670 



RAILROADS. 



E 



RAILROADS, PACIFIC AND MOOT CEXIS. 

 The Central Pacific Railroad Company of 

 California is now building a railroad, which, 

 in connection with lines completed, will cross 

 the continent in a direct line from New York, 

 on the Atlantic, to San Francisco, on the 

 Pacific Ocean. 



It is called the Pacific Railroad, and is being 

 constructed under the patronage and grants 

 conferred by the Federal Government, and is 

 intended to connect the railroad system of the 

 United States with California, etc. 



The distance from New York to San Fran- 

 cisco, via Chicago, Omaha (on the Missouri 

 River), Salt Lake, and Sacramento, is about 

 3,300 miles. 



Omaha, the eastern terminus of the great 

 national road, is about 1,450 miles west of New 

 York. 



The work is divided between two organiza- 

 tions (financially separate), one, under the title 

 of the Union Pacific Railroad, constituting the 

 eastern division from Omaha to near Salt Lake ; 

 and the other, the Central Pacific Railroad of 

 California, extending from the tide-waters of 

 the Pacific to near Salt Lake, where it is esti- 

 mated the two lines will unite, the east and 

 west, during the year 1870. 



The Pacific Railroad is estimated to cost one 

 hundred million dollars. Of this sum the 

 United States Government give the use of fifty 

 million dollars United States six per cent, 

 bonds for thirty years ; . also the fee simple of 

 12,800 acres of land per mile along the line of 

 the road, creating a magnificent domain for 

 the companies, of about 220,000,000 of acres 

 of valuable land, Avhich is rapidly becoming 

 more so as the railroads are extended. 



The timber on the lands in California is of 

 immense importance to that State and Nevada. 

 It is a common occurrence to find the sugar- 

 pine growing 125 feet high before reaching the 

 first branches, and 8 feet in diameter at the 

 base, while large numbers of trees are found 

 measuring 3 feet and 4 feet in diameter. The 

 supply of wood and timber in many places is 

 becoming very scarce for mining and other 

 purposes, and it is therefore rising in value 

 annually. 



The Central Pacific Railroad of California 

 commences the ascent of the foot-hills of the 

 Sierra Nevada Mountains seven miles from 

 Sacramento (tide-water of the Pacific), and 

 from thence to the summit of the mountain- 

 pass 7,042 feet, and 105 miles distant; there is 

 a continuous series of heavy ascending grades 

 and sharp curves. The maximum gradients on 

 this portion of the line are 1 in 45-J, of which, 

 however, there are less than six miles, and the 

 sharpest curves are 575 feet radius, but there 

 are only a very few examples of this kind. 



The Sierra Nevada Mountains are remarka- 



bly forbidding in appearance and reality for 

 the purposes of railway building and operating ; 

 and to those who are unacquainted with' this 

 mountain topography, and accustomed to the 

 lesser elevations and gentler slopes of Europe 

 and the Atlantic States, it will be difficult to 

 convey an adequate idea of the irregularities of 

 surface which attach to them. The general 

 direction of tbis mountain-range is parallel with 

 the coast, and the western slope is intersected 

 by numerous rivers and their tributaries, hav- 

 ing their sources near the summit of the Sier- 

 ras. The rivers run through deep gorges or 

 canons, in many places from 1,000 to 2,000 

 feet in depth, with sides varying from perpen- 

 dicular to slopes of 45 degrees. The ridges be- 

 tween these water-courses are sharp, well de- 

 fined, and in many places so narrow on the top 

 as to leave barely room for a wagon-road to be 

 made without excavating the surface of the 

 ridge. Tha branches of many of the rivers 

 course through canons as deep as those of the 

 rivers themselves, and present physical barriers 

 to lines of communication crossing them in a 

 northerly and southerly direction. 



The short distance from the western termi- 

 nus to the summit, 105 miles, and the deep 

 canons to be avoided, rendered it necessary to 

 adopt steep grades and sharp curves to attain 

 the summit elevation; but all these formidable 

 difficulties have now been overcome, the line is 

 finished and in operation to the summit, and 

 the earthworks and bridging are completed for 

 fifty miles eastward to the eastern base of the 

 mountains. In September the rails wore laid 

 to the summit of the pass, and the locomotive 

 steam whistle now sounds its sharp notes from 

 a greater elevation than it has ever before at- 

 tained, marking an important event in the era 

 of railway enterprise. 



From the eastern base of the mountains, for 

 about 575 miles to Salt Lake, the construction of 

 the railroad, for its extent, is remarkably easy 

 and cheap, the greatest cost being equipments, 

 cross-ties, and iron. The line follows the 

 valley of the Truckee River down to the big 

 bend (where the river turns abruptly to the 

 north), and from there to the valley of the 

 Humboldt River, to nearly its source, thence to 

 Salt Lake, and the initial point of meeting of 

 the Union Pacific Railroad from the east. 



The following table will show the number of 

 miles lying within certain elevations above tide- 

 water from Sacramento to Salt Lake : 



14 



16 



460 

 125} 

 55 

 1* 



miles between tide-water and 1,000 feet altitude. 



1,000 feet 



2,000 



3,000 



4,000 



5,000 



6,000 



above 7,000 

 726 miles total. 



2,000 

 3,000 

 4,000 

 5,000 

 6,000 

 7,000 



altitude. 



