38 
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILROAD 
the course recommended— i. e., to commence at the mouth of the Gila, where the rails and other 
supplies can he delivered by means of the gulf and river navigation—the road as it progresses 
can transport its own material. 
Dividing the country into the three classes—prairie or plain, rolling, and mountainous—we 
find the central section made up of these several features, as follows: 
Prairie.. 230 miles. 
Rolling...,... 65 “ 
, Mountainous... 50 “ 
Where by prairie, it is meant that to prepare for the superstructure, no work is required beyond 
simple ditching, and even this, in many places, will not be necessary, the character of the soil 
being such as to render gravelling or ballasting altogether unnecessary. This, of course, involves 
the necessity of undulating grades to conform to the surface of the plains, but by proper locations 
these will be gentle throughout. The rolling district embraces those portions of line where 
earth work is necessary, and where an equable cutting and filling can be obtained. And the 
mountainous includes those stretches involving side locations and rock cuttings, which will be 
encountered in descending to the valley of the San Pedro, and at several points along the Gila, 
before its valley opens out in the Pimas plain. 
The following railroads which have been constructed in different parts of the United States 
are taken for assimilation with the respective districts of a prairie, rolling and mountainous 
character. These several railroads pass through sections of country very closely resembling 
those with which they are assimilated. The term mountainous, which is applied to one of the 
above districts, is hardly admissible, for there is no point on the route which is of that charac¬ 
ter, as the term is commonly applied. 
*The railroads of a prairie character and their cost per mile, including equipment, in round 
numbers are: 
Petersburg and Roanoke railroad. $16,000 
Wilmington and Manchester railroad. 13,000 
Montgomery and West Point railroad. 16,000 
Average. 15,000 
Those of a rolling character, &c., are : 
Terre Haute and Indiana railroad. $20,500 
Galena and Chicago railroad. 30,000 
Orange and Alexandria railroad....,... 28,400 
Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati railroad... 32,700 
Illinois railroad..... 32,400 
Average cost per mile.:>. 28,800 
Those of a mountainous character, &c., are: 
Virginia and Tennessee railroad... $36,700 
Providence and Worcester railroad. 42,000 
Fitchburg railroad. 56,000 
Average cost per mile. 44,900 
* The cost of these roads are obtained from the American Railroad Journal, of November 15, 1856. 
