Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1910-07-08

DIVISION
INDICATIONS STRONG THAT
o. ;. L. WILL BE OBLIGED
TO ESTABLISH NEW DIVISION
CONNECTING BRANCH LIKELY
ShcshOHc is Centrally Located and
slaTds a good chance Of Landing
the HeW round house.

The Journal has been asked to criti-
else the Oregon Short Line regarding
the defects Of the depot accommoda-
tions at Shoshone and the obstruction
to city travel by the many sidetracks
I passing between the north and south
/ portions Of the town, thus creating a
serious obstruction to business inter
course. There is no question as to the
grounds for complaint against the
company but the Journal takes the
position that this condition is only
temporary We believe the o. S. L.
intends to make of Shoshone a division
point on her extensive lines and give
the city southern connection with
jerome and Twin Falls. The rail road
company evidently have the best of
feeling for this city and viii do more
for US than many anticipate. But of
course any action on their part will
not depend on sentiment but on solid
business grounds. While the Hill inter
ests in the north have evidently held
up construction work on new lines By
reason of financial conditions. the
Oregon Short Line is compelled to go
ahead and perfect its present lines and
also to build double track and parallel
lines in order to accommodate its
rapidly increasing business caused by
the settling and developing of vast ir-
rigation projects within her territory.
The latest move is to connect the Twin
Falls line with Glenn's Ferry to give It
the advantage of division station al
ready established. Shoshone is already
local and branch division station ard
it lies conveniently close to the Bliss
Rupert cut off on the south and the
proposed Owinza-Boise line on the
north to warrant the enlargement Of
the division facilities here and the
establishing of machine shop where
repairs could be made without the
necessity of going the long distance to
Pocatello which is already overcrowded
or to Glenn's Ferry which will have all
that it can attend to when the Twin
Falls line is added to its burden. To
make a division here effective would
necessitate the building of short con-
nection south to the cut off at Jerome
or near there. And it would be only q
question of time when this southern
connection would be carried on to the
Great Shoshone falls and the city of
Twin Falls where connection would be
made with the Minidoka branch and
the line to Hoilister and Nevada
Tips have already come from rail road
men that great things are destined for
Shoshone. This is the direct gateway
from Nevada through central Idaho TO
the north. The Journal guessed some
time ago that the Gilmore & PIttsburg
was a Hartman line while other
papers in the state guessed 1t Hill
line. The Journal guess Is ahead of
the game so far because it is about
conceded that the mysterious stranger
is not a Hill road but is more than
likely an independent line. AS an in
dependent line It would probably join
forces with one Of the more powerful
systems and that might be the Har-
riman But leaving out all guess
work Shoshone is on the map and the
Hartman system needs her in its
business. This north and south con-
nection will become a necessity some
time in the future and Shoshone fur
nishes the gateway The process of
double tracking is well along from
to Pocatello. Surveyors
have already started at American Falls
for double tract bridge across the
Snake river besides raising of the
tracks through the town. This move
indicates q double track from PocatelIo
10 0winza or Minidoka. The process
IF rail road improvement is progressing
his way from both directions and the
meeting point seems TO be Shosbone.
So in the mean time we can well afford
o keep our hats on and see what the
Oregon Short Line has up her sleeve
Tor the betterment of the capital and
numerical metropolis Of the empire Of
Lincoln