Bisbee daily review., 1909-01-31
ROCK ISLAND
 IS PLANNING
 A NEW LINE
With Its Amarillo Tucumcari Line This Company Plans To Change Transportation Map of the Southwest.

A special to the Dallas News nom Chicago says:
 The managemem of the Rock Island
 road has just decided to construct
 enc of the most important links in it's
 entire system of roads. The new
 line. which win be III niles long.
 costing s2,000, 900. and which will connect Amarillo, Texas. with Tucum-
 eari. N. NJ. bids far to change the
 transportation map cf the southwest
 and will provide a new outlet from
 the southeast .. The new link will give the Rock Island system the short line from St Louis to Fl Paso, the Pacific coast and northern old Mexico: MilI give 1t
 short competitive route frcm Mem phis to the west and southN est for all the products of the southeast and
 will bring 1t into active competition
 with the Gould system. the Illinois
 Central-Southern Pacific combination
 and give it two short lines from St. Louis to the southwest. one through Kansas City, which it now possesses
 and the other through Oklahoma City and Amarillo.
 The strategic importance of the new link can scarcely be overesti- i mated it is claimed, end was seen by 1 the Rock Island management when W | B Leeds was president of the read. The building of the line was begun : in 1892 and fer some reason was dis l continuel after twenty miles of read ! had been constructed from Amarillo ' to Fl Dorado. Tle reascn for the ! disContinIauCe of the work was never { made public. but it is Thought that other railway systems protested and that the MoOrcs were not then in a ] Financial position to float any stren ucus objection made by strcng "a T. road and uancial rivals. However. ! this may be. tEs new lire is to be con. slgctec at oncc.-and through Se~yicz , from Chicago, St Louis ald Memphis [ tC the southwest and west Is to be ! established over it.
 ! Beth as a passenger and freight
 line the new route will cut an import aut ( sure in the future. It is pur- rcsed lcr eysmple, to run a duplicate ! or the Golden State Limited train Oui ' Cf St. Louis fer tae coast by the way of El Paso. At that point ir win
 TrCtably be m'ted with the present Golden State Limited which runs tu ] lll PrsO by way or Kansas City. The iile fr-m Memphis tO Fl Pazo is about as straight az iJ could Ie, al
 though iJ is nlty-two niles longer
 than the Could route between the
 sam5 places. The Importance of t-e
 new route will be seen by the fol
 lowing figures Cf mileage:
 1 By the Rock IslanI from Memphis ! 10 Fl Paso il will be 12o2 miles, by the Illinois CeutI3lS0utIeru Pacific | route through New Orlzans iL is I5Ss m les by the Rock Island from St ] Louis to Fl Paso it will be 1239 miles [ by the Gould lines it is 1853 miles l by the Rock leland from St. Louis tC | Fl Paso by the way of Kansas City 1 it is 1246 miles. by the Burlington. Santa Fe CT Alton-Santa Fe route it
 is li52 miles.
 It is the declared purpose of the | Rock Island management to become a strong contended for the traffic ir all the territory which will be served | by it's two new routes.
 ] Arrangements are being planned tC | put on a through Pullman between | Bisbee and the Pacific coast, com meEcing the service about the first
 of May. General Passenger Asen, Stiles, of the SUutawestern. said to
 day that the matter had been taker up with the Southern Pacific. and ! while no positive agreement has beeI arrived at between the two lines. hs felt sure the arrangements would go
 t1Tcugh