The national Republican., 1869-06-29
- = A.

"a fhe road not AZ 'he u" teau'tes'
q. 1t is not supplied with the necessary
| buildings.
!. The tunnels are not wide enough for a
double track.
O. The road bed at the grade line Is not OF a
uniform width Of fourteen feet, nor has u been
properly leveled nor the rails lined.
q. Especially would II be extremely danger
Gus for heavy trains to pass over the western
=. The ties have sunkcn In many Instances,
sometimes at one cnh and sonnet mes entirely,
the dirt being wsshad from under themj this
| 10 more generally lLs ~, - 90 embankments-
miles upon mites n them wNfe laid during the
winter while the most was In the ground. The
rnils, consequently, have an unrycn bearing
pear as you look back upon them like sue
| cession ofsmsIl waves. Isaw, however, a nun.
% TSr tsisinS ssa cnds aq H. IT.. .nu rassspS
dirt under them so AZ TO level the track as lar
| as that would do II.
| Two considerations remain which deem OF
| more Importance than others.
| DALLAsTINo.
| !. The road Ia not ballasted, nor is any part
snd there employed in throwinT a few shovels
| OF such material as the road-bed 10 composed,
| taken In all cases from the sides OF the en-
| But this, l submit, 10 no compliance with the
| provision under the head OF "BallastinE," +" es-
tsblished by the board convened to hS UPON
| provision TO be found, with Others, In former
| part OF this report.
II is eeIi.laly Of the highest nomsn. that
passes mainly over an alkali land, should be
we'll ballssted with stone, certainly not less
than eighteen inches In thiekness. I leave
this branch OF tho subject without further
comment, The facts speak for themselves too
plsinly to be misinterpreted.
cro,,.,,., az GsossiTin a,,h nl., ,,,.,,,,,uv m
the bed Of the road. They appear, indeed, to
have hceu pitched on and the rails spiked TO
them wherever they fell, provided they did
to have been paid 10 regularity OF distance be-
\ tssss The t,s., tsey vsryins from nf,esa to
being rarely uniform, and the space between
tetal figure Of equal sides and unequal ends
shows great eareiessnsss and want OF order.
The msterial objection IT,, however, to the
| ties themselves. They are OF soft white pine
trail Pacific, the frat being obtained from the
| neighboTinB mountains, aud the latter from
| the sierra Nevada. I transmit with my re-
Promontory summit. The board which nxed
| the stsud,fd OF construction says OF eross-ties;
| coax or other suitable timber should be
| transportation. when sueh timber cannot be
had for all the ties at reasonable cost, then
the best the country airords may be adopted;
| but II IL be cottonwood. or similar SOFT mate
| tial, It must be BuTnettlZed or Kyanized thor.
| oughlv, So ~ to increase Its durability. Bu'
ii all cases The joint tie should be Of oak or
spikes At these points"
Ihe ties, "a i have stated, are all white
pine, there being noae Of oak or other desirR-
| HE wood used at the joints, aud none OF them
| arc BuInettiZed or kyaniEed. Their average
lace, | should Judge, from number meas
hred, is about six and hall inches. Whether
| such ties were ever before used any
other road, / am not advised. OedAr has been
used, aud while 1t lasts we'll in the grount,
experience has shown II will not hold 'pikes
| .N.a atsgil FaN ~ e. q,
| the ground, II is easily destroyed by heat o.
| dampness, and 10 conseq quently affected by both
| the winters snow and the sum met's sun. Even
10 the dry latitude OF Salt Lake, u Is impossi.
| Another Important consideration In regard
are Ph they .SpiscR,iv h h"syf, l' have no soc%l so
| ledge OF such ties being used on roads crossing
the Aleghanics, though the timber Abounds
| on either hand along their lines. All road
beds have more or less nexibility, and when
| not properly bsllAstcd, the passage Of trains
must soon work both the tie and spike loose.
| They expect, on the Pseihe road, to make some
twenty 1--we or thirty miles per hour. Tho New
| York Central, one OF the best built and bal
| lasted roads 10 the unitod States, as have
| an average speed OF thirty miles an hour. The
| trains on the PennsyivsnlA Central road ruu
at about the sane rate OF speed as on the Now
| foI Central. This road 10 bsitasted with
| broken stone, small enough to pass through a
| two And half inch ring, ten nches thick un.
| der the tics, aud eight between them. The
|
| OF them must be as heavy as four OF tn ose
| used on the Union Pacific road. The Penn.
sylyania Central may be regarded as = 'nrst-
| elstsn road.
| while, after all, time may alone determine
how long = pine tie will last or hold = spike,
every one familiar with the softuess OF that
| wood will, on the Impulse, exolaim, at will
| not do" This will be the CON mon Judgment
| fthe country, and l believe two years or less
will demonstrate its eorreetncss. There are,
| then, these objections to the ties one being
their liability to speedy roti ono the softness
| OF the wood being so great 70 will not hold =
| spikes the other they were neithsr urnettized
| @"r Ryan 'Zed according to the standard OF con-
| structiOn.
| THE RAILS.
have sHS no no my ~ wssS fy.is poaDS.
to the yard. Tho iron Is Of American manu-
facturs, and has the appearances OF being a
plates on each side OF tho rails, secured by
four bolts with heads and nuts, two on each
side OF the Joint, the bolts. Of course, psssins 6
| through the plAtos and rails.
| GRADES AND CURVES.
/ do not regard It the duty OF q commits
.ioner to Psss Judgment 90 the sosineeIiug Of
would require more labor than he could we'll
perform. II the Government desires to ascer.
,, tain whether grade; f and curves have eees
adaptation, based upon careful, scientific and
practical inrestisstion, having due regard
both to cost Of sPnstrusiioa is and future work.
send out on the road board OF sbie eng
| neeTs aud give them ample time TO perform
the labor. 4 true profile Of the road will sho W
PerhsP. they might have been less.
ROLLING STOCK.
How many locomotive engines aud cars ars
attached to the road had no means Of ascer.
tAining. They are so scattered at different
points tn al n conn iss ner could hardly obtaiu
The Information. As far as could Judge the
road seemed to be fairly supplied with stock
saw number OF freight cars wrecked By
l 81 LA. Ia.
distributed at different points. As the local
business of the road 10 small and must remain
so for years N consequence Of passing through
an unPeopled country, | do not believe Il,
business requires more freight cars at present
More passenger coaches and locomotive
engines could be used to advantage, especially
the former.
THR rRLgdRArH.
The telegraph consists Of q single wire
stretched along the road, with temporary Of
ices at the different stations, but answering
the purpose for tho present
| THR ROAD.
| met on PTomontory summit a leading oiti
zen OF California, who has from the trst beer
prominently connected with the Central Pa
cihc road, aud we Travelled together for nun
Der Of miles: In our converaAtion he stateC
| that the road Il understood him TO mean tn,
vhole Of ~ was about two thirds dOnei thu
y wg~it require from two to three year. q
Gangle nan ssa oa Gs IA seod oIae1i .%d ,,d ihs q,
The subsidies until II was nhally completed
concur IN the We've he expTssssd, except 10
|
| ridrd Ia the ohNrteT for retaining from 10 Il
| - per oeut Of th' bonls 10 the rTehsu-y "a
lsurs the eonIpist,pn Of the road, but this
Ike eY0Fy oIher sliuttry pgUvision enacted to
rrtrrG the public interest, yielded 10 tn
tow~r uf the corporation
| CungfuAs undertook to Iemedy this mistake
| by the passage OF the IasvIutiun OF ApriI 10
- > Which among other things pTVvtdeaG
| " IhtI the President 10 hereby autLIrized
,uh required TO withhold from each OF said
comp tDirs an amount OF subsidy bonds su
'hOrIZsd to be issued by the United state.
IudcT sHii acts, tIneanIng acts for the construc
Ion Of the Pacific TAilTOad) sufficient TO insure
tn" fan com I'IeiIOH As nTst-olzss road OF all
sections Of such road on which bonds have
tIIrHiy been isHuCd, or 10 lieu Of such bOndl
ne may receive as such security An amount o
irsi mortgage bonds Of such company. And
4 1t shall appear to the President that III,
amount Of subsidy bonds yet to be issued Il
either Of said companies 10 Insufficient to 10
} suFe The full completion Of such road, he NAL
make IuIuisttiOn upon such company for = sui
| Nrirut Am1uHt Of bonds already issued to SAID
compsnyi or, Ia his discretion, of their frs
NOR gage bonds to secure the full completion
ui the same, aud in default Of obtaining suci
-e"niIiy, as IN this section provided, the Presi
dent may authorize and direct the AttOrneI
| ! General to institute such suits and proceed
tng- Ia behalf and In the name Of the United
| SfH'rs. IN any court u the I'nIIau GIAtaa hay