Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-08-20
THE RAILROADS.
How the s. P. Runs North
From Los Angeles.
WHAT might HAVE BEEN"
Heavy Excursion Travel to Coast
Points - Gossip About
the DepOts.


with the lay of the country to the nortf
of this city it seems strange that the
Southern Pacific main line should have
been located where it now is. The Sar
Fernando tunnel with its three years
| work and cost of six million dollars
might easily have been avoided and this
is not all, for the mountain subway will
always be a considerable item in the
annual expense account. Water is con-
stantly dropping through on to the track
and no matter how stout may be the
timbers used in it's support they become
worthless in a few months. 1t is i'm
possible to brick it as the water contains
peculiar acid which would soon eat
away the hardened clay, as is evidenced
by the fact that crowbar left in it for
experiment was 80 attacked that it looked
like pipestem in less than a year.
Then again there is the loop at Teha-
chipi, with its many tunnels and steep
grades, necessitating the employment of
the massive locomotive, ''The Cover
nor" named after Senator Stanford
when he was Governor of the State
But how could they have been avoided :?
is asked. In the first place, to reach the
upper country there was no necessity at all
to 60 via Newhall. Natural passes run
from Los Angeles up the Cahuenga and
on into the Castac Canon, which, by a
fork running round the Bailey ranch and
Germans, leads directly to Fort TETON,
and 80 on to Bakersfield and the great
San Joaquin valley.
Supposing, however, it was deemed
necessary to touch Newhall, there is no
reason why the Soledad Canon route
should have been adopted. By following
the natural trend the country entrycould
have been made into the San Francis
quito caflon, where the grades are light
and the opportunities for railroad ex-
cellent. The natural road certainly
curves about good deal, but few cuts
would not cost much, and would soon
rectify the matter. The caiIon ends at
Elizabeth Lake, where a straight run
across the Antelope Valley to Rosamond
would make a junction with the present
main line, and make the journey ten
miles shorter between Newhall and
Mojave.
Supposing, however, the road had been
constructed as far as Lang's, there is
much more available route to the North
than the steep Solodad now used. 1t
runs from just above Lang's slightly to
the westward, and enters Dead Mans
Canon from whence there is a natural
crossing into Dry Canon. A few miles
up Dry Canon is a gap known as Low
Gap which leads directly to the San
Francisquito, where the previously out
lined route could be followed. 1t is said
that when the engineers were locating
the lines for the S. P. they passed by
Low Gap without noticing it, owing to
the fact that it is situated by the side of
large hill and is not easily seen at first.
A few miles below Lang's there is a
caflon leading south which, if followed,
would have avoided the necessity of any
tunnel. 1t runs into the Tejunga and
Lower Tejunga, the exit being just above
Burbank, from whence all would have
been plain sailing into Los Angeles.
The loop over Tehachipe could have
been avoided by following the Aqua
Caliente caflon round the base of
the mountain. This was not done
because when the engineers we're locat-
ing the lines they thought it bore too far
away from the main track but by actual
measurement there would only have
been a difference of little over five
miles which would be much preferable
to the fourteen tunnels that had to be