The San Francisco call., 1910-02-20
~
San Francisco
the Goal of
Many Lines
BY EDGAR A. REINHART

railroad between san Francisco
a8d salt Lake city. on November 1,
1893, was a notable achievement of the
year in n railroad sense. In other re-
spects the year was n banner one. be-
Ing narked by the commencement of
construction Of the siO.OOO,OO0 ROcLIin-
tcifaX cutoff Of the Southern Pacific;
The authorization OF the Northwestern
Pacific extension from Willis TO Eu-
reka. = distance of IOS miles. at a cost
Of SS,50e.00Oi the beginning by the
southern Pacific Of the eIectrifieation
Of iis suburban lines and the fast ap-
proaehing completion of the Southern
Tactic Dumbarton cutoff.
with the inauguration of freight
service on the Western Pacific in De-
oeruber, san Francisco became the ter
luinus Of fourth transcOntinentaI line.
- soon after the last spike of the
W eStern Pacific was driven as the ex-
ecutive. operative and traffic depart
ruents could be organized, freight trains
we're run, and aS early a. December I5
"a solid train OF - cars sped westward
from Joliet. H.. 10 san Francisco. via
1he chicago and Alton. Missouri Pacific,
Denver and bio Grande and the West
ern Pacific.
Irai&ental 10 construction. the West
n Pacific opened its service with an
.arrely new equipment Of locomotives
and FIRE ight cars. The Southern Pacific
is gradually replacing its old type Of
roling stock with steel cars. The Del
Monte flyer and the shasta limited are
.5w equipped with steel coaches. as is /
-.e Overland limited. Construction of
The Dunlbartons cutoff across san Fran
cisco bay. a gigantic work which VIII
fe completed within 80 DAYS. is a clear
Indication OF the studied effort TO make
SAN Francisco a great terminus and TO
lsre rail meet the sea at its borders. /
with the advent Of 1910 san Francisco
has taken place Of great importance
among tire railroad termini of this
country Tt Is now the terminus Of the
Ogden sunset and Shasta" routes
NJ The Hartman system, the Western
Faoffc and The Santa Fe- II is also d
terminus Of the Clark road the san
Pedro. Los Angeles and salt Lake. thou 4
sands OF tons of freight from Nevada /
and Utah points being routed TO San 1
francisco by this road.
Gould Road a Triumph
The completfon OF the Western Pa /
llac means the coming Of the Gould
system of 2o,ooo miles OF railroad 1t
means. also. q western outlet TO the
H--Iington and the Rock Island II is
= for all business originating east Of /
Ienver. The vast regions affected by
The Burlington and the Rock Island,
and also the iron and steel districts in
Pennsylvania. the rich cotton states Of
Tire south. Chicago with its wealth Of
packing and grain interests and the
rlickIr settled manufacturing cities OF
tle middle west, all Of which are
reached by the Gould lines. are brought
inro closer touch with san Francisco.
san Francisco is now in direct rail
connection with all Of these vital in
dustrIal centers and, moreover, # is
provided with another route by which
20 transport CALIFORNIA; many products
20 new and rich markets. The lines of
tae could system which thus are added
o. san Francisco's excellent facilities
Tor uranscoutinental transportation aresl
-re Denver and Rio Grande, the Mis-
soari Pacific. the Texas and Pacific. the
International and Great Northern. the
ST. Louis. Iron Mountain and Southern,
tile wabash. the Wheeling and Lake
erie. the western Maryland. the West
Virginia Central and the Wabash
Pittsburg terminal railway.
Grading on the western Pacific was
begun September Is, 1905, q miles
west OF salt Lake City The road is
one OF the most notable examples Of
rs slIroad engineering in the world, be-
.-r especially distinctive by virtue OF
i-s uniformly low grade, the track at
DO point rising more than / per cent
lu mile. The work Of laying the
track was begun Nay is, 1906. Both
grading and track laying were prose-
eared untI tie entire line from salt
Like city 10 san Francisco was com
b eted Track laying machines were
cd throughout the work, being
er<ed from both ends Of the gaps
.urtnz the last months OF the construc-
ION period. Twenty -four miles OF
rack in SO days was the average OF
rack laid during the entire period
-orty steel bridges are on the line, ag-
eregating in length s.2sI feet The last
these was completed late in October.
g0s. near Spanish Green
Equipment of Best
The road is notable also for its tun- 8
1e.s. a. with a total length Of 45.4S4 ,
f.et. having been built Spring Garden
-ennel is the longest, : 7,So5 feet There !
IS not q snowshed on the entire line. ,
Tie summit having been located at an
elavation Of 5000 feet at a point aoso-
1teIy free from snow. Forty miles
west Of tie summit and al an elevation
of 1000 feet snow is encountered. but
s. is not Of sufficient consequence TO
.eouire sheds for protection. a bold
piece Of construction IS the Williams
loop. which is built at curvature Of
f0s degrees. the track rising Al feet )
md crossing itself within 5.Te2 feet. q
distance somewhat more than mile.
Completed. and before single
b. -.,.,-~s, ~.v. ra9 heen received on its 2