The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1909-04-02
NEW TRANS-CONTINENTAL.
The Coast Extension Of the Chicago,
Milwaukee L. st. Paul Railway.
Scientific American

ouo II VIM iSol IoA"IS vi tI' IN VII
sion of the G. NJ. & ST. 2. railway,
called the Chicago, Milwaukee &
Puget Sound Railway, one of
the great railroad systems of the
west will rank as a transcOntinental
line. For the beginnings of this great
railway system we must go back to
the year 1865. when the Minnesota
Central, o knwOn as the Minnesota
and Iowa division of the Chicago.
Milwaukee x St. Paul railway. a
completed to Faribault. Mimi. This
road reached the Iowa line in 1866.
and was completed to st. Paul in 1867.
Since that time the growth of the sys-
TEN has been rapid, the total mileage
reaching 4.I2l miles in 1884. 6.O65
miles in 1892. $3.50 miles in 1903. and
7.264 miles in 1907, and 7.45l miles in
1908. The total length of the exten
sion now being completed. from the
Missouri river to the coast. is 400
miles, and 10y the time it is opened the
total mileage of the whole system will
have reached 5000 miles.
BY the time of its completion the
new line will have created a record
for rapldlty OF construction. Work
was begun in April 1906. and if the ex-
peCtations of the engineers and con-
tractors are fulfilled. the last main
line rail will be laid by April l.. 1909,
and the whole stretch of l.4OO miles
will have been built in the remark
ably short time of three years. Dur
ing this period 60, 600. 900 cubic Yards
OF material will have been e~Xcavated,
$50, 900 yards of tunnel driven. 20 miles
OF bridges erected. and POO, 900 tons of
S3-pOund rails laid. at a total cost of
$50, 900. 600.
The new line being the latest of the
transcontinental roads to be built,
has all the advantages which come
from accumulated experience in the
construction of similar roads that
have already been built.
From he standpoint of operation.
the most important question is that of
grades, and particularly what is
known as the "ruling grade this
last being the maximum degree OF
grade occurring on any given stretch
Of the line. The new line is charac-
terized by favorable gradients and it's
easy curvature.
The new line begins at the town of
MObridge in South Dakota. and ros
ses the Missouri at a point about 100
miles due west of Aberdeen by a hand
some steel bridge. 1t is carried upon
four concrete and stone piers. the
foundations for three of which were
put IN by the pneumatic caissOn pro-
cess. Pier No. ) was sunk to a depth
of so feet & inches below low water.
The bridge consists of a steel through
truss span of l2S feet on the east APP
proach, followed by three steel
through-truss spans each 423 feet 4
inches in length, which form the main
bridge. The west approach consists
OF Isl feet OF steel viaduct and l.2S9
feet at timber trestle. The filling of
the timber trestle will be completed
this season. Aster crossing the Mis-
souri, the line parallels the state line
through the Standing Rock Indian
reservation, and swings into North
Dakota. touching several towns. in
Guiding Marmarth. on the Little Mis-
souri, River, where one of the divi-
sion points will be established. Thence
it proceeds to Terry, Mont, on the
Yellowstone River, and four miles to
the west of Terry it crosses the North
ern Pacific by an overhead bridge.
and follows the line of the Yellow
stone river to Miles City, Mont.
where large division terminals are
being built. The road passes through
the valley of the Musselshell river.
and at Harlowton joins the Montana
railroad, on which a large amount of
work has been done in the way of re-
ducing grades and curvature to ac-
commodate the expected heavy traffic.
At Lombard the new line again crosses
the Northern Pacific railway. and then
climbs the great continental divide
between Piedmont on the eastern side
OF the Rockies and the city of Butte
on the west. At an elevation of $3.50
feet the road pierces the mountains at
the head of PipestOne Pass.
From Butte the road will pass by
the way of the broad and fertile Deer
Lodge valley to Garrison and Nilsson
10, Mont, and at Haugan, Mont.
the new railroad will commence
the climb over the Bitter Root Noun.
tain range. At the summit it will pass
through = tunnel 8,751 feet feet in
length, and after crossing st. Paul
Pass 1T an elevation of 4,l6O feet il
will pass through the famous Coul
d'Alene district. At Beverley, Wash.
ington, the line reaches the Columbia
River. The last stretch of the new
road passes through the virgin timber
lands OF Susqualmie Pass in the Cas-
cade: Mountains, which are probably
the richest timber lands in the state Of
Washington: and then after following
the Cedar River valley to Maple val
ley, it runs into the populous .anG
thriving cities. Of Seattle and Tacoma
ON the Pacific coast. The line to Ia.
coma run through Kent and Auburn,
passes through Summer and North
Puysllup. crossing the river .of.tha'
name, and then entering the famou,
seaport of Tacoma.
Although for 2 considerable portion
of its distance the new line traversei
approximately the same country ..
Vie Northern Pscifc, for the create,
part of The distance it will open en-.
tirely new sections, in which are in.
cluded ZONE large areas of fertile sg
ricultural country, and extensive dis
tricts that ara rich in mineral and for
est wealth. The development of TIN
country through which it passes, anl
The carriage OF freight and passenger
to and from the large areas which viii
be tributaries to the line, are not BY
any . the sole objects for which
It has been built. Its promoters ars
looking beyond the broad Pacific. il