The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1913-06-13

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machine shops and warerooms, syn
chronizing the various branches Of
the work so that the desired coal
production would be ready to meet
the completion of the railroad.
The first big problem to be work.
ed out was that of getting on the
ground the machinery and applianc-
es necessary to carry on work of
such magnitude. To build the hund-
reds of houses and other structures
needed 1t was necessary to have a
great deal of lumber, and the only
way to get it here was to cut down
and saw up the trees that abound
ed upon the company's land. Large
quantities of brick were needed al
SO. Therefore five saw mills, two
or three of them of the big band
saw type, were hauled in, erected
and set going, and the machinery
for two brickyards was also brought
| in and installed, as were steam and
electric outfits for these and the
temporary power houses. A tempor-
ary narrow-gauge railroad of some
length was built to facilitate the
carrying on of the work, and two
locomotives for it were among the
things brought to jenkins before the
coming in of railroad from the
outside. To get here these mills
and machines and the boilers and
engines that were to furnish them
with power was the problem found
hardest of solution.
To haul freight of the kind mem
toned from Elkhorn City, at the
mouth of Elkhorn Creek, distance
of 80 miles, over roads whose best
was very bad, was not feasible. The
haul from HELLER was little better.
Finally, the narrow-gauge lumber
road furnished the key to the stu
alton This road forms connection
at Glamorgan, Va, with the Wise
Treminal, a standard-gauge road.
and originally ran within miles
of this place. The Consolidation
company leased it, extended it three
miles and built wagon road from
its terminus five miles across the
mountain to Jenkins Over this
mountain, then, were hauled on
wagons the engines and boilers, the
two narrow-gauge locomotives, the
saw mills and other mill equipment,
the brick machinery, electric gene
rators, logging outfits and other
things, great and small, needed in
carrying on the work of town build
| ing and mine opening. The heaviest
things were IL boilers, weighing
5000 pounds each, and those fa---
miliar with heavy hauling will have
some idea of the difficulty encoun-
tered in their removal over fresh
dirt road across high mountain.
1t was necessary to hitch as many
| as 20 head of oxen to wagon to
haul one boiler. In the same way
food and supplies for hundreds OF
men had to be brought in, an un-
dertaking in itself of no mean pro-
portions.
AS an illustration of the tremen-
dous work this hauling involved, and
how little the uninitiated knew what
| it meant, the story is told of the
first boiler moved. Two citizens of
the neighborhood, each of whom had
good teams, contracted to bring the
boiler over the mountaing for 500.
BY the time they had spent on the
work the full amount of money the
boiler about one-third the way over
and asked to be relieved of the
work. The company told them to
go ahead and complete their con-
tract, and it would see that they
lost nothing. They got $500 for the
job, which brought them out about
even.
AS soon as sufficient machinery
was gotten on the ground to set up
mill the saws were started, and
these were soon followed by planning
and finishing mills and the begin
ming of building operations, which
have been going on ever since, un-
til now there are on the property
in this and other towns some 900
permanent buildings and about $50
of them being dwellings for miners
and other employees. These are in
addition to a hundred or more
shacks put up for temporary use
during the construction period.
To build the railroad the Sandy
Valley and Elkhorn Railroad Com
pany was organized. The route chos-
en- was from the Chesapeake and
Ohio at the mouth of Shelby Creek
about 80 miles from here. 1t follows
Shelby Creek to near its source,
and then crosses through low gap
onto the waters of Elkhorn, which
1t follows to this place, and to the
mines above here, the total length
being about 40 miles. The road
was finished in good time, and has
been equipped with 1000 modern so
ton steel cars and ample motive
pvwer. The rail used is 90-pound,
and the track is well ballasted. BY
an agreement made in the beginning
the Sandy Valley & Elkhorn Rail
road has been turned over to the
Baltimore and Ohio for operating
purposes, and is now being run as