What It Takes to Build a Railroad: A Lot!

1916

What It Means When the Contractors Begin Operation

With the right of way established, a great army of men enter into the field. The company does not build its own road. It is turned over to contractors and is usually let in sections of from 200 to 300 miles.

The contractor must live up to certain specifications, just as though he were building a house, and he furnishes everything — men, teams, machinery, food and material. Few people realize what this means. A contractor must be very near to a king.

For instance, there is the Hazelton section in the mountains. It is less than 200 miles in length. Before a single shovel or pick was engaged in the building of this section the contractors had to equip themselves with a fleet of steamboats at a cost of $200,000. They had to build scores of camps at from $2,000 to $4,000 a camp. Each of these centers had to be stocked with provisions, supplies and materials almost before a builder was brought in. Before these contractors moved a shovelful of earth or fired a single blast they had spent over $6,000,000.

Each contractor's camp is like a small city, with its stores, hospital, scores of sleeping shacks, kitchens, dining rooms, warehouses and barns.— James Oliver Gurwood in Leslie's.

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 7.