The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-06-17
SANTA FE is BUSY.
Much Work Being Done on Topeka
Division.


The aSnta Re Railway company is
doing an enormous amount Of i'm
provement work on the eastern di-
vision. There are four gangs OF s.
men each now employed between To
peka and Holiday putting the road
bed in better shape than ever. and IA
fe1aying the track with heavier steer
rails, the new rails being classified as
Is pound rail and in reducing curves
The line between Holiday and En-
pOria on the cutoff presents busy
scene Scores of men are engaged IN
grading. DallaSting, Sur1acluE ana ia
building new bridges of solid masonry.
The imposing bridges over the
Neosho and Cottonwood located close
ly together, one span or zzO Ieet ana
the other 200 feet, will be taken out.
modale the double track. In order TO
avoid the ravages of high water, these
bridges will be elevated five feet above
the rail level of the old bridges
There are now 40 miles of double
track in operation between Holiday
and Emporia on the cutoff, leaving
81 miles to be completed, the grading
of which is nearly finished. The
track laying viii be finished before
winter. An enormous amount OF
work has been accomplished in the
time actual work has been in prog
ress, as the UP to date appliances Tor
railroad building are marvellous 10
those who have not seen steam
shovel perform, little conception can
be had Of the wonderful improvements
over the team and scraper method.
The steam shovel viii load 3 cars in
80 minutes. 80 yards Of dirt to the car.
A hill, which 90 years ago would
have been as formidable to graders as
a mountain to a man with a spade, is
only a frOlic for the steam shovel. It's
operation from the instant its action
begins until It deposits It's load on
car is as near the act OF human As
can wei be imagined. The steam
shovel has a companiOnpfece in the
steam DlOW or 'gO-deyil' which un-
loads the cars and spreads the dirt as
desired on the roadbed. The plOW is
IedgerwOod, steam being furnished by
the locomotive. The LedgerWood is /
mounted upon a fat car and has no
other duty than that of pulling by
ca bic, the ploW which is situated at
the extreme end of a train of fiat cars.
A locomotive pulls the train to the
point where the dirt is wanted, and
the LedgerWOod does the rest. It viii
unload a dozen cars in almost as
many minutes. Where it is desired
to unload the dirt to even" a given
width Of the dump the locomotive |
slowly pulls the entire train while the
LedgerWood pulls the pillow. No hui
man agency could deposit the dirt
been unloaded along the grade, then
The 'spreader," another adjunct of
The steam shovel, which is built upon
car and coupled to the opposite end /
81 the locomotive, is brought into /
play. The spreader has wings oper-
lted by air from the locomotive, and
ike the shovel and the pillow, does
bout everything in its line, but talk !
The triple egatiOn-shovel, plOW /
and preader-perfOrmS in twenty |
20 200 men for half q. day. And to /
properly man the train which ac-
this remarkable result re-
luires only six men-engineer of 10
conceive and fireman. conductor. two
orakemen. and Ledgerwood engineer.
following this train, which is desig-
mated construction train" are some
fifty men who do the surfacing=
lining up the rails, tamping the ties
and applying the finishing touches
which completes the track ready for
regular service The Santa Fe, under
the experienced dictatorship of Supt
Mcclellan, has been building double
track on the cutoff for three years.
Mr.. Mcclellan is rated in railroad
circles as past grand master in all
branches of the business, from engine
foreman to head of operating depart
ment.
1t appears from the number of trains
handled over the cut off" that four
tracks could be utilized adVantageOuSly
The eastern division has over so miles
OF the sidetrack which together with
the main lines comprise quite "sys-
TEN" Of its own. To superintend it en-
braces 20 hours per day as a usual thing
The superintendent was making an in
spection trip one day recently accom-
panied on the journey by his lieuten-
ants, and spectator. The later had an
opportunity of noting in a limited de-
gree what an easy place the superin-
tendent has and how little" effort it
takes to fill it. When the train got un-
der motion the superintendent eyes
got busy. He saw more things in a half
mile than the spectator supposed could
Heutenants got out their note books and
began filling the pages with "memos."
A crane was leaning a little, a signal
arm was not quite in line a bolt had
lost a bur. a crossing was minus a
wing" and an agent had failed to fix
a small hole in the PLATFORM hole
where some provident chap might stick
his foot and sue for damage A useless
waste of a bushel of coal on the right
Of way A strip q few inches wide had
been blown off the cornice Of a building
A drain was needed to dry up a bar
rel of water in a ditch. These minor
matters with numerous others were
nonchalantly observed by the superin-
tendent as the train was making S5
miles an hour. At the same time he
was figuring on the plans to build more
track. new bridges. new depots next
years improvements keeping trains on
time. keeping down expenses, increasing
receipts. expecting washouts, possible
accidents, etc, etc.
A Bad Scare.