The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-28
ILLINOIS CENTRAL
 PARTY SPENDS DAY Enthusiastic Over the Districts
 Bright Prospects ABOUT READY TO ENTER Hartman Probably Cannot Come, But Big Party Will Arrive In Birrlns-
 ham On First Trair Over
 the New Road
ABOUT READY TO ENTER

 sstant to the president in charge of al lit- ing and financial reports, and c. F. lar ker, general purchasing agent They had been off on a short vacation and stopped over in Birmingham to inspect the term
 nal properties of the Illinois Central and to see the city. The visitors were re- ceived on their arrival by W. B. Leedy. Walter Moore and l.. ". Collier, com mercal agent of the Illinois Central and these gentlemen accompanied them dur ing the afternoon in their sight seeing outing. The party drove over the North Highlands and the South Highlands, stopped at the Country club went to Ensley and looked at the steel plant, dlned at the Southern club at p. m. as tl,e guests of MT. Leedy and from dinner went to the theatre. The officials reached tneir car at the Terminal station at Il D. m bouyant and delighted with what they had seen of Birmingham.
 MT. Fritch is an engineer and although he is yet a young man ranks as one Of the best equipped railroad officials in Chicago He was especially interested In the rail mill at Ensley.
 "The Illinois Central will run its first Ii ain into Birmingham within the next 50 days" said MT. Fritch. We have been delayed by the washes on the new road between Corinth and Haleyville. But for the rainy weather we would have been running into Birmingham by this time. Big Event For Road.
 "The entrance of the Illinois Central into this district will be a great event in the history of the company and we are Eiad to know that the people of Birming- ,rafr tn iAra if cur coming. President J. T. Harahan and other prominent officials of the line will be here with the first train. Mr. Hara-- han had been hoping to bring MT. Harri- man to Birmingham on the occasion of the opening of the line to this point, but as the latter is now planning trip to the Pacific coast it may be that his visit to the Birmingham district will have to be | postponed. MT. Hartman is greatly in- terested in Birmingham, of course; ami now more than ever since he represents the control of the Central of Georgia" MT. Fritch had been in this city two or three times within the past IS months, but he says his visits were strictly in connec- ton with terminal work and were hur- ried.
 This is the first time I have had an | opportunity of seeing Birmingham" said | he, and I am delighted and amazed. I | was familiar with the Birmingham dis l trict as traffic proposition, but 1 had l no idea of the metropolitan appearance of | the city proper or of the beauty and | elegance of it's residence sections. I find l here a great city. Among many striking l features of Birmingham Is the extent and character of it's paved streets I am in nowse exaggerating when l say that this city, in the matter of well paved streets, is ahead of Chicago, relatively considered; tLat is, Birmingham for its size has more fine streets than Chicago
 Work at EnsIey.
 ''The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail- road company is building up steel plant at Ensley tlar VII tc model in every respect I find that everything there IS being designed not only on the md,t mod ern lines, but on broad lines that mean expansion on a scale of great magnitude. Just so soon as the business of the country becomes normal again Birming- ham will be the first industrial center to feel it.. Indications point to a return of solid prosperity very shortly, and when it ioes come Birmingham is going for wa d by leaps and bounds. The growth of his city will be phenomenal It will sur ,se even the most optimistic dream- CT. Birmingham is today about as far along as Chicago was in 1860 or 1865. With in the next four or five years 1t will be ahead of Chicago as Chicago was in 1S70 This is sure to be one of the largest and richest cities in America" MT. Fritch says he is organizing a large party of Chicago newspaper men to accompany the Illinois Central officials to Birmingham on the opening of the line Each of the eight morning and eight aft ernoon dailies has agreed to send a rep resentative along to ''write$up" the Bir- mngham district.
 Summary of the Work.
 The Wall Street Journal prints the fo; To, ing summary of the work undertaken by the Illinois Central in gaining entrance tG Birmingham:
 The Illinois Central has completed, after two years work, 80 miles of new line from Corinth, Miss, to HaleyvilIe. Ala. which supplied the last link of the great Hartman Ocean-to-Ocean system. But more important by far is the entrance which is now given the Illinois Central into the coal and iron district of Bir- mingham, and the fact that this road will now become factor in the struggle for the enormous traffic arising in that region.
 The entrance Is effected from the main line of. the Illinois Centre, at Jackson. Tenn, over the Jackson .nf Southeastern, 3.04 miles; Mobile e- Ohio, From Perry to Rusler, Miss. 51.s2 miles; Corinth to Haleyvile-new lne-s0 miles; Northern Alabama from Haleyville to Jasper 4O 76 miles; Kansas City, Memphis and Bir- mingham railroad from Jasper to Bir- mingham, fl .42 miles, and the Alabama Western into the terminals, 2.76 miles, making in all total of 2l93S miles,
 The Illinois Central now has under con- struotion very extensive terminals at Bir- mingham, large outer storage and makeup freight yard located in the sub urbs and passenger terminals and freight sheds in the heart of the city.
 The line from Cornth to Ha1eyville and the terminals in Birmingham have the extremely low gradients of 0.5 per cent on tangent and the maximum curvature is 31 degrees. The roadbed Is standard single track width laid with S5-pound rail on stone and gravel ballast. The total yardage moved was 5,434,8OO cubic yards of which 494,300 yards were solid rock which indicates the heavy char acter of the work and explains its ex- pense.
 The country is extremely rugged, but since the new line follows ridge which is a watershed, no large streams were encountered and but one large bridge was built. This vaduct Is 12S0 feet long, I'll feet at at the highest point and the structuSo consists of ten 75-foot plate deck girders resting upon steel towers with concrete foundations. The cost of the structure was $192,500 It is one of the highest steel bridges in the south and
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