Year: 1859




vious meeting submitted the following
Report


At a meeting of the citizens of Auburn, held
for the purpose of taking into consideration the
propriety of taking measures for the construction
of a Railroad from Auburn to Folsom, to inter-
sect with road to Sacramento. the undersigned
were appointed committee for the purpose Of
procuring statistics and drafting an address to the
people of Placer Nevada and Ell Eorado counties
upon the subject. The undersigned have Fer.
| formed their duty and beg leave to submit the
| following:


| First, as to the practicability of the Road. s..
| G. Elliott, County Surveyor of Placer county in
the month of March last past, made a careful sur
vey of the route and asccrtained the following
| fact: Commencing ct Auburn and following the
Auburn Ravine down for a distance of about
two miles and then crossing over to Dutch Ravine
about one mile further, the route is entirely fea-
sible, with grade at no point exceeding eighty
ieet to the mile; crossing Dutch Ravinc short
bridge Of trestle work would be required about
| forty feet high. Thence to the Frunklin House
the route is favorable, and from this point to the
Rock Spring House equally so, the grade at no
point exceeding eighty feet to the mile From
the Rock Spring House the route follows the
general course of the American River Water and
Mining Cos Ditch, to the junction of the Folsom
and Beals' Bar roads; thence past Stockton Mill
| to the American River opposite Folsom, at which
a junction could be effected with either the S. v.
| Railroad or the Central Road. The only deep
cutting on this line is at the junction of the Bcals
Bar and Sacramento roads, where n cut of 81 feet
deep would be required for a short distance. This
would be through earth and soft rock easily cx-
cavatcd. There are. besides this, two ravincs to
cross where embankmcnls would be required
but not greater than are found on all the prnci-
pal roads in the United States. Mr.. Eliott's sur
vey establishes the fact that the road is entirely
practicable, and that too, at expense greater
than has attended the construction of most of the
roads in the hily portions af the Northern States.


The distance by Mr.. Elliott's survey to Folsom
is only seventeen miles, and the entire cost can
not exceed fifty Thousand dolas per mile.


That the road. when completed, would be re-
muneratve to the Stockholders can easily be
she wn. When costructed it would command the
entire passenger travel and freight carriage of
Placer county, the north part Of Ell Dorado. and
large part Of Nevada and Sierra. From care
fnl estimates made by s. W. Lowell and others in
1856, by having al account kept of the number
yf teams that crossed the various toll bridges,
and by procuring estimates from merchants whose
ieht did not cross those bridges it appears that
there was then more than two thousand seven
hundred tons of freight monthly coming into
Placer county alone, and since 1856, the amount
has largely increased. All this freight would
come by Railroad if one was constructed to Au-
urn. This does uot include the freight to El
Dorado, Nevada and Sierra which would natural





first, could not amount to much less than sixty
five thousand tons per year. The passenger tra-
vel upon this branch would be large, inasm ch as
the road would come into the midst Of one Of the
most extensive mining regions in the State BY
the report of the Superintendent Of the S. " Il.
for the year 1858, it appears that the number
of passengers who passed over that road during
the year was $4,000 a large portion Of these
came from the counties named. and by the extern
sion of the road to Auburn, the passenger travel
would be doubled. your committee believe. With
tho above data, and estimating the price of pas
sage on the branch at 81 so per passenger and
freight at one-cighth of one per cent per pound.
the total receipts of the Branch would not fall
short of four hundred thousand dollars per year.
This estimate to the Sc who are unacquainted with
the resources of this section of the mining region
may appear large. But when we reflect on the
large amount of money now paid for freight Oh
Wagons, it will be seen the estimate is reasona-
BILE IT we estimate tie amount of freight now
coming into Placer county, at 10000 tons per
year, and that it costs on an average. twenty
dollars per ton, we find that SS00.000 per year is
now paid to teamsters in this county alone. When
we consider that nothing is raised in the mines
and large amounts of heavy articles for working
claims, mills, &c., are constantly passing up from
the cities, we see the reasonabenees of the csti-
mate This road when constructed could tap the
richest mining region in California and that it
would be one of the most profitable in the United
States. considering It's length and cost, we have
no doubt.


The permanence and continued prosperity Of
the mines are now established facts and that their
population will continue to augment as it has
hitherto increased. is also reasonable to infer
This Branch when completed to Auburn will be
on the direct route to Nevada by way of Porters
bridge across Bear River. and may be extended
on to or near to Grass Valley on q route equally
feasible with that between Auburn and Folsom.
=. 1SV, l>xr,r htnl, do hp
reached fran road which wouid strike directly
into the foot hills from the Sa rnmento Valley
would have too steep grade to rise to the tleva-
tion required. to reach that city The proposed
route avoids this by following the American river
to Folsom, and then winding along the foot hills
northward


Beside this, a road has been constructed from
Georgetown intcrsecting the Placervlle road to
Carson Valley. and which is said to be Of better
grade than the one leading to Placervlle.-
Georgetown Is only fourteen miles from Auburn.
Now, if q Railroad were constructed to Auburn.
the passenger travel and freight to Utah Terri
tory would most likely pass over the road, as it
would save wagon carriage of about forty miles
The population of Carson Valley is rapidly In
creasing. md trade is also springing up between
Salt Lake and the Pacific coast.


In addition to the above it is we'll known that
| the upper portion of Ell Dorado Placer, Nevada
and Sierr. counties. are covered with dense
growth of pine and that large number OF mills
have already been constructed for its manufacture
This lumber has never, to any great extent reach
ell the Sacramento and San Francisco market
owing to the cost of carriage. Were the road
built millions of feet Of lumber would yearly he
transported below. The country through which
it passes is also covered with oak timber. and
would furnish a supply of fuel for the Sacra-
mcnto market. With the above data TO go upon
your committee are of opinion that the construc-
ton of this road would be profitable invest
ment to the stockholders and would increase the
value of property in the counties above named
by developing their resources and increasing their
population.