RECAPITULATION. 45 
The cost of the Baltimore and Ohio road was $56,000 to the mile (about.) Assuming this as 
a basis, and adding ten per cent. for transportation of material for building, and we have for the 
cost of the road through this section $61,600 per mile, and a total cost of $10,400,000 (nearly.) 
Labor can be procured on this section much cheaper than it can in any part of the United States, 
the wages in New Mexico for common laborers being very much below the charges in this 
country. 
RECAPITULATION. 
For the First Section.—1st. An air-line ; 2d. All requisites for construction; 3d. A maximum 
grade of 66.2 feet for six miles; 4th. An average grade of 20 feet to the mile for the 
remainder. 
For the Second Section.—1st. An air-line; 2d. Maximum grade of 18 feet to the mile; 3d. 
The whole line perfectly uniform ; 4th. No wood nor water. 
For the Third Section.—1st. A maximum grade of 108 feet to the mile for three miles; 2d. 
A grade of 79 feet (about) for 32 miles; 3d. An average grade of 20 feet for the remainder; 
4th. Water sufficient, and timber not remote from the line. 
Cost. 
Section. Length in miles. | Cost to the mile. Total cost. 
First... | 352 $50, 000 $17, 600, 000 
Second | 125 40, 000 5, 000, 000 
Third | 169 61, 600 10, 400, 000 
Total 33, 000, 000 
To which add cost of line along Red river to Fulton (making total distance from Fulton 779 miles).........| 7,000, 000 
Total cost 40, 000, 000 
I have preferred, in making these estimates of the probable cost of the road, to err on the side 
of excess rather than deficiency, and I am fully satisfied that the estimated amount will 
entirely cover every possible contingency which may arise under proper management. 
The question of the time necessary for the construction of a railroad over this route is sur- 
rounded with so many uncertainties, and embarrassed with so many considerations which it 
was impossible to estimate, that it cannot be expected that I can give even an approximation to 
the probable period required for the completion of the road. 
It will suffice to say that the work can be prosecuted during the whole year, as the seasons 
are not severe enough to offer any impediment. 
I cannot properly dismiss this portion of my report without inviting the attention of the 
department to two points, which seem to me of much consequence. 
I would suggest, in the first place, an early examination of two additional lines from the 
Pecos, at the 32d parallel, to the Rio Grande, at El Paso. One route diverges to the north, 
and passing the Guadalupe mountains by the valley of the Sacramento, about thirty miles north 
of the 32d parallel, unites with the line already surveyed in the vicinity of the Cornudos. It 
is altogether probable that easier grades could be obtained through the Guadalupe mountains, 
and the road, although lengthened at least forty miles, would for a portion of the distance 
traverse the timbered valley of the Sacramento river. 
The other line is much more advantageous. It diverges to the south, and turning the Guada- 
lupe and Hueco mountains at their southern extremities, conducts to the Rio Grande, at Molino. 
I was informed at El Paso that a route had been hastily examined by intelligent persons in 
this direction, and that it was more practicable than the present travelled road. The only 
difficulty that was encountered was the want of water, but it is altogether probable that it 
could be found by careful examination of the country. This proposed line would probably be 
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B 
