The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-03-06
THE GoVERNNIENT Road.
Panama Line to Be Used Chiefly to
Held Build CanaI.

Panama Line TO be Used Cn1elly 10
Help Build Canal.
When in 1904 the United States
bought the canal property from the
new French company, there were in
Guided in the purchase 1888 of the
1000 shares which constituted the
capital stock of the Panama railroad,
says F. I. Waldo in the Railroad Ca
zette. The remaining shares have
since been bought for $155,020.
At the time OF the transfer the rail-
road consisted of a single track of fifty
six pound per yard rails, from Colon
to Panama, with a gauge of five feet.
In April 1905, it was decided to double
track the road, and since then the en-
ergies of force Of 1000 laborers
have been mainly directed toward that
end. The track (still retaining the
old fnconvenient five foot gauge) has
been practically relaid with seventy
pound rail. The roadbed is ballasted
with rock and gravel.
In connection with the great crux of
the work=the transportation of ex=
cavated material from the Culebra cut
to fill the sWamps or to be dumped
into the sea-sOme $50 or 800 miles Of
additional track will have to be laid.
Were the canal to be built at sea level,
some 27O,OOO.0O0 cubic yards of ma
terial would have to be transported
for distances varying from few feet
to fifteen miles.
The commission has recently or
dered=to give only a few items in an
invoice of mammoth proportions
sixty-one steam shovels, 300 fiat cars,
twelve rapid unloaders. twenty-five
sDrea ders 324 dump cars. twelve
hosting engines, 40 locomotives o.
600 tons of steel rails, $4,000 cross
ties, 1900 pieces of piling, fourteen
air COMPRISING machines, three
cranes
The Panama railroad on its own ac-
count has lately purchased 500 forty
ton box cars, twelve aboose cars. ten
refrigerator cars, six passenger
coaches, twenty-four locomotives, two
wrecl1ing cranes one locomotive
crane, one pile driver, three 100 ton
track scales, one wooden coal hosting
plant, one cantilever crane.
With the eighty-nine steam shovels,
which will shortly be in operation, it
is plain that the resources Of the rail-
remove the soil from the excavations,
in addition to handling the abnormal
traffic incident to canal cOnstruc elton.
Last October 1900 tons of CONNER
canal terminal, while at the same time
stca nshfps were forced to depart
without their cargoes.
The reOrganized administration of
the railroad cleared up the accumula-
ton in a months time. Fortunately,
there had been no system, worthy of
the name, in car accounting or trac-
ing, but when the first 200 of the 500
cars ordered were gotten into com
mission the well nigh paralyZed
freight traffic took a new lease of life.
1.-The nature of the traffic" says En-
gineer Stevens, has complicated the
handling of the business of the rail-
road to such an extent that an ex-
tremely low cost of handling can
never be arrived at. All of the canal
business moves from terminals to In
terror points, resulting in a very light
average empty car haul. and these fac
tors, coupled with a heavy grade road
and extremely light power, resulting
in small train loads and large train
mileage. will keep operating expenses
high as compared with those of roads
operating under more favorable CON
ditions in regard to above as well as
with cheaper labor.
OF course in building the canal the
dredge rather than the steam shovel
on a railroad track. will be used when
ever practica BILE. The service cOndi-
serious difficulties. On rainy days
with wet rails, only four five yard
dump cars per train can be hauled in
place of the usual twelve. Derail-
ments are frequent. At Culebra, the
clayey material in which the steam
shovels are working becomes so sticky
that 1t will not clear itself but has to
be shoveled by hand from the French
dump cars.
The old Belgian rail OK inches
wide at base and d Y inches high). in
combination with the short spikes a
inches) and the ties of soft pine with
out tie plates. has been the cause of
many derailments and in default of
track tools there have been resultant
serious delays. acquisitions for tie
plates dated November, 1904, were not
filled until June, 1905.
with new track properly ballasted
gineer Dauchy. land the installation of
new cars, locomotives. Lidgerwood IN
leaders, bank spreaders. and modern
drilling machinery, the establishment
of dumps of the proper height and
with tracks leading to them. the trou-
bles that we are now having will be
largely done away with. and the out
put of the steam shovels increased to
os--