Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-27
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| ( Massive arched viaduct, thirty feet
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form the roadbed. Harther down.
where the railway crosses to Key Largo
and begins it's real career as an ocean
PRESENTED themselves for solution.
Even the building of the road across
the different keys was not a simple
matter, for there palms, vines and vari-
Gus kinds Of tropical vegetation grow
| in such luxuriance that they formed a
dense jungle that had to be cleaned
away before digging could begin.
Where long open stretches of water
were traversed it was necessary to put
down caissons or to build cofferdams in
which the men worked while laying the
foundations for the huge concrete via
ducts that carry the rails over the sec
tions ofJthe route.
Brought on Barges
Nearly all the building materials, in
cluding the ingredients of the concrete,
| the timber for piling, the heavy stone
for abutments and the crushed stone for
the riprap work put in as a protection
against the action of the waves, were
brought to the points where they were
used on barges towed by tugs and steams
| ers. Only the ballast or filling for the
roadbed was secured on the spot. On
the various islands this was obtained by
excavating and breaking up the coral
rock, which makes bed of cleaning
white. Where the line crosses open water
| filling was obtained by the use of huge
pumps, which sucked up sand from the
bottom and dropped it Into the fill Thus
the engineers forced old ocean to yield
not only the right of way, but, as well,
part of the construction material
Knights Key whcl- for the time be-
| ing is to serve as the southern terminus
of the ocean going railway, and at which
passengers will take the boat for 1a-
vana Is los miles below Miami and Al
miles from Key West. From here to
Havana the distance is only lis miles or
but 25 miles further than from Key West.
1t has been selected for temporary
terminus not only because it is the point
to which the road has been fully COM
pleted, but because the construction work
which is being done here will provide a
safe and commodious harbor for the use
of steamers.
In explanation of the reason for begin
ming the operation of the train service
from knights Key instead of from Key
West, and a year earlier than the date
originally set Vice President Parrott
said: g.
found on taking stock that by concentrat-
ing our efforts and our working force
on the section of the road above Knights
Key we could have this portion COM
pleted and open to traffic by the middle
of January 1908. That is, we could put
the road In operation and have it earning
something during the coming season in
stead of allowing 1t to remain idle and
unremunerative for another year Prac-
tically so per cent of all the land work
on the Key West end of the line has
been completed so there should be no
difficulty In pushing the work forward
to completion on it's scheduled time"
Peculiar Difficulty
One of the peculiar difficulties in the
execution of Mr.. Flaglers ambitious pro-
jeet was the discovery that there was
not sufficient space on the island of Key
West TO provide railroad yards, terminals
and wharves. Accordingly vasl area is
being filled in which will add approxi-
mately 179 acres to the area of the island.
This space will be utilized for the ter
minal of the lines and for the six pig
piers which are to be built for the use
of the ferries plying between this point
and Havana.
This ocean railway has in one sense
been in course of construction far longer
than any other line in existence. For
thousands, perhaps hundreds of thou
sands, of years before the existence of
America was known to the forbears of
its present inhabitants myriads of tire
less coral insects were rearing out of
the depths of the ocehn the islets which
form the stepping stones of this novel
railway in it's seaward course. For an
equal period the winds and the waves
have been at work piing up the sand
which forms the abutments of the orig
inal structure. Only the finishing touch
es were left for the master mind of the
American magnate to complete And 1t
may be added that these tiny insects and
the elements are the only partners Mr..
Flagler has had in his unique enter
prise. Although the road from the ma
ture of it's construction, is one of the
most expensive ever undertaken, costing
Approximately 100000 peh mile, the task
of financing it is being borne entirely
by the man who planned and is building
it. 1t represents an expenditure of be-
tween $15,0O0,OOO and $2O000,0OO for the
retaliation of an idea-the linking to-
gether of Cuba and the United States
by the peaceful but effective band of
the steel highway.