Source: The Mining Journal
Marquette, Mi.
April 28, 1888 Saturday

On The South Shore

A call at the office of J. A. Latcha, chief engineer of the
DSS&A Tuesday gave the Mining Journal representative much in-
formation of value and interest to the people along the line of
the road. Preparations have been commenced for the completion
of the road through to the junction with the NP at Iron River,
Wis, and ballasting has been started on the Sault division, two
gravel trains being at work there now. Early in the week an
engine was started out from Nestoria with a crew of about 15
men to ascertain the condition of the track laid last fall and to
place it in condition for the passage of construction trains which
will be started out next week. A big rock slide has been found
on the track about two miles west of Worm Lake and an embankment
near the military road crossing has been injured somewhat by the
frost which was in it but on the whole the condition of the road-
bed is highly satisfactory and the bad pieces are such as to be
readily put in good shape again.

Next week track laying will be resumed and the ballast trains
will begin work. There are 40 miles of track yet to be laid to
take the DSS&A to the junction with the NP, 166 miles from Nestoria.
Of this.166 miles, 130 will have to be ballasted this season, about
3% having been ballasted last fall. Within 30 days Mr. Latcha
expects that from 600 to 1,000 men will be engaged on the road in
ballasting and track laying. The grading and bridging is all done
and by the last of July the company hopes to have the track lay-
ing and ballasting all done and the road ready for operation as a
through line. The last 20 miles can be ballasted from the sides,
but on the rest of the track ballasting materials must be hauled.
Three steam shovels will be put at work next week, one on each
division, and operated night and day getting out ballast and load-
ing it on the cars. One of these will be placed about twenty
miles west of Nestoria and another in a big sand pit near the
shore of Gegebie Lake.

A force of masons was sent down to S, S, Marie to begin work
on the round house there, Monday, which has suffered from a leaky
boiler, the escaping steam in cold weather having injured some of
the brick work. Work will also be commenced at once on the founda-
tions of the water tanks on the new road west of Nestoria. The
first will be located ten miles west of Nestoria or about a mile
and a half east of Worm Lake, the second about three miles west of
Perch River, on the Hill creek, a branch of the Sturgeon River;
the third three miles east of the Ontonagon River; the fourth at
the middle branch of the Ontonagon River; the fifth at the head of
Gogebic Lake on the shore; the sixth at Thomasville, the head-
quarters of the Western division and the seventh at Montreal River,
this last tank is all ready up, having been built last fall. The
tanks will be about 15 miles apart, giving plenty of water. The
third tank will be located near one of the prettiest bits of
Scenery on the road. The track crosses the main Ontonagon River
pe 2 On The South Shore 4/28/1883

on a bridge 90 feet above the water and right by aminature Niagaga,
where 45 feet down in a sandstone canyon the water falls a distance
of 60 feet in one leap. The fifth tank will be right in an interest-
ing spot situation, right on the shore of Gogebic Lake where the
road comes around the head of the lake for four miles. :

About 100 miles west of Nestoria the DSS&A will choose a site
for the headquarters of its western division and shops, naming
the place Thomasville in honor of Gen. Samuel Thomas, the well
known New York railway magnate, who is largely interested in the
road. The South Shore is to be operated in three divisions -
the eastern from St. Ignace and S. S. Marie to Marquette with head-
quarters at Marquette; the middle from Marquette to Thomasville,
including the Republic and Houghton branches, with headquarters at
Marquette and the western from Thomasville to Duluth, including
the Gogebie branch, with headquarters at Thomasville. Here a
station, division superintendent's office, shops, roundhouse, of-
fice for the master mechanic of the division and storeroom com-
bined, blacksmith shop and division trainmaster's office will be
built, besides a large hotel for the accommodation of train men,
crews changing here. The blacksmith shop for the present will be
50 x 60 feet in size, evenutally 50 x 120. A 16 stall roundhouse
will be built this season to be increased to 32 stalls later and
another 16 stall roundhouse built. The machine shops will be 300
feet long with a traffic table in the end to the car shops, and
yet these will be small compared with the main shops of the road.
Only the roundhouse and blacksmith shop will be built this season.
Everything has been planned according to the latest developments
in railroading. Twenty miles of yard will be built there even-
tually, including a right and left yard for east and west bound
business, a general yard.and standing yard besides the through
tracks and hospital tracks. A coal trestle will be built next
season. It will be seen by this that Thomasville at present ex-
isting on paper only, will by another year be one of the live-
liest little places on the peninsula, and eventually become an
important place.

From a point on the main line near Thomasville the Gogebic
branch will start out. It will first strike Sunday Lake, one
and a half miles from the main line and there tap the Brotherton
and Sunday Lake mines. The branch will end at a station midway
between Ironwood and Hurley, convenient to both places and will
be 15 miles long. Bessemer will be eight miles from the main line
by the branch.

The work on the Sault division will be completed in May and
it will be then ballasted as well as any piece of track on the
peninsula. On the Mackinae division from this city to St. Ignace
the road has its pile drivers at work putting additional piles
and bents in trestles, while additional stringers are being placed
in all the bridges. During the next three months a good force of
men will be kept at work on the division; all poor rails will be
taken out, new ties put in, the road bed brought to a good grade
and put in first class condition for heavy traffic. The intention
is to have this work all done by the time the line is opened
through to the NP and through service begins.

BA,
tations - Thomaston
Paul LaBreche