TIIE BEE: OMAHA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1910.
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Railroads
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OVERLAND THE
PIONEER ROUTE
General Dodge Telli of the Start of
the Great Transcontinental
Route.
TO CONNECT THE TWO COASTS
Pre li dent Lincoln Favored the Eoad
at a War Measure.
MILLIONS FOR BETTERMENT
During; Last Seven Yean Harriman
Hai Been Lavish.
BOAD MEANS MUCH TO OMAHA
Growth Han firm Coincident with the
Growth of This City Hm Meant
m Great Deal to Omaha In
Many Way.
From the standpoint of railroad accom
modation Omaha Is one of tha country'a
most favored cltlea. Every day ten great
trunk llnei operate a multitude of trains In
and out of tha city and each of these great
railroad lines holdi a warm place In the
hearta of Omaha'i cltliens. But for sev
eral reason the Union Pacific has always
been Just a bit closer to tha hearts of
Omaha people than have tha other roads
and has always seemed to Omahans a bit
more their road than ha any of tha others.
This feeling- Is largely accounted for by
two fact, one the prominent place which
Omaha occupied In the event Immediately
preceding and connected with the bultdlna
of thla first great transcontinental railway
to make this city a center for administering
the Immense business of the road and for
building, equipping and repairing much of
the vast accumulation of rolling stock
which Is the road' property. ,
The history of the Union Pactflo railroad
is interwoven with that of the country It
self and for each step In the development of
the United State 1 found a corresponding
development In the Union Pacific. The Idea
of building a railroad to connect the two
coasts of the United States Wi , not a late
development, the project having early been
proponed by Dr. Samuel Bancroft Barlow of
Uranvllle, Mass., who In 1S34 first advo
ll
cated the construction of a road from New
York City to the mouth of the Columbia
river.
Hobert Mills, however, In a ipeech In
congress In 1840, In which lis advocated th
construction of the road, called attention to
his design for connecting the Atlantlo and
Pacific with steam carriages which ha
been published, with other suggestions, In
a work which he had compiled In 1S19. In
all probability tha honor of having first
suggested th road belongs to him, chi
merical as it may seem, coming at a time
when not a mile of railroad had been laid
In the United States.
Transcontinental Lin Proposed.
For. many years this Idea of building a
great Una of railroad from Altantlc to Pa
cific wa talked about and alternately advo
cated and opposed, Daniel Webster, who
never believed that any good could com
from the Pacific coast, was on of Its
strongest opponents, while Senator Thomas
H. Benton of Missouri never lost an op
portunity to say a good word for th plan.
It la probable, however, that a majority of
the men in the public eye at that Urn were
opposed to th scheme.
General Orenvlll M. Dodge It was who
surveyed the line upon which the Union
Pacific was built. He commenced his ex
plorations In Vibi and continued to make
them until IStil. Mr. Dodge had been con
nected In earlier days with the Rock Island
railroad as It was built westward from
Chicago and had assisted In establishing
the terminal of th road In Council Bluffs.
When these terminals were established
General Dodge purchased eight acre upon
which they were located and subdivided
the tract, a portion being- taken by the
Rock Island Interest and a portion by
the cltlsena of the town. A part of the
Rock Island's share of this tract fell Into
the band of N. B. Judd, the general at
torney for tha road, a prominent Illinois
republican and a personal friend of Lin
coln, who purchased from him a portion of
this Interest,
In 1869 Mr. Lincoln visited Council Bluffs,
then a frontier town of some 1,600 Inhabi
tants, to Inspect his holdings there, and it
was while on this trip that he met General
Dodge, Just then returned from on of his
surveying trips Into the country west of
the Missouri, and after a dinner at the
old Paclflo hotel sought out the olever sur
veyor and engaged him In earnest con
versation about th western country, in
whloh the Illinois statesman showed a
marked Interest.
The next time the two gentlemen met
was In 1863. Meantime Lincoln had become
chief executive and two year of the bloody
civil war had been fought Mr. Dodge at
his country' call had given up the transit
for the sword, and at this time was a
brigadier general of volunteers and In com
' T . ,
The West
The Union Pacific Country
Omaha is the gateway to this wonderfully rich territory; it occupies the strategic position as a distributing
point and is served by large, well equipped railroad systems. N
There are millions within reach of the business men who recognize and take advantage of this condition,
for there are millions of prosperous people in this new and flourishing section who are willing and anxious to
buy what Omaha has to market not only the necessaries, but the luxuries and comforts of life.
In 1909 the business handled through Omaha's financial institutions amounted to more than a billion of
dollars.
How Much Will It Be In 1910?
It Depends On You
mand at Corinth. While there he received
an order from General Grant to report to
the president In Washington. When he
reached there he found that th president
had not forgotten th conversation on the
porch of the Pacific hotel In Council Bluffs
and had called General Dodge to Wash
ington to consult him as to th proper lo
cation for the eastern terminus of the
Union Paclflo railway, which under the
act of congTcs of 1863 h wa empowered
to select
Competition (or Road.
"There was great competition from all
the town along tha Missouri for fifty
miles above and below Council Bluff,"
say General Dodge In hi own narrative
of tha building of th road, "for th dis
tinction of being selected as this Initial
point. I found Mr. Lincoln well posted In
all the controlling reason covering such
a selection, and we went Into th matter
at length and discussed th argument pre
sented by th different competing locali
ties. "It Is a singular fact that while the
United State had spent a great deal of
money In exploration for a feasible Una for
the Paclflo railroad, the government never
had examined the natural route along the
forty-second parallel of latitude. All the
surveys had been made and all the data
obtained by private citizens connected with
the Rock Island railroad, at the head of
which was Henry Farnam of Connecticut
President Lincoln, after going over all the
fact that could be presented to him, and
from hi own knowledge, finally fixed the
eastern termlnu of th Union Paolflo rail
road where our survey determined the
ptoper locUlty at Council Bluffs, la.
Lincoln Intersted.
"After this discussion of tha looatlon he
took up with me th question of building
the road. Th law of 1862 had failed to
bring any capital or man to undertake the
work, and I said to him that in my opinion
private enterprise could not build the road.
Mr. Llnooln said that th government had
its hands full and oould not undertake the
work, but was ready to support any com
pany to th fullest legal extent, and amend
th law so a to enable such company to
Issue ssourities that would furnish the nec
essary funds.
"From Washington I went to New York,
where I met the parties then connected
with th Union Pacific railway, John A.
Dix, Henry Farnam, T. C. Durant, George
Francis Train and others, and Informed
them of th result of my visit and what
President Lincoln had said. They were
greatly encouraged, and Immediately went
to work on the preparation of the measure
which was afterwards presented to con
gress and passed as the Union Pactflo bill
of 1864. Under this the road was built In
some four years, although congress had
Ait
The richest, moit resourceful and most
west is that which lies on and
UMOM FAC
Mr. Business Man: It's up to you to come out and see this
country and get acquainted with it Besides it's the season
to think of a vacation, and a vacation spent looking over a
field so promising will prove both profitable and interesting.
Electric Block Signals Up-to-Date Equipment Perfect Track
Fourteen Electric Lighted Trains Daily
Dining Car Meals and Service "Best in the World"
For information relative to fares, routes, stopovers, sidetrips, etc., call on or address
CITY TICKET OFFICE, 1324 FARNAM STREET, OMAHA, NEB. PHONES BELL DOUG. 1828 AND IND. A 3231
allowed ton years for Its construction, and
I feel that It was Lincoln's faith, energy
and comprehensive grasp of what the
building of the road meant to the United
States that Induced congress to pass
liberal law and mad it possible to raise
th funds to accomplish th work.
Military Necessity.
"President Lincoln regarded th building
of th road a a military necessity for the
purpose of protecting and holding Cali
fornia In th union. Th task of it con
struction proved too much for private In
dividuals and the government gav help;
it wa too much of a task for on company
and so th work wa divided, th Central
Paclflo railroad to build eastward from
Saoramento, Cal., and th Union Pacific
westward from Omaha. Ground was first
broken at Omaha on December i, 1863, and
the golden splk Joining th two roads at
Promontory Summit Utah, wa driven on
May 10, 1869. Of the entire road, th Union
Pacific had laid 1,186 mllea of track and
the Sentral Paclflo 638 mile. In later
year th w astern termlnu of the Union
Pacific wa fixed at Ogden, Utah, 1.008
mile from Omaha, but th entire tin
from Omaha to San Francisco 1 now one
route, controlled by 'the Harriman
System.' "
The story of the trials and .triumphs
connected with the building of this first
transcontinental road are filled with in
terest and dramatic quality, the weary,
tedious work through a hostile country,
the exceeding difficulty of obtaining Sup
plies, the marvelous engineering skill
which wa exhibited and th multitudes of
discouragements and disappointments un
til victory finally crowned the effort of
these pioneer road builder at Promontory
are Incident from real Ufa which exceed
th moat brilliant efforts of th most
skilled novelist
The lln of th Union Paclflo proper,
that old line which was first built from
Omaha to Ogden, measure 1,00 miles and
traverses that territory which, befor the
modern day of Irrigation and dry farm
ing was ofttimes known a "Tha Great
American Desert" This wa the desert,
the home of wild beasts, of aage brush
and of oactu. Some Idea of what Irriga
tion has don for this land may be gath
ered from the fact that million of acres
of land, apparently worthless, have ad
vanced to 11,000, and In some cases, as high
a $4,000 an acre. This Increase I, of course,
due to th astonishing yield of crop.
And It I a curious fact that where
tnere is sufficient water for Irrigating
purposes, better results are attained than
where there Is the most bountiful natural
rainfall. Th reason Sox this I not deep
or hidden, however. It is imply a case
of having the water at all times where
and when it la. wanted. A great deal of
You Watchin
"THE SAFE ROAD"
the development of this region may be
accredited directly and Indirectly to the
Union Pacific, the first road to Invade
this region.
Hardships for Pioneers.
Th pioneer who first settled these
states wer obliged to Journey weary
distance, and an ox team or a pair of
mules or horses and canvas-covered wag
ons, were the only means of conveyance.
It used to take th mall coach thirty
day to make th run from Salt Lake to
Omaha, and the country swarmed with
Indian In many place along th route.
In any of the western states traverd,
there were no railroads; the river towns
on th Missouri river were better off by
reason of steamboat service, but this
waa somewhat Irregular and not always
satisfactory.
Th coming of th railroad brought
thousands of Immigrant, who reached
their destination cheaply, and these
brought under cultivation million upZFn
millions of acre of land. It also at
tracted men who developed the vast min
eral resource of gold, silver and oopper,
coal, Iron, etc. All th machinery needed
for mining had to be hauled by wagon at
great expense, and tha quick, cheap and
sure service of the railroad placed pro
ducers next door to the whole world.
And the people who raised all kinds of
crops could now sell their produce 2,000
miles distant; even to European coun
tries. Nearly all the higher grade apples
raised in Oregon ar now sold In Lon
don, where they command very high
price.
Town Spring; Up.
A soon as tha railroad cam town
sprang up almost over night; people
cam from far distance to settle; great
acres of land were cultivated; the farmer
became sure of a market; a new and
vital energy developed along many lines
because the settlers were put In closs touch
with the outside world; distance was no
longer thought of, for tha railroad
brought their former neighbor to visit
them, carried their freight and took
them on Journeys which, were It not for
this strong friend, would have been a
impossible a If they were held fast In
a wilderness.
The line of the Union Pacific passes
through a country full of Interest unpar
alleled for him who enjoys the beauties of
nature. Leavtng Omaha one has first an
opportunity to admire the thriving towns
and cities of the great Cornhusker state
and meanwhile to marvel at tha fertility
of its fields and valleys.
Marvelous Sights.
Crossing the border line Into Wyoming
he la whisked through a wonderfully scenic
country, gaining an excellent view of Gran
ite Canyon, the continental divide and the
thousand and one other sights of this
attractive part of the
tributary to
interesting western state. Utah fur
nishes Its share of thrills for the sight
seer. Here one's admiration Is attracted by
Castl Rock. Hanging Rock and th multi
tude of ether natural wonders with which
th country I replete. At th same time,
for he who I historically Inclined, every
foot of th great route I pregnant with
Interest, having been the seen of many In
teresting Incidents In the life of th coun
try. On can also reach Ogden by another line
of th Union Paolflo. which run from
Kansas City through Kansas and Colorado
and la as full of Interest s Is the more
northerly route. Ogden Is the farthest
wst point of th Union Paclflo proper, but
the Harriman system extends to the coast
from Ogdan and on may travel to San
Francisco over th Southern Pactflo or to
Loa Angeles over th same rout. If he Is
bound for Portland or Seattl he will have
left th Union Paolflo proper at Granger,
Wyo., and tarted his trip thither over the
lines of th Oregon Railroad and Naviga
tion company, and other Harriman lines.
All of these Unas run through country that
la full of Interest and each year the trips
ar taken by thousands of people Interested
only In knowing more of this great western
country, which Is fast becoming so Impor
tant a part of the United States.
Many are tha engineering feats which
were accomplished to make possible the
Union Pacific route of today, Dut above all
others four stand out as prominently note
worthy. These are tha Lana cutoff, Sher
man Hill tunnel, Aspen tunnel and the
Great Salt Lake cutoff.
Bis UadertaJklns-s.
Th construction of th Lane cutoff a few
mile west of Omaha did not penetrate any
granite mountains or Involve any deep and
lengthy tunnels, but It did Involve some
tremendous fills and cuts and accomplish a
purpose of Immense importance. But the
most remarkable feature or It Is that It
cuts off In distance nearly as much as its
actual length and though but 11.64 miles
long It cost $3,000,000. To be exact, it saved
8.94 miles In a distance of S0.58 miles be
tween connecting points on the old line.
The excavation for this cut-off waa en
tirely In earth. It Involved the removal of
nearly 8,000,000 cubic yards of dirt Every
particle of this dirt waa utilised In the
formation of embankments and about 4,000,
000 cubio yards of these empankment were
built. They were necessary to form cross
ings over the deep, wide valleys. The
roadway proper In excavation has one and
one-half to one side slopes and a maxi
mum width of thirty feet; the embank
ments have a minimum width of thirty-five
feet and one and one-hajf to one side
slopes. To give some Idea of the herculean
task confronting the builder of this cut-off
it is well to note that at one place there
,
1C
la a cut with a depth of S5.5 feet, a width
of 437 feet and a total It-ngth of 6.2HO feet.
Tunnel In Granite,
Shermam Hill tunnel runs for 18,000 feet
through solid grsnlt and th Sherman Hill
line I 168 miles long. These two Improve
ments cost approximately 86,000,000. Aspen
tunnel Is 6,999 feet long and Aspen cut-off
is twenty-two miles long. These two with
other western cut-offs saved thirty miles In
distance and cost almost 812.000,000. Tha
Great Salt Lak cut-off, a distance of 102.6
mile across Great Salt Lake, which cut off
forty-three miles of the distance between
Ogden and San Francisco, cost 86,000,000.
The Union Pacific has 8,810 miles of track,
main Una and branches, and It costs about
$1,663 for each mile to keep the track, ties,
bridges and roadbed In repair. There ar
about 1,100 locomotive which weigh over
eighty ton each and It costs about $3,000 a
year to keep them In good running order.
There ar 25,000 freight cars, every on of
which will carry about thirty-fiv ton of
freight and which cost every year $131 each
for repairs. Then the handsome passenger
coaches, of which there are 425, cost $3,000
each every yer for repair. On th pay
roll of the company, comprising men of all
classes and grades, are over 26,000 names
and their salaries amount every year to
nearly $25,000,000. Some Idea of what It
costs to operate a great railroad can be
formed when we find that In ten years
from 1898 to 1907 there was expended on
the Union Pacific for change in th line.
reduction In grade and Improvement and
addition to th roadway, $41,000,000; for
locomotives, cars, etc., over $38,000,000; for
new line and terminals over $30,000,000 a
total of over $111,000,000.
Tendency to Steel.
Although the change is not yet completed,
th tendency of th Union Paclflo I toward
th Installation of all steel cars for all pur
poses, and In a vary few year thfAroad
will be one of the few In the United Tfttttes
so equipped. At the present time th Union
Pacific Is operating a large number of
steel cars, Including mall cars, diners, Pull
mans and freight cars and contracts ar
already let for enough steel cars to com
pletely equip the entire Harriman system.
The road Is also advancing In th sort of
locomotives used. Engines such as number
792, which was built in the local shops
twenty years ago and has made remarkable
time between Omaha and Grand Island,
are fast giving way to larger and more
powerful engines which the modern demand
for speed and efficiency as well as Im
proved ideas in engine construction make
necessary. The latest locomotive to be pur
chased for use on the Harriman lines Is
known as the Mallet compound, which is
really two engines built into one. The
combination of weight and pulling power
Is enormous.
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