Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1867-03-27
The Central Pacinc RaiIFOad.
R0ad-WOrk Already Done-Enect OF
the Enterprise, &e., &e.
E-ona fhs " y. KoyLd
SACRAMENTO, CAL, January 9

Prospects and Capabilities OF the
R0ad-Work Already Done-Enect Ol
the Enterprise, &e., &e.
=. From The " =. World. &
SACRAMENTO, Cal, January 9.
5a 1 have been sojourning in this town
the capital Of the State-for few
days, and while here have gathered q
number Of very interesting Items Of in
formation relative to the Central Pa
cific Railroad, which road will form the
western half Of the great continent
railroad that stretching over plain and
valley, over the Rocky and Sierra Ne
vada ranges of mountains, win unite
the Atlantic to the Pacific coast re-
duce the time taken to make the Jour
ney between them from twenty-five
days to about ten days and what Is
almost as important as the reduction
of time, the railroad Will do away with
sea sickness and its attendant horrors,
as well as the dreadful discomforts of
roasting passage through the tropics,
within the confined limits Of steam
ship. ~ T.. .-.....-. r.,
When discussing anything connected
with this great railroad, almost all who
have treated of it, after they have
viewed the more than Herculean diff
eulties it had to surmount, the good it
viii accomplish, and the strength it
will give TO our country the assist
ahe@ 1t will give to the development of
the vast and even yet comparatively
unpeopled section it will pass through,
and the close ties by which it will unite
the people Of the Atlantic with those
of the Paci6c-I say when these facts
have been brought home to them they
have always felt so jubilant that the
exuberance of their feelings could on
lY be reduced by indulging in poetic
figures and flowing expressions, such
as the marriage of the Pacific with the
Atlantic, the binding of the Orient
with the Occident by iron bands, and
many other kindred expressions.
Now, poetry and romance ara well
enough in their place, and they are
certainly not out of it while dealing
with the railroad but this is peculiar
ly hard matter of fact age, and the jim
| gle of dollars has more music in it than
the jingle of poetry, facts are more ae-
ceptabie than fancy, and profits than
verses. Therefore propose giving
you a short tter-of-fact account OF
what has been done and Is to be done
upon our half Of the railroad, of the
monetary profits that have already
flowed into its treasury from that por-
ton already completed, and Of tha in
crease that the future promises, &C.,
&c. - - -. ~
Although ever since the discovery
of gold on this coast the subject Of q
continental railroad has been agitated
in Congress, and the necessity for il
admitted, yet so great was the desire
for different sections to possess it, and
so ardently did each press its claim for
possessing the best route, that the
government became beWildered on the
subject, and for some time il was
questionable whether the road would
be built at all. But at last the Central
Pacific Railroad Company of CaIifornia
triumphed, not through oVer-reaching
but through the now universally admit
ted fact that the route they selected
was by far the best and most practical
bic one, and their desire 70 build the
road on this side the most earnest and
determined. But after they triumphed
in Washington they had another bat
| tie to wage here with the Sacramento
Valley Railroad Company, which with
Its friends now proclaiming with stem
toriau voices that their route via Pla-
cerville and Lake Tuhoe, was the best
and most prasticable one over the ST.
erras. and promised the greatest prof
its. The Central Company whose route
is by Dutch Flat and Donner Lake,
seeing that capital was divided when it
should be united in the great work.
and with the object of making theirs
beyond all persdventure the route,
bought out the Sacramento Valley Rail-
road Company. which has come to a
standstin hfty-fYe miles from Sacra-
mento, while the Central Pacific Road
is being rushed along eastward as fast
as an industrial army of some ten
thousand men, with all :he necessary
weapons and msterisl can make it..
The road was commenced in 1853,
but opposition and other drawbacks
hampersd its progress greatly. l 1t IS
now finished, and the locomotive is
running ninety-three miles eastward
from Cisco station. This is within
twelve miles of the dreaded summit of
the Sierras. The elevation above the
Sc of each of the principal stations on
the route thus far are as follows: New
castle, thirty-one milss from Sacramen-
to, $50 feet elevation; Colfax, 62 miles,
2, ,44S feet; Dutch Flat, 81, miles, 2.475
feet; Cisco, 90 miles, SOIL feet. The
road is now graded close to the summit
which will be crossed at an elevation
of $50 feet. By far the most difficult
part of the road has been built that
from the summit down the mountains
eastward will be comparatively easy,
and the grade light. In coming up,
the highest allowed grade, Ito feet to
the mile, is but once reached: the ay-
erage ascending grade is but Is feet to
the mile. In descending the eastward
side of the Sierras, ninety feet viii be
the greatest descending grade, and the
average only forty feet. When the
eastern base of the SierrsS is passed,
there Is almost natural grade, 20 the
westerly base of the Rocky mountains.
This part of the road can be built ten
tlu6S mOIo Idptu4t on0 aOOAt - A4ASu
more cheaply than that already done.
All the hard work came frat when the
company were struggling not with the
sea only, but with seas of opposition,
and while the funds in their treasury
were not as plenty as now. Had this
road fallen into the hands Of specula-
tors it would probably never have been
bniIt but IL was taken hold of by q
number of the richest men in the State.
They have given it and are till giving
il all their time, their energies their
influence, and above all their money.
ALI the county, State and national
monetary aid that was received has
been thrown into the work and this
terrible earnestness that has char
acterised its management Is what has
silenced opposition more thar. anything
else, so that its former greatest detrac-
ors are now its warmest friends. And
it was no sentimental wish alone to see
the road finished that made its owners
give to it so laYishly. They know well
that the great present trade and the
vet comparatively undeVeloped re-
sources of the rich country that is wait
ing for the development that the road
will give and they know, also, that
every dollar expended upon viii come
back with interest in very near future
after its completion, and that one