80 
ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-SECOND PARALLEL. 
eastern border, at the last point of abundant supply ol water, parties should be pushed forward 
to dig tanks wherever the ground favors their construction, and to sink artesian wells at dis¬ 
tances of 20 miles apart, or less, should water be readily procured by this process. Supposing 
it even necessary to bore an artesian well at every 10 miles, and that the cost should be $10,000 
each well, which is double that of an excessive estimate of the cost of a series of these wells, 
we should have $L,000 per mile for cost of road from this cause. By these two means, abundant 
supplies of water can be got at points a few miles apart, where the camps of the working parties, 
which need not be large, can be established. The dwarf mezquite, found on the Llano, will 
furnish sufficient fuel for these parties. 
Railroad trains having engines of twenty-two tons, on four drivers, can carry sufficient water 
from the headwaters of the Colorado to the mouth of Delaware creek or the Pecos, 125 miles, 
without adding to the expense of running the trains; and can, from either end of this line, supply 
all the intermediate stations necessary for the superintendence, repair, and supply of the road. 
Ties can be brought from the country east, and from the Guadalupe mountains, at reasonable 
cost. Fuel, also, can be supplied from the Brazos, or from the Colorado of Texas. Fortunately, 
over these plains, destitute of water, but very little excavation or embankment will be required, 
and the rails can soon be laid. Probably it would be most convenient to bring ties, sleepers, 
and lumber generally, by the road itself, from the route east of the Llano. In fact, from the 
east border of die Llano westward, and from the Pacific eastward, a distance of 1,200 miles, the 
road must be made, as it were, to build itself, carrying its lumber, iron, rails, provisions, and 
sometimes water, so far as a proper adjustment of economy of time with that of expenditure 
admits of its doing so. Its progress, from this cause, will be slow ; but as the surface is very 
smooth, and the inclinations gentle, over these plains, its construction will be proportionately more 
rapid, aiding to balance the slow progress from the other cause. 
The third section, from the Pecos river to the Rio Grande, presents no unusual difficulties in 
grade or construction, so far as dependent upon the topographical features of the country. 
The Guadalupe mountains are passed without a tunnel, and with a grade of 108 feet to the 
mile; a grade not exceeding those found on roads now built, as on the Baltimore and Ohio,’and 
other railroads. Other routes through or around these mountains are recommended for examina¬ 
tion, which, it is thought, will give easier grades. Sufficient supplies of water can be had at con¬ 
venient distances apart, fuel for working parties from the dwarf mezquite on the plains, and 
cross-ties and lumber can be had from the Guadalupe mountains immediately oh the line of the 
road, and from the Waco mountains, 30 miles distant from it, and also by means of the built por¬ 
tions of the road, from the supplies on the Brazos and Red rivers. 
BUILDING-STONE, &C. 
In regard to good building-stone the report of the geologist, Jules Marcou, on the specimens 
procured by Captain Pope—see Chapter 13, Captain Pope’s Report—is not sufficiently explicit 
respecting all the formations. The cretaceous from Red river to the lower line of the 
Upper Cross Timbers, 70 miles, is probably too soft; but thence to the Clear fork of the 
Brazos, 120 miles, it is undoubtedly good. From the Clear fork to the Guadalupe mountains, 340 
miles, the route is over formations called by the geologist Trias and Jurassic. From his descrip¬ 
tion it is possible they may be found too soft, though good building-stone is found in the Trias, 
as, for instance, the new red sandstone of the Connecticut. The geologist says: “For the 
construction of a railroad the rocks of the Trias present great facilities. They furnish sandstone, 
plaster or gypsum, excellent hydraulic lime from the magnesian limestone, and, finally, they are 
very easy to work, and at the same time firm enough to form excavations or embankments.’ 
The sentence is somewhat inexact in its language. The detailed geological report will remove 
any uncertainty upon this point. Lieutenant Whipple passed over the same formations on the 
