The weekly herald. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 1906-19??, 1908-11-26

The greatest work OF the age that
IS nov about so per ceat complete
is dlscrioed In the following article
taken fem an exchange;
when a railroad company un-
dertakes 10 build solid cmbank-
ment across Tx miles OF submerged
moadowland criss-cl ossed by iif-
teen or twenty otner railroads, 20
l,re a hole through 5000 feet Of
tho hardest kind OF rock, 10 scoop
out two parallel tunnels five miles
long beneath two rivers and an ISL
and, TO build a big terminal at either
end with a passenger station occupy
Ing four city blocks 10 between, TO
eliminate all grade crossings and TO
electrlty all OF It's suburban lines
within a radius OF twenty-five miles
OF the central station--thEp that
corporation has mighty big job on
It's hands
That, in a nutshell is just what
the Pennsylvania railroad Is doing,
II has been on the job for six years,
working night and day, and the en-
gneers are just beginning 10 see
daylight ahead, By the spring Of
1910 they expect to have the en-
tire undertaking completed, TO sec
President Cassatt's dream actually
realized.
when asked to estimate the pro-
bable cost of the work the railroad
officials shrug their shoulders and
reply: AT least $4,000 900, per-
haps 500, 100000 II all depends.
More than $4,000, 900 has already
been spent, and the work is still a
long way from completion, It will
take at least SSO,OOO,OOO more 10
finish the, job.
Many Years Solving II.
1T took great many years to
find satisfactory solution Of the
problem that confronted the Penn
sylvsnia railroad in its desire for
expansion. Under the plan finally
adopted the first thing done was to
acquire a controlling interest in tho
Long Island railroad. Then the
work OF construction was divided in
70 sections, each step to be taken up
Independently
First-The Atlantic avenue i'm
provemept in Brooklyn.
The tunnel work was divided into
three ssctions--the Bergen Hill di-
vision, the North River division and
the East River division. Twin tun-
nels we're bored through Bergen
Hill, southerly extension OF the
Palisades, and two single-track iron
tubes pushed eastward, far below
the bed of the Hudson river, as far
as Tenth avenue in Manhattan. Here
the tracks spread out fanwIse until
AT the terminal station they number
twenty-one East OF Seventh ave-
nue. they converge again, entering
two double-track tunnels that run
to the East river shafts. From this
point four single track iron tubes
lead beneath the river bed to Sun
nyside yard.
"The construction gang found
themselves up against a tough pro-
position when they tackled fhe Ber-
gen Hill cut. After wading through
500 feet OF sandstone in record time
the drillers stood face to face with
solid wall of trap rock mile thick
and exceedingly tough. ~
Cost Much Profanity.
The engineers brought out the
best drills the company owned. and
when they proved unsatisfactory
sent for the most powerful tools
made Even then it took an hour
of the hardest kind of work to ad-
vance a single foot Tho entire
job required three years of continu-
GUS effort, $4,000 pounds OF dyna-
mite and an unlimited supply Of
profanity.
Causes GrinS.
The North river gang wiped the
mud and slime Of the river bottom
from their sweating brows and grim
ned broadly at one another as they
left the shock of frequent and heavy
blasting and noted the sulphurous
haze that hung over the grim sum
init Of Bergen Hill. Their work was
going along finely Indeed, they
were doing too we'll for their good
luck to last. One day they struck
an exceptionally soft spot that turned
out to be fathomless pit Of quick
sand, Then there were doings,
great doings
The bottom fell out OF the river