Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-10-30
RAILROAD WIFI CHI
WILL Go To SEA
ANNEXATION OF DISTURBED CO.
6s. REPUBLIC ~ saIL
SHORTLY
ARALROAD TRIUMPH
Thrasars City Of Key West 20 Be-
ssne reeeses 81 sanssa-Nssure
ttas Assisted in the Project

by rail; CONVERSION og the already
thriving ely N Key Nesa inIO the
"hasaksn vi Havana gilh its docks
thruag+d with hnge douhb~decked
feTrtaoats: construction If Il great
railway tine that goes ao SEA. leaping
trUn island q island With hong via.
ducts and bridges on which the taas-
senger bound from New York Il,
Cubs viii SEE from the car windows
nothing but the blue aatrrs Of the
Atlantic an one side and the blue
sateTs at the Gulf Of Mexico on tht.
other. an engineering feat involving
problems o solved for the first
ttme-ali that and much @ ~ In.
E0ised 10 the extension nov In pro-
sress of the Florida East Coas, Rail.
road south from Miami. its Present
southern terminus, TO the top Ut The
long. Sickie-shaped series Of coral
isssts which he peninsula of Florida
a thrown out into the tropic sea.
Within uhree wears. unless some ua.
expected interruption occurs. the tour.
1St may take an ocean voyage in a
Pullman. conveyed In highest comfort
along the line Of the Florida keys. aud
thence In a huge ear ferry nearly 100
miles acToSS the straits. aud out Of
eight of land. TO Havana.
A thousand picturesque undertake.
fnRz hare RanREsA III hnREtAkn- -
American railroads. C~niravergahle
mountain ranges have been bored.
suspension bridges assembled amidst
the swiriing spray of c~ataracts, bot
tomless swarnps filled in with the
debris Of demolished mountains. Yet
none more picturesque has been
evolved than this work due TO the
constructive imagination of Henry M.
Flagier. who has projected an Amer
lean railroad that will 90 further %
sea than any other yet constructed.
From Miami to Key West. along
the route which has been selected
Tor the gigantic enterprise. IL II l45
miles as the engine will go. In the
mainland section the line has already
followed. as far as possible. to Home.
stead. . distance Of twenty four miles.
Thence acros the vast. nearly inun.
dated prairie that borders the shal.
low sounds protected by the long reef
of islands. over Jewish creek. 10
Key Largo. the biggest Of the entire
chain. On this key fifteen miles Of
railroad will be laid. After that, nov
with short, now with long jumps,
the whole series will be traversed
through lower metacopb, grassy.
gravel vaccas, and then with IN I'm
mense spring across a channel l5.-
900 feet wide to Bahia Honda, where
a little harbor will be created, enab.
ling direct train communication with
Havana even before the line Is com
pleted TO Key West, Deep draught
vessels can ecure admittance at this
point, and the distancc.to Havana is
only twenty miles greater than that
from the city at the end of the cres-
cent of keys. where ultimately a great
seaport will be constructed with ter
minals, wharyes and docks. From
the harbor of Key West the car floats.
each capable of conveying a train of
thirty cars, will ply to the Cuban
capital.
Nature has assisted in the project.
The little coral insects whose secre-
tions have been petrified so pienti-
fully all along the Florida peninsula
have prepared a broad flat surface
to meet the needs of the engineers.
some portions Of II appearing Just
above the waters In the form of keys:
low flat islands covered with sedge
and jungle in the uncultivated por'
tions; with %pineapples. lemon and CO.
coanut groves where man has fixed
his habitation-some Of II submerged
a few feet beneath the waves that
tumble in from the deeper parts OF
the sea. The coral rock provides a
natural ballast-one that may be dug
out in chunks large and small and
used for filling where the line cross.
es one of the swampy tracts of the
region.
The work is well under way. Each
practical problem is being solved as
it arises. For a railroad thus to go
to sea Is something new in the his
tory of engineering. but inventive
genius is proving itself equal to the
task. The greater expense is to be
explained not only in the large mile
age of bridges and viaducts, but in
the exposed character of the line. for
the cost exceeds that oil average rail-
road construction-about $4,000 a
mile, which Is perhaps three times
greater than that in ordinary fiat
country. where no long bridges have
to be built. The total involved is
from SIS, 600. 900 to $40. 900. 900.
The construction work began in
1905 on the basis of surveys which
had been made previously. All the
grading of the section of the road on
r the mainland has now been finished.
: and part of the viaduet work complet-