The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-26
MULGA BRANCH WILL SOON BE FINISHED Status of Work on Line Out of
 BeSSemer DIFFICULT CONSTRUCTION House of D. w. Owen at Ishkooda Is Completely Demolished By Light nine-Thomas Parsons Rest
 ing Well-other News.
DIFFICULT CONSTRUCTION
By J. E. LEE.

Bessemer, July 25.-(Special. )-Work on the Bessemer- -Mulga branch of the At lanta, Birmingham and Atlantic is near ing completion. Of the 15 miles of rail- road which comprise the branch of the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic rail- road from the mines at Mulga to the junction with their main line near the Jefferson Fertilizer Works, about 12 miles have now been either completed or are being given the final dressing up" The work on this branch has been done by Lane Eros Contracting Co.,, as general contractors, through their resident man- ager, S. T. Neely. All of the grading was subject to various contractors before the work began, except the first two miles out of Bessemer, which, on account of it's difficulties, was reserved by the gen. eral contractors. The entire two miles of embankment averaging 10 feet in height has been made from one borrow pit and the old cinder dump at Roberts town furnaces. William Moss Docket of Woodward, Ala, has had charge of this section as superintendent. His division extends from the yves at the Fertilizer Works, where the Mulga branch will join the main line, to the crossing of the track of the Louisville and Nashville.
 A portion of the main line between the yves at the junction has been completed oy this crew and put in good shape The Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic OWL the plat of land between the yves anG the main line at this place, and it Is rl- -nored that modern cottages will be erect ed theron for the accommodation Of sec tion men and other employees.
 J. T. Nichols, bookkeepr and purchas- Ing agent, says that this entire outfit when they finish here to do work on the 8, ,000 900 reservoirs which Lane Bros. are now building for that city.
 D. M. Van Hoy, sub-contractor on mic three, has completed his grade work and turned the job over to the engineers. The grade on this mile has been made wide enough for nine side tracks and here will be the storage and switching yards for coal trains from Mulga.
 Miles 4, and 6, Brewer & Jones. sub contractors, are completed except the big fill near Hueytown, which will be fin- ished this month.
 Dressing up" on all the work of R. M. Thurmond, sub-contractor for miles ', 8, g and 10. has been started. This part of the line lies on Lizzard ridge, back of Dolomite. It crosses the summit of the ridge at the ninth mile post, where a 3OOo-feet siding has been provided for. It 4, AI hot -+off xnrt11 ha h1tfIf at this place, and afterwards townsite laid out. Beyond this point the grade descends on the east side of the ridge to the crossing of the Ensley Southern railroad at Big Bone Gap, and the work in this district is extraordinarily heavy. A. A Luck, J. W. White and Stewart & Jones are still at work on the big rock cuts, miles Il and 12 Solid rock cuts 60 feet deep and embankments 100 feet in height characterize this work, which will not be completed until about Sep tember 1, although three gigantic steam shovels have been pounding away at the rocks since last October. The steepness of the hills and the depths of the ravines in this neighborhood necesSitated the en- ploying of entirely new methods of con- struction. Instead of locomotives, hoisting engines have been used to pull the dirt trains on the steep hillsides, cables
 
 to hill, with ties and rails bolted there on have been employed in place of tenn porary trestles, from which cars of rock have been dumped. On account of these difficulties and the character of the rock this work, while small in yardage, has been as hard a construction problem as any encountered in this country, and the contractors deserve credit for pushing 1t to completion without accident or more serious delays.
 Brewer & Jones have also completed and turned over the grading which joins the Ensley Southern. The Vance Con- tracting company have finished the grade and track has been laid between the Ems ley Southern railway and the mines at Mulga, where coal is now being mined and marketed over the Southern railway. The mine yards are being graded, and when completed the entire machinery or ttA Muiga mines will be put to work It is protected to extend the Mulga branch to Adamsville, giving an outlet over the Frisco railroad. It Is also rumored that the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company is surveying for a connection from the Ensley mines to Mulga.
 The Ensley Southern railroad has been completely reballasted and relaid with heavy rails preparatory to being used as the main line of the Southern railroad. when the connection at the Warrior river Is completed.
 These additional railroad facilities, with the improvements to be made by the Bes- semer Coal, Iron and Land company, will make the town of Mulga, which is ideal ly laid out, a town of importance, espe- cially to Bessemer, which town will be the most directly connected with it by this branch now nearing completion.