Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1906-09-22
RAILROAD LOST
IN fertile SOIL
SHORT LINE BUILT IN SIBERIA
EkIIEELY DISAPPEARS.
Scene IS NEAR IRkUTSH
Engineers Explain Incident As Caused
Chiefly b. Ties Taxing Boot ard
sprouiing IL II. Ground

Near l!sl,.I, 10 central Sib~rs j. a
.ene- 3D., rapids 20 ihe Aagrara uysr.
After nan, disasters, The r..sr trans
por; compalle. decide. l the lrly 10,
70 build a ,h.r, railroad i1r irl1.-l.y-
ment ot freight around the r4p.i,.
The y mile raDi sas probably o.,
;irst railroad bull, IN A,.a outside u
China and certainly The i.r-t ore built
IA northern ASIA.
There vas 10 regular service abuI'
tSO trir, each say being made week
a. cargo offered Win the ilufuge-
ment ~ the r1ads through this region
BY the Russian government, traffic ol
this part Of the nytr vas gradually
abandoned and the railroad finally
fell into di-u>-. The locomotive sas
acquired by farmer % b. used once
year 70 drive . ihre,hlug machine
The ears Sef take uof fon b4fges ali
towed away and the line abandoned
Some fifteen year, later. grIies l..
Lodian iu the Electrical regieE, the
locating engineers ot the Siberian rail
road, entering thi. par OF Siberia.
heard rumors or q rail road which had
existed many years ago. This IS q
vast region of sierr, forest, tundra,
steppe and here and thereof rine
tuntransla,able 49, literally "quick
mud snd presented great difficul-
ties for rail road construction. News
Of al abandoned line which had been
successfully oDersted was, therefore,
received with much interest and ssreh
sas made for the road.
The freight sheds we're finally dis
covered. and then the line Of the road
msrked by the clearing in the fores;
but no trace Of the rails or roadbed
could be found The right Of way vas
much oSergrOsn with underbru,h aud
bordered with the dense forest. was
almost as black and cold as a noun
tain tunnel. the sun being Just visible
lighting up the ,opmost branches Of
the giant trees. The railroad itself
had eompleltly disappeared. Not a
rail, not a sleepr, only an occasional
suggestion nov and then OF what had
once been rude cross drainage bitches.
In an effort to find the track picks
were driven as far a. they would 20
into the soft earth. only to bar masses
Of tangled roots. The railroad was
lost. II could not have been burnt up.
because there had been no fires, nor
stolen and carried off piecemeal, for
the region was totally lackin gin 0op-
ulatin. Moreover, the old freight
houses remained with their locks in.
tact and -"ckages of overlooked goods
in good condition within them. II is
believed to have been a case of grad
ual subsistence.
The unballasted track through the
forest gradually denressed by a few
years traffic, naturally became A
drainage conduit for the surface wa
ter of the forest, rendering in time
the subSoil spongy throughout. The
Significance of the fac that the line
was much oyergrown lies in th efact
that this underground probably owed
much of It's origin ann dprofusion 10
the taking rootof the submerged tree
length ties, There was never any bal
last and in some unusually warm sum
mer It is probable that the water
soaked tree sleeners weighted down by
the cumbrous pig iron rails, sank be.
meath the surface and there sprouted