los
Angeles, excepting Omaha only. To
the casual observer this may not be an |
important fact; to Salt Lakers it means !
that their city has finally taken its !