The Pacific tourist:

r2x POCIPC re T tS. River. By this road, Lincoln, Wheatland, Marysville, Chico, Tehama, Red Bluff, Redding, and intermediate points are reached. One hundred fifty-one and a half miles have been built from the junction northward. Passengers going north may use their tickets to San Francisco for passage over this division, and at Redding take stage for Portland, Or. Four miles from the Junction is Antelope,-a side track at which passenger trains do not stop, and 6.6 miles farther on, a place of about equal importance called Arcade. -The soil is light, much of it gravelly, but it produces considerable grass, and an abundance of wild flowers. Prominent among the latter are the Lupin and the Eschscholtzia, or California Poppy. The long fence will interest the Eastern farmer, for here is a specimen of a Mexican grant. It is the Norris Ranche, n ow owned by Messrs. Haggin, Tevis and others, and nearly ten miles long. When California was first settled, these plains were covered with tall, wild oats, sometimes concealing the horseback rider, and wild oats are now seen along the side of the track. No stop is made, except for passing trains, until the American River bridge is reached. About four miles from Sacramento we reach the American River. It has none of the loveliness that charmed us when we saw it winding along the mountains. The whole river-bed has filled up, and in summer, when the water is almost wholly diverted to mining camps or for irrigation, it seems to be rather a swamp. It is approached by a long and high trestle work. After crossing the bridge, on the right, you will notice some thrifty vineyards and productive Chinese gardens in the rich deposits of the river. On the left you will obtain a fine view of the State Capitol; also you get a fine view of the grounds of the State Agricultural Society. Its speed-track, a mile in length, is unexcelled. Its advantages, including the climate of the State, make it the best training track in the United States. It was here that Occident trotted in 2.16 3-4, and is said to have made a record of 2.15 1-4 in a private trial. The grand stand was erected at a cost of $15,000. Should you pass through the city in Sepfember or October, do not fail to see for yourself the Agricultural Park and the Pavilion, and test the marvellous stories about the beets and the pumpkins, and secure some of the beautiful and delicious fruit that is grown in the foot hills. On the left you will also see the hospital of the Central Pacific Railroad. It contains all modern improvements for lighting, heating, ventilation and drainage, and a'library of 1,200 volumes. It-can accommodate 200 patients, and cost the company $65,000. Fifty cents a month is deducted from the pay of all employes for maintaining the institution. No other railroad has made such genero us provision for its faithf ul e mploy es. Rail roaed WSorks.'-North of the city there was a she e t of water known as " Sutter's Lake" and " The Slough," and a succession of high knolls. The lake was granted to the city by the State, and to the railroad company by the city. Its stagnant waters have given place, at great cost, to most important industries. The high knolls have been levelled, and are also owned, in part, by the railroad company. Not less than fifty acres of land are thus made useful for side tracks and fruitful in manufactures. Six and a half acres of it are covered by the railroad shops. Twelve hundred men are constantly employed. These are the chief shops of the railroad. Some you saw at Ogden, Terrace, Carlin, Wadsworth, Truckee and Rocklin, and you will find others at Lathrop and Oakland Point, and at Tulare and Caliente on the Visalia Division. At Oakland Point, 150 men are employed, but all these shops and even those of the California Pacific Road at Vallejo center here. These are the largest and best shops west of the Mississippi River, and form the most extensive manufacturing industry of the city. The best locomotives, and the most elegant and comfortable passenger cars on the coast are built, and a large portion of the repairs for the whole road is done here. All the castings of iron and brass, and every fitting of freight and passenger cars, except the goods used in upholstering, is here produced; boilers for steamers put up, the heaviest engine shafts forged, telegraph instruments made, silver plating done, and 12,000 car wheels made every month. All the latest and best labor-saving tools and machinery used in wood, iron and brass work can here be seen in operation. The capacity of the shops is six box-freight, and six flat cars per day, and two passenger, and one sleeping car per month. Twelve years ago, the work of the company at this point, was all done in a little wooden building 24 by 100 feet, and with less men than there are now buildings or departments. Last year a million and a half dollars was paid out for labor in these shops alone, and 4,000 tons of iron consumed. Some of the buildings, like the roundhouse, are of brick. This has 29 pits each 60 feet long, with a circumference of 600 feet. Some of the buildings have roofs or sides of corrugated iron. Seven large under-ground tanks, 1,600 gallons each, are used for oil and 2,000 gallons of coal oil, and 400 of sperm consumed every month. In connection with the shops, is a regularly organized and well-equipped fire-brigade, and in two minutes the water of two steam fire-engines can be directed to any point in the buildings. Soon a rolling mill will be erected, and upon the location but lately pestilential. The whole 244

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Title
The Pacific tourist:
Author
Williams, Henry T.
Canvas
Page 244
Publication
New York,: H. T. Williams,
1876.
Subject terms
West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
Central Pacific Railroad Company.
Union Pacific Railroad Company.

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"The Pacific tourist:." In the digital collection Making of America Books. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/afk1140.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 14, 2025.
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