Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-26
Wyoming is to Be the battle-ground
Of This Giants Contest.
HARTMAN TO BUILD NEW LINES
Hills Chief Scheme is to Connect Up
His Present Roads.
UNION PACIFIC TO BE SHORTENED
More Miles win he Cut on the
Overland and New Main Line
VIII Run Around
Cheyenne.


Hin and Hartman the opposing kings of
in the west have planned a campaign of
railroad building In Wyoming. which will
open the eyes of the railroad world.
The work OF Hill will be to connect up
lines he has bought and TO make a sec
ond line to unite with his big transcon-
tinentals, the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern and Hartman will build long
stretch in pursuance of his policy of
Strengthening out the Union Pacific, lessen
ing the grades and making the journey
from the Missouri river to the Pacific as
short as possible.
Hartman never hestates TO spend
millions IL he can see a way to shorten
the Union Pacific, the road which he looks
u2on as a model of construction and on
which he has lavshed millions in the last
seven years. To cut off the circuitous
route around Salt Lake, he ordered his
engineers to build a line straight across
the lake and this was done at the expense
Of millions. To shorten the line in and
out of Omaha Lane cutoff was built.
saving of nine miles at an expense OF So
100000. To avoid the climb of Sherman hill
on the run to Denver the Borie-Carr cut
off built. To insure safety in travel
the Union Pacific has been provided with
automatic electric signal devices at an ex-
pense OF millions of dollars. To assist I'm
getting the heavy trains over the road the
Union Pacific has been double tracked
| from Omaha to Watson's ranch at Kearney
at the expense OF more millions and now to
| save the climb OF Sherman hill and to
avoid more miles another cutoff Is to be
built in the spring running between North
Platte and Medicine Bow.
Cheyenne on Main Line.
Cheyenne will soon be off the mainline
of the Union Pacific, for there is no doubt
that when this cutoff is built It will be
looked upon as the main artery and the
route over which the heavy tonnage and
the through trains viii be run. The cut
off which will run from North Platte to
Medicine Bow, crossing the Colorado g.
Southern at Wheatand will save forty
six miles in travel and in addition to this
distance 1t will save climb of 1000 feet
over the Sherman HILL
The line is now built as far as Northport
from North Platte and from Northport
1t will go slightly northwest to Wheatland
and will then follow the water grade of
the Laramie river to Medicine Bow.
The Burlington will also have men in
the field as soon as the spring weather
will permit and the newly acquired
Colorado & Southern will be connected with
the Hill lines of the north by a second
line across Wyoming. For some time the
Burlington has been contemplating the
construction OF this line and the surveys
have been made for some time.
what Hill Now Has There.
The Burlington now owns a line as far
west as Guernsey and as far south in the
Big Horn Basin as Worland with a spur
running over to the Kirby mines. To build
south from Worland is quite an engineer
ing feat. as the pass of Thermopolis has
to be encountered. once through this DIFF
ficulty the construction OF the line south
will be practically an easy matter to orin
Junction. where the Colorado q Southern
meets the Northwestern.
The Colorado q Southern, which is now
a Hin line. has track from orin Junction
to Cheyenne and from Cheyenne has
trackage rights over the Union Pacific to
Denver. To complete Hill line would
require the building Of a new line from
Fort Collins or Lyons north to,Cheyenne.
The Northern Pacific has a spur run
ming south from it's main line at Laurel
to Bridger and it would require but a short
line to connect the Cody branch of the
Burlington with that line and thus make
a second complete line for the Hill sys-
TEN across the state OF Wyoming from
north to south.
Wyoming is a state Of wonderful re-
sources and besides its great mineral
wealth the government has spent millions
of dollars in developing irrigation schemes
Some OF these are now on the market and
others will be in the spring and the popu-
lation OF Wyoming bids fair to increase
within the next decade faster than that OF
any other state. ~