Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
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Engineer's Report on Cape Horn, 1864:
"Crossing Long Ravine at a hight of one hundred and fifteen feet, the line curves sharply to the right, and passes with a maximum grade along the steep, and in many places precipitous side hill of Rice's Ravine crossing a succession of short, steep side ravines and gulches, and intervening spurs, to Cape Horn; which is a precipitous, rocky bluff, about twelve hundred feet in hight above the American River.
The construction of the Road around this point will involve much heavy work, though the material encountered is not of a very formidable character, being a soft friable slate, which yields readily to the pick or bar.
The dip of the ledge is about seventy-five degrees, or nearly perpendicular, but as our line at this point crosses the line of stratification nearly at right angles, the cuttings will admit of a much steeper slope than can be generally adopted for that class of material.
The Road around this bluff will necessarily be mostly in excavation, as the construction of an embankment, even with a heavy retaining wall, would in many places be unsafe in not impracticable.  Passing around the face of this bluff, with an aggregate curvature, in one direction, of one hundred and eighty six degrees, the line enters Robbers' Ravine ... "
Text courtesy G.J. Graves.

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