Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1906-04-12
o0NOoN~N@N~

The Santa Fe Central railroad has
been sold to C. w. Tollmadge Of Chi
cago for S2,5OO,OOO. The line is 116
miles long and connects the Denver and
Rio Grande at Santa Fe with the Santa
Fe system at. Torrance.
In the recent slump of Chicago trac-
ton securities, following the adverse de-
cision of the Supreme Court in the fran
chise case, it is reported that John d.
Rockefeller and his associates experienced
a loss of 100000. ]. 2. Morgan & Co.
also were heavy losers.
The japanese government has entered
upon policy of government ownership
of railways, the House having voted, Dab
to 100 to take over the Seoul-Fusan line
in Korea. The minister of finance says
that all Of the home railways will be pur-
chased within five years at an estimated
cost Of $250,000,000.
The Chicago and Northwestern rail-
road are making an extra effort to do
their part towards purifying the atmos-
phere of Chicago. Already they have
equipped their engines with a hollow
arch, which serves as a smoke consumer
when the locomotive is in motion, and has
been found satisfactory. Within the last
| three weeks, they have made further at
| tempts to eliminate the smoking of their
yard engines, and are experimenting with
| smokeless coal
| The Pennsylvania railroad manage
ment has announced that it will proceed
at once to carry out its long-contemplatad
project of constructing a separate double
track railroad from Pittsburg to Phila-
| delphia and Now York. The main adj
vantage of this project is that it will en-
able traffic managers to separate freight
and passenger trains entirely, thus avoid
| ing expensive sidetracking of slow trains
| in order to operate fast ones. The line
is expected to cost $30,O00,000 and to re-
quire three years to complete, together
with extensive freight terminals.
Behind the remarkable offer of the
! Philadelphia and Western Railroad Com
pany to give the Quaker City a competing
system of rapid transit for both freight
and passenger traffic, with surrender of
franchise in thirty-fve years, besides pay
| ing the city from 2 to . per cent of the
gross earnings, there was understood to
| be the plan for the entry of a new ter
minal connecting with some branch of the
Gould system Thus at last, through the
recent reform upheaval, Philadelphia has
been released from the clutches of rail-
roai monopoly and Gould's lifelong am
bition TO secure an eastern tidewater ter
minus is to be realized.
Something new in the way of railway
locomotive has been devised fo. he Della
! ware and Hudson Railroad Company. 1t
is an electrically propelled car that car
ries its own power station, obviating the
necessity for trolley pole and third
rail or trolley wire. \ dynamo is in
stalled under the body of the car, and
near it is a hundred-and-ffty horsepower
gasoline engine. The engine runs the
dynamo, and the dynamo produces power
to run the car. A speed of forty-fve
miles an hour was made on a trial trip,
and only one gallon of gasoline mile
was needed for the engine. The cars
equipped with the new power arrange
ment resemble a combination baggage and
passenger car. They are intended for use
on short runs and on side lines.
In order to take care of rapidly increas-
ing business the Great Northern Road
will spend more than 100000 for
freight and passenger equipment during
the present year. Orders have been placed
for 100 passenger coaches, sleeping, tour
| list. baggage and mail cars and for FIVE
Mallet compound engines