Marpole, the able divisional superintendent, stated, to
take a train of 12 loaded cars over the ruling grades, two of them
being required for the same load on the steep grade already mentioned
at Kicking Horse Pass. Mr. Marpole stopped the train at the Stony Creek
Bridge, a large timber structure 296 feet high, and said to be the
highest wooden bridge in America. The scenery through the Selkirks is
magnificent, the mountain peaks being six and seven thousand feet above
the level of the railway, many of them even at this season of the year
covered with snow, and there being several large glaciers.
"During last year, before the line was opened for traffic, observations
were taken with the view of ascertaining what trouble might be
anticipated from avalanches, the avalanch paths through the Selkirks
being very numerous. Several large avalanches occurred, the largest
covering the track for a length of 1,300 feet, with a depth in one
place of 50 feet of snow, and containing, as was estimated, a quarter
of a million cubic yards of snow and earth. The result of these
observations caused the Company to construct during this season four-
and-a-half miles of snow sheds, at a cost of $900,000, or $200,000 a
mile.
"The sheds are constructed as follows:--On the high side of the
mountain slope a timber crib filled with stones is constructed.
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