Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-12
WORLD MARVEL BY RAIL
Great Engineering Feats Being Per-
formed in the Andes. 49,


Down from the SUBMITS Of the An.
des in Peru to the navigable headwa.
ters Of the Amazon river, a sheer
drop Of about three miles in g
distance of about $50 miles, Amer
lean brain and muscle last fall
began the construction Of railroad
says the New York Sun. When this
work is completed it will rank among
the railroad engineering marvels Of the
world. The Amazon Pacific railroad
Is to be its official name.
It Is to be completed in a year OF
two, in order to begin operating the
line. Early last fall President Legula
Of Peru, signed the bill which placed
100000 in gold at the disposal OF
Alfred w. McCune, the concessionaire
and master builder. .,.
The line Is to be about 270 miles
long. 1t Is the first hundred miles
however-the hundred miles OF tun-
nels curves, bridges, embankments
and switchbacks from the summit OF
the Andes down their eastern slope
that will put the great test upon the
ability Of the builders. Here Will be
employed devices in railroad building
such as have no counterpart In this
country, nor even in the most difficult
passes Of the Rockies.
Marvellous as the railroad will be
from an engineering and scenic stand
point, 1t will be even more notable
for its economic effect on world trade,
Although Peru Is not more than SOC
miles wide from east to west, Its trans
Andean products must, take a journey
Of 10000 miles down the Amazon and
to Europe, returning via Panama, In
order to reach the commercial cities
of its west coast. The new road will
permit the interchange Of Oriental
and Occidental Peruvian products In
four days instead Of six months.
This plan was all dreamed out In
the early '70s by Henry Meiggs, the
most famous American soldier Of for
tune who ever visited South America.
His greatest work was the construc-
ton Of the famous railroad from Cal
lao to Croya. on the top Of the Andes,
a road which for a quarter Of CEN
tury has furnished stock illustrations
Of the school biographies as the high
est railroad in the world. The difficult
ties encountered illustrate those the
builders Of the new road are overcom-
ing.
1.-The road has got to go there, just
there" said Meiggs at one time, point
ing to the route mapped by the sur
veyors. IF you can't find roadbed,
we'll hang 1t from balloons"
At points on the road the track
leaves tunnels which end in the faces
Of precipices, crosses the canyons on
cobweblike bridges, and then enters
other tunnels. At some places the
cliffs were so precipitous that the
workmen had to be lowered with ropes
from the edge and held there until
they could cut footholds in the rock.
The famous bridge spanning the gorge
called the Infernillo (Little HelD is an
example Of this tunnel and bridge con-
struction.
The Amazon and Pacific railway
company, as the McCune concession is
officially known, has been duly incor-
porated in New Jersey. Peru agrees
to give s10.000,000 In bonds to the
road builders, payable in installments
at the completion Of every 25 miles of
the railroad. In addition Peru will
convey to McCune 100000 acres Of
land in the montana country when the
road is completed.