Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/187

 RAILROAD 175 1865 that the first 40 m. from Omaha to Fre- mont were completed. From that time for- ward, however, the road was constructed and opened for traffic much more rapidly than had ever been done upon any route or in any coun- try. In 1866, 265 m. of the Union Pacific were completed ; in 1867, 245 m. ; in 1868, 350 m. ; and on May 12, 1869, the railroad com- munication from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean was opened. The rails were laid at the rate of two and three miles a day, and in one instance the trackmen under the orders of Gen. G. M. Dodge, chief engineer of the Union Pa- cific, laid eight miles of track in one day. The preliminary surveys for the Pacific railroad, covering a vast extent of country, required the greater portion of four working seasons for their completion, and cost upward of $1,000,- 000. The route adopted follows valleys favor- ably located, but crosses nine separate mountain ranges: 1, the Black Hills, at an elevation of 8,242 ft. above the sea level ; 2, the Rattle- snake pass, in the range west of the Laramie plains, 7,123 ft. ; 3, a range called by some " the continental divide," 7,100 ft. ; 4, the sum- mit at the head of Bitter creek (the waters of which flow into the Pacific), 6,990 ft. ; 5, the eastern rim of the Great Salt lake basin, 7,458 ft. ; 6, theWasatch mountains, 6,804ft.; 7, Promontory mountain, west of Great Salt lake, 4,889 ft.; 8, Cedar pass of the Towano mountains, 6,193 ft. ; and 9, the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains, 7,044 ft. The points of the lowest level crossed by the railroad in the mountainous regions are : 1, the second crossing of the North Platte river, at an elevation of 6,475 ft. above the sea; 2, the Red Desert basin on " the continental divide," 6,659 ft. ; 3, the Green river crossing, 6,061 ft. ; 4, the Great Salt lake basin, 4,239 ft.; and 5, the Humboldt river, near the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, 3,969 feet. The aggregate length of the tunnels, of which there are 15, all occurring in the Sierra Nevada or its spurs, is 6,600 ft. The gradients do not generally exceed 80 ft. to the mile, though in one instance they reach 90 ft. and in another 116 ft. to the mile. The length of the Union Pacific railroad is 1,029 m., and of the Cen- tral Pacific, exclusive of branches, 881 m. ; the entire distance from New York to San Francisco, via Chicago and Omaha, is trav- ersed in six or seven days, according to the route. The cost of the Union Pacific road, in capital stock, mortgage bonds, and land grant, income, and government bonds, was reported to the secretary of the interior at $112,259,360, or an average of $108,778 a mile; but the lia- bilities of the company at the date of the com- pletion of the road were $116,730,052, or an average of $113,110 a mile. Jesse L. Williams, one of the government directors of the com- pany and a civil engineer of great experience, in a report to the secretary of the interior, dated Nov. 14, 1868, gave the approximate cost of the Union Pacific railroad in cash at $38,- 696 VOL. xiv. 12 824,821, or an average of about $35,000 a mile, and this cannot have been far from cor- rect. The cost of the Central Pacific railroad and branches, 1,222 m., in stock, bonds, and liabilities of every sort, was reported in 1874 at $139,746,311, or an average of $114,358 a mile. The Northern Pacific railroad company was chartered by congress in 1864, and subsi- dized, to construct a railroad from Lake Supe- rior to Puget sound, 1,800 m., with a branch of 200 m. via the valley of the Columbia river to Portland, Oregon. The construction of the road was begun in 1870, but was arrested in 1873 by financial difficulties. In 1875 there were in operation 450 m. from Duluth, Minn., to Bismarck, Dakota, and 105 m. between Kalama and Tacoma in Washington territory. The Texas and Pacific railroad is to extend from Shreveport, La., and Texarkana, Ark., via El Paso, to San Diego, CaL, a distance from Shreveport of 1,514 m. In 1875 the main line was in operation from Shreveport to Dallas, Texas, 189 m. ; also the division between Tex- arkana and Marshall on the main line, 75 m. Railway Statistics. Details in regard to rail- roads are given in the articles on the various states and countries. The following tabulated statement from Poor's "Manual" shows the number of miles of road constructed in the United States each year since 1830 : YEAR. Mil.s in opera- tion. Annual increase, miles. TEAR. Miles in opera- tion. Annual increase f miles. 1S80. 28 1853. 15,360 2,452 1881. 95 72 1854. 16,720" 1.860 1882. 229 184 1855. 18.374 1,654 1883. 880 151 1856. 22,016 3,647 1884. 633 253 1857. 24,503 2,647 1835. 1,098 465 1858. 26,968 2,465 1836. 1,278 175 1859. 28,789 1,821 1887. 1,497 224 1860. 80,685 1,846 1838. 1,913 416 1861. 81,286 651 1889. 2,802 889 1862. 32,120 884 1840. 2,818 616 1863. 83,170 1,050 1841. 8,535 717 1864. 83,908 788 1842. 4,026 491 1865. 85.085 1,177 1843. 4,185 159 1866. 86,827 1,742 1844. 4,377 192 1867. 89,276 2,449 1845. 4,638 256 1868. 42,256 2,979 1846. 4,980 297 1869. 47,208 4,953 1847. 5,598 668 1870. 62.898 6,690 1848. 5,996 898 1871. 60,566 7,670 1849. 7,865 1,369 1872. 66,735 6,167 1850. 9,021 1,656 1878. 70,683 3,948 1851. 10,982 1,961 1874. 72,628 1,940 1852. 12,908 1,926 The most important facts for 1874 were as follows : Population (estimated) 42,219,000 Area in square miles, exclusive of those terri- tories which have no railroads 2,492,316 Miles of railroad 72,623 Number of inhabitants to a mile of railroad ... 681 " of square miles to a mile of railroad. . . 84 '4 Capital stock $1,990,997,466 Funded and other debt $2,230,766,108 Total capital account $4,221,763,594 Cost of railroad per mile $60,425 Receipts, total $520.466,016 " from passengers $140,999,081 " " " percent, to total... 27'1 from freight $347,016,874 " " " per cent, to total 64.- 8