| OCR Text |
Show WESTERN PACIFIC PROGRESS. Though much hampered by scarcity of labor, the Western Pacific is making excellent progress westward from this city. The rails are laid for seventy miles toward the Nevada line, and tho grading has been done for some miles beyond the end of the track. The weather is now favorable for work on the desert 6trip, and considerable grading has been done on the line to cross it. The estimate is that tho desert part will be completed and the track laid to the Stato line by the first day of next January. It will then be in order to look with confidence upon the completion of this line to th6-track of the Nevada Northern early next Spring, which will afford us a reasonably direct line to Ely. The importance of this Western Pacific Pa-cific line both locally and in the general sense of its being a mighty link in a splendid transcontinental system is often lost sight of by the public. Locally, Lo-cally, it will give this city the control of the growing (and certain to be very great) trade of Ely and all that mining region, with enterprise and business busi-ness push. In a wider sense, it will have a tremendous influence upon other railroad rail-road building. For it will offer a choice of routes from here to San Francisco, and all the great transcontinental transcon-tinental systems will be obliged to build to this city to get the advantage of that choice. A number of these have already built large distances this side of Omaha, where they have to deliver their transcontinental freights. By building to Salt Lake, they would get a thousand miles longer haul on their own lines, and here they would have the choice of two routes to San Francisco; one to Portland, and an independent in-dependent one io Los Angeles. So, tho importance of this Western Pacific road to Salt Lake cannot easily be overestimated. It is the great thing in sight with railroad lines. All possible pos-sible power and speed to it! |
