The Nenana daily news., 1918-05-06
RAILROAD WORK NOW UNDER WAY
 SOUTH OF TOWN
As Season Advances, More Men Will Be Added to the Construction
 Crews.

Aggressive railroad construction work may be said to have been com menced in earnest for the season, and, although all of the men that the Alaskan Engineering commission in tend to employ have not yet been put on the strength of the force, much of the preparatory work has already been accomplished.
 About two miles of the track laid toward the close of last season had been imbedded in the ice formed by the flood waters of Lost Slough, 1 in some places to a depth of about four feet. The difficulty encoun- tered in draining this section of the right of way held back the com mencement of active work for a long time. Among the first work undertaken by the force of men sent out was to cut two big ditches in the ice diagonally across the track with a space of about one hundred i feet between each ditch, these being joined on to a larger ditch running parallel with the grade and leading on to Clear creek. That the result of this operation was highly success ful was evidenced by the large vol ume of water that now flows steadily along the prepared ditches to swell the waters of Clear creek.
 About 2000 feet of the cucumber ing ice has now been removed and the rails laid bare allowing the work trains to take the crews to the point where their work begins daily. Very steady and satisfactory pro- gress is reported and it is confi- dently expected that actual track laying towards Nenana Crossing will soon be taken in hand. The force will be very considerably added to in the near future and railroad building rushed at top speed, every advantage being taken of the bright days and good weather.
 A passing track, about 660 feet in length, sufficiently long to accom- modate a pretty good sized work train, has been constructed at Camp 15. This camp houses the steel gang and train crews and is pleasantly situated on the north bank of Clear creek. Foreman Thomas Blakey is in charge of the steel gang, with James T. Oldfield, as timekeeper. It is expected that the force will be largely increased as soon as the gravel bed, situated about mile or so below this camp, is got into full working shape. Engine No 5, or ''Five-Spot" will be permanently sta toned here with the steel gang, both the camp and engine being moved forward from time to time during the period of active construction work
 | The Bucyrus dragline excavator, under the command of Walter Holler- bach, had commenced operations a few hundred yards below Camp 15, but it was found after the overlay ing strata of muck had been re- moved, that the gravel bed below was frozen to a considerable extent, and that this condition would neces- sarily retard the tracklaying opera tions very considerably later on. To avoid delays, little prospecting dis closed the existence of fine bed of gravel free of the objectionable qualities found in the first one, and the excavator was moved to the new location, proceeding slowly but surely under her own power. The new location is about mile or so below Camp 15. To accommodate the large string of flat cars that will be employed in tracklaying and sur facing operations, a spur track will be built, the rails necessary for this purpose will probably be taken up