The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1903-11-05
THE WESTERN PACIFIC RAIL
ROAD.
Surveys of the Road That Have
Been Accepted.
Sketch of the Purported Route
Across Nevada.

Across Nevada.
The following from the Salt Lake
Telegram will be interesting reading
for the people of this county, since it
gives promise OF bringing them great
deal nearer to railroad, with the prob
able extension OF branch road thro'
Cherry Creek to Ely, enabling the mil
lions of tons of low-grade gold, silver,
copper and leads ores found in these
and adjoining camps to be marketed
ct q profit, thus affording employ
to thousands of hands in the extrac-
tion, transportation and reduction OF
them, and simultaneously spreading
among the farmers and every other in
dustrial enterprise 10 the county a
general degree OF prosperity, happi-
ness and contentment. The account
gives what is purported to be the gen.
eral survey OF the new railroad thro'
this State. Ii is, OF course, likely that
some changes win eventually be made,
but, the ATTACHED in the main is said to
be correct:
1.-THE survey for the Western Pacific
railroad from San Francisco to Salt
Lake is virtually completed, and a
large party OF engineers under the i'm
mediate charge of B. F. House is en-
camped only short distance out of
Salt Lake, on the eastern shore of
Great Salt Lake, near the old Garfield
beach resort.
1.-THE only thing now remaining to
be done to fix the route of the new road
Is to run the line across the lake.
'sPoints on both sides have been fixed
and the engineers are now engaged in
examining the formation of the bottom
of the great dead sea-" During pre-
liminary survey OF this character just
completed the greatest depth discov-
cred was twenty -four feet.
Actual construction work has alread y
been begun on the western end of the
line In California, and is being pushed
with the greatest possible speed. The
officers of the company have given out
that Western Pacific trains will be
running into Salt Lake as soon, and
possibly earlier than those over the
San Pedro, Los Angeles Il Salt Lake
route.
Through western Utah and Nevada
1t passes through one OF the greatest
g TraftnI Tha
smelling industry is so well developed
in this vicinity that the great quaint
ties OF ore taken from this as yet un-
developed, and it might almost he said
a. yet uuprospected territory, will nat
uraily seek this market. The more
valuable of these ores are already ship
pod TO this point for reduction, but ow-
ing to the cost Of transportation the
ores of lower grade are not handled.
The entire section OF Nevada thro'
which the new road will pass abounds
in large bodies OF iron, copper, lead, sill
yer, gold, antimony and nickel. Many
of the mines are SO situated that in or
der to place their products on the
market a long and extensive haul by
wagon over extremely poor roads is
necessitated before railroad is reached
From Salt Lake the road will run al
most due west. possibly along the pres
emit line of the Saltair road to point
on the lake side, only short distance
from Garfield. There are no engineer
ing difficulties to be overcome between
these two points. From Garfield a cut
{ off, similar to the Southern Pacifc's
Lreta t-off, will be constructed. Ac-
cording to the present survey this will
be about twenty miles in length Its
construction will be comparatively sim
pie, as compared with the one across
the northern end OF the lake, for the
reason that the bottom along this line
has been found to be of uniform char
acter, without such quagmires as have
been encountered by the Southern Pa
cific engineers.
The line crosses the south end of
Stansbury island to the Tooele shore OF
the lake. From there it runs around
the northern end OF the Grantsville
range. crossing Skull valley and then
the Cedar mountains, thro' low pass
that will necessitate about ten miles of
per cent grade, to the great Amer
lean desert. In Skull valley there are
known to exist large bodies OF various
kinds of ores that recent assays have
proven conclusively would be of untold
value were it possible to get them to
the smelters.
Leaving the west side Of the Cedar
range, q route has been adopted which
runs almost due west to Ferguson
springs, saving fifty miles in distance
on . through line and striking the
end Of Dutch mountain. The
for local business here are
and it has been said that
the volume of this alone will be almost
enough to keep the road busy, judging
ny from the large bodies OF ore in the
vicinity OF Dugway, Granite, Fish
Springs, Willow Creek, Dutch Noun
ain and Clifton that have already been
prospected. Such OF these
points as are not touched by the main
Inc will DO reached by short branch /
eeders.
From Ferguson the llne runs suuth +
westerly, rising to the plateau region /