The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-06
Birmingham Gets Another Big
 Trunk Line Built on Most Up-to-Date Design
POLICY OF OFFICIALS
 TOWARD GENERAL PUBLIC
Something About the Road and Some thing About the Men Who Have Built It-Sketch of Atkin-
 sons Enterprise.

Yesterday marked the practical comple- ton of the Atlanta, Birmingham and At lantic railroad Today regular schedules will be inaugurated, and Monday Alabama will celebrate one of the most important industrial and commercial events to Bir- mingham in a generation.
 Other railroads have entered Birming- ham within the last few years, but this is the only railroad of entirely new con- struction, built on the most modern lines known to railroad construction. and op- erated absolutely independent of any other railroad system or combination of sys- tems. In addition to this, the officials, promoters and financiers interested in the road, are people of the south, who live with the people from whom they expect to draw business, upon which the welfare of the newly-constructed property Is ab- solutely dependent. With this idea in view, the officials of the road have ar ranged so that every user of the prop erty, be he great or small, shall have an opportunity to present any complaint. suggestion, request or argument which may occur to him in hls daily use of the property.
 President Atkinson Talks.
 President H. M. Atkinson expressed his deep appreciation when the plan of con- ducting a celebration in Birmingham was first suggested to him by officers of the local civic body. In stating his entire willingness to cooperate heartily to mako the celebration a success and credit to to the city of Birmingham, he took oc- casion to give his reasons for desiring just such a celebration as has been plan ned.
 He stated that he wished on every pos sible occasion to come as closely in touch with the users of the property as ] possible He wanted to meet and know | personally every man. woman and child who might have occasion to be affected ] financially or otherwise by the manner in l which the policy of the company is di- | rected.
 In his speech In Atlanta, when a cele- | bration was given on the occasion of the 1 entry of the road into that city, he l pledged to the people of Alabama and
 
 | be to develop; that the intersts of the peo' I pie would be the interests of the road
 and that the road will deal fairly with | the people as man to man. He added l that the road could not live without the support of the people, and that 1t would
 not deserve to live unless 1t serves the
 people faithfully. He said that his future 1 ambition was to make 1t such a railroad
 as the people will take pride in. On that
 occasion he dedicated the road to the peo. 1 pie of Alabama and of Georgia
 The Most Modern Construction. The Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlanti,
 railroad operates between Birmingham
 Atlanta, Brunswick, and Thomasville; i
 consists of $50 miles, with 13O miles O
 in all Every mile of the road is bull
 on a 1 per cent maximum grade, witt I a per cent compensated curvature. I 1 is all No. 80 steel rails, and all curves
 are supplied with tie plates Concrete
 reinforced with steel, has been used fol
 culvert and bridge worK, while what few l trestles there are on the line are con
 structed of steel. There is not a grade
 crossing within the limits of any city O. ] importance. In no instances have the of
 ficers purchased and consolidated exist 1 ing lines With the single exception o1 l Birmingham, the road enters every city
 on it's line over its own tracks and right. i of-way.
 The arrangement of using the Louisville 1 and Nashville tracks and depot facilities 1 is only temporary President Atkinson ! has signiied his intention to push to com ] pletion as rapidly as possible the con ! struction work through Readers Gap and 1 Bessemer on to the city of Birmingham | over the right-of-way which he has al 1 ready acquired in Jefferson county. ] At Bessemer the company has pur- 1 chased 200 acres of land which will be i used as a site on which to construct the l shops These shops will do general re- l pair, construction and overhauling work, l supplying employment to a large number i of skilled mechanics and laborers The | money for this construction work is eastern and northern capital In all MT. Atkinson has brought to the south ap- proximately S75,000, 900. a large per cent of which has gone to finance the construc- ton of this railroad. This money was never before held in the south. It is ab- solutely new capital, put into circulation among the people of the south by being paid out to southern laborers, construc- tors, contractors, builders and merchants. The work alone required the labor of 2o- GOO men, 1000 mules and 25 steam shovels; 24000 cubic yards were eXcavated; S,OOOO0O pounds of explosives were used in blast ing rock 160,0OO cubic yards of concrete were used in culverts and bridge work. piers and abutments, requiring 1900 car loads of cement, which if put in one train would make a train nine miles long; 35,- GOO yards of this concrete was re-enforced with steel bars, the weight of which ag- gregated 3,400,0O0 pounds.
 The weight of steel spans used for bridge work will aggregate 12.700,00O pounds These figures, startling in their proportion, give the ordinary layman