Show IN RAILWAY CIRCLES I The True Status of the Rio Grande Junction Road I I REASONS FOR THE LONG DELAY The History of the Combine and the Results that arc Expected What Will the Harvest Be In the spring of 1SS5 a party of civil engineers p en-gineers in the employ of tho Colorado Railway company which as will appear further on is only another name for the Chicago Burlington and Quincy company suneyed a iino from New Castle to Grand Junction Grand Junction Star does not p ciend to say that this was the extent of the Burlingtons survey in Colorado but it is sufficient for tho purposes of this article ar-ticle to mention that portion of their line The Colorado company also acquired certain cer-tain lungs which gave them absolute privilege over this route for a period as long as the law would allow whether they built or not December 24 1SSS nearly three years afterward there was filed in the county clerks office at Denver articles ar-ticles of agreement between the Colorado Colo-rado Railway company and the Denver f Den-ver and Rio Grande Railway company these companies as stated in the agreement agree-ment to be known as the Colorado company and the Denver company by the terms or which the Colorado company and the Denver company as the assignees of the rights of the Grand Valley Railway company baring each certain filings and I claims for right of way between Glenwood Springs and Aspen and over which the Denver company had constructed a line of r railway whicti in places encroached upon the fillings and rights of way of the Colorado Colo-rado company mutually agreed That the Denver company shall have and is granted the right and privilege to occupy where necessary the property and right of way of the Colorado company between the points named in consideration of which the Denver i Den-ver company granted to the Colorado company com-pany the right at any time within ten j ears from date to enter upon and enjoy and use in perpetuity equal traffic facilities and joint occupancy with the Denver company over and upon the rigtit of way ana tracks of the Denver company between Aspen and Glenwood Springs upon an annual rental of four per cent on half the cost to the Denver company of said line and of the permanent improvements and betterments better-ments thereon not including the cost of rollinc stock A similar agreement or contract was filed at the same time by the same parties ior the line between Dotsero and Grand Junction and in this latter contract oocur the words And it is agreed that the Colorado company is now controlled in the interest of the Chicago Burlington Quincy railway company These agreements agree-ments are signed by Charles H Toll presi dent of the Colorado company and D H Moffatt president of the Denver Rio Grande railway company December 24 lSSS an agreement by the same parties to the same effect was filed by which like arrangements are made for the line between Glenwood Springs and Elk creek This agreement or contract also gives the Denver company tne right to build from Elk creek to Grand Junction and it Is further agreed that if the Colorado Colo-rado company desires at any time to build its own tracks the Denver company will move off the Colorado companys rigntof wilY k June 251SS9 articles of ipcorporation of the Rio Grande Junction railway company of which Roswell E Briggs GrantL Hudson Hud-son Harlan P Parmelee Charles W Betts and Charles H Robinson are the incorporators incorpor-ators were filed in the county clerks officea at Denver The instrument sets forth that it is the purpose of the company to construct con-struct a line of railway from Rifle creek to Grand Junction October 22 1859 articles of incorporation of the Link Railway Construction company I com-pany to construct a line from the present pres-ent terminus of the Denver Rio Grande tracks near the mouth ot Rifle creek to a connection with the tracks of the Denver Rio Grande and the Rio Grande Western at Grand Junction were also filed in Denver Den-ver By these articles the Link Railway Construction company is limited in existence exist-ence to three years from date The directors di-rectors of this corporation are Joel F Vaile George J Boal Charles S Lee Albert E Pattison and Georgo E Ross Lewin The incorporators are Charles S Lee Daniel B Ellis Edward T Collbran William N Davidson and Lewis B Johnson John-son all of Denver The Link Railway Construction company is a corporation within corporation or in otherwords it Is made up of Denver and Rio Grande men This Link company is now engaged in constructing con-structing the Rio Grande Junction railway but whether it is under any contract to complete the line by any given date is not known The probabilities are that it is not being entirely swayed the Denver I and Rio Grande company and the latter under TIO contract with tho Burlington company to extend the line to Grand Junction Junc-tion within any given period of time Now to account for the delay in complet ing the Rio Grande Junction road The Denver Rio Grande are building a cutoff from Leadville to Newcastle via the Tennessee Ten-nessee pass tunnel This branch when completed will give tho Denver Rio Grande a standard gauge line from Denver to Newcastle and by the terms of agreement agree-ment entered into with the Burlington the Denver Rio Grande having the right of way over the survey of the Burlington down the valley of the Grande from Rifle creek to Grand Junction will also have L when completed a standard gauge line from Denver to Grand Junction The Santa Fe now controls tho Midland with all the latters liabilites therefore the Santa Fe is bound to respect whatever agreements the Midland may have entered into with the Denver Rio Grande for the construction of the Rio Grande Junction road It is not known whether there is any agreement on file between the Midland and the Denver Den-ver Rio Grande but it is said that there is and that it is to the effect that the Denver Den-ver r Rio Grande shall do the work of j construction and that the Midland is to furnish the money Certain circumstances that have come to the knowledge of the writer such as men encaged in the work being paid in Midland checks and cars and engines of the Midland road being employed em-ployed on the work lend probability to the story With the Santa Fo entering the field of the Denver Rio Grande as a competitor for the through traffic the latter company is not willing that the former should have the prestige of passing through trams to a connection with the Southern Pacific at Ogden before the Denver Rio Grande can do so themselves Consequently until the gap in tho Denver Rio Grandes standard guage lino between Leadville and New Castle is completed there need be no expectation of a completed Rio Grande Junction road It is curious to notice the part tho Bur lington road plays in all this apart a-part which gives the company more of a hold on the situation than has any of the I others It is also curious to observe one I fact interesting to Grand Junction In L spite of all the talk there has been about the feasibility of building a line into Utah by the valley of the White river branching off at New Castle and these roads point to Grand Junction and nowhere else Grand I Junction holds the key With regard to I the time when tho Tenne ea pass route will be finished to New Castle the resident I engineer is authority for the statement that it cant be dno before January 11891 Providing Against Winter It is very evident that the Central Pacific Paci-fic people are not at all anxious to repeat their experiences of last winter as will be seen from the following statement recently made by an officer of the road We have put the Central Pacific lino in such condition that we aro confident no delays de-lays or discomforts to passengers will occur during the coming winter even though it should be as severe as last winter win-ter which as is wellknownnvasthe heaviest heav-iest winter we have ever experienced The lc condition of the Central Pacific r track is better than it has been for many years It Is practically 60 pound stool exceptingon the mountain division where renewals have been made with 76 pound steelBefore the winter opens we will have built river 9000 feet of additional snow fences on the Salt Lake division On the Sierra Nevada mountains weslall have replaced about a mile of snow sheds covering the exposed section upon which wo encountered the crc test difficulty last season Wo have also taken down and rebuilt about three miles of other sheds Besides the foregoing forego-ing the entire line of snow sheds and galleries gal-leries have been thoroughly inspected and repaired In addition to the usual complete equipment of push plows which are most effective wherever there is room to throw the snow off the track we shall have a complete equipment of rotary plows and from five to ten large engine plows We have a full equipment equip-ment of track flangers which have been remodeled so as to conform to the new standard and are run by compressed air from the locomotive making them much more effective in operation than those formerly in use Generally speaking if we had been as fully prepared last season as we are this season our line would have been kept open We believe we have fully guarded against any possible interruption to traffic during the coming season The Pullman Palace Car company is now building build-ing three dining cars of its latest improved pattern which we expect to be delivered to us ready for service sometime before Nov 1 when they will be put in service and run by the Pullman Palcco Car company |