The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-29
tRailroad Mans Nagszjne1


When the men of the level INC ths
transit set ON to link the east and
the west by the hin steel rail they
held their instruments in one hand
and their revolvers in the other. for
the Indian tribes west of the Missis-
sippi river We're on the war path. 1t
is true that this condition no longer
exists in this country. but i'm other
lands it still obtains. Who does not
remember he massacres of surveying
parties by fanatical Arabs when the
HedJaZ line that runs from Damascus
To Mecca was being projected, NJ the
comparatively recent wipinE nut by
savage DvakS of a surveying eNpedi-
tton that was seeking a route across
tSrltlSh North Rorneo. or tn" tragic
fate that bcroll a band of British sur
Eev"rs who attempted to penetrate the
forests of upper Uruguay?
But. apart from human foes. the
railroad surveyor has sometimes IN
contend with thos" of a four-footed
Kind. The man eating ions that held
up the construction of the Uganda
railroad. Africa. furnish a casc in
point. So did the grizzlies that dis
nuttd tho right of way with those who
W"r" investigating certain routes for
the Northern Pacific and the Great
Northern.
'''' ~ WI Hi't" tlsh Nus
70 contend with and provide against
the a~ntaghnistic forces of nature, from
hurricanes I" impossible
n 1t Is in bridging that the
puck. skill and ingenuity nf the rail-
roa engineer are seen at their best.
.Brlds" building is one of the most
daring n romantic cailines in the
world said the late Charles NJ. Hays.
1T calls for a rare combination in
man-brainS and our ee."
There are MANY remarkable exam
Piles of bridge building i'm this rnun-
try. The White Pass and Yukon rail-
way OF ALASKA traverses a region Of
LOFTY peaks and deep precipices. alter
mated with great gorges and wide
ciettS. Such a condition calls fol
much bridging work during construc-
Pass summit there are seven stee'
bridges. n of which. just before the
summit is reached. is 400 feet in
length and 21o feet above the bottom
OF the gorge. The physical difficulties
that had to be overcome before these
bridges could he built seem beyond
description. Men defied the antics OF
~acrohats to do some of the work.
The Central Alaska railroad was in
tended to run from Seward to Fair
banks. a distance of AGA miles. I'm
fortunately only about sixty miles of
the road has been completed. the pro-
Ject being hindered hv entangled
nances Yet the railroad has a Won
derful horseshoe timber trestle, l.24O
leet IN length, and varying from ~
20 70 feet i'm height. over a million
feet of lumber was used in its con-
struction.
n massive and impressive bridge
of the Union Pacific railroad over the
missouri river. at Council Bluffs,
crowned ut either end with a huge
buffalo head in metal. marks the point
at which the first across-the-continent
railroad was begun. This bridge was
the outcome of Years Of untirirc sur
ewing by Theodore D. Judah. the
railway pathfinder"
Inc government stipulated with
Coils p. Huntington. who was dnanc-
ing the project. that the Union Pacific
should start on the east hand of the
sho,lld start on the east bank of the
hrldge Mr.. Judah was intrusted With
the work of surveying as A reward
Tor his advocacy of the project.
one hf the most daring and original
ideas of bridge building was carried
To success by y. a. Robinson thirty
years ago. He WAS the constructive
engineer of the Pueblo and Arkansas
railroad that built the road through
ROYAL Gorge, Col. At a certain point
'h II 'i lilN MdIlS, nG2!lN
5000 feet in height. come together
until a space of nearly thirty feet re-
mains. The narrow ledge of rock on
winch the road was being constructed
came to an abrupt md: below. the
river was a raging torrent.
Mr.. Robinson was badly puzzled hv
those obstacles. After some DAYS of
~pondering the solution suddenly came
tn him. AS a result he threw heavy
IRON glrders across the canvon. from
wall to wall. like the rafters of a roof,
and anchored their ends in the solid
rock. ~
From these rafters he suspended a
bridge that carried the track until it
again met the friendly shelf on the
other side of the gap.
The plan worked like a charm The
oflginS structure has been replaced
by n that is larger and heavier. but
the fundamental principle is exactly
the anne
This is not the only remarkable
bridge in Colorado. The railroad that
runs through Cumhres Pass swings
around Phantom Curve and plunpas
into the Toltec tunnel. which is drilled
through the crest and not the base of
a mountain. ON emerging from the
tunnel n finds himself on the brink
OF a precipice. the opposite portal of
the tunnel also being on a cliff-edee
The u II between is bv a
masonry bridge In the form of a bal
cony. The depth of the chasm is over
a quarter of a mile. To build this