The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-03-28
Novel Stations to Be Built ON
the BeIen Cut-On.
viii Be All Alike and Con-
structed of Concrete.
TWENTY-THREE IN ALL
Their Style Is of the Character
OF Old Mission Buildings.
Gossip and Matters of Interest
in Railroad Circles.

Among the many interesting and
unique features of the .Atehison, To- T
peka & Santa Fefs BeIen cutoff, and in /
keeping with the thoroughly substan-
tiaI character of the whole work are
the station buildings which are to he
of concrete. Plans for single station /
of proportions which would make 1t
suitable for the more important points /
on the line except the ter.nim were
prepared by Myron H. Church. arcti |
tect. with headquarters in Chicago. I'M
der the direction of James Dun. chief
engineer of the system, and adopte
as a standard for the famous line. Att
Belen, the western terminus, a consid-
erably larger concrete building, with
Office rooms on the second floor. viii be
erected, and at Texico, the eastern
terminus, a concrete station similar to
the standard building but with sepa-
rate freight room, connected by roof
to the main structure viii be built.
The climate of the country in which
the Eastern Railway of New Mexico,
the official title of the cutoff is located
should make a concrete station most
satisfactory. The generally dry atmos-
phere should prevent any possible
Sweating" of the walls, while the
similarity in certain respects of con-
which are still common in New Mexico,
and most satisfactory TO the inhabit-
ants because of their comparative COOL
ness in the hot summer months and
warmth in winter, indicates the q'lsli-
ties of comfort which a concrete depot
should possess.
The standard building. Of which
tWenty-One viii be built by the road
occupies a ground area twenty-four by
sixty-five feet. Though it is a difficult
matter with a small structure of this
sort to impress q style, the architect
has in this instance given the station
the character OF the old Mission build
ings, with their low, Overhang1ng roofs
arched porchWays and buttressed
walls. The structure is two stories
high. the second floor being a single
waiting room. baggage room, freight
room and ticket office.
All the exterior walls. foundations
and piers, the chimney and the interior
partitions on the first floor will be
/ concrete.
Particular attention Will be given to
obtaining a smooth finish of the con-
crete the specification requiring that
the lumber for the forms shall be
dressed, of good quality. of such
strength as to be unyielding during
the filing and tanlpSnE, and that all
joints in the lumber be driven tight.
AS for the exterior of all walls, after
completion they are to be thoroughly
wet down, given a thin coat of cement
plaster, and receive a pebble-dash fin
ish with gravel screened through a
half-inch mesh.
The blocking necessary to be used
in mailing the woodwork is to be built
in, during the erection of the walls. as
are the anchors and bolts required for
iron plates which are to be used to
protect the buttress corners. baggage
room door jambs and other exposed
places.
Openings in the foundation walls are
to be left for ventilation. The sills and
the corbels which are used to support
the chimney and roof brackets are to
be cast separate, but set in position as
the work progresses. All the sills are
to be Weathered and thrOated and the
lug sills four inches wider than the
opening, set leve and projecting one
and one-half inches from the face of
the wall. The only reinforcing re-
quired in the construction is two 5
/ inch I beams, one over the bay the
other in the freight room to support
the tWO-stOry wall and half-inch mild
steel rods over the windows and doors.
The station platforms are to be of
brick, with concrete curbing and re-
tanning walls. The brick is to be oed-
ded in sand laid three inches thick,
wet down, graded and tamped to an
even surface upon a cinder filing. Num-
Der I vitr1ded paving brick laid flat
will be used. The curb and retaining
wall are to be built in forms, in the
same manner as the building walls,
and the exposed surfaces are 10 be
plastered smooth with cement and tor
| pedo gravel, in equal parts. one inch
! thick, when the concrete is placed tsN-
pansion joints will be placed every 10
/ feet and lengths of old boiler tubs will
be built in at 15-foot intervals for
I drainage. The wall around the high
platform is to be provided with an an
chored oak wheel guard
All cement used in the concrete work
is to be a standard American Portland
brand which conforms to the require
ments and fulfills the tests prescribed
by the American Society Of Civil Engi-
| neers It is specified that the stone
I shall be hard, clean limestone or hard
cobble stones broken to pass through
a IL inch ring and not so small as 20
pass through N-inch mesh. The pro
! portions Of the concrete are to be 1-3-5.
4 assuming as a unit the cement to
weight 100 pounds per cubic foot and
/ the colume of a barrel at 3-S cubic
/ feet. which viii give quantities by vol
urne of one barrel of packed cement
/ to ia cubic feet of loose sand and 10
/ cubic feet of loose stone. The cement
J is to be measured in the original barrel
and the sand and stone in boxes The
I use of mixing machine IS not forbid
/ den. but it is specified that IN case
mixer is employed the different ingrefii-
/ ents must be delivered to the machine
/ simultaneously and mixed in Quanu-
/ ties of a cubic yard.
I ROADS BUYING COAL LANDS.