The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1920-11-19
Where is it Going
ThiSOne-M Rail
road Rudolph is
Building


a year in the grading. For Is years
Rudolph Myers has been building a
railroad all alone in Hodgeman
County. The grade is now IL miles
long. The right-of-way has been paid
for in cash. All of the expenses in
cident to the building Of the line have
been paid for in actual cash.
1t is an unusually good railway
grade, as good as any standard guage
railroad anywhere in prairie coun-
try. It has been built without sur
veyor's lines being run, without the
use of levels or other mechanical de-
vices, yet the top of the grade is alb
solutely level and ready for the track
to be laid.
Myers has done nearly all of the
work himself. For short time his
brother helped him but they quarreled
and the brother left. Then a news
paper reporter went out on the grade
and helped Myers for month. The
rest of the construction work has all
been done by Myers and his four
mules. The work of the newspaper
reporter was entirely gratuitous as he
was trying to get information about
the way and wherefore of the rail-
| road line. He blistered his hands,
| sunburned his face, tore his clothes
and wore out his shoes, besides learn
ing something about manual labor in
the hot sun, but that was all he OBJ
tanned in the way of information
about the railroad.
Myers is SIS years old. He was a
railroad section man and later grad
| ing contractor in small way from
the Santa Fe and other western
roads.
Just why he is building the rail-
road, where it is going and what he
is going to do with it are questions
he refuses to answer. Everybody be-
tween Jetmore and Garden City and
goodly number of other folks do a
considerable amount of buessing but
that is as far as they get. A short
time ago committee of business men
of the Garden City Chamber of Com
merce went to Jetmore to see Myers
Garden City would like to help build
that railroad as it would open some
new business territory. The commit
tee found Myers drinking soda pop at
a soft drink emporium. One of the
Jetmore men who accompanied them
went to Myers and explained that the
Garden City men wanted to talk with
him about the railroad. Myers be-
came quite irritable.
"That is all hot air." he said.
''They are just bunch of junk"
The Garden City men went home
without obtaining any further infor-
nation.
Thirteen years ago this fall Myers
landed in Jetmore with four mules,
a wagon, pillow and an ordinary road
scraper. He had full set of hand
gardening tools, picks, shovels and
other instruments. He drove a mile
out of Jetmore and pitched his camp.
The next day he went to the owner
of the land and asked to buy a strip
of ground 100 feet wide through his
farm. With the farmer he staked off
the land desired and after some nego-
lions the farmer and myers got to-
gether on the price. Myers paid cash
and obtained deed for the land.
The next day he went to work grad
ing for his railroad.
He has bought the right of way a
mile at time and goes ahead with
the building of the road at about a
mile a year. 1t took him nearly two
years to build one mile of the grade
which went through hill, necessi-
tating cut of IA feet fall on
each side of about IL feet. Except
for the stakes which laid out his right
of way lines there never has been a
stake set for the construction work
Gaps for bridges have been left and
the curves have been properly banked
| for the rails.
Nothing has been left undone to
build perfect railway grade, IA
feet wide on top with standard
slopes for all fills and cuts and stand
ard drainage through all the cuts
and level places. Real railroad engi-
neers have been over the grade at
various times and havepronounced it
as good as any grade in the country
Myers has paid as high as $500
cash for mile of his right Of way.
He has paid cash for his own food
and cash for feed for his teams. He
has paid cash for whatever repair
work had to be made on his equip
men Where his money comes from