ESTIMATE OF COST. 27 



Brought forward |199,700 



FOR BUILDINGS AND FIXTailEa. 



Two freight and passenger depots at termini ; $30,000 



Three engine houses $8,000 24,000 



Three turn tables 3,000 9,000 



Six way stations 1,000 6,000 



One machine shop 20,000 



Five Artesian wells on deserts, 4,400 22,000 



Cost of buildings and fixtures 111.000 



Total cost of equipment 310,700 



Cost per mile of cheaper half — graduation, &c $3,180 



Superstructure 9,800 



Equipment per mile ■, 1,635 



Total cost of cheaper half of road per mile 14,615 



Number of miles 95 



Whole cost of cheaper half 1,388,425 



Cost per mile of expensive half — for graduation $51,200 



For transportation add 25 per cent, to superstructure 12,250 



Equipment , 1,635 



Total cost per mile of expensive half. 65,085 



Number of miles 95 



Whole cost of expensive half 6,183,075 



Whole cost of cheaper half. ■ 1,388,425 



Whole cost of road in working order 7,571,500 



The duty on railroad iron being 30 per cent., the cost of superstructure would be materially 

 reduced by a remission by the government of that charge, making a saving of about $1,000 per 

 mile, and reducing the cost of the road as estimated to $38,840 per mile. 



The low rate at which the cheaper of these estimates is placed will not be a matter of surprise 

 -when we reflect that more than half the distance on the desert will be built without the neces- 

 sity of graduation or preparing the ground in any way for the reception of the rails. 



The estimate for the interior portion cannot be considered low, for many portions of the line 

 will hardly exceed the cheaper part in cost. The distance on the desert, reckoned at 85 miles 

 in the calculation, is actually over 100, and is generally of a character susceptible of economical 

 construction. The item least likely to be in excess is that of transportation, which, at the 



