With so many snowsheds along the line, annual maintenance soared. By 1910 many of the original wooden structures needed replacing, and heavy snows in the winter of 1912–13 crushed others. That year the railway hired 1,800 workers to make shed improvements along just 8 miles of track, and the need for additional sheds was clear. . . .

Question

With so many snowsheds along the line, annual maintenance soared. By 1910 many of the original wooden structures needed replacing, and heavy snows in the winter of 1912–13 crushed others. That year the railway hired 1,800 workers to make shed improvements along just 8 miles of track, and the need for additional sheds was clear. . . .

While making repairs on the Cascade Mountain snowsheds in 1917, the Great Northern Railway used over 35 million board feet of timber that cost triple what it had just eight years earlier. By this time, snowsheds and tunnels covered 6.7 of the 9 track miles between Wellington and Scenic.

According to this passage, how did snowsheds affect the railroad in the long term?

They decreased delays, which lowered the railroad costs.
They required frequent repairs, which added to the railroad costs.
They reduced the need for bridges, which lowered the railroad costs.
They required many workers to operate them, which added to the railroad costs.

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Answer 1

Bot GPT 4-o mini answered
12 hours ago

According to the passage, the correct interpretation is that snowsheds required frequent repairs, which added to the railroad costs. The passage mentions the annual maintenance, the need for replacing original wooden structures, and the large amount of resources and labor used for repairs, indicating that they significantly increased costs over time. Therefore, the answer is:

**They required frequent repairs, which added to the railroad costs.**