Rail. From Rocklin To Newcastle The Vineyards
And Orchards Are Very Numerous, And Again At Colfax, At Which Latter
Place We Got Some Very Fine Grapes Grown At An Elevation Of 2,400 Feet
Above The Sea.
In the afternoon we passed the mining country, where the
whole features of the country have been changed by
The use of the
'Monitor' for hydraulic mining, by means of which the sides of the
mountains have been washed down to the valleys, filling them and the
streams up, and doing much damage to the flats below: this system of
directing a stream of water through a six-inch nozzle against the cliff
to wash out the gold has now been discontinued, and is illegal, owing
to the damage caused by it. The snow sheds commence at Blue Canon,
4,693 feet above the sea, and 170 miles from San Francisco. They are
simply rough wooden sheds to protect the line from drifting and falling
snow, there being no avalanches to contend with on this route.
"Some of the views on the Sierra Nevada are very fine, notably that at
'Cape Horn.' There is very little timber until Blue Canon is reached,
but from there to Truckee and beyond the timber is good, and about
equal to that on the Rocky Mountains of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
There are several saw mills in this vicinity. After leaving Emigrant
Gap we ran through a continuous snow shed for 39 miles, which was very
unpleasant, both by reason of the smoke in the cars, and the noise, as
well as the loss of the view. We reached Reno about 10 p.m., an hour
and a half late. The schedule time over the mountain, up grade, is 17
miles an hour, and from Oakland to Reno, 246 miles, 20 miles an hour.
Reno is 4,497 feet above the sea. The summit of the Sierras, which is
196 miles from San Francisco, is 7,017 feet above the sea. We remained
all night at Reno. While there we saw in the morning a locomotive
engine, with cylinders 22 x 30 and eight driving wheels coupled, said
by the driver to weigh 165,000 lbs., start for the ascent of the
mountain, up grades of 116 feet to the mile, with 22 cars and a van.
"The country round Reno is table land with high mountains around it.
The only crop grown is 'alfalfa,' a species of clover. Three crops a
year are taken off the land, and it fetches, as fodder, from $8.00 to
$16.00 per ton, according to the season.
"At Wadsworth we saw a very nice reading-room and library for the
employes of the railway. This is quite a model station, kept green and
bright with lawns and flowers. It is a division terminus, and has a
machine shop, round house, &c. The country from Reno to Salt Lake is
dry, and almost a desert, sandy, and with sage bush in tufts; the
journey through it was hot and terribly dusty. The view of Brigham and
other villages, with farms at the foot of the hills on approaching
Ogden, was a great relief after the monotony of the last day's run.
"At Ogden we were transferred from the Central Pacific to the Union
Pacific train, and upon leaving there passed, after a few miles,
through Weber Canon, and afterwards Echo Canon; the scenery was very
picturesque, and, at this season of the year, was rendered more so by
the beautiful autumn tints which were afforded by the foliage of the
bushes which grow up the mountain sides for more than half their
height. At Evanston we left the mountains and got on the high table
land, over which we ran all day, having it cool and pleasant, a great
contrast to the heat of the previous day. During the night of the 1st
October we had it quite cold, our altitude being at no time less than
6,000 feet above the sea.
"On the morning of the 2nd October we reached Laramie, where we saw the
works of the Union Pacific Railway Company for Burnettizing their ties.
The ties are placed on trucks, run into a cylinder, steamed, treated
with a solution of chloride of zinc, with glue mixed with it, and
afterwards with a solution of tannic acid. When dried they retain only
about 1 1/4 lb. of the material with which they have been treated. Mr.
Octave Chanute, of Kansas City, Missouri, United States, erected the
works for the Union Pacific Company, and has an interest in the patents
under which the process is carried out, which is a modification of Sir
William Burnett's process. At 8.55 we crossed the highest point on the
Rocky Mountains, 8,235 feet above the sea, on table land, no peaks
being more than a few hundred feet above us. The rock here is all red
granite, and some of it disintegrated, which is used for ballast. There
are many snow sheds on the high land here, but none very long. We ran
rapidly down from 'Sherman,' the summit, to 6,000 feet level, and more
gradually afterwards, running all day through the plains, over which,
although very dry, numerous herds of cattle and horses were pasturing,
and we reached Omaha at 7.50 a.m. on the 3rd October.
"At Omaha we crossed the Missouri River. The bridge here, of iron,
founded on iron cylinder piers, is for a single track only, and is
being taken down bit by bit, and a double track iron bridge on masonry
piers substituted..
"From Council Bluffs, the station on the Iowa side of the Missouri
River, we left by the Chicago and North Western Railway, which is a
well constructed, well equipped, and first class American Railway. The
line runs through a good agricultural country, the chief crop being
Indian corn, and was doing a good business. We met many freight trains
during the day, and saw several trains of cattle going east also.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 22 of 133
Words from 21311 to 22326
of 136421
