The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1910-01-14

After many weeks of as trying a
strain as was ever endured by any
railroad man, General superintendent
S. NJ. Braden is back in Norfolk from
the Chadron division where, with W.
b. Golden, e. Sly and j. Leppla, he has
been fighting the worst winter for rail
reading ever known in the west.
Going for days and nights at time
without sleep, and fighting with every
means known to railroaHing against
snowstorm upon snowstorm that
blocked miles and miles of track with
hills of packed ice train-high, Mr.. Bra
den earned the admiration of the peo-
pie of western Nebraska and north
eastern Wyoming, and was given
vote of thanks by a committee of Wy
oming state officials for his ceaseless
energy in getting coal to towns suffer
ing from fuel shortage and hay to
towns suffering for live stock feed.
Snowplow after snowplow was
mashed in the huge task of trying to
bore through mountainous drifts, en-
CINE after engine was stalled between
drifts out on the prairies, away from
communication and often without coal
or water.
70 Miles of Snow With a Hole Through
Over one stretch of prairie there is
today seventy miles of snow with a
hole through it, and that hole had to
be bored three times. On three diff
ferent occasions, after it had been
opened by snowplows, wind came
along, corkscrewed into the drifts
along the right-ofway and swept the
track full again, piling up the snow
as high as the top of train.
The snow became caked and hard
as the frozen earth itself. A section
man, swinging heavy pick was able
to sink his sharp point only a few
inches into the solid drift. And that
was the sort of drifts the snowplows
had to go against.
Thousands of head of sheep have
persisted and steers in the range coun.
try have been cut down by lack of
! feed and the tremendous strain of
climbing through deep drifts. Many
"critter" has made feed for the
wolves.
1t has been hard blow to the live
stock man in that territory.
Concerning the experience, the Ere
mont Tribune says:
With the departure from ChadrOn OF
! General Superintendent S. NJ. Braden
| Master Mechanic S. c. Graham and eX
Chief Dispatcher w. b. Golden, in
spector of over, short and damaged
freight, the greatest battle ever waged
by the Northwestern against fierce
storms and billiards. and the accom-
panying evils came to victorious end
For several weeks four eX-chief dis
patchers, S. NJ. Braden, w. b. Golden
e. Sly, ]. Leppla assisted by a corps
of dispatchers, put into use every
means known to railroaders for freeing
a road from the effects of deep-driftine
SHOWS. Sunday evening they succeed
ed in opening up the Lander line from
Shoshoni to the terminal, and theil
work was finished. Messrs. Braden
Golden and Graham came east in Gen
eral Manager Walters private car, Mr.
Braden stopping at Norfolk, and Mr.
Graham going on through to his Office
in Missouri Valley.
Cuts Filled With Snow.
The story of the fight with the ele
ments as told by Mr.. Golden is ex
tremely interesting. For a stretch o
seventy miles, from Harrison, Neb. t.
Casper on the Northwestern, and thei
another stretch from Casper to Lande
on the Wyoming and Northwestern
the storms during the past month were
the worst in the history of the road
The line is full of cuts and the cut
for a month past have been full o
snow. Big rotary plows, wedge pillow
and gangs of men with shovels hav,
been kept at work night and day buck
ing and digging a path through tn
snow. Once a slight thaw during tn
day followed by a freeze in the nigh
made the drifts like heavy sand, an
two rotaries were put out of commits
sion the next day while attempting {
clear way through cut.
Freight and passenger trains wer
often tied up for hours at a stretch
When 1t was necessary to hold pa!
senger train the dispatchers In ever