The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-01-08
SALT LAKE ROUTE
TO BUILD NEW LINE
Continued from Page One.

|
| Lying on cot in a hospital AT Los
Angeles is James A. Shanahan, district
engineer for the Salt Lake Route, OF
the section including the Meadow Val
| ley wash, ~ where occurred the dls
astrons floods of a week ago last night
| He is suffering with throat affection
contracted while working in the water
of l909,10 destroyed practically forty
miles Of the track, flooded the round
house and shops at Cahente; swept
away the foundation of the dcpots
and carried on down The valley a mum
ber of small buildings. and also de.
strovod thousands Of dollars worth OF
railroad and other property.
Work of Big Jim,
When the last food before this one
occurred, that is the flood of 1907,
''Big' Jim Shanahan was the man
put on the Job of reconstruction. He
was big - Jim then. All the infor
nation at hand on the high water marks
Of the 90 Meadow Valley wash or river
all the history Of past floods was Sc
cured from people who had lived in
and travelled that region for forty years
previous, was obtained. and Shanahan
decided, with the approval Of the Of.
icials of the Salt Lake Route. to again
rebuild in the valley instead Of taking
to the foothills. as per an old survey.
The records showed that the water had
never reached. but this one time, the
roadbed line which has just been washed
ont SO Shanahan said: 81 II build
YOU road which the old wash will
not carry away, and il build it in the
valley, And he worked, and he had
the confidence Of his co.workcrs. Night
and day Shanahan was on the Job, un
til "Big" Jim became "Little' jim
and was thin as rail and looked as il
he was about ready 10 quit his work
on this carth-but he remained at his
post. He remained with the Job until |
it was completed,
Then Flood Came.
He built roadbcd which was four
feet above the high-watcr mark of the |
flood waters of 1907. and it was safe
until unforeseen, unexpected and worse |
than ever came the floods. and the ire. |
mcndous volume of water was almost |
four feet above the new tracks, wash |
ing away everything loose and tied |
down, bending and twisting the rails |
like wire The water came down the |
wash like solid wall irresistible, and |
1T carried away the roadbcd-the work |
of Jim Shanahan S brain and Drawn.
When, IN the hospital at Los Angeles, |
where he is undergoing treatment. he |
learned OF the calamity which swept |
away his work, il also took away the
strength and working capacity OF Jim
Shanahan, and he is very i'll. worrying
over the failure of tho roadbcd to hold,
and fighting TO get back TO the work
Yet, it was not Shanahan S fault; not
the fault of the other officials of the
road. The worst flood Of the Meadow
Valley wash history could not be fore
seen.
To Build New Line
Now what will follow: History re-
peats itself Floods will occur in the
' Meadow Valley wash. - IL the
food of l909-l0 was four feet higher
than the one of 1907, may not the flood
the last one? While official informa
ton has not been given out, it has
leaked out that in the repairs TO the
roadbed those repairs will be the con-
structiou of new road away up on
the foothills. practically upon the
line of the old survey, 1t will lcngthcn
the lno and add TO the distance be-
tween Salt Lake and Los Angeles about
forty miles. Calientc viii no longer be
on tho map of the main line, The new
line will start at Uvada and up to Pana
ca, almost due west and almost 90 Phoebe
and then follow the foothills Of the
Meadow Valley mountains down TO a
point near Boyd, five miles north of
Elgln. where IL will again connect with
the old, main line. The new road will
be III miles long, and as said, will
increase the distance TO Los Angeles
about forty miles. Not so much addi |
tional trackagc really, and the grades
are not severe, but when completed il |
Will be again the greatest route to the
coast, the best equipped and the most |
perfect of the Hartman lines.
Finished July First.
The work of reconstruction will, it is
L. .@1 4 l.. 1
|, and the general impression which is
based upon the reduction of all the
line forces goes to show that no tenn
porary repairs of tho old line are to
be made. but that the service of the
Salt Lake Route will be only from here
TO Acoma, at this end of the line, and
from Los Angeles to Los Vegas from
the south until the final work is com.
plcted.
The force at the different stations
along the line, as said above, by the
order expected today, will be reduced to
less than half the regular working force,
some stations are closed altogether and
others have only day or day and
night operator.
The local trains between the points
will be maintained. and the
through business Will 90 by way Of
the Southern Pacific. All passengers ar.
rlving here at present arc given cX-
tickets either here or at Ogden,
them to passage over the
Southern Pacific.
Calamity to Salt Lake.
The calamity to the Salt Lake Route
is calamity 10 Salt Lake City. The
shutdown for ninety. or it may be one
hundred and eighty days, is long time,
but friends of the route, and they are
all over tho country, will return to il
with their business Just as soon as the
new road is completed.