Reprint of this story from the January 24, 1902 issue of The Grand Encampment Herald brought to you courtesy of Grandma’s Cabin, Encampment, Wyoming. Preserving History - Serving the Community.
TRAMWAY CONTRACT IS LET!
Late yesterday afternoon the Herald received a special telegram stating that the contract had been let in New York for the building of the aerial tramway between the Ferris-Haggarty mine and the Boston-Wyoming smelter at Grand Encampment. The news was received with much enthusiasm, because the building of this great enterprise means a thousand fold to the prosperity of the town and camp during the present year and for many years to come. It is further announced from a reliable source that the work on the tram will be commenced very soon, perhaps by February tenth.
The construction of the tramway will involve the expenditure of a great sum of money. The fact that all the material except the lumber will have to be freighted in a distance of nearly fifty miles by teams adds several thousand dollars to the cost of the structure.
There will be used a great amount of iron and steel, together with heavy timbers, the latter of which without doubt will be milled in the hills close by, thus saving a large amount of money in the securing of lumber.
The building of an aerial tramway in a mountainous country presents a gigantic proposition for the civil engineer. The tram in itself, although apparently simple, is a complicated affair, and must be delicately constructed in order to be of service.
The preliminary survey for the tramway shows a distance of sixteen miles. It is the intention of the contractors to build the tram in four sections, each four miles in length, and will be so constructed that the sections will work independently of each other and at the same time work in conjunction. This is made possible by automatic switches at each terminal so that the cars will switch automatically from one section to the other without delay.
The work will be commenced by preparing the right of way, which operation will consist of cutting out the trees and other obstructions which might at any future time interfere with the working of the tram or cause trouble from any source. The building of the towers will witness the first real operation in the construction, the towers to be constructed from heavy timbers anchored by iron bolts on rock foundations. The height of the towers and the distance from each other will depend upon the topography of the country, which will require a variety of heights and distances. In open ground the distance between towers will be about one thousand feet, and in the hills much less.
The cars will traverse the tram on either side, the down cars on the right and the up cars on the left. The moving cable will be continuous, carrying the loaded cars to the smelter on the one side and the empty cars to the mine on the other. This cable will be three-quarters inch in diameter, and will be of the toughest steel rope. The track cable on the right side which will bear the weight of the loaded cars will be one and one quarter inches in diameter, while the return cable on the lift will be only seven eights inch in diameter.
The general grade from the mine to the smelter is down hill, and the force of gravity will furnish the power to run the cars. However, a 250 horsepower stationery engine and boiler will be installed in this city to be used in case of emergency which may arise from various causes. Electricity will be generated and wired to the emergency points. By this arrangement there will be no trouble in handling any amount of ore, uphill or down, and will make possible the establishing of spurs.
The terminals will consist of large drums or pulleys set in a half circle about which the cars will run in switching from one section to the other. The terminals present the most complicated part of the structure.
A careful estimate has placed the cost of the tram at $300,000. According to a report from a prospective contractor, the amount of freight which will have to be shipped in will be almost 1,500,000 pounds, the freight charges on which will be about $39,000. Sixty-four miles of wire cable will be required.
The building of the tram is a great undertaking, yet its accomplishment is only an evidence of what is being done in this district in order to produce the marvelous wealth stored away in the hills which only awaits development.
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