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The difficulties of the Central Pacific line were of a more geographical character. Under the driving influence of Theodore D. Judah and his associates, prominent San Francisco tradesmen who afterwards became millionaires, the Central Pacific track was pushed forward up the western slopes of the Sierras. Water courses were followed, steep precipices were skirted, and the summit of the range was gained at a height of over 7,000 ft. Down the eastern slopes the line was laid through deep canyons, and thence across the deserts of Nevada towards Salt Lake.

the Central Pacific was permitted to continue its advance eastwards to meet the Union Pacific. The Central company resolved to carry the track to Salt Lake City, earning as much of the land grant and subsidy as possible.

The two advancing railheads met in Western Utah during the winter of 1869. But they did not stop and link up. The construction gangs passed one another and continued to lay parallel tracks. For week after week the railheads receded rapidly, leaving a double set of metals side by side across the prairie.

Possibly the most spectacular achievement in the reconstruction of the line was the building of what is known as the "Lucin cut-off." This stretch of line, after leaving Ogden, goes straight across Utah's great Salt Lake. The Central Pacific system, after reaching Lucin, in Utah, originally swung off to the north-east round the upper or northern end of this sheet of water. Salt Lake is so saturated with minerals that it is impossible for a bather to sink in it. The Union Pacific's track on its way westward to Ogden, on the eastern shore of the remarkable lake, also swung northwards towards the original meeting place of the two systems at Promontory.

Unfortunately a mountain range runs right down to the water's edge on the northern shore, so that to negotiate Promontory Point it was necessary to raise the line to a height of 4,907 ft.

The Lucin "Cut-Off"
On both sides of Promontory Point, also, the grade was of a switch back character. The 147 miles between Ogden and Lucin were negotiated by powerful locomotives placed at the head of the trains and assisted by others at the rear and in the centre. The cost of hauling traffic over this section of the line soon began to mount up. Finally the engineers suggested that, as the Salt Lake was only thirty miles wide, in a straight line between Ogden and Lucin, and with a depth of only 30 ft., it would be possible to build an enormous bridge right across it to carry the track.

This plan had been proposed long before Mr. Harriman's presidency, but under his guidance it was brought into operation in an improved form. The original scheme involved the use of timber trestles for practically the whole distance over the water, but finally it was decided to reduce the extent of open woodwork to twelve miles, filling in the trestles of the remaining distance with earth to form a solid embankment.

The rail level is 17 ft. above the water, and the top of the embankment 16 ft. wide. To secure the enormous amount of timber necessary for the undertaking large tracts of forest were purchased in Louisiana, Texas, Oregon, and California for the supply of logs ranging from 100 to 150 ft. in length. Huge steam shovels played their part in preparing the earthwork, and a sternwheeler steamboat called "Promontory" was built and floated on to the lake to tow lighters, barges, and other craft from point to point, with supplies and provisions for the construction camps.

Work continued both by day and by night, the necessary illumination being provided by powerful electric lamps. Over 3,000 workmen were engaged on the task, and at times over 400 car loads of ballast were sent lake wards during the daytime. Supplies of fresh water presented another problem, as every drop had to be hauled over a hundred miles of desert. This was a tremendous task, as the daily supply amounted to 336,000 gallons of fresh water.

Huge pile-drivers were used to force the massive timber baulks into the bed of the lake. So efficient was their work that it was possible, upon occasion, to advance the building of the trestle by 1,130 ft. a day. The trestle is of substantial construction. At intervals of 15 ft., five piles are driven in a row transversely to the track. Just above water level a horizontal member, 8 in. thick, is bolted to them, with another baulk at the top, the latter being 18 ft. long by 12 in. square, while diagonal members, 4 in. thick, are secured to hold the whole "bent," as it is called, firmly and rigidly, so that the piles cannot splay outwards under the superimposed weight.

Each "bent" is connected to its fellow on either side by eleven heavy baulks laid parallel to the track. The roadbed comprises a coat of asphalt laid upon the stringers or longitudinal timbers, with a superimposed layer of rock ballast 12 in. in thickness supporting the sleepers and rails. By the time the two arms of the highway met in mid-lake 38,256 piles had been used, and forest two miles square had been transplanted in the Great Salt Lake.

The Central Pacific Railway now forms part of the Southern Pacific system, which, lying wholly in the western states, operates nearly 8,800 miles of track. On the Southern Pacific system there are more than 1,480 locomotives 1,690 passenger cars, and over 52,000 freight and other cars, including some 4,000 devoted to special services.