Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 103, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1908 — Railroad Through Dead Sea. [ARTICLE]

Railroad Through Dead Sea.

Right through Great Salt Lake — the Dead Sea of the new world — runs a railroad! The actual length of this, the longest trestle in the world is, 12 miles. It contains 25,000 piles, the longest single pile being 90 feet, and the longest spliced pile 120 feet. The cost of constructing this wonderful piece of railroad was 15,000,000, and the time required to build ft was three years. At one place in the bed of the lake thousands of cars of rock were emptied without making the least impression in the way of foundation. - In riding over this road—right through the beautiful, sparkling Salt Lake —one notices the absence of boat: of any kind, although the lake it over 100 miles In length and 70 miles across at its widest place, and one would think It afforded great attractions for the sailor or oarsman. But the fact la, rowing or sailing is almost impossible on the waters of this Dead Sea, for It is so heavy with salt, that navigation—or even swimming—is slow and laborious, render- 1 Ing, therefore, little pleasure for the pains. If one dips up a pail of water from Great Salt Lake and lets it stand in the sun till the water evaporates there will be found one-third of a pail of salt ‘ . Hundreds of centuries ago the waters of this great body extended over the thousands of acres of land that surrounds it now in the form of dry desolate wastes on which nothing grows, for no animal, vegetable nor fowl life can exist on this one-time sea bed.