The San Francisco call., 1906-09-12
Southern Pacific to Build
Coast Line to Portland
Santa Fe Shares
in New Route
to Eureka.

The Southern Pacific has decided to
build a coast line railroad to Portland
at once. 1t will run direct from Cor
Bay to Eureka 1t will run over the
Santa Fe line to Camp Five. over the
new line which 1t is constructing joint
ly with the Santa Fe to Sherwood and
over the line of the California North
western to ,Tiburon.
Furthermore, holding company is
being organized by President Harri-
man OF the Southern Pacific and Presi-
dent Ripley of the Santa Fe to own all
the trackage between San Francisco
and Eureka. These properties include
the California Northwestern. the North
Shore. the Santa Fe line from Eureka
to Camp Five and the joint line be-
tween Sherwood and Camp Five Trains
of the Southern Pacific and the Santa
Fe will run jointly over these lines
from Eureka into San Francisco. The
object of this holding company is to
permit this harmonious joint usage of
tracks
The announcement of this determina-
tion on the part Of the Southern Pa
cifc to build a coast line to Portland
at once came as a surprise to railroad
circles yesterday. Although great Sc
crecy has been attached to the move
ments of the Southern Pacific engineers
in the past, it has been persistently
rumored that a coast line northward
was on foot 1t was believed that
Chief Engineer William Hood had fin
ished the preliminary survey of the
route. although the Southern Pacific
would not admit this as a fact. Yet
few believed that the construction
would be begun for several years.
Yesterday the announcement was
made that the preliminary survey north
had been completed and that the coast
route to Portland had been determined
upon. Locating engineers have been
in the field for over a month and part
of the final alignment has already
neers has been increased so that the
construction work may be begun be-
fore the winter closes.
HEAD OFF GoULDs.
1t is generally believed in railroad
circles that the determination on the
part of the Southern Pacific to build
at once is TO head of a possible hos
tile movement by the Goulds, who are
building the Western Pacific into San
Francisco and who are looking with
eager eyes upon the Oregon coast coun-
try. The visit of ]. H. McClements,
the right-hand financial man of the
Goulds, to Portland, as was told in
The Call last week. without doubt
quickened the Southern Pacif1c's belief
that its rival might capture the terri
tory. However that may be- the Har-
riman line has lost no time sending out
its locating engineers and buying up
its right Of way. The combination |
with the Santa Fe in the formation of
- t,o11
lasting route from Eureka to San Fran /
cisco without the cost of constructing
and maintaining new line. 1t also /
gets the advantage of the time as the /
connection between Sherwood and |
Camp Five can be built in a short time
USES OLD LINES.
The construction to Coos Bay from
Corvallis has already been begun. The |
Southern Pacific has line from Port
land south to Corvallis. The compile
tion of this line to Coos Bay will be
accomplished within a year. The Coos
Bay, Roseburg and Eastern Railroad
runs twenty-five miles south from Coos
Bay down the Coquille River. This
line belongs to the Southern Pacific and
will be used as a part of the new
coast route to Portland. 1t will
be extended through the Rogue
River Mountains to Luffenholtz fol-
the coast Inc little. ROAD from
LuffenholtZ to Eureka will be used in
stead of building a new track The
line from Eureka to San Francisco
except for the connecting link from
Sherwood to Camp Five, has already
been built and will be used as the
southern division of the Portland coast
line
The opening Of the coast line to Port
land will open up vast section of
rich agricultural, mining and timber
lands that have heretofore been al
most inaccessible. It will give a rail-
road entrance into hundreds of little
coast towns which have depended upon
small steamers for their entire COM
with the outside world
When this line is completed 1t will be
possible to go from Portland to Los
Angeles by scenic road running for
hundreds of miles within a stones
throw of the Pacific Ocean.
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