| OCR Text |
Show H WHEN THE CUT-OFF H WAS CONSTRUCTED. H "When was the Ogden-Lucin cut-off M completed?" That question has been H telephoned in. The best answer Is H contained In a booklet issued by the 1 Southern Pacific company, in which H this brief story of the trestle across B the lake Is given: H Twenty-three thousand years ago a H lake 34C miles long and 145 miles H wide occupied the entire territory be- H tween the Rocky Mountains and Sier- M ras. In time the lake level sank be- M low the outlet through evaporation H nnd tho lake became salty, gradually H Sotting smaller and saltier, until to- iHiiiiiH y day all that remains of a vast inland ,sca is Great Salt Lake. S3 miles long and 51 miles wide the saltiest body I of water in the world except the Dead Sea. A few years ago a master mind conceived con-ceived the idea of a direct line across Great Salt Lake to eliminate the curves cur-ves and grades of a railroad running around the northern end of the lake. The result was the Great Salt Lake cut-off which extends from Ogden to Lncln, 102.9 miles. On November 13, 1903, after 1 1-2 years of effort, the cut-off was completed, the greatest stretch being from Little Mountain to Lakeside 34 miles. The cut-off save 43.8 miles c-f dis tnnce, 3.919 degrees of curvature and 1,515 feet of grade. The sharpest curve on the new line is 1 1-2 degrees, as against 10 degrees on the old line. The heaviest grade Is 21 feet to the mile, as against 90 feet on the old line. For this saving in time the Southern Pacific spent S4.500.000. Before the cut-off was constructed, trains going west from Ogden often were stalled during heavy winter storms in crossing the Promontory range. Today, with all the snow fall no trouble is experienced on the new stretch of road across tho lake from Ogden to Lucin This is one of th? safeguards to travel which the cu( off brought to the Southern Pacific road out of Ogden. |
