Show The Denver A Rio Grande Western I During the past twelve months of unusual depression in railway earnings this company com-pany has made a splendid record Last year it operated 373 miles of narrow gauge road and earned above operating expenses taxes insurance and wheelage on extra rolling stock S3T8000 or little more than Jl000 per mile net Notwithstanding this the road has not been enabled to do as well as it should because be-cause of the fact that the gauge is not of its connections east and west The Denver Rio Grando is still narrow gauge over apart a-part of its route but it is rapidly laying a third rail and will very soon be enabled to send standard gauge cars from Denver and Pueblo to the Utah line The position ofthe Denver Rio Grande Western is peculiar It constitutes a sort of nexus betveen several large western systems and their common Pacific coast outlet the Central Pacific At present it performs this office imperfectly imper-fectly because of the necessity for breaking break-ing bulk on account of difference in gauge But with a standard gauge track and the third rail of the Denver Rio Grande laid completely across the state the Rock Island Is-land the Missouri Pacific and the Burlington Burling-ton would make it a continuation of their rates westward Still it is not alone in tho capacity of a through line that the Denver Rio Grande Western is important Its local freight traffic is the source of a large part of the companys revenue and the road would do very well as a narrow gauge could this business be insured to it There is however a demand for a standard stan-dard gauge connection through Utah and unless the Denver Rio Grande Western supplies it some other company will with the result that not only through business will bo lost but much of its local travel will also go to its rival Hence it appears that the only wise thing for tile company to do in the case is to widen its gauge to standard and supply itself with standard gauge rolling stock It can thus ward off any prospective competitor retain all its local business and largely increase its through traffic It is accordingly proposed to reorganize under tho name of the Utah Colorado Railway company and carry out all these improvements |