The Conservative * 3
THE OVERLAND ROUTE THEN AND
NOW.
Forty years ago' 'The Overland Route"
had a very different significance
than it has today. Hardships untold
wore associated in the minds of readers ,
and in the actual experience of those
who then crossed the "Great American
Desert" and the Rocky Mountains. But
in the present day and generation the
hardships of overland travel have been
entirely eliminated , and we have instead
a pleasant ride of between two and three
days hi palace sleeping-cars , to cover
the distance of over 1,500 miles between
Chicago and Salt Lake City.
The Union Pacific railroad was the
pioneer railroad across the continent ,
and ever since that eventful day , May
10 , 18(59 ( , when the golden spike was
driven at Promontory Point and the
Atlantic and Pacific were joined by a
line of railroad , the passenger and
freight traffic of this country has gone
back and forth over the celebrated
Sherman Hill and Dale Greek bridge.
To avoid the steep grades and more or
less dangerous bridges and curves , the
Union Pacific railroad , a year or two
ago , began some stupendous improve
ments on their line between Cheyenne
and Ogden. All these improvements
have now been completed excepting the
Aspen tunnel , and for the purpose of
better acquainting the newspapers of
the country with the remarkable
changes , a special excursion was ar
ranged by Mr. E. L. Lomax , General
Passenger Agent , and representatives of
a large number of the more prominent
periodicals were invited to personally
inspect the new lines. As the Union
Pacific was the pioneer in adopting
many of the modern improvements
connected with railroad construction
and equipment , including the air-brake
and Pintsch light , so it has been the
first to advertise throughout the country
through the medium of a special train
for newspaper representatives , its im
mense improvements in shortening
distances and reducing grades.
Through Wyoming.
The special train , including three
sleeping-cars , dining-car , observation
car , and the private cars of General
Passenger Agent , E. L. Lomax , and
Division Superintendent , W. B. Park ,
left Denver on the night of July 28 ,
1901 , reaching Cheyenne , Wyoming , the
same night. We arrived at Salt Lake
City on the following Friday eve
ning , and began the return to Denver
Saturday night , reaching the latter
place Sunday afternoon , July 28 ; and
the trip was finished , and what a jour
ney it was ! For three days we traveled
through Wyoming , every accommoda
tion and convenience at our
disposal. Stops were made at all
the interesting points on the
route. Several hours were spent in the
bottom of the celebrated Rook Springs
coal mines ; the train was backed up to
the Dale creek bridge to enable the
party to get a last view of the celebrated
structure , as it is now being torn down ,
the road taldug a different route through
Tie Siding , and thereby avoiding this
somewhat dangerous crossing. The
Aspen tunnel was another interesting
point , jftjftrtUo party was allowed to en
ter it at 'bo tnjthe feost/ind west entrances
anftjtpWitness the. wo der ul work of
excavanoiij/jArriving ( at F telToufe-ufior
Green River andther t'wonderful feat of
* * \ b
railroad engineering * waywitnessed.
Here the grade was reduced ver .mu h' ,
and in making the cut for the now line ,
petrified fishes were found in large
quantities seventy and eighty feet be
low the surrace.
Weber Canon.
From Green River to Ogden the trip
is one of continuous enjoyment , and
wonderment , for of all the can
ons between the Missouri river
and the Pacific coast Echo and
Weber canons stand unsurpassed in
wildness and grandeur and in striking
examples of western mountain scenery.
Indeed , no art can picture to the mind
the wonderful panorama of precipices ,
cascades , sparkling mountain streams ,
canons , massive boulders , tunnels and
natural mountain gateways. Only the
human eye can conceive the glories.
Here we see the beautiful Castle Rook ,
the Hanging Rock , the Steamboat
Rocks , Pulpit Rock , Witches Rook.
Here also we see the Devil's Slide two
natural walls of stone running parallel
with each other from the top to the
bottom of a mountain , probably 800 feet
high one of Nature's greatest creations.
But of all the wild , unapproachable
scenery along the line of the Union Pa
cific , it is generally conceded that the
Devil's Gate stands pre-eminent. As
its name implies , it is a gateway , the
western entrance to Weber canon. The
Weber river comes roaring through ac
companied by a wind that never ceases
and of great velocity. The train does
not pass through the gate , but crosses
a trestle directly in front , giving one a
better view of the scene. On a stormy
day the scene is more impressive and
awful , though always more or less so.
Leaving Weber canon we are soon at
Ogden , and a little later at Salt Lake.
From Salt Lake our train was taken to
Saltair , a bathing resort on the great
Salt Lake , where we all enjoyed a bath.
One cannot sink in the great Salt Lake ,
on account of the buoyancy of the
water. It is the Dead Sea of America ,
a mysterious creation , and without a
parallel in the world.
The Improvements.
It is not so much the object of this
paper to tell of the pleasures derived by
all the party on the trip from Denver to
Suit Lake and return , as to publish some
facts regarding the tremendous con
struction improvements brought about
by the enterprise and energy of the
Union Pacific railroad company. This
road has just completed a most wonder
ful undertaking , but has done it so
quietly that no special notice has beou
given it outside of the technical publi
cations. There have been over 158 miles
of new track laid , reducing the mileage
between Omaha and Ogdeu by 80.47
miles and reducing gradients which
varied from 45.4 to 97.68 feet to the
mile to a maximum of 48.8 feet , and
curves from 6 to 4 foot , while a great
deal of bad curvature has been elimi
nated entirely.
This is the tale quickly told. But the
doing of it is another story. Probably
ten millions of dollars was expended in
the work , but its accomplishment has
again proven that man , especially the
modern American man , is undaunted
and generally successful in his contest
with obstacles placed in his path by
Nature. Some mountains have been re
moved , huge tunnels bored through
others , an underground river encount
ered and overcome , armies of men en
gaged in the work for more than a year ,
the track shortened , grades reduced and
eliminated and all this without the
slightest interruption of traffic.
Why the Work was Done.
Railroads , like every other line of
commerce , manufacture or industry , are
built and operated for the purpose of
maiding money for their owners. It is
plain to everyone that the shortest
route and the lowest possible grades
figure greatly in the cost of carrying
freight and ' passengers between two
points. In these days of fierce compe
tition between transportation companies ,
wherein rates are seriously affected , two
ways are left open for the enterprising
railroad manager to increase the earn
ing capacity of his road. One is to haul
more tons in a car , and the other is to
haul more cars to the train. As rail
roads generally are operated to the full
limit of their power , neither of these
remedies is available , unless it is found
possible to reduce the steeper grades.
This has now been accomplished on the
new line of the Union Pacific in Wyo
ming , and much has been gained on the
side of speed and safety.
The first three cut-offs built were
those between Laramie and Rawlius.
This work involved the construction of
about 45 miles of line and made a sav
ing of about 19 miles. Grades wore re
duced from 76 to 48 feet per mile. From
Bona to Bosler is a cut-off of 15 miles ,
reducing the distance 8 miles , from
Cooper's Lake to Lookout a cut-off of 4
miles ; from Lookout to Medicine Bow ,
another line 26 miles long was built ,
saving a distance of 12 miles.
Foot Creek fill , as it is known , is an
embankment 40 feet high and 2,000 feet