78 
ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-FIFTH PARALLEL. 
which, added to the length of the line of location, 1,892 miles, gives for length of equated dis¬ 
tance 2,816 miles. 
The sum of ascents from San Francisco to Fort Smith by the route from Mohave river to 
Tah-ee-chay-pah Pass is 25,570 feet, of descents 25,100 feet; the equivalent in miles of horizon¬ 
tal road is 963 miles, which added to the location distance between these two points, 2,174 
miles, gives for equated length of road 3,137 miles. 
ESTIMATE. 
The description of the topographical features of the route is not sufficiently minute to 
enable one to form a satisfactory opinion of the difficulties of ground to he encountered, and 
consequently of the probable cost of the formation of the road-bed. Upon this point we must 
rest satisfied with the opinion of Lieutenant Whipple, who assimilates the several portions 
of the route to roads already built possessing as nearly as possible similar features and 
difficulties. The impression, however, conveyed by the report, as to the nature of the ground 
passed over, together with that formed from the description by others of some portions of 
it, induced me to think that the ground was more favorable than the comparison of Lieutenant 
Whipple shows it to be, and that the amount of work in forming the road-bed would have 
been less than that of the roads mentioned. 
Four hundred and eighty miles of the route are assimilated to the Hudson Eiver railroad; 
151 miles to the Worcester and Albany railroad, (Western railroad;) and 374 miles to the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad; making 1,005 miles assimilated to railroads among the most 
difficult and costly that have been constructed in the United States. 
It is probable that, from the Bio Grande to the Colorado, the additional cost to eastern 
prices should have been rather 100 per cent., than 40, 50, and 60 per cent.—the increased cost 
allowed by Lieutenant Whipple. For the remaining distance, from the Colorado to the 
Pacific, 100 per cent, has been added by Lieutenant Whipple to the cost at eastern prices. 
This estimate includes the cost of equipment. This, on the roads used as standards of com¬ 
parison, amounts to $6,000 or $7,000 per mile, four-fifths of which should be deducted, as the 
cost per mile from this source may be one-fifth of the cost on the eastern roads. This would 
diminish the estimate about $12,000,000, but at the same time the increased per-centage would 
increase it about $19,381,000. The difference between these sums, $7,381,000, (about,) should 
be added to the corrected estimate, $161,829,265, and the total estimate under this supposition 
becomes $169,210,265. 
