Floods Washout Railroad Tracks
Highline Traffic at Standstill Six Days; Now Repairing
Bridges and Track Rapidly.
Work Train Reached Here Wednesday, First Train Here
Since Last Thursday
OVER 100 DROWN ALONG REPUBLICAN RIVER
The first train to reach here for six days was the Burlington work train, which, passed through here Wednesday about noon. Trains came as far as Elwood, and the mail, express and freight, was brought thru by truck to Moorefield. A train from the west came as far as Maywood Tuesday, for the first time since the flood.
Along the Republican river, many towns were counting their dead, injured and missing. 100 have lost their lives in the worst flood in history. Over 1000 families were made homeless, and property estimates were over 13 million dollars, along the river. Parks and Max, towns near Benkelman were virtually washed away.
The heavy rains here and in the surrounding territory, last Thursday night and Friday evening, brought a halt to railroad communications on the highline from Elwood to Curtis. The rain Thursday night, totaling nearly three inches, washed out the ballast in the local yards and east of here.
Friday evening another inch fell in a very short time, and sent every little ravine and canyon into raging torrants. This again washed out the ballast repaired here and several hundred feet at Ingham. It washed out about nine hundred feet of track, where it crosses Deer creek, also damaging the bridge across Deer creek.
Between here and Eustis, over 700 feet of ballast was washed out. East of Eustis about a mile of track had to be repaired before a work train could reach here, which was not until Wednesday forenoon.
At Curtis, the lake which is along the railroad tracks filled up and ran over the tracks, cutting out the entire railroad right of way, and draining the lake. Between Curtis and Maywood more track was washed out in places. East of Curtis, along the Medicine, track and bridges were badly damaged. No bridges were washed away however.
Mail, baggage and express were brought here by train Wednesday, and then transferred by truck to the towns west to Maywood, where the other train took it again and distributed it to the towns further west.
Work on the track and bridge at Ingham was progressing nicely, Wednesday and it was expected to be able to have it fixed so that a train can pass by noon today (Thursday).
Highways in Bad Shape
Highways south and west of here, especially along the Medicine were all badly damaged. Very few bridges, if any were left across the Medicine creek, in Frontier county. County Commissioner Frank Greenlee estimated that two-thirds of the highway bridges in the county were washed out.
Republican River Valley Flood
The entire river valley was a sceen of desilation, [sic] with towns, homes and highways washed away. The Burlington tracks from Oxford to Wray,
Colo., are in terrible shape, with officials of the road estimating the damage at over a million dollars. 5000 cattle were drowned in the flood.
Many of the towns, including McCook, where the light and power plant was wrecked were without lights and were in danger of running out of water. Communications with some of the towns could not be made for three or four days, by auto, so that the conditions in many places became serious.
