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, of Amsterdam, for
the construction of the section of the railroad from Puerto Plata to
Santiago. Belgian money was furnished and Belgian engineers made the
plans. The road was given a gauge of only two feet six inches, and the
short-sightedness is inconceivable which permitted the adoption on
this road of a gauge different from that of the Samana-Santiago
Railroad, when the two were expected to join in Santiago. Ultimately
the gauge of the Central Dominican Railway will have to be widened,
but the change will cost a considerable sum and require a complete
renovation of the rolling stock. In view of the steepness of the
slopes to be surmounted, the plans contemplated the construction, on
several portions of the road, of a rack-line or cremaillere, a third
track provided with cogs, between the other two, and the use of
special mountain-climbing locomotives having a cogwheel by means of
which the ascent was to be accomplished and the descent regulated. The
Belgian engineers built the road from Puerto Plata as far as
Bajabonico, a distance of about eleven miles.


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