As the constructional engineers were confronted with some heavy work shortly after leaving Suakin, in order to overcome the coast range, building was commenced from both ends of the line simultaneously. This procedure, however, did not prove entirely satisfactory, owing to the cost and delay in bringing material down from Alexandria to Atbara, so when the engineers at the Suakin end had subjugated their obstacle and the material could be landed easily from vessels and hurried to the railhead, operations were suspended from Atbara. The remoteness of Suakin, however, produced individual handicaps, the greatest of which was in regard to labour. The scattered natives were given employment, but as they were unfamiliar with the tools and methods they did not prove successful, and large numbers of Egyptians who had toiled on the other lines were shipped to the Red Sea terminus. They were housed in military tents, and a stranger happening suddenly upon a railway camp might have been pardoned for labouring under the impression that he had alighted upon an invading army under canvas, because the tents were pitched in such regular rows as to indicate military occupation.
The mountains occasioned some little anxiety owing to the damage that was caused by wash-outs due to the heavy rain, but these were soon mastered. This abundance of water later on gave place to extreme scarcity, for when the constructional forces had penetrated the heart of the desert, this commodity was found only with great difficulty and by infinite labour.
Despite these drawbacks, however, the 305 miles of line were laid and opened for traffic within the short space of 14 months, which testifies to the high standard of the constructional organisation and the energy with which the undertaking was pushed forward. The significance of this branch from the Nile to the sea was revealed instantly, but unfortunately it was realised that the terminal point on the coast left much to be desired. Further investigation revealed a better site for a harbour 50 miles north of Suakin, and this point, now known as Port Sudan, is the terminus of the line, the harbour being equipped with modern facilities for handling traffic between ship and railway. The new port is connected by rail with Suakin, however, which is being retained as an outlet.
The railway will creep gradually southwards along the bank of the White Nile in all probability, but in the meantime the river will constitute the artery of communication. The waterway abounds with sand-bars and other obstructions to navigation which provide very little depth of water in some places, but the Sudan Development & Exploration Company have met this situation by the utilisation of steamers which draw extremely little water and are able to pass through the shallows in perfect safety. The Sudan Government also maintains a steamship connection between Khartoum and Gondoroko. This water link is about 1000 miles in length, and the round trip occupies about 23 days. A few years ago the possibility of being able to proceed so far up the river under steam was feared to be impracticable, owing to the dense masses of floating tangled masses of vegetation, or “sudd,” which blocked the river. But this has been broken up and a clear fairway is maintained. As a result, Uganda now has an outlet to the Mediterranean which can be developed considerably as the northern extremities of that country are opened up.
Unfortunately, beyond Gondoroko the river cannot be used, because for about 100 miles—from Rejaf to Dufile—there is a continuous chain of rapids. These two points therefore will be connected by railway probably. When Dufile is gained the river can be used once more so far as Lake Albert Nyanza, where the line from Cape Town would be met, although there is a belief that the Sudan Government intends to push the railway to a far more southern point.
It will be seen that although Rhodes’ great scheme was for a continuous steel road from north to south, this idea has had to be modified in order to meet unexpected conditions, which at the time of the railway’s inception were not apparent. In reality one will travel from the “Cape to Cairo” over a combined rail and water route longitudinally through the continent. At the present moment one can cover the whole journey by rail and water, except for a distance of about 600 miles, and this gap is being closed rapidly. As the settlement of the country along the line of communication becomes effected, and the heavy drawbacks incidental to transhipment become more and more emphasised, there is no doubt but that the water route will be superseded gradually by the railway, so that in time the original idea will be consummated, and trains will pass right through from the Cape to Cairo over a continuous path of steel some 6000 miles in length.
CHAPTER XIII
GRIDIRONING THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
If one consults a map of the North American continent, it will be observed that the rolling plains, stretching westwards from the shores of the Great Lakes, are fringed on their western edge by a massive, tumbled and lofty wall—the Rocky Mountains. This is the backbone of the New World, stretching from Mexico in the south to far-away Alaska in the north, on the slopes of which rise the mighty rivers to flow east and west to swell the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific. Their successful conquest by the iron horse on its way from coast to coast contributes some of the most thrilling incidents to railway history.
If the map is consulted closely it will be seen that this range assumes its most broken character in the State of Colorado. Here Nature became unduly playful in her process of moulding, and left her handiwork in a badly-finished condition. Beetling peaks crowned with eternal snow are separated by yawning ravines—mere cracks in the earth’s crust—where the walls are half-a-mile or more in height, and through which rivers foam and tear along tumultuously. Yet the dishevelled mass of rock is intersected by steel threads which comprise the respective systems of the famous Denver & Rio Grande, and the Chicago & North-Western railways, the latter being known popularly as the “Moffatt” road, after its originator.