"A Statement Made by the Central Pacific Railroad of California for the Consideration of Capitalists." C.P. Huntington, 1865.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS PAGE

Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
Copyright © 2003-2004, CPRR.org. All Rights Reserved. [Last Updated 6/29/2004]
Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the User Agreement;
Click any image or link to accept.

HOME

[The following OCR text is included to allow indexing.]
OFFICE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD OF CALIFORNIA: 54 William Street, New York, .December 20th, 1865. A STATEMENT MADE BY THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF CAPITALISTS. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, was organized in July, 1861, "under the laws of the State of California, and, by the laws of Congress of the United States, known as the Pacific Railroad Acts, this Company was authorized to build-ill at portion of, the Pacific Railroad and Telegraph lying between the Pacific Coast and the eastern boundary of the State of California, and from thence eastward, until a meeting and connection should be formed with the road in the course of construction from the Missouri River westward. By the 9th Section of Baid Act, this Company was required to file its acceptance of its provisions and assume the obligations therein imposed, within six months after its passage, which acceptance was so filed on the 3d day of December, 1862. Under said authority this road commences at the City of Sacramento, in said State, and extends in an easterly direction, across the State to the eastern boundary thereof, to a point one hundred and sixty-four miles from the most easterly navigable waters of the Pacific, and constitutes one division of the great Pacific Railroad between the Missouri River and San Francisco, on the Pacific. By said Acts of Congress a subsidy or loan was granted, to aid in the construction of the road, of $16,000 per mile on the first seven miles easterly of the City of Sacramento; $4-8,000 per mile on the nest one hundred and fifty miles of the Mountain District, and S32,000 per mile on the remaining distance—pay- 2 J able as the work progressed, in United. States six per cent. thirty year bonds, and allowing the Company to mortgage the 'road for an equal amount, to secure any bonds they may issue, which mortgage shall have priority over the Government loan or subsidy. The Acts of Congress also grant twelve thousand eight hundred acres of land per mile, lying along the line of the road, which is .mostly covered with a growth of timber of great value, and from which source nearly the entire supply of timber and fuel is and must be drawn for three hundred miles of terri-tory, east; of the eastern boundary of California, including the rich mineral districts of "Washoe, Reese Eiver and Humboldt. In addition to the subsidy granted this Company by the General Government, the City of San Francisco has donated, to aid in the construction of the road, four hundred thousand dollars, ' in city seven per cent. thirty year gold paying bonds ; and the City of Sacramento has donated or granted some thirty acres of land in that city, embracing about 1,300 feet of valuable water ' front on the Sacramento I^iver, which, with the privileges connected therewith, is considered worth from two to three hundred thousand dollars; and the Company have also received from stock subscriptions about 81,635,000, mostly in gold. The Company commenced the work of constructing the Road in February, 1863, and in May, 1861, had twenty-two miles in operation, and thirty-one in July of that year. On the 10th of June, 1865, the line was opened for traffic to Clipper Gap, a distance of forty-two miles from Sacramento; and on September 1st, to Colfax Station, a further-distance of twelve miles, and fifty-five nules from Sacramento, thus completing the first fifty miles several months in advance of the time required by the Act. At Oolfax Station the grade attains an elevation of 2,448 feet above tide water. A large force of men and teams are en^a";ed in o-radn-io- and 4^~- ^-r t^3 ^"1 track-laying, from Colfax to the mining town of Dutch Flat-about 3,700 feet above tide, and 70 mile3 from Sacramento which it is intended will be ready to opoii for traffic by the first of January, 1866, a point where the company will control nearly the entire business, crossing tlio Sierra .Nevadas. The construction work is, also, progressing at several of tlic most difficult points on the line; among which are included a tunnel at the summit of tlie Sierra Nevada mountains, of 1,600 feet in length, and one of 900 feet seven miles east of tlie summit, * on which three sliifts of laborers are working night and day, eight hom'3 cadi shift. "Work has also commenced on all the tunnels, eight in number, between Dutch Flat and the Truckee River. All the tunnels will be constructed wide enough for two tracks, as it is confidently believed the two will be required in a few years to do « the business of tlie road. The Company have at this time, about five thousand laborers and six hundred teams engaged in the work of extending its road, with fair prospects of increasing the number to six thousand laborers, durins!; the season. , . r —J Suitable machinery and a steam-engine have been shipped from tIie Eastern States for a large repair shop. There has been constructed at Sacramento, on tlie lands granted by tliat city, a wharf with steam-engine, derricks, &c,, together with suitable freight and passenger depots for the transaction of the business of tlie road. Commodious depot buildings have been constructed at all tlie stations on the line, as fast as the road has been opened for trafiic, ". The road, so far as completed, will compare favorably with any railroad in the- United States. The rails are of the best quality of American iron, weighing at least 60 Ibs. per yard. The chairs are of wrought iron ; the cross-ties, numbering 2,400 per inile» are 6s 8 and 10 inches and 8 feet long, of redwood, which is quite equal to red cedar or locust, for durability. Tlie culverts are all of granite, or other hard rock, except a few of hard-burnt brick in the valley, where stone could riot be procured. The bridges are made of the best quality of Puget's Sound timber, with foundations of masonry. The drainage is ample and complete, and the road-bed is well ballasted with gravel or broken stone. The alignment is re-remarkable for its directness in such a broken, mountainous country. The least radius of curvature is 573 feet,.or ten degrees. The grades are necessarily high, to surmount the summit, 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, which elevation is attained "with-1 4 out any undulating grades, the rise being constant from the foot-* hills on the west side of the sierras to the summit thereof, thence descending eastwardly to the Truckee River, without loss of elevation or depression. The highest grade is 105 feet per mile, of which there is 13^ miles on the present completed line. No serious difficulty is found in operating this portion of the road, running the regular passenger trams thereon at the rate of 35 miles, and the freight trains 12 miles per hour. A greater speed could be obtained by the motive power of the road, but thus far has not been found necessary. Mr. George E. Gray, late Chief Engineer of the ^ew York Central Eailroad, after a careful examination of the completed work, reports as follows : "That portion of the railroad completed .and in operation " from the city of Sacramento to Clipper Gap, 42 miles, will " compare most favorably, in every respect, with any railroad in (c the United States. The locomotives and cars in use are of " American manufacture, and kept in perfect order." The whole cost of the work done, and materials purchased, amounted, on the 10th of October, 1863, to the sum of i2H ^Qfl 4./7fi so yi^y'-'.-tiv-rso- The officers in charge of the construction of the road are very sanguine they will be able to complete tlie railroad over the Sierra Nevada to the Truckee River, a distance of 120 miles from Sacramento, during the year 1866 ; thence to a point 50 miles east of the great bend of the Truckee River, a further distance of about 108 miles, and 228 miles from Sacramento, during the year 1867; and to Salt Lake, about 675 miles from Sacramento, m two years thereafter, where it is lioped to meet the road being built from the east. The construction of a railroad over so high a mountain rau^-c is necessarily slow and expensive; but it is the determination of this Company to press on vigorously, employing all the men and means they can command to complete the road at an early day. Tims far they have encountered, at the commenc-ement of their 5 efforts, the most difficult and expensive part of the line. Yet, quite enough has been done to convince the most incredulous of the entire feasibility of tlie route, and that the work can be completed in the time named, and that another year will enable them to cross over the Sierra Nevada. It may be difficult for eastern capitalists to comprehend the magnitude of the earnings -which the mineral districts of California and Nevada must produce to a railroad crossing the Sierra Nevada upon this line, which is in fact the main thoroughfare of transportation for the vast trade between the cities of Sacramento, San Francisco, and the great "Washoe, Humboldt, and Iteese River gold and silver mines, and other mines in those regions. The earnings of the road have slowly, but steadily increased, from the opening of tho first division to the present date; and the following statement of earnings is for the purpose only of showing the sradual increase of business destined to flow to the 0 0 road: Exhibit of Earnings for Eleven Months—January 1st to December \sts 1865, Month, Mails. Wharf. Express. Passenger. freight, TOTAL. 1865. Jai3, ,., Feb. ,, March , April,, May., June-, July ,, Aug.», Sept, Oct. yov. §516 66 616 66 616 66 516 66 572 22 666 66 700 00 700 00 902 22 933 33 168 25 305 75 381 37 1,170 93' 989 47 1,121 91 Estimated §200 00 200 00 200 00 200 00 200 00 266 67 350 00 350 00 1,000 00 1,000 00 $4,827 51 4,605 25 7,4 04 50 7,102 85 8,931 10 11,242 65 10,388 75 10,758 00 18,936 05 17,597 75 §5,496 73 5,257 64 7,209 10 12,266 67 13,067 79 19,947 34 23,813 26 26,268 49 38,484 88 45,272 35 @li,040 89 10,479 55 15,330 36 20,076 18 22,939' 36 32,429 07 §5,633 38 39,247 43 60,802 62 65.920 34 70,000 00 §383,404 07 Total aarning in gold. To May 13th, trains run only to New Oastle, thirty-one miles ; from. May 13th to June 10th, trains run to Auburn, thirty-six miles; from June 10th to September 4th, to Clipper Gap, forty-two miles; and from September 4th, to Oolfax, fifty-six miles. 6 • , "We have information from the President of the Company that the road -will be opened to Crystal Lake, ninety-one miles from Sacramento, by,the first of July, 1866, a point -where he is confident the earnings will be at least $200,000 in gold per month. "When this road is completed to the western boundaries of Nevada, it will command the trade of Nevada, Utah, and the southwestern half of Idaho, and also embrace the best mineral counties and districts of California. « ' Mr. S. S. Montague, Acting Chief Engineer, in his report to the Board of Directors of this Company, October 8th, 1864, says: (* In estimating the probable .business of your road when completed across the mountains, the calculations are based upon actual statistics of the freight and passenger business between this city and Nevada territory. f "Mr. Judah, late Chief Engineer of this Company, in his report of 1863, stated the amount paid for freight over one route alone was ^556,000 ; yet reliable statistics show that the amount paid for shipments from California across the mountains, in the year 1862, amounted to over ^13,000,000, this is exclusive of return freights. Full statistics were not obtained for 1861." \ 4 " The extent and character of the resources of the Was/we district, occupying the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin, are too "well known to require an extended notice here. The evidence, afforded by the daily shipment of bullion is sufficient to convince the most skeptical of the richness and permanent value of the mineral deposits of that region." Hardly second in importance to the famous "Washoe districts are the Esmeralda, Silver Mountain, Humboldt, and Eeese River districts, many portions of which are already yielding rich returns for the capital and labor expended in the development of their mines." In the report of Mr. J. F. Kidder, chief engineer of the proposed Virginia and Truckec Eiver Railroad, designed to connect the 'Washoe Mines witli the Central Pacific Railroad in tlie Truckee Yalley, made in April, 1863. He says : 7 " The average , price of fuel is $15 per cord. In Virginia, Gold Hill and Silver Cities there are at the present time two thousand houses, consuming daily forty cords of -wood, forty-six steam quartz mills, consuming daily two hundred and thirty'cords, and nine hoisting engines, with a daily consumption of twenty seven cords, making an aggregate consumption.of two hundred and ninety-seven cords of wood. There are daily used for miu-ning and building purposes one hundred and twenty-five thousand feet B. M., of lumber and square timber, the cost of transporting is twenty dollars per thousand, making an annual consumption of 108,000 cords of wood, and forty million feet of lumber." This enormous consumption of fuel and lumber must rapidly remove the nearest supply, and compel a longer and more QX-pensive transportation to meet the growing demand. Competent authorities estimate the quantity of timbered land at full one half of the whole 2,099,200 acres donated to the company. ' . As the supply of wood and timber is becoming more scanty, and is rising in value yearly ; what then may we estimate the value of this domain in years to come, not only to the Company as owners, but to the railroad as a source of revenue, from trans^ port.ation, and to the community, who are obliged to use it. " It is to be observed that the freight business to the mountains and to "Washoe is now performed by teams." """ A peculiarity of Washoe is that it is situated in a section of county so barren and sterile that nothing but a scanty supply of vegetables can be raised. 'Everything used there to eat or wear, all necessaries of life, as well as all manufactured soods, 7 • ' . 0 / have to be transported by wagons or mules." The inhabitants, thereof are absolutely compelled to draw tlieir supplies of all kinds from the western .side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and in paying for their supplies, to pay the additional cost of freighting by wagons at from four. to ten cents per pound. In addition to this large and increasing business may be reckoned that of supplying lumber, timber, and logs for timbering the mines ; also, fuel for consumption in the cities of 'SG- 8 vada, and to supply the mills, a majority of which are run by steam. From accounts received it is believed coal of a superior quality and in inexhaustible quantity has been discovered at the eastern base of the mountains at Crystal Peak, near the Truckee Eiver, and in the immediate vicinity of the road. The lack of fuel between the Sierras and Salt Lake has always been considered one of the greatest difficulties attending the working of that division of the Pacific Eailroad. These discoveries will furnish a large amount of return freight to California. .Extensive "beds of iron ore have been found in the vicinity of ^eilsburg, and 'about one mille from the line of the road. This ore is of a superior quality and will yield seventy to ninety per cent. of metal, but no efforts have been heretofore made to de- J # velop these mines by reason of the high price of labor and cost of transportation. It will be readily seen, that the local business of the road is enormously large ;. also, it is without competition, and that the estimate does not include the great through traffic that must flow over the great national highway, when completed, from the Eastern States to the Pacific Ocean. The Company have, or had in command, to aid in the construction of its road, in stocks, bonds, &c., viz.: T Stock subscriptions paid in gold................. ^1,635,000 Donation from the city of San Francisco, thirty year 7 per cent. gold bearing bonds................. 400,000 U". S. Government bonds....................... 7,336,000 First mortgage " ....................... 7,336,000 State aid " ....................... 1,500,000 Convertible " ....................... 1,500,000 Total............................... .^19,707,000 Expended in construction of the road to Oct. 10th, 1863........................ .............. 5,596,495 Total............................... .©14,110,505 "Which amount is now, or will be, made available to complete tlie road to the eastern boundary of the State of California. t/ The above estimate does not include the lands donated to the Company, or a further sale of stock, to which they are entitled to issue to the extent of a total amount of ^20,000,000 ; also land donated by the city of Sacramento, valued at about ^300,000. The Company "will receive 13,800 acres of land per mile, which is estimated by competent judges as worth at least ^1.50 per acre, while much of this same land "w-ill bring ^100 per acre; but taking the former figure, it will net the Company the sum of ^3,148,800. . The Company now tender capitalists their C per cent. 30 year gold paying bonds, which are secured by a first mortgage on the road, with all its rolling stock, equipments and franchises, and is a security which will be largely sought after. These bonds will be further secured by the expenditure iu the construction and equipment of the road by money derived from the further sale of stock, and from the subsidy granted by municipal, State, and the General, Government. * C. P. HTOTINGTOK, Vice-President, 0, P. R. K. of 0.

HOME