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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.
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