The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-27
MUCH DOUBLE TRACK WORK BY SOUTHERN IS CONTEMPL LATED
Entire WashingtOn-Atlanta Division Will Be Double Tracked in the Next
 Five Years

Birmingham may expect the south ern railway to double track It's entire line from this city to Atlanta during the next few years. The officials at this time are unwilling to make any official announcement in this connec- tion. but they do not hesitate to say that in the general scheme of double tracking, a large amount of which was made known yesterday, Birmingham will be taken care of The company plans to spend s2O,ooo,ooo on double track between Washington and the south during the next five years. Arrangements have been perfected for section of the work but the man. agement has not financed the Birming- am-Atlanta division for double track ing just at this time. However, 1t is generally known that the heaviest traffic is between this city and the east. It Is known that the Southern railway facilities would be greatly en< hanoed If that company had at this time double track between this city and Atlanta. On this account it Is said that the shippers of this section may understand that the following of ficial announcement made from the local executive offices as to $20.o00- 00e in double track, implies that there
 
 wherein Birmingham will figure con spicuously: within five years the mana cement. | of the Southern railway expects tu have double track line the entire distance, 649 miles, from Washington to Atlanta. President Harrison has made arrangements for financing this great undertaking of immense import lance 10 the entire south and it Is planned that the work shall go for .F1 tafI 4 tr rCtl l.I carry it on without interfering with the heavy freight and passenger traf- fife which moves over this line.
 "rhe funds for this work will be pro- vided by the sale of S20 100000 of bonds of the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway company, the issue of which has been authorized and approved by the Georgia Railroad commission. Of these bonds s5,60000 have already been sold and the proceeds will be used to refund an equal amount of Atlanta and Charlotte Ar Line bonds now owned by the South ern railway. This sum will be used by the Southern railway in double tracking those portions ef its line between Wash ington and Charlotte which are still single track. When this has been com pleted attention will be turned to double tracking that portion of the line between Charlotte and Atlanta, which is still sin- gle track. This will involve a great deal of heavy work, especially in the noun tains of North Georgia, and will call for the expenditure of between sf2000,0o0 and S14 900 000.
 ''The single track lines north of Char lotte to be double tracked are as follows: Orange. Va. to Amherst Va., 73.99 miles Whittle. Va. to Danvile. Va, 22Og miles Pelham, N C.. to Greensboro, N. C.. In miles. Concord. N. C., to Harrisburg N. C., GA mies total of 139.62 miles.
 "Of the line from Charlotte to Atlanta. 267.5 miles. double track has been con- structed between Atlanta and Duluth, 2f62 miles: between Suwanee and Gaines vile 22.9 miles, and between Spartanburx and Spartanburg Junction. 1.ss miles a total of 493 miles. leaving 21S.2 miles of single track
 "The completion of this great work of double tracking the main thoroughfare for travel between the east and the south will mean new era of transportation for the south and Is of interest to all parts of the section. Through trains between the eastern cities and New Orleans. Att hnta. Memphis. Birmingham, Chatta- nooga, Knoxville. Asheville, JacksonyiIle Savannah and Columbus are handled over this line. or parts of it. In addition to the great increase in transportation ia cilities to be given, the expenditure of the $20000,000 which the work will cospk, during the next five years will of neces- sity have most stimulating effect oh business conditions throughout the south. as practically all of this money will eo for labor and for material to be supplied largely by the south.'