Show ON MONTANA DIV SJON Short Lines Great Work of Improvement I ALMOST A NEW RAILROAD Ballast is i Being Placed and at Various Places Line Rectified Preparatory Pre-paratory to Ballast Filled in Trestles Lowered Grade Sags Rise and Curves Reduced Several Sev-eral Big Cuts Notably One in Big Hole Canyon J H Holley Resigns Sheep Inspectors BusyNotes 1 The seventh and eighth districts Montana division Oregon Short Line present a good field for studying modern mod-ern roadway and track Improvements This division part of the old Utah Northern was In great need of repairs when the Oregon Short Line took the property three years ago Realizing Its great Importance the company began I ti systematic work of betterment and i the result already is quite remarkable When completed the line will bo In I splendid condition to handle heavier freight and faster passenger trains Much of the work of ballasting with Lima gravel was completed last 1 year 1 notably from Dubois to Dillon but this I work Is being pushed vigorously under I I the direction of Superintendent Larry Malloy and no stop will be made until the whole division Is ballasted 1 i Just at present there Is much work going on of even greater Importance but preparatory to ballast This is the rectifying of the line Neal Dubois the line Is being raised and at milepost I mile-post 238 It is being lowered At Haw good n cut Is being made to get down I to grade and at less Important places t sags are being fled In little grades reduced tI141 re-duced and curves reduced i At Spencer a shoo fly has been built 1 for a big change In the line which requires I re-quires considerable heavy work At anile post No 255 another big rock cut will be made which will do away with L l a reverse curve At Pleasant Valley 1 Uont a new Y has been put in and at 5 Dillon a new turntable Last year two trestles in Beaver canon can-on were filled In one of them being f tho high bridge This year the third 5 l trestle Is to be lllled In Masonry culverts 1 M cul-verts are built first to allow a free ui t passage for the streams and then the I whole trestle is filed In and ballasted I One of the most Important pieces of work on the whole line Is the rock cut being made this side of Maiden Rock spur or at Burley station as It has recently been named At this point the F track rounds the Immense rocks near rocts E the Big Hole river on a 17 per cent m curve and with the curve this sideS side-S makes a reverse curve of most annoying t annoy-ing features All trains have to slowdown J i slow-down In rounding the point and this adds to the trouble Under the plan for the new line now I I I In course of construction a deep cut 1di 1 will be mad through the mountain J slope and the curve reduced to C percent t 1 per-cent With an extension of the grade II the reverse curve will be entirely ob mn 1 Iterated making great Improvement I Il II I In the line adn much safer and more Ui1 satisfactory one for the operating department de-partment II Construction gangs aro scattered along the road all tho way from Poca t lello to Silver Bow and the switches are filled with outfit and ballast cars A large l amount of Nebo stone from Utah has been used In construction purposes on this division I will take a long time to finish all 5 the worlc planned but i will be kept up steadily and the two districts will In the end be up to standard In every L way Where the work has been completed c is i seen the same color and signal 0 standards adopted by the system From Pocatello to McCammon the line Is simply perfect Here Is the busiest piece of track on the whole V Short Line system for all trains on the t I OgdcnButte and GrangcrIluntlngton I runs use it The steel is the heaviest fr and track full ballasted making I line of which any Eastern road might feel proud |