The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-09-30

ciety, Washington. D. c.
0THE completion of a 124-mil
stretch of railway between til
northern Argentina border an
the Bolivian city of Atochs
linking the railway systems of the tw
countries for the first time, again di
reefs attention to the mythical "Pan
American Railway which, when com
pleted, will employ this section O
track.
The Pan-American railroad a dream
OF more then fifty years, has beer
progressing slowly but surely in the
last two decades. Nearly two-thirds
OF the 10000 miles separating Wash
ington and Buenos Aires have already
been paved with steel 1t is now DOS
slDle to take train In Washington
and make rail connections with Qua
temala City, distance of more than
5,SOO miles. Scattered through Cen
trail America and South America are
many other sections of completed rail-
way which could be incorporated in the
Par-American and which total I'D an
additional 700 miles, At Cuzco, the
ancient Inca capital, in Peru, it is
possible again to board train that
connects, by means of a boat trip
across Lake Titicaca, with Buenos
Aires, 1900 miles away.
South America offers perhaps tbe
greatest barriers to the completion
OF the project. The huge mountain
ranges along the western part of the
continent rise like wall from the |
racine. Farther east Is more rolling
country, but there are few inhabitants
and tropical conditions make railroad
and maintenance even
more difficult and costly than in the
Excellent steamship service Is a
powerful competitor. Many of the
inland cities have already
pent considerable sums in construct
1g railroads connecting them with the
ca. ne
That the project is an important one
testified by numerous ATTEMPTS
lade at different times to make it an
lternational project, financed by the I
'untries through which it would run.
Might Be Alaska to Patagonia.
A steel highway that will unite all !,
e Americas will be one of the longest :.
railway lines that the geog- y
ply of the globe admits. Ordlnar- 9
Washington and Buenos Aires are .
ken as terminal points, but Alaska -
d Patagonia might just as well be -
ected. The distance by rail from ~
ris to Picking Is about 1900 miles &C
e Cape-to-Cairo route, and its con- ~
'tlons through Asia Minor, can hard u
be considered, for there are too ID
ny gaps In the railway line filed at ~
sent by water trips. The Pm al
erican Railway is 1O,2OO miles from 70
shington to Buenos Aires alone 'el
lere Is what traveller can expect
find In a land journey TODAY he IS
en- Washington and Buenos Aires 30
or the first 3,4O0 miles, or az far ~. ~
Mexico City, good train service. Of u,o
American type. In fact the Mexi- IT,,
capital city can now be reached in 49,
days from Washington. The cleo. tan
'ation OF the Mexican railroad he ~
N Esperanza and Orizaba. which Az
be selected as one of the routes TO nov nov
Guatemala border, now adds adj 49,
nal comfort to the journey in this ~
on. as
ON, ~ %r.. incl
junction for Guatemala City. the =
has been completed, a distance ~
lO3 miles. But from this iunc- .nis ,
city to the Salvador border there 20,
railroad, although a concession i i,,o
zen granted for the last 81 miles s'oi'
zacapa to the boundary. h %sa'
salvador's Part Nearly Done ~ ~.
vador shows the greatest mIIape c,ac
mpleted line along the route ~ nros,
of any of the Cen roo =
American countries, 2O3.2 miles 10 90
but about 80 miles Of the sector No
8 republic. From Hachadura tn ~ ;,
Ia, on the west coast, mule back mon