Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1905-07-14
GRANTS PASS Is WAIT
ING FOR A RAILROAD
Wants Railroad to Crescent City
Farmers Give Pointers How
II Could Be Secured.

One of the richest, yet least de-
veloped sections of the Pacific Coast,
is the country between Grants Pass
and Crescent City. Its vast wealth
of copper, gold and other minerals.
and of timber and agriculture is lying
practically undistnrbed and all be-
cause of the lack of transportation
facilities. For fully 20 years has this
transportation problem been under
consideration bv parties interested in
the opening of this, the richest Sec
tion of Southern Oregon, yet no rail
road has been built and the prospect
is none to encouraging even now.
The trouble has been that no con-
certed local effort has been made to-
ward having this railroad built, and
dependence only has been on outside
capitalists. Railroads are sometimes
secured through this means, but it is
seldom that local lines are built by
capitalists depending on the road
alone for an investment. And where
a community sits down and waits for
a railroad to come to them they
usually have to wait long time.
The quickest ard surest way to get
a railroad that is strictly local in its
field of operation is for the local in
terests to take it up and secure its
construction. Medford wanted rail
road to develop the Upper Rogue
River country and to bring trade to
that town, so its citizens secured tho
right-of- way and put in s25, 600 cash
into the stock of the company and
through the efforts largely OF local
capitalists at least % miles of this
road will be completed this year. A
start will be given that will cause
this railroad to be extended on to
Crater Lake and to Eastern Oregon,
to bring TO Medford the tourist travel
to the famous lake, and the trade of
the rich country lying to the east OF
the Cascade mountains klamath
Falls wanted railroad communication
with the outside world, so the citizens
of that progressive little town of but
1900 inhabitants, together with the
land owners of that part of klamath
county adjacent to klamath Falls,
completed last week the raising of a
subsidy of 100000 to induce Mr..
Weed to extend his railroad now in
operation from Thrall, on the
Southern Pacific, to Pokegama. on to
Klamath Falls. Other towns have
had to help themselves to get rail
road and the probabilities are that II
there is ever rsiload built from
Grants Pass out through Southern
Josephine county it will have to be
accomplished largely through local
effort A recent number of World s
Work tells how the farmers of Ram
sey county, North Dakota, built rail
road without the aid OF outside capt.
tai or of borrowed money. Their
manner of procedure and their success
contains some helpful pointers to
those interested in having a railroad
built to open up Southern Josephine
county:
These falnerrs hauled their grain
often a distance of % miles to Devil 4
Lake, the county seat, through which
the Great Northern Railway passed,
It kept the farmers hauling grain all
winter. They asked James J. Hill,
president of the Great Northern rail
way, to build branch line from
DEVILS Lake up through their sec
tion. Mr.. Hill said he could not
build. Six Of the largest farmers met
at school house. One of them waS
Joseph Kelley, who owned $40 acres
of land and who hauled his wheat IL
miles to DEVILS, Lake. Mr.. Kelley
said "If the Great Northern won't
build, we will build. And the
farmers built a railroad % miles long.
They asked every farmer who hauled
grain to DEVILS Lake to subscribe.
Some subscribed $25; others $500
They raised $50, 600 They sent 8
farmer to Duluth to buy ties, another
| TO ST. Paul to buy rails.
A land promoter was building
small branch line out OF Devil
Lake to the south, and they got hin
TO survey the road. They III red sec
tion hands to lay the track. But they
needed more money. They bough
land along the line and laid out thre'
towns, sold the lots and used th'
money TO buy an old engine, a dal
coach, and four boxcars from th'
Great NOthern.
Then the road was started. 1t viii
stop for any farmer at any place
Last year the road made its expenses
it hauled 60, 900 bushels of wheat
This year, with the railroad at hand
the farmers planted more wheat ant
the road will haul 1900, 600 bushels.