In the negotiations of which this convention
was an incident, the value of the railroad was generally estimated at
$1,500,000. Upon the delivery by the Dominican government of the cash
and bonds agreed upon by the settlement of 1907 as the price of the
Improvement Company's interests, the Company, in February, 1908,
turned over the railroad to the government. It has since been operated
by the Dominican government with satisfactory results, though it has
suffered serious injury from revolutions. The insurgents destroyed
bridges and the rack-rail; the latter has not been replaced, and the
four and ten per cent grades are now laboriously overcome by means of
Shay geared engines. Surveys show that the troublesome grades can be
avoided by the construction of curves which will increase the length
of the road by not more than three or four miles.
Owing to the mountainous character of the country traversed, the
scenery on this road is splendid. The speed attained by the trains
would not alarm a nervous wreck, for though the length of the road is
about 41 miles, the ascent from Puerto Plata to Santiago takes almost
six hours and the return trip from Santiago five, in which the slow
engines, the steep grades, the former rack-road section and the
numerous long stops have equal shares of responsibility.
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