Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-23

that he was able finally to lay ties and
rails across the entertainments. pecu-
liar effect of this long stretch OF muskeg
was that they had what is known to
| railway builders as creeping track
long and loaded freight train passing
over this elastic roadbed would drag
along the track with 1t. The next train
In the opposite direction would drag 1t
back, SO that it never really got very
far away. The movement in the direc-
ton of the train-that is. the creep"
was from eight to ten inches.
After the road had been in operation
for twenty years 1t became necessary to
double track the line. The track upon
the original sawdust grade had been be
having splendidly," and to insure foun-
datien the grade upon which the second
track was to be laid was corduroyed
with small logs about fifteen feet long,
and upon this foundation the engineers
began to build, but when the line was
completed the weight of the first train
squashed the whole thing out on both
sides, and the corduroy road shifted
from horizontal to a perpendicular po-
sition, SO that 1t looked like a row Of
piles
May Mean Great Wealth.
The muskeg is peculiar to northern
Canada, where the lakes are so numer-
Gus. and 1t is supposed to be caused by
decayed vegetation filing up the water
holes. There are thousands of square
miles of it south of Hudsons bay. and
some time what Is now considered an un-
mitigated nuisance and an obstacle to
civilization will become a source of enor
nous wealth.
The geological survey of the Dominion
government estimates that the muskeg
peat boys cover an area of approximately
36. 900 square miles. from which 2S,0OO.-
COCOON tons of fuel could be produced,
which is equivalent to 14.OOO,oOO0aO tons
of coal And the officials are now con-
Quoting practical experiments near Gale
donia Springs. in Prescott county, Ont.
They have brought from Ireland and
Norway a plant of the most modern ma
chinery for drying and COMPRISING the
decayed vegetation known as peat, and
now have a plant capable of producing
thirty tons of compressed brick per day.
They also have a fuel-testing outfit.
peat gas producer and an electric plant,
which is now being used for tests of the
productive power of peat in gas, electric
ity and electrical force. If these expert
ments continue to be as satisfactory as
they have been up to date the farmers
of Ontario will be no longer dependent
upon coal supplied from PENNSYLVANIA,
Ohio and Illinois, but will draw their fuel
from the muskegs that lie at their very
doors.
The demonstration of the power-produc-
ing capacity of peat shows that 1T has an
energy of at least 50 per cent of ordinary
bituminous coal from Ohio. Indiana and
Illinois. 1t cannot be used In locomotives
very well or on steamers or any otner
place where space is a consideration, be-
cause a ton of peat will occupy five or
six times much room as ton OIL
coal. But here is an unexpected source
of wealth.
About sixty miles east of Winnipeg
the railroad leaves the forest and en-
tiers upon a prairie that is as fiat as
the traditional pancake. and is COW
cred with the rich black soil that pro
hard" wheat. The first town out OF
the woods is Gougald, with 400 or 500
population. and from there on at in
tervals Of five or six miles is string
Of villages, each with an elevator or
two and surrounded by yellow fields
that skirt the horizon.
At an entirely new town called
Transcona-an abbreviation OF the
word "transcontinental"- Grand
Trunk railway has reproduced its
shops at Battle Creek. Mich. enlarged
80 per cent at q cost of between $4,-
900 900 and s5,000,000. They represent
the last word in railway machine shops
and are being equipped with the most
modern machinery and apparatus that
can be procured in England. Scotland.
Canada and the United States. All the
work will be done by electricity, except
that Of the hydraulic machinery. The
SHOpb CoScI oil di co VI 6,oVV ~ Law
feet They are entirely f1reproof and
are built OF concrete, cream -colored
brick and steel A smOkestack OF re-
inforced concrete is 200 feet high. All
the floors and stairways are of con-
crete. Fifty per cent Of the roof is
skylight, 80 per cent of the walls are
windows, and every part Of the estab-
lishment is arranged SO that 1t can be
extended whenever necessary
twenty-five locomotives can be ham
died at one time, and the car shops
have capacity of ten coaches and
twenty-five freight cars a day. The
engines represent 5000 horsepower,
and when the works are in full blast
a force of 5000 men will be reqired
The midway crane, which runs be-
tween all of the shops with one
straight runway 1920 feet long, is
enough to lift a locomotive and carry
to another.
A new town is growing up around
the shops. 1t covers about two square
miles and belongs entirely to the Grand
Trunk Railway Company. The only in
habitants at present are workmen in
the shops and those who are dependent
upon them. When the place is in full
blast with its 5000 employees Trans
coma will be quite popular city. The
work of construction was begun in
1909. and the shops will be completed
next year. They are by no means SO
large as many of the great railway
building establishments in the United
States. but everything is Of the latest
pattern.