Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1916-09-08
Moving Troops And Railroading
Deirine Into Recent History To Show WhafA Single Track
Road Accomplished

OF section gangs. Instructions were 10
start work trains for Llano Grande. but
this was bound ~ be Slow ID au extent.
for with the order went one orderIny the
gang 10 pick up every loose eros, tie.
every timber that was seen unused along
some Two hundred miles N line: every
rail bolt or spike; every rail JOINT The
nearest work tram WA ordered 10 Sam
Fordyce 70 RAE aI unused gravel bit
track. here was found the largest -inul.
amount of material. but it Wa clanpcI
tightly to the ground by cro~~ties. hitched
~ the rails TN irpn-spike--and only
twelve hour, ia which To build The necc--
~ary fifteen hundred feet at Llano
Grandc.
By 20 o'clock that mor:,rnr The 57r-t
work tram reached Llano Grande with y
miscellaneous ixtur al material. IN
Guiding a gang OF Building Superintend-
cnt Browns carpenters and bridge work
err along with 4 supply u lumber IL
build platforms. Mexicau tr~ackworker,
began 10 pour into Llano Grande with
D ihcr trains.
By III O'Clock Superintendent Nolan
had the satisfaction Of learning that
work on the siding wa~ already under
way. notified by 4 telegraph operator who
had been rushed t. Llano Grandc with the
original train. Loading along steadily.
The trackworkerS worked stoicallv
through the hot sun. but with \ certain
%Steadine-s that insured progress.
Things went along through the mid
afternoon. Somewhere up the line those
Fix trains were chugging southwark. but
y t%wontN-milc an hour limit had been fixed
There wa. no need for that hurry which
might have crashed one train into an
other. And something DELAYED them.
At Llano Grandc darkness was ap-
preaching and q drcncling RAIN came up.
"a Mexican laborcr viii work until he
falls ont III You just take care of hi-
stomach SAYS Mir. Nolan. II wired the
station agent at McAllcn to prepare u
boiler of coffee and % lot Of sandwiches
and rush thCm % Liano Grundc. ID ar-
rived un 4 little gasoline ear and two VII
the men were assigned Il see that fire.
were built and the coffee kept boiling.
Every hour the forcmcn called Y halt and
everybody took tive inmates ofi TOR Y cup
"a coffee. They were soaked. we'll soaked
but continued hour after hour To take
their five minutes IN. drink y cup nj cnf-
tcy and ~ back tp laying ties and rails
and -piklng and joining the long sticks of
steel. 1t was remarkable the way those
fellows held NJ and guess ID can ~
credited M thc rot coffee and sandwiches
that kept them warm and made them for
get about the rain and the mud and the
hard work"
Steadily through the night the work
continued. Midnight came. | o'clock, ,
O'Clock and eventually daylight and with
~ came the first iralnload ot troops for
the Llaup Grandc camp.
The track was completed. Ffty-fivc
experienced Mexican track worker had
done tire iuh MI laying fifteen hundred
feet ot track between twilight and dawn
IN 4 drcnchiug rain.
Just twcntv-four hours after Suncrin-
tcudcut Nolan fpund himself forced tn
build fifteen hundred feet nf substantial
railroad construction with not d bolt ou
the ground. thc needed track WAS ready
w receive it- burden.
This was one incident NJ many similar
iucidcnt- that occurred in tee Lower Rio
Grandc Valley when it- population was
suddenly doubled. Every line uf Industry
had it~ problem. Every WV factory. cy-
err supply house. every wiiolc~alr grocer,