Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1917-03-02
TAPS RICH TRACT
RAILROAD EXTENSION IN ORE
CON OF IMPORTANCE.
Presented Big Problem for Engineers
and Cost Much Money, but Will
Open Up Immense Reserves
of Timber.

No railroad development in the
Northwest in the last decade has
opened up greater possibilities for the
rapid development of that part of the
state than the recent completion of
$l3,O00,000 extension into the Coos Bay
country of southwestern Oregon. Here
was an isolated section of Pacific coast
territory, possessing a harbor that may
some day rival that of San Francisco,
and tapping land rich in timber,
minerals, and farm lands, some 400
miles south of Portland. Up to the
time that this extension was opened,
it has been completely shut off from
railroad connection with the rest of
the world and was readable only by
sea, or by q difficult overland route
through mountainous country by stage
from a point on the main line of the
railroad into California.
Despite these handicaps, the towns
of MarShtield and North Bend, OcCu-
pying positions similar to San Fran
y
idly in population and prosperity.
Thick forests of huge timber in adja-
cent forest lands made numbering the
chief industry of the bay, with gigan-
tic SaWmillS convenient to the water.
Then there was the pulp business,
which in these days of European war
has taken on new importance, and
one of the largest mills in the West
located itself on the bay. Congress
appropriated nearly 100000 to the
improvement of the bay channel. The
agricultural resources of the country,
comprising as it did vast acreageS
given over to many different crops, at
tracted attention.
SO promising was this great terri
tory that the railroad company, the
Southern Pacific, decided to stretch
its lines to the bay and end the isola-
tion that had existed for so many
years. With a big problem before
them, the railroad construction en-
.gineers decided to build a spur from
the main line at Eugene, although the
distance by the Zine of least resist
ance" was at least 120 miles and the
mountainous territory brought back
rec0llections of the building of the old
Central Pacific nearly half century
ago in the early days of the West
There were many rivers to be crossed
mountains to be penetrated, and un,
certain, marshy ground to be filled in
or treStled.
But modern railroad engineering
balkS at nothing, even removing noun
tains when necessary. Owing to the
lay Of the land, the surveyors anG
engineers decided that the easiest way
was to run the spur directly west from
Eugene to about so miles and turn
southwest, gradually approaching the
coast and nearly reaching it at Coos
Bay. There were the Suislaw anC
Umpqua rivers and the bay itself tC
cross, but that could not be avoided
The construction of the line was start
ed forthwith. The result of this
work is now apparent and the Coos
Bay extension was officially opened
last August.
The exact distance between Eugene
aud MarshGeld by rail is 1915 miles
TO construct the new extension, it wa:
necessary to build many tunnels anC
bridges, besides the rOadbed In fact
the total length of the nine tunnelS il
1926 feet, while tie total stee
used in 81 bridges required wa'
S134 feet. Five and one-half miiei
of trestles were built, while the othel
supplies used included $4,000 tons o
track Steel 900 tons of bridge steel
10000 yards of concrete, $4,000 barrels
of cement, and 100000 feet of Ore
gon fir timber.
The time required for the trip be
tween Portland and the Coos Ba.
country was cut down perceptibly b.
the extension. Another significant fea
ture of the extension is that of tn
freight movement. Heretofore it wa
possible to send a car from Corvallis
in the same state, to New York in tn
same time that 1t took a San Francisc,
or Portland shipper to get his con
Signments into Coos Bay. Now Coo
Bay receives it's freight in two days
Perhaps the most interesting fac
about the new country, which is
third larger than the state of Rhod
Island, is the immense timber reserv
it opens up to the rest of the coun
try. There are approximately 21,000
100000 feet standing, the larger par
of it privately owned. 1t is chiefly fl
and spruce, tremendous in height an
girth, and characteristic of the won
derful timber resources so abundan
in that section Of the country.-Popu
lar Mechanics Magazine