Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-07
HARTMAN
DENIES HE'S
RETRENCHZNG
HEAD OF PACIFIcS SAYS HIS
WORK GOES ON
ASSERTS REPORTS OF CUTTING
EXPENSES EXAGGERATED
Extensive improvements Are to Be
Continued by Union Pacific and
Southern Pacific Through
out the West
Special to The Herald.

NEW YORK, Nov. 6.-In reference. to
exaggerated reports of sweeping re-
trenchment orders issued to all Union
Pacific and Southern Pacific officials Mr..
Hartman said few days ago that no
such instructions had been given. I'VE
are" he added, taking all steps re-
auired to keep our properties in shape
to handle our business efficiently and
economically.
What this policy has involved and re-
suited in already is shown in the fol-
lowing summary of Hartman line i'm
provements:
At Omaha the Union Pacific is now
completing the $1OOOO,OOO undertaking
known as the Lane cutoff. This will
provide new double track entrance to
the company's eastern terminus that
avoids the heavy grades and costly
curves of the old route and saves nine
miles in the distance of twenty-three
miles between Omaha and Lane.
This is only the beginning of double
tracking that will extend all the way
through Nebraska and Wyoming. By the
end of a year the Union Pacific will
have a continuous double track in opera
tion from Omaha to Kearney, a distance
of nearly 200 miles.
New !15-MlIe Branch
Scarcity of labor and the general dis
turbance in the financial and railway
world has delayed until now the COM
pletion of the North Platte Valley branch
from OFallons to Northport, Neb.,
distance of lis miles; as well as the i'm
provements south of Cheyenne on the
Colorado division, which will greatly IA
cilitate the handling of through traffic,
and of the Topeka & Northwestern line,
connecting Topeka with the Union Pa
cific's Manhattan branch in Kansas
Orders have lately been issued to push
these improvements to completion i'm
mediately.
Reballasting, replacing old bridges with
steel construction, Strengthening curves
and lowering grades-these operations are
being carried out at too many points
to mention. All these improvements are
in addition to S41,0OO0OO spent on Union
Pacific betterments and extensions from
1888 to january, 1907, and Southern Pacific
improvements totaling $97,OOO,O00 since 1901
for structures and roadway alone. In
the same period equipment and other
expenditures bring the total Improvement
outlay up to Sill, 657 for the Union
Pacific and $146,6O3,O52 for the Southern
Pacific system.
From Portland to Seattle and Tacoma
surveys have been completed and much
of the terminal property bought for a
new low grade line connecting the o. r.
& N. and the Southern Pacific with Puget
sound.
Toward San Francisco
Additions to equipment have kept up
with extensions and improvements of the
roadway. The Union Pacific system
fO1 "a n
steamships from 1898 to the first of this
year
The Southern Pacific spent for new
equipment $39,S5O,712 from July, 1901, to
the end of 1906. This year the two sys-
TENS have bought 14,173 freigth cars at
a cost of $19,35S, $780, All the box cars,
4050 are of 100000 pounds capacity. Two
hundred and twenty locomotives have
been purchased at an outlay of s4,30000O.
For the Pacific coast fruit traffic alone
$500 refrigerator cars were bought this
year and half this number is in service.
Increasing Equipment
On the way southwark to San Fran
cisco the most important improvement is
the new line begun at Natron and running
south to meet the California Northeastern
line at klamath Falls. These two roads
will give the Southern Pacific an entirely
new route for half the distance between
San Francisco and Portland, save forty
miles in length of haul and avoid the kill
ing grades of the present Shasta route.
If the improvements being carried out
by the Southern Pacific at San Francisco
were located in the east more would be
heard about them Through the barrier
of hills that have stood In the way of San
Francisco's southwark expansion have
been built five tunnels and 1900 fet OF
trestle that would about double the area
now available for industrial and residen-
tial purposes.
Contracts have just been let for the
building of the Fruitvale power house
which will be to the center of the electri-
fication of the Southern Paciflc's Oakland
and Alameda suburban lines-an under
taking comparing in extent to the electri-
flying of the New York Centrals terminal
district here.
Extend Automatic Signals
The extension of automatic block signals
on the Hartman lines is being carried out
this year on an unprecedented scale. The
total for 1907 covers installation of the
most improved form of automatic block
on 2753 miles. BY the end of this year
the various companies comprising the
Southern Pacific will have 400 miles OF
track controlled and protected by auto
matte signals, and the Union Pacific ovel
1107 miles, in addition some 1900 switches
.provided with automatic distance signals
\ Bv the end of this year the entire line
of the Southern Pacific from Omaha by
wav of San Francisco and Los Angeles to
Banning in Southern California, con
tinuous stretch of 1854 miles, will be fully
protected with automatic signals.
The Hartman lines have sc per cent
more car capacity and SO per cent more
locomotive capacity, than they had five
wears ago. Yard facilities are more thar
keeping pace with additions to equipment
In four years 100 miles of yard tracks
and sidings have been built.
.4nao VIAIIIFN At M1A mn