ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-SECOND PARALLEL. 95 
ness of the line, 1,600 miles, from the navigable waters of the Mississippi to the Pacific, and the 
temperate climate on the elevated portions in this southern latitude. 
The principal characteristic of this route is the great extent of high, arid, smooth, and nearly 
horizontal table-lands which it traverses, reaching an elevation of 4,000 feet upon the dividing 
ridge between the Brazos and Colorado rivers of Texas, near which elevation it continues until it 
descends from the pass of the Sierra de Santa Catarina to the Gila river, a space of nearly 600 
miles. 
The elevation at the summit of the Llano Estacado is 4,700 feet, and in the passes of the Gua¬ 
dalupe and Hueco mountains, cast of the Rio Grande, 5,700 and 4,800 feet respectively. Between 
the Rio Grande and the Gila, the greatest elevation, which is twice attained, is 5,200 feet; 
the mean elevation before the descent to the Gila is commenced being 4,100 feet. 
From the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado to the pass of San Gorgonio, 1,052 miles, the 
route crosses three rivers—the Pecos, the Rio Grande, and the Great Colorado of the West. 
The peculiar features of the arid region over which the route lies, from the eastern edge of the 
Llano Estacado to the summit of the San Gorgonio Pass, have been sufficiently explained in the 
detailed topographical review already given of each portion of this route. Those very charac¬ 
teristics which were thought to offer the greatest obstacles to the construction of a railroad, 
prove, when closely examined, the most favorable, since they have obviated the necessity of 
much of that most costly item in railroad construction, the preparation of the road-bed for the 
superstructure. Throughout the distance of 1,052 miles, with few and limited exceptions, this 
preparation is already made by nature, and quite as perfectly as, if not better than, it could be done 
by the hand of man. This item alone usually amounts to from one-half to two-thirds and some¬ 
times three-fourths of the whole cost of a railroad. 
The mode and probable cost of obtaining supplies of water over these dry regions have been 
pointed out and will be subjected to practical tests. Even if these should fail (of which there is 
no probability) in bringing the required supplies to the surface, the permanent streams and large 
springs already existing are at distances sufficiently near for the purposes of a railroad, special 
arrangements having been made to meet the difficulty. 
For a 20-ton engine, on four drivers, wood and water, if carried with the train for 25 miles, 
weigh about g ’ ? th of the maximum load on a level, and for 100 miles ^ 2 d part; with coal and 
water the proportions are, for 25 and 100 miles T |gth and ^gth; but as the load usually carried 
on freight and passenger trains is much below the maximum, we may safely assume that the 
trains (freight and passenger) can carry fuel and water sufficient for 100 miles over grades not 
exceeding SO or 40 feet without additional cost, the maximum load of this engine on grades of 
40 feet, in the best condition of rail, being 252 tons, and in the worst condition 180 tons. 
That required for the use of the working parties can be hauled without seriously enhancing the 
cost of the road, for it must be remembered that the working parties will be small over those por¬ 
tions of the route where the road-bed has been already prepared by nature. We have seen, 
too, that fuel for culinary purposes for the working parties will probably be found over the 
greater part of these regions; and where it cannot be found conveniently, that it can be supplied 
from points so near to the work that its cost will not exceed double that of fuel for the same pur¬ 
poses in the eastern States. 
From the eastern limit of the Llano Estacado to the Pacific, 1,200 miles, the plan of building 
the road has been indicated so as to secure the greatest economy of time and means. Three 
points remain to be considered: the mode and cost of supplying ties and lumber generally; the 
mode and cost of supplying fuel; and the manner in which the daily examination of the road 
can be made and the rails adjusted and protected. 
