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Show SOUTHERN PACIFIC FORGING AHEAD ON IMPROVEMENTS Near Black Dutte, In the Shasta mountains between the stations of Weed and Slsson, California, tho Southern Pacific company has uncovered uncov-ered a huge deposit of volcanic ash that has proved unusually flno ballasting bal-lasting material. It was discovered already al-ready broken Into tho proper size for ballast nnd tho company has just completed com-pleted ballasting that part of Us lino over the Siskiyou mountains with this material. It is of n pinkish color, porous, yet has a great deal of weight nnd its porous qualities nuiko it per-feet per-feet for drainage of tho roadbed, that jUj part of tho road upon which It is bo Ing used being exceptionally well drained during tho rainy season. In tho Sacramento, California shops of the oSnthern Pacific company, there has Just been completed a machlno for tho loading of gravel upon flat oars from out of tho bed of a river. Technically, It would bo called a dredger. It consists of tho necessary boilers and engines, with n 70 foot boom, and by tho use of what Is known ns tho clam shell steel bucket, is now being used successfully In loading load-ing gravel from tho bed of a river In tho Sacramento valley. This gravel, tnkon from underneath tho water, Is clean nnd dustlcss and makes flno bnllaBt, and Is bolng used on tho double track work of the Southern Pacific between Benecla nnd Sacramento Sacra-mento In California. All of tho locomotives of tho Southern South-ern Pacific company are rapidly bo ing equipped with ejectrlc headlights. Tho system Is tho Invention or ono of tho men in tho Sacramento shops of tho company nnd consists of n small turblno englno nnd generator. This englno hns tho power of generating generat-ing thirty volts of electricity, sufficient suffi-cient for tho headlight, classification lights and sovornl smnllor lights about tho engine, all controlled by n switch in tho engineer's cab. This does away with tho Inconvenience of using tho old fashioned torch nt night when oiling oil-ing the locomotives. |